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Functionality
4.1
/5
801
Total features
116
31 categories
Fishbowl features
Common features of Manufacturing software
Rudy V.
Consumer Goods, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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It is a positive experience.
It is powerful inventory tracking software that can be built out to your needs
It can be expensive to build out custom reporting and features with fishbowl
Leilani T.
Food & Beverages,
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The customer support is great. It's just hard to get a hold of them when you need to speak to a live person on the phone. The people who work there are the nicest and most helpful when you do get to talk to them and they do resolve the day to day issues that pop up. ie, inventory getting stuck in committed status is a pretty quick fix, but then again, should it really happen in the first place?. Bigger problems take more time to fix, but they seem to keep working on it until its resolved. The people they have providing training are excellent. The wikis are pretty easy to access and are pretty good
This year the updates seem to break something that's had been working. Then it takes hours with customer support to fix and get going again. The phone support team could use more staff because it does take hours to get a call back. The reports are difficult to customize, you have to know programming. There is no simple report writer function or a reports that can be customized. If you have...
Matt C.
Wholesale, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 6-12 months
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Fishbowl was easy to deploy, easy to use and easy to integrate. Our experiences are very good overall.
Nice looking interface and very easy to use. The REST API is very easy to work with.
It would be a great feature to allow 3PL to bill their customers from Fishbowl.
Verified reviewer
Furniture, self-employed
Used daily for 2+ years
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I paid a lot of money for this software for my small and growing business. Training was expensive and took many weeks. Integrations with Quickbooks and my Sales channels were buggy and resulted in hours of extra work to edit changed sales orders and sift through garbage data sent to QB. A few months ago I uncovered a bug with how data was sent to Quickbooks that totally screwed up my books. Two different...
At first the customer support was great. You could call and a human would answer the phone and log into your screen and help you quickly. Those days are over apparently.
Fishbowl support has gone in the toilet. The phone menu you get for support doesn't even have an option for just solving a workflow problem or explaining an unexpected error or problem. They have the call back feature, which can take hours, if they actually call back. They promise to look into problems and then don't.
Lynzey G.
Executive Office, 1-10 employees
Used daily for less than 6 months
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Overall the software seems to manage most of our needs. I am frustrated with the lack of nesting capabilities for parts and products. My understanding of the product tree was that it solved those issues.
Haven't used it enough to say, but it was very essay to cycle our inventory numbers.
The login process isn't reliable. Havening to purchase multiple users. That seems very impractical as our company grows. The appearance of the software itself seems a bit dated.
Conrad G.
Business Supplies and Equipment, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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We have been using Fishbowl Inventory since 2011 and while it has been quite an eventful journey we have seen definite improvements over the years in stability and ease of use.
QuickBooks integration is probably the feature I appreciate the most about Fishbowl. Any small to mid sized business that is outgrowing QuickBooks inventory management features but doesn't want to pay the price of an all-inclusive ERP program targeted for larger corporations should consider Fishbowl Inventory. The ability to track inventory by location, assign multiple vendors to one item, create intuitive...
One inherent weakness with Fishbowl is the QuickBooks export connection. Fishbowl has made tremendous improvements in this area since we first started using it, but there are still multiple times that we need to restart the connection before running an export. To be fair, this may be as much QuickBooks' problem as Fishbowl's. The software also tends to be buggy after new releases. Again, they have...
Tom H.
Used daily for 2+ years
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Since our business depends on inventory movement of over 4,000 items, it has helped tremendously in time, effort & accuracy.
Logical progression of activity and inventory movement. System is reliable and like anything else if it is used properly, you can rely on the results for inventory verification, PO status and exporting to QuickBooks.
the reports feature needs work to better assimilate data as I find the need to get outside help to write reports that I like to see but is nice to see that it assimilates in the system
Jennifer C.
Transportation/Trucking/Railroad, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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The versatility of viewing and tracking inventory the way we wanted to.
It lacked accounting software that we needed.
Thank you for taking the time to leave this review, Jennifer. We appreciate your feedback.
Cassie M.
