Epicor Software Corp. announced The Collins Companies has chosen its Epicor Prophet 21 platform as its ERP solution.

Industrial PVF distributor The Collins Companies (No. 13 on the 2016 Supply House Times Premier 150) has nine locations in the Northeast and is headquartered in East Windsor, Conn. The company was founded in 1920 and purchased by President Brian Tuohey in 1998. Tuohey led the search for a new ERP solution in April 2015.

“Before choosing Prophet 21, we relied on enterprise asset management software and we were the only distributor using that system,” Tuohey said. “We knew we wanted our next solution to offer features and insights specific to the distribution industry. The Prophet 21 customer profit analyzer, for example, will make it easier for us to see how profitable our customers are and adjust our strategy accordingly.”

The Collins Companies noted it is in the midst of an aggressive growth period. The company acquired Burns Cascade Co. in 2012, Apex Remington Pipe & Supply in 2013 and Power House Supply in 2015. Though the acquisitions increased the company’s geographic footprint, Collins executives recognized the importance of enabling communication among new employees at different locations and also wanted to streamline multiple software applications into one solution.

“It’s difficult to run an efficient business when the tools you’re using aren’t talking to each other,” said Mary Fahy, assistant to the president at The Collins Companies. “We knew we needed to get all of our information into one centralized location, and that’s what we’re hoping Prophet 21 will do for us. This also will enable our sales staff from recent acquisitions to easily and quickly access account data no matter their location, allowing the entire Collins team to serve our customers better.”