Source: Modern Distribution Management, November 10, 2003

Prophet 21, Yardley, PA, has acquired Systems Design, Inc., Chicago, IL, the provider of Prism software. Prism has a customer base of 238 distributors in the U.S. and Canada, about 25 percent of those tile and floor covering distributors.

The company has a similar customer footprint across several wholesale distribution sectors as Prophet 21, including industrial, electrical, plumbing and HVACR. There are also customers in restaurant supplies. Prophet 21 said it would continue to support Prism, a Unix-based legacy software package that uses COBOL and the UniData database. Prophet 21 already has customers among tile and floor covering distributors, including Arizona Tile, H.J. Oldenkamp, Sunderland Brothers and more.

It's good match from a value proposition standpoint, according to Doug Levin, executive vice president for Prophet 21. Prophet 21 CommerceCenter is a natural upgrade for Prism customers as their needs change, and a good fit for its Trading Partner Connect Internet trading network. But System's Design's products and services will be supported, developed, marketed and sold by Prophet into the future, Levin said.

Systems Design, founded in 1977, is about one-tenth the size of Prophet 21, according to Levin. Prophet 21 has a customer base of 2400. Prophet 21, before going private in a management buyout, reported 2002 revenues of $43.5 million. Systems Design has 30 employees. Levin said the acquisition brings a lot of talent held by the Systems Design people with specific distribution technology knowledge and experience, similar to Prophet 21's acquisition earlier this year of Faspac Systems, which provides systems into the fastener distribution industry.

Back to Top