Ostendo Update Notes from 5 June 2007 – What’s New

Ostendo Update Notes from 5 June 2007 – What’s New

Customer Items

We have added a new screen (In the Related Menu for Items) to define Customers Code, Description, Unit & Conversion for Item Code’s. Once defined this information is then automatically printed on: (Invoices, Delivery Documents, Quotes & Order Acknowledgements). The Customers Code will also be available when searching in the Item List and Item Lookup screens (assuming the Advanced Search flag is set in the System Settings Screen).

NOTE: If you are upgrading Ostendo and want the new addition of Customer Codes on printed documents, you will need to copy the following files (‘JobQuoteSheet.fr3’, ‘SalesQuoteSheet.fr3’, ‘SalesInvoiceSheet.fr3’, ‘SalesProformaInvoiceSheet.fr3’, ‘SalesDeliverySheet’ & ‘SalesOrderSheet.fr3’) from the ‘Reports_Backup’ folder in the Ostendo ‘Reports’ directory.

Supplier Product Description

We have added the Suppliers Description for Products that are defined in the Buy Price Screens for both Items & Descriptors. This will also print on the Purchase Order as does the Code and Unit currently.

NOTE: If you are upgrading Ostendo and want the new addition of Supplier Description on printed documents, you will need to copy the following file (‘PurchaseOrderSheet.fr3’) from the ‘Reports_Backup’ folder in the Ostendo ‘Reports’ directory.

Bills of Material Batch Size

We have added the ability to define the Batch Size against a Bill of Material. This then allows the entry of quantities for components and output products to relate specifically to that batch size.

Assembly Order Copy

We have added the ability to change the Parent Item Code when copying from an existing Assembly Order. The idea is allow for like products to be manufactured without having to create a new Bill of Material every time.

Job Orders – Job Type Changing

You are now able to change the Job Type up to the creation of the first invoice or entry of any issuing to the Job (which ever comes first).

Job Value Bar – With Actuals

If the Value Bar option has been flagged against the Job Type, you now also have the option of selecting either ‘Order Values’ or ‘Actual Values’ for displaying the Job Rolled Up Price, Cost, Margin % & Mark-up %.

Job Types – Extra Settings

We have added 2 additional settings available against the Job Type.

Stop Invoicing if receipts are Due: This prevents creating a Job Invoice if there are any outstanding Purchase Receipts for that Job Order.

Simplified Scheduling: This hides most of the Job Scheduling information if that Job Type doesn’t require those features (Estimated Duration, Booking Status, Planned Start & End Dates).

Fixed Price Jobs

We have added to the ability to fix the Job Price when the Invoice Style is set to ‘From Schedule’. This is then used for the value when Invoicing or Quoting. The other new feature that fits with this is the ‘Free Form Print Lines for Invoicing & Quoting’ – see below for explanation.

Job Free Form Print Lines for Invoicing & Quoting

We have added the ability to independently define descriptive lines to print on the Quote/Invoice for where the Invoice Style has been set to ‘From Schedule’, either based on Planned Values or Fixed Price (Another new Feature added). This effectively allows for completely different lines to be printed on the Quote/Invoice than on the Job itself. The user has 3 Options:

1)       Print a Single Priced Line

2)       Print a Single Priced Line with a multi-line non-priced breakdown

3)       Print multiple priced lines

NOTE: If you are upgrading Ostendo and want the new addition of Free Form Lines on printed documents, you will need to copy the following files (‘JobQuoteSheet.fr3’,  ‘SalesInvoiceSheet.fr3’, ‘SalesProformaInvoiceSheet.fr3’) from the ‘Reports_Backup’ folder in the Ostendo ‘Reports’ directory.

Analysis Grouping – Defining Grouping for Quotes, Orders & Invoices

We have added the ability to define against the Analysis Groups (In General-Settings) grouping and sub total options for Quotes, Orders & Invoice printing. Although primarily added for the jobbing/engineering environments it has application in other industries. The grouping options are (‘No Grouping’, ‘Header and Footer’, ‘Group Totals Only’):

1)       No Grouping: Print lines normally and doesn’t print a Group Header or Footer for lines linked to this Analysis Group.

2)       Header and Footer: Prints lines and prints a Group Header and Footer for all lines linked to this Analysis Group (there is a sub-total printed in the Footer)

3)       Group Totals Only: Prints only a footer (no lines are printed) using the description of the Analysis Group and the subtotal as the extended line price for all lines linked to this Analysis Group.

NOTE: If you are upgrading Ostendo and want the new addition of Analysis Grouping on printed documents, you will need to copy the following files (‘JobQuoteSheet.fr3’, ‘SalesQuoteSheet.fr3’, ‘SalesInvoiceSheet.fr3’, ‘SalesProformaInvoiceSheet.fr3’, ‘SalesDeliverySheet’ & ‘SalesOrderSheet.fr3’) from the ‘Reports_Backup’ folder in the Ostendo ‘Reports’ directory.

Timesheets – Extra Entry Option

We have added the ability to select ‘Any’ in the ‘Entries by’ drop down in the header of the Timesheet. This option allows for any combination of Employee, Order and Charge-Code to be entered for that batch.

