Major Enhancements

Ostendo® has announced that in their next major release, due in March

There are 2 enhancements due out in the next major update (Multi-Currency A/R & Data Collection). Following are some brief details on what to expect:

Data Collection

Data Collection will mean different things to everyone reading this; hence Development-X has decided rather than hard coding a screen that might only suite a small percentage of businesses, they would provide the ability for it to be tailored specifically to a business. In other words they will provide basic templates for the common requirements (eg: Time & Attendance and Job Tracking), but these could then be tailored to suite any unique requirements (or, a completely new screen can be developed, a little like the ability to create Inquiry screens).

The other factor considered was how data should be captured (keyboard, scanner or touch screen);  it was decided that we should support all those methods; therefore the new data Collection screen will be a hybrid screen allowing capture via 1 or more of those methods at the same time.

Multi-Currency A/R

The main things to point out for this will be the following:

1)      Price Levels will be by currency

2)      Default currencies will be by Customer (but with the ability to change at order time)

3)      The currency for customer payments can be different to the invoice currency.

Inquiry Screen Drill Downs

Development-X has added the ability to define drill downs (File-Reporting Configuration-Inquiry Drill-Down) to Inquiry Screens (remember Inquiries can be created through the ‘Report & View Developer’ screen). The idea of this is to provide the ability to link to either a specific screen or another Inquiry. As an example you may wish to inquire on all invoices for a customer, and then when you’ve selected a specific invoice, open the actual invoice screen (drill downs are activated by right clicking in the inquiry grid). As mentioned you can also drill down (or chain) to other Inquiry screens. An example of this might be where you’re got a Customer Inquiry and then wish to see all open Sales Orders against that Customer; and from there show all lines for a particular Sales Order; and then display the complete transaction history for that item.

Therefore with this facility; the ability to define any inquiry screens, and with the new Multi-Tab Inquiry (as is outlined in the next paragraph); any type of inquiry is possible. Please see the Tutorial Help for more information.

Multi-Tab Inquires

Development-X has enhanced the Inquiry style of screen to include multiple sub-inquires (or tabs). What we mean by this is the ability to define an Inquiry screen with up-to 6 child type sub queries. The standard ‘Customer Statistics’ screen is laid out in a similar manner. In essence the Inquiry screen detects how many detail queries have been defined (Report & View Developer) and displays the screen accordingly:

1)       If a master query only has been defined, the Inquiry screen will appear with 2 tabs (List & Detail)

2)       If a master and 1 detail query are defined, then the Inquiry screen will appear with 3 tab (List, Detail & Lines)

3)       If a master and 2-6 detail queries have been defined, then the Inquiry screen will appear with 2 main tabs and 2-6 sub tabs within the detail tab (like the ‘Customer Statistics’ Screen).

Every one of the detail queries can have their own drill-downs. There are 2 examples of this new Multi-Tab inquiry (Multi Inquiry – Customer Information & Multi Inquiry – Supplier Information). Please see the Tutorial Help for more information.

Multi-Dimensional Order Entry

Development-X has added the ability to capture dimensional information (including pack sizes) at Sales & Job Order Lines. What we mean by this, is that against Items (new tab called ‘Order Dims’ in the ‘Items’ screen) you can define the following to be available at order entry time:

1)       Use Length, and also whether there is a fixed length. Products that might use length would be timber or steel, where the base unit of measure is ‘Metres’, but the customer orders in the number of certain size lengths. Fixed would only be defined if the product had to be sold in full lengths.

2)       Use Width, and also whether there is a fixed width. This works exactly like Length, and would commonly be used in conjunction with length. An example would be in the tile industry where the customer would provide the length and width of the room/s and by keying this in, the number of tiles would automatically be calculated. For tiles you would also use the Fixed Length & Width feature, thereby calculating the number of full tiles.

3)       Use Depth, and also whether there is a fixed depth. Works as above but for products that require a volumetric calculation.

4)       Use Pack Size, and the ability to define the pack sizes with their own conversion factors. This would be used in industries where the customer orders in packs of a certain size but the stock and pricing might be in say kilograms. This pack size feature can also be used for comments against any of the above dimensions.

5)       Conversion Factor allows a fixed factor to be automatically applied when calculating the quantity of product. An example of this might be for paint, where the surface area is entered, and then based on a conversion factor the amount of paint can automatically be calculated.

Cost Centre Transactions

Development-X has added a new screen called ‘Cost Centre Transactions’ (General-Cost Centre Transactions). This allows the user to enter parameters and then generates a report for cost centre transactions (not unlike a Financial Trial Balance Report).

Purchase Receipts Undo Feature

Development-X has added the ability to undo an Updated Purchase Receipt. This will create reversing financial transactions and allow the receipt to be edited before posting again. Any Purchase invoices that have been matched to that receipt will need to be deleted before undoing the posting.

POS Quotations

Development-X has added the ability to create POS Quotations from within the Point of Sale screen. There is a new field called ‘Sales Style’ which has 2 options (’Order’, Quote’), if the ‘Quote’ option is selected the user will be able to print a Quotation sheet using ‘Alt-P’. Once a Quote has been created it is then put On-Hold until it is either converted to an Order (by changing the Style) or by clicking the ‘alt-No Sale’ button.

The main difference between a Quote and an Order is that a Quote doesn’t book stock out and a Quote can’t be paid for.

POS Blind End of Day Cash-up

Development-X has added the ability for the POS End of Day to be carried out without displaying what the system thinks is in the cash drawer. This option can be turned on in the File-System Configuration-User Security & Options screen.

Inventory Label Printing Enhancement

Development-X has added the ability to print barcode labels for Items that are not necessarily in stock, via the ‘Inventory Labels’ screen. There is a new drop-down list allowing the user to select ‘Items’ which will then change the contents of the grid to all Items with all pre-defined characteristics (eg: Colour, Size & Grade) and for units of measure. The other enhancement is the ‘Item Barcodes’ screen now allows for barcodes to be defined as ‘Internal’; which basically means that the barcode will be printed on the labels, and that there can’t be more than 1 Internal barcode for every unique combination of Item, Unit of Measure and characteristics.

Excellent Operational Solutions Pty Ltd began operations in November 2008 as a strong collaboration between BusiSolutions Pty Ltd and Australian Custom Software Pty Ltd t/a ThinkSoft.  The collaboration brings the expertise of Sales, Operational Management and Software Development together for the purpose of supporting the growing community of Ostendo® users in Australia.

Ostendo® is software for Operational Excellence, developed by Development-X, a New Zealand software development company.   Excellent Operational Solutions Pty Ltd aims to be the foremost support agency in Australia for the Ostendo® software application.  Integration with other applications allows Ostendo® to become the central hub of business operations.

EOS has already made several sales and has established a support role with other existing users of Ostendo.