Warehousing, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Being able to operate above and beyond to what we used to. We can now compete with our competitors
I absolutely love that FB is easy to use and easy to teach. It has all the features that our company uses daily. Examples include customer pricing rules, customer "numbers" or customer sku's, Auto PO function, The import/export feature has been a God-send when we need to import products to our website or send information to our customers. The substitute feature is very helpful too. We also really love how we can create custom fields within every module. I really love how the FB team remembers our company when we call and goes above and beyond when we have a hiccup or questions. We can thank FB for some of our company's success. W/o being able to correctly track inventory and use it for daily operations, we wouldn't be operating at the level we are today.
There aren't things that I like "the least" but there are things I wish FB offered/had that would help our type of business/company. This includes: 1) Since we are a product distributor, we provide a lot of our customers w/ "quotes." FB has the ability to create an "estimate" but no way to store it or look back at it for reference. Pricing rules are essentially only created in our line of operation...
Dave M.
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North Park is a 3rd Party Logistics and Contract Packaging business, specializing in light manufacturing, warehousing, and B2C shipping services. We provide each customer the service and attention only the 'big guys' get at other fulfillment houses. Our search for a new Inventory/Manufacturing software solution was prompted by our move away from a warehouse operation towards a 3rd party solution...
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Tommy B.
Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing, 1-10 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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We've been successfully using Fishbowl now for at least five years and it's allowed our company to process orders and control our inventory to a point where everything runs smoothly between our manufacturing team and our front of house team. Fishbowl has helped turned our "mom and pop" business into a streamlined operation with customers all over the world.
I have used other CRM/inventory management applications over the years and Fishbowl is by far one of the most robust, all-in-one solutions for our business. It's ease of use, stability, and accessibility has helped run our business for the past several years in terms of POS operations, inventory control, and handling purchase orders.
My only complaints are that, under the customer tab, the SAVE and DELETE buttons are next to each other. Also under the customer tab, the check balance is next to the history button (which we have to utilize constantly throughout the day). If we accidentally hit CHECK BALANCE, the process runs and holds up Fishbowl for upwards towards a minute. Since this is not something that we utilize, is there a way to possibly disable that button?
Michael G.
Fine Art, 1-10 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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Overall, I am satisfied with purchasing the Fishbowl software for manufacturing bill of materials and inventory management. Have only been using for approximately one year but so far it seems much easier to use compared to the previous software that we used. We have only used the out of the box software. All other software's we use always required special programing which was always a hassle and large expense.
The ease of set-up and use of the manufacturing process. Very intuitive and do not need to spend a lot of time training new people to use. Once we set up, new users can begin working with very little guidance.
The training was good, but for a startup additional training time would be good after we are up and running. After the initial training I only heard from someone when they wanted to sell me something additional. No follow-up calls, emails or communication to determine if there were any additional questions or concerns. With software I always felt that good prompt support is essential. I still have issues with the QB accounting integration, and I receive zero support from FB.
Nick V.
Farming,
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Fishbowl is a great company to work with! They are a solutions based company that strives to take the input of their customer. When we first implemented Fishbowl Inventory Software three years ago, we utilized their on site training to help assist with the setup and initial training. They don't just provide a cookie cutter approach to their support and training, they realize they work with all types of industry and have been able to adapt their software to work in nearly every need for inventory related purposes. Their software is easy to use, better than a DOS based system, and has great user interface for easy training of employees.
Fishbowl is very good at answering your questions and their tech support. Sometimes you have to leave a message and they have to return a phone call, however it is in a timely manner, and they generally have a solution prior to calling you back, getting your issue resolved in a timely manner. Their "live chat" on their website is a good alternative if they are unavailable by phone and your question just can't wait.
Ron D.
Logistics and Supply Chain, 1-10 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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When I purchased Fishbowl there were many issues and I was very frustrated. After several attempts I met one of the CSR and can I say what a breath of fresh air he was and is. It is nice to meet someone who has your concerns on his mind when he approaches you and the way he handles matters is the way any company owner appreciates. He has been above the call of duty every time he handles my concerns. I...
Inventory Tracking is the biggest thing. Easy of use with Sales Order and Purchase Orders. It sends my accounting info to Quickbooks automatically at the end of the day.
Set up was a little time consuming. It took some effort to get everything in properly and just adapting to the new software functionality.
Cindy D.
Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing,
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Fishbowl has been a good fit for our company so far. Learning a new software is almost like learning a new language, so it does take time to get to know all the features and understand how this software was designed to "think". This is where Customer Service comes in... and this is where Fishbowl shines. They have GREAT people on staff that are always willing to make the time to give you the training...
The most difficult part of Fishbowl has been using the Reports. We haven't quite figured out how to utilize them to pull the information we need. But I believe this is because the needs of our particular business aren't the needs of most companies. We also have the option to have custom reports made for those particular needs. Some of the formatted reports do not include grand totals.
Nathan Z.
Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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We currently use Fishbowl to manage our inventory, process payments, and manage customer accounts. We are looking to expand and utilize many other integrations for web store and asset tracking capabilities.
The support team is always ready to dive into your database file and find the root cause of issues in your environment. Serialization and product tracking is very functional and allows us to obtain important history on each item sold Reports have high customization options and with a little SQL programming knowledge you can virtually get any information you are looking for out of the database.
Growing pains in the earlier years of Fishbowl was a little difficult but many of these have gone away after they switched from Firebird to MySQL platform. It is a little expensive.
Thank you for leaving us this review, Nathan. We appreciate you taking the time to give us some feedback on your experience here at Fishbowl. We are happy to hear that it has been satisfactory for your company.
Terry O.
Chemicals, 1-10 employees
Used daily for less than 6 months
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Downloaded the demo (most current version) and found most feature impressive and easily configurable. Minor little things bothered me, such as a non-standard DB, no easily accessible hooks, and limited printer support (we use BarTender Labels, and wanted to tap into printing them within FB, but had no luck). For me, this is a not a show stopper, but I've been spoiled with other ERPS, LIMS, PIMS, and MRPs. Overall - it works with QuickBooks - which is great if you have to use Quickbooks, and it covers about 90% of your business rules out of the box. Again, flexible, but not perfect.
The interface is slick and looks fun to use. The dashboards will keep even your most attention-deficit workers accountable with the easy to understand graphical display. For the price, it will get your small to medium sized business working with proper ISO practices without too many issues. I love that it's all encompassing and covers all the areas needed to properly control your finances within the manufacturing sector. Not too big, not too small. Comfortable.
Understand that I've been doing informatics systems for a few years, so I'm used to having 'options', or at least access to an SDK so that I find some ways to trigger events. I'm also a Microsoft fan, so foreign databases and java scripts leave me a little intimidated. I'm also a cheap SOB, so if I can't do it, I'll be damned to pay a consultant to make my reports for me. That being said, if you like the generic reports and labels, this is a no-brainer, but if you're picky, it's slightly annoying.
Kelly M.
Medical Devices, 1-10 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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The best thing about Fishbowl is the Customer Service! Everyone is so knowledgeable and helpful. I can usually get a response from someone within the hour. The Reps I have worked with will keep digging until we figure out the situation. They have been instrumental in my successfully implementing Fishbowl.
I really like the Icons and the separate modules. Our company outsources manufacturing and also uses Consignment options. I use the manufacturing order to follow the product through the process and land costs. This has been very helpful when figuring COGS. I like the options for transfer orders to move the product between warehouses. There are many ways to pull reports, to track data as well. I have not had to create custom reports because of all the choices offered by Fishbowl.
This is complicated software for someone new to the manufacturing process. You have to be very careful not to complete a process until you are sure everything is correct. There are times that you cannot delete or void once you have completed/Fulfilled a process.
Charley K.
Retail, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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We have used Fishbowl in our corporate warehouse for over 5 years. Fishbowl makes processing both eCommerce and wholesale orders easy and organized. It also makes purchasing inventory a breeze with in depth historical reporting and sales forecasting. I would also highly recommend investing in the Janam handheld scanner running Fishbowl mobile software; makes cycle counts hassle-free. There is a slight learning curve, but is still much easier than other inventory systems we've used in the past.
Best part of Fishbowl is their reporting. Being able to analyze past purchasing and sales reports to better forecast inventory movement is crucial and Fishbowl nails it. I also like that they have a direct import and export function to link with our eCommerce site.
The menu and navigation can seem a bit convoluted, but I'm convinced this is the case with any software boasting so much functionality.
