Fishbowl

Pros

This software is easy to use and easy to deploy. Great extension for QB users. It can also connect Shopify, Amazon, Ebay, Shipping management such as Shiprush, etc.

Cons

In Inventory, you have 2 types of materials: Part and Product. This is somehow confusing.

Pros

Our team found both these ease of use and relative ease of integration to be among the most attractive components of Fishbowl. The variety of modules allow close monitoring of essentially every aspect of
physical asset tracking . With Fishbowl we can organize warehouse parts inventory , print labels,and
organize purchase orders which organizes our supply side. Fishbowl's sales side module allows for effective tracking of lead times as well as sales item forecasting so we are never behind on available inventory .

Cons

Fishbowl Manufacturing software at this time time requires the use of a server which we had to supply .
In exchange for all other features , we see this as a nominal and not inconvenient requirement as at the time we were adding new computer assets. This requirement may not suit all smaller companies.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Fishbowl

Pros

I like that this program allows your company to do a lot, as long as you know how to do it. It has also helped our company create more rigidity and procedure (Whether we wanted to or not).

Cons

I do not like that we have paid over $30,000 for a program that has basic functionality issues. We experience issues with basic things like scanning products, typing in fields, synchronizing inventory with our online store, etc. Also, their kitting function is what we were originally sold on, but we have now completely stopped using the function because it has fundamental issues. They are not always detrimental, but the accumulation of these small issues results in a program that you wouldn't believe costs what it does. Quite unfortunate.
Another common issue that we face is the program's habit of freezing constantly. From what I have learned from support, the program does this on purpose to protect the database from data loss, but what it results in is our Sales guys needing to restart our POS program CONSTANTLY. Literally, on almost every transaction, their "Checkout" program freezes and they need to force quit and reopen. Our purchaser has also often been in the middle of a large PO, and the program freezes, requiring a restart and loss of that whole PO.
Speaking of the POS side, their "Checkout" program is not great at all. It experiences all of the aforementioned issues but is also just a program that feels like they don't work towards improving at all. On top of that, they don't even integrate with any other POS programs or companies that work for basic retail applications, so we currently don't have an alternative.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Fishbowl

Pros

Fishbowl helps us maintain all lot tracing records, re-order points, and sales and purchase orders. It makes audit time much simpler!

Cons

There aren't as many reports as I would like and it isn't very intuitive to setup - we had to hire an outside expert.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Fishbowl

Reasons for Switching to Fishbowl

Pros

Integration with our manufacturing process was easy. Purchases, Receiving, Bill of materials and Work Orders fulfilled our needs.

Cons

Reports provided are too basic, no help documentation to create your own reports. If you need a detailed or custom reports you have to purchase them apart.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Fishbowl

Switched From