My guess is it is a pretty uncommon move - have you asked your account manager for any reference accounts? They would have insight through consulting services if they had helped a customer follow this path.
I was told that P21 was leading in tech stack and Kinetic is following in its shadow. For example EVA I heard was used like crazy with P21… I’ve never seen P21. Some of the Architecture Kinetic is adopting, was conceived in P21. Not sure how much of that is true… but I heard it from a friend of a friend.
Would love to see some P21 Screenshots.
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That’s a huge issue with an implementation I am working on right now… 70% of the business is manufacturing and the other 30% is distribution… is Kinetic the right choice? SMH at this very tough predicament.
I didn’t want to see the popcorn icon, but there it is 
I was in a similar situation some years ago. Business went with E10.0 ( at the time) and I think it was regrettable. For all its strengths, Epicor ERP/Kinetic is just not a fit for distribution, especially big box distribution. I believe companies who are successful with using Epicor in a distribution environment invest in EDI and integrated/external warehousing/packing solutions to make it work.
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Exactly, how could you not invest in a third party system- I have yet to speak with a company that does distribution out of the box with Kinetic ERP. I’ve asked my CAM, I’ve asked the regional, I’ve asked on here (Imagine... Electronic Shelf Labels - #5 by utaylor).
@aosemwengie1 do you know anyone doing distribution with Kinetic ERP?
I have been following this and thought I would chime in.
We have been involved with distributors for over 30 years with Epicor and Infor solutions. We have at one time been a P21 Solutions Provider for Epicor. We have talked to E10 and Kinetic customers in the past, but have not engaged.
That said…P21 is definitely for distributors and doesn’t really play in the manufacturing arena. Kinetic could play in the distribution arena, but not well. It focuses on manufacturing.
Both are based upon MS SQL, so architecture is not really an issue. The addon functionality like EDI, eCommerce, PIM are NOT the core of Epicor. Full disclosure We offer those solutions to P21 users through our own APIs. Speaking of APIs, Epicor’s APIs are expensive and require a lot of technology.
We have not come across anyone in the P21 world that came from Kinetic. Doesn’t mean that it cannot be done or is not the right decision.
If you want to discuss further, let me know and we can chat.
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I don’t, sorry. You should present a session at insights about challenges distributors face with Kinetic. Whoever shows up will be your people 
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I ran distribution through epicor, after an acquisition and we already ran epicor at the parent. Made it work fine. Probably not elegant, but no issues. Would have been difficult without AMM.
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I did consulting for both products, mainly E10 but also P21 for a couple of years. Now doing inhouse consulting and development for one of my last E10 customers, which should have been a P21 client, won’t elaborate on the whys…
You can make E10 work for distribution but I would have preferred P21. Low manufacturing is much easier in P21, less overhead and windows to deal with, much easier for the end user.
Worst part of E10 still is speed, and unless the backbone is finally sped up in Kinetic we won’t even consider moving.
Now re moving from E10 to P21 or reverse, you have to see it as a complete new implementation, they have in common as much as any other ERP system, not only because they had been two different companies. same as you would move from Epicor Enterprise to ERP.
If you are a true distributor and have the option, I would go P21 any day. It just does out of the box most distribution tasks you have to “teach” ERP.
Having said that it’s been a few years but I don’t think P21 has stalled since 
Also absolutely loved the original dev and support team from P21, dedicated and responsive is all I can say!
Good luck
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Utaylor, If you have the need for that much Manufactuing its properly the right fit. In my case I think we can bring up the other company and then migrate over my company rather than trying to make it fit. If you would like to talk about it reach out and we can schedule a call. Neither our two companies support traditional manufacturing and rather we have assemblies into stock or sales kits.
Andreas - Thank you for your advice and I am going to represent this today. I was in favor years ago with moving to P21 (or another distribution ERP but was told no). New ownership will spend were needed and the company we purchased was in discussion about moving to P21.
I can see where Kinetic has taken from P21 and I think the over feel and ‘smoothness’ s there.
If you have some time to talk, I do have some specific question. Just let me know what works for you.
John
I would agree not Elegant, but you can make it work.
Utaylor, we do at my company and have been since 10.0.200.6 ( I think that was the release) and today on SaaS 2022.2.x
Thank you, Rick. Do you have some time discuss about the API’s you have created?
John
@GTI07094 that would be potentially pretty helpful. Distribution is different given each company, but maybe you have overcome some of the issues we are having with it.
I’ll shoot you a direct message.
Absolutely. Send me an email to ricks@greywolf.com with your availability. In the meantime, you can visit greywolf.com.
We are. Epicor/Kinetic ERP isn’t pretty and has a lot of problems, but frankly 99% of them would be solved by better docs.
But it’s incredibly versatile, and we do distribution, individual sales, and massive multi-years project sales all with the one system.
A friend who used Epicor for a few years recently evaluated P21 for a Jan-San pure distribution/3PL business, and ultimately decided it didn’t offer anything better. But I haven’t seen it myself.
We couldn’t do this without heavily customizing the system - and, let’s be honest, a lot of smartsheets - but it gives such a complete framework, whether you’re a code or low-code user, that all business models are possible.
It’s actually a great question and thank you, because I’ve been raging against the machine a bit lately and it helps to remember what the wretched thing CAN do.
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We buy sheet goods
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we buy components that we also sometimes make from sheet goods
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we buy and resell finished products that we don’t touch
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we assemble products and also sometimes subcontract that assembly
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within that, we sometimes also have the subcontractor make the components and sometimes not
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we sell to about 250 distributors who sell value-added packages
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we sell to end users who do their own installs
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we sell to wholesalers. who sell to distributors
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we sell to distributors who then install and bill us for installation, which we then bill to the end user
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we sell to huge customers, ship to up to 300 different installers for them, pay the installers and bill the customers, associating every SO with a TO, a VIN, and the installation invoice
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we manage 27,000 components that are sold as 3000 finished products
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we have about a dozen different price programs plus custom
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we have multiple companies, sites and currencies
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we enter all orders in one site and automatically determine where to build and ship from
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we automatically determine the correct site to build vs stock in, and generate TOs and jobs accordingly
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we execute 3500 jobs per week and 99.7% complete and close automatically within tolerance
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we don’t use AMM or material queue
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we don’t use scheduling, fulfilment workbench, job wizardy things, etc
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we don’t use ECM
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we don’t use AFR
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we grow 15-20% every year
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we have tripled in growth without adding IT or ERP staff
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99% DIFOT for 3 years
EVERY SINGLE USER POLLED says access to clear information about the system is their ONLY constraint. Sometimes they call that “more Steve” and sometimes “more docs” but it’s all the same.
So I think distribution works fine.
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I would make a distinction between distribution and big box distribution.
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