Determining profitability at a line item level or at a customer level in our legacy software was almost impossible and very tedious so we used to make a lot of decisions at a high level versus being able to really determine where our issues were. We not have instant visibility and can make decisions daily vs waiting until month end and using volumes of spreadsheets to perform analysis. We have been able to grow our revenue without an increase in operational staffing.

Grove has used P21 for 12 years now and are very happy. We love the fact that we can see rebated costs in the software at order entry and determine exactly what we are making on an order. Everything is part of one package so you are not worrying about add on packages that integrate with P21 as it is all a P21 product. If there is an issue, there is only one vendor to deal with. Our inventory accuracy is extremely high and we can always tell where an order is in process simply by drilling down within the system. Great product.

If there was anything I didn't like I would say that there are some bells and whistles in other parts of the system that have not made its way to the accounting piece. For example, you cannot enter notes in accounts payable like you can in other parts of the software so you have to develop a work around. However, we have always figured out a solution to what we need.

We have experienced a exceptional partnership with Epicor. There have been some bumps in the road but ultimately Epicor listens and responds. We have participated in all of the User Conferences and User Group Conferences. There is an awesome World Wide User Group (WWUG) that is very active and supportive. We have tried to take advantage and apply all of the P21 features that we can and see great return on that effort.

The application is loaded with features and benefits, particularly on the distribution side of the software. Our business consists of both Light Manufacturing (35%) and Distribution (65%) which is one of the key areas of the P21 functionality. You can search the market and find excellent distribution software and also search the market and find excellent manufacturing software, but try to find one that is excellent in both. P21 is the leader in this area and they are continuing to enhance both "sides" of the application. We also like the Windows environment which makes it very easy for new users to learn the navigation. Epicor has a lot of third party partners and providers that can bring volumes of additional resources and functionalities to the table. The SQL database is open which provides a ton of value when it comes to additional functionalities. I also love the ability to modify the baseline software appearance with Dynachange, and basic functional logic using Business Rules, and many other similar features.

P21 was built on an older database structure and has become limited in modifications such as lengthening the Item ID, or improving speed, and other core database structure. This can be limiting, however the solution most of these has been introduced with the Web enabled P21 application. Otherwise we have had a great experience.

increased productivity from order entry and production (kitting) processes

Ease of access to different programs from multiple points. Ease of adding things like contract pricing and customer item numbers

Lack of basic reports that make sense to me. (seems reports must have been written by a programmer that would not be using them on a daily basis). High cost of special reports and basic changes. Basic things like letting you move out of a field without entering anything and it is a required field.

The vast amount of features allows it to be compatible with many different business models throughout several industries which can make it a little over complicated on what to do via data-entry as your company doesn't use every single piece of functionality and you have to fill in the appropriate area for what your company is using as there are allot of fields and tabs that you could have to update. So it can produce very detailed information if allot of the fields are utilized. Speed is a huge concern with this software as it has multiple layers of programming on top of an outdated platform that makes the data entry workable but painfully slow once you get used to running the software. I am not part of the financial portion so I only gave it one star because it wouldn't let me erase and make it no stars. See Advise to Others for more details.

Scale-ability and the capability to mold to a lot of different companies business models. The Purchasing/Forecasting functionality is top notch and very mold-able to any purchasing model ranging from central purchasing down to individualized seasonal items. Once set up it will let you get away with a smaller procurement department as the system will tell you what you need to order. The vendor is good about fixing issues quickly but sometimes difficult to distinguish between an actual error and a company specific business process. There are a ton of purchasable add-on's from the Vendor them-self along with even more third party add-on's that makes this a wonderful software if you have the money and skilled personnel to support it.

Scale-ability and the capability to mold to a lot of different companies business models. Since this software can mold to a large variety of business models it can make training difficult and long due to the complexities of the software's advanced features. This also makes data entry combersome as you have to know what fields to enter depending on what functionality you are using. Slow to implement vendor driven Idea's Network from user ideas. The product feels extremely slow once you get used to running the system and is glitchy because of the method chosen to release updates and advancements. Developers run a continuous improvement program with multiple releases a year so as they are designing new features at the same time they are cleaning errors and glitches rather than waiting a long time for advancements and a rock solid release. This could also be considered good and bad if you need an advancement, you don't have to wait! The companies move to have the first level of support go to India can lead to frustrations because of the communication blearier along with the new support teams are not yet very knowledgeable with the software and the level of experiences with the software is still being developed

We are using Epicor Eclipse (Eterm) to handle our accounting functions, financial reporting functions, sales, purchases, inventory control and whatever else I may have forgotten. We rely on this system, almost to the point of live or die by it.

I like how easy it is to actually use (after set up). I also like how easy it is to learn how to use, especially if you have some previous experience using another brand ERP software. The point upgrades are extremely easy to perform as well.

There are a few things I don't like about this software. The report writer is tricky to use if you only write reports once every couple of years, you can easily forget how it is done/what is necessary. There are certain processes that aren't clearly laid out in the system like hot keys in certain screens aren't laid out.