Robert B.
Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Definitely a medium-steep learning curve for the system administrator who needs to know how everything works and works together.
Many, many features available for inventory control and manufacturing, and the program integrates seemlessly with Quickbooks. The recently improved Material Requirements Forcasting feature should be a great help with just-in-time purchasing. The overall product is slowly but consistently improved at no charge to customers under their support contract.
The inventory module should integrate more seamlessly with other modules such as purchasing and sales orders without having to resort to using reports. Some online documentation is lacking, especially for integration plugins and lesser-used features.
Cathy S.
Paper & Forest Products, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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CSR in Customer Support saved the day with her patience, total understanding of Fishbowl, and being able to get us up and running again so quickly. She is very good at seeing the big picture of what needs to be done, and then pull in database techs and use her own expertise to quickly fix a complicated software problem! Thank you so much, CSR! You are awesome!
We had to have a total reload, upgrade and re-enter inventory and parts for our entire company. We are a small company and do not have the breadth of experience to handle IT and software issues quickly. Thanks to Fishbowl and their support team, they filled the gap for us!
instruction manual rather cumbersome, much easier to just call customer support. Hard to figure out solutions from the manual for non-IT oriented people.
Angelo D.
Internet, 201-500 employees
Used daily for 1-2 years
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I have been using Fishbowl for several months now and I am very happy with the results. It's a comprehensive inventory management tool with a wide range of features and options. The user interface is intuitive and easy to use, and customer support is quick and helpful when needed. The pricing structure can be a bit complex, but overall, Fishbowl is an excellent choice for inventory management.
Fishbowl is an incredibly comprehensive inventory management tool. It has a wide range of features and options that make it easy to keep track of all the items in your inventory. The user interface is intuitive and easy to use, and the customer support is top-notch. I highly recommend Fishbowl for anyone looking for a reliable inventory management solution.
Fishbowl's pricing structure can be a bit confusing, and it can be hard to determine what the best option is for your particular situation. Additionally, the customer support could be improved, as there is sometimes a long wait time for help. Overall, though, Fishbowl is a great option for anyone looking for a reliable inventory management solution.
Michelle W.
Apparel & Fashion, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 2+ years
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Fishbowl has helped us save money by being able to control everything from inside and not having to hire multiple 3rd parties to make connections. Fishbowl continues to add and upgrade the software to what consumers ask for.
Fishbowl software is easy to use. I like that you always have step by step instructions and some videos to help guide you. If you don't find what you are looking for, all it takes is an email, and support helps you as quickly as they can.
The only negative issue I have while using Fishbowl software is with the reports. Even though they have multiple reports to choose from, I feel as some of them can be upgraded to include more than one product a t a time. Example, when searching for a product that was sold on a particular day, and you have more than one size of the same product, it would be nice to be able to select as many products as you want to look at versus one at a time.
Thank you so much for this review, Michelle. We appreciate you taking the time to provide your feedback. We are happy to hear that your experience has been satisfactory and will take your suggestions into consideration while we continue to make improvements.
Louis C.
Mechanical or Industrial Engineering, 11-50 employees
Used daily for 6-12 months
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Fishbowl Management software has offered our team a complete supply chain management and physical sales tracking system in one convenient system . In this time especially , we understand that organization and efficiency are paramount to surviving let alone prospering and we are thankful to Fishbowl for helping.
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 .
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.
Thank you for taking the time to leave this review, Louis. We appreciate your business and are happy to know that your experience has been satisfactory.
Christy C.
Retail, 1-10 employees
Used daily for 6-12 months
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I've been using Fishbowl for the past year. I bought it for a few reasons. One of the biggest reasons for me was because it can allow me to save credit card information for clients who continually order through our company. Another reason I liked it, is because I could place orders from anywhere using one of the plug ins. But the biggest reason I purchased it is because of it's accuracy in inventory,...
Encrypted credit card capture to charge recurring clients Stores pictures of the products that we sell Easy to add parts and products Lots and lots and lots of reports--- I don't think I've even opened half of them yet! I like how many features it has even though I don't use them all... it makes me think "When I get that far, then I can use this software to {fill in the blank} it's nice to know I literally have no limitations
I haven't found anything yet!