Labour Codes – New Add Lines flag

We have added a new flag against Labour Codes to enable all timesheet entries to create new Job or Assembly Lines. This will if set, create new Job or Assembly lines for every timesheet entry (primarily added for the service environments).

Descriptor Codes – Free Form Style

We have added a new setting against Descriptor Codes (Only for General Purpose classification), called ‘Free Form’. This is designed for where one-off products or services are purchased directly to a Job/Assembly Orders. The concept is that the description is overtyped at the time of ordering or receipting and a new line is created for the Job/Assembly Order with that code and the new description. The other new feature that works well with this, is the ‘Calculating Sell Price from Receipted Cost’ – see below for explanation.

Descriptors & Items – Calculating Sell Price from Receipted Cost

We have added a new setting against both Items & Descriptors called ‘Calculate Sell Price from Receipt Cost for Jobs’. This if set, allows the Unit Sell price to be based on the Receipt Cost plus a Mark-up percentage defined against that code. The common use for this would be in conjunction with the previous new feature ‘Free Form Descriptor Codes’; where a one-off product or service is purchased directly to the Job and the description and price is determined from the receipt. This feature is also available for Items, where your dealing with an item that has large variations in cost (maybe commodity products), and therefore pegging the price to the receipt cost makes sense.

Service Level Agreements

We have added a number of new screens (Service Agreements, Service Agreement Levels, Service Agreement Steps & Service Agreement Measures – in the CRM-Settings menu). These allow for definition of Service Level Agreements to be linked to Customers, and managed and monitored through the Call Centre. We will be completing the functionality for this area in the next update.

Sales Orders – New Sales Order Picking for Counter Order Style

We have added a new screen for high speed picking of lines in a Counter Style of Sales Order (called ‘Sales Order Picking’ and found as a button in the Batch Entry toolbar in the Sales lines tab). This screen is very similar to the Job Order issues screen and allows either pre-filling based on the current order lines, or creation of new lines (this features means that the sales lines can be created and picked in 1 step – more likely to occur in an over the counter type of environment). There are 2 new reports (Sales Order Pick List & Sales Order Delivery Sheet – see New Reports section at the end of this document) that have been added which also support using the Counter Style of Order.

Inventory Availability – Additional Information

We have added an additional tab to display the orders that make up the projected balances for the ‘Projected Availability’ tab.

Images Printing on Documents

We have upgraded the ‘Sales Quote’, ‘Sales Acknowledgement’, ‘Purchase Order’ & ‘Job Quote’ to automatically print any linked images against lines. Also there is an extra selection option when printing the ‘Standard Item Price List’ to include Item Images (Only images held against Items that have been flagged to ‘Display on Price List’ will print.

NOTE: If you are upgrading Ostendo and want the Images on printed documents, you will need to copy the appropriate files (‘JobQuoteSheet.fr3’, ‘SalesQuoteSheet.fr3’, ‘SalesOrderSheet.fr3’, ‘PurchaseOrderSheet.fr3’ & ‘StandardItemPriceList.fr3’) from the ‘Reports_Backup’ folder in the Ostendo ‘Reports’ directory.

Sales Invoices & Customer Statements – Remittance Advice

We have enhanced the Invoice & Statement layouts to include remittance options (If the flag for each has been checked in the System Setting screen) – Previously they were separate layout files.

NOTE: If you are upgrading Ostendo and want the Optional Remittance slip on either the Invoice or Statement documents, you will need to copy the appropriate files (‘SalesInvoiceSheet.fr3’ & ‘CustomerStatementReport.fr3’) from the ‘Reports_Backup’ folder in the Ostendo ‘Reports’ directory.

New Searching Options for Screens & Lookups

We have further enhanced the searching facility in all main screens and lookups (the search option in the bottom right hand corner of the opening lists). Enhancements are:

1)       If multiple words are entered with spaces between each word (eg: Steel Tube) then the search will search on each of those words independently (‘Steel’ or ‘Tube’)

2)       To search for multiple words that need to appear exactly (in other words you don’t want the previous ‘or’ functionality to apply), you can surround the words with double quotes (eg: “12 mm” – will search for where any of the searched fields have those exact characters).

3)       The searching is case insensitive in all fields – including note fields (remember that searching will only occur for fields added to the opening list by using the list customise function)

4)       Previously the characters ‘%’ and ‘_’ were treated as wild card characters, this is no longer the case and these are now treated as standard characters and can be searched on.

5)       If advanced searching is turned on (In the System-Settings screen) and you have defined ‘Customer Item Codes’ (A new feature) then the search for Item Codes will also match values in that table (exactly like it will for Supplier Item Codes & Item Properties)

Labour Mapping Matrix

We have added a new screen (In the Financial Configuration Menu) to enable Labour postings (Direct Labour, Fixed Overhead & Variable Overhead) to be specifically mapped to Cost Centres via any combination of: Labour Code Category, Labour Code Department, Employee Department & Employee Name. This breakdown is typically used were cost recoveries by Department are required.

Active Connections

We have added a new screen (In the File Menu) to enable viewing of the active connections for Ostendo. This screen is likely to be required when preforming administrative type functions (eg: Global Name Change, Global Data Merge, or Updating Ostendo with the latest upgrade).

Note: This will show all connections to the Ostendo Database including any external connections.

Custom Products – Creating New Items and BOM’s from a single Custom Product

We have added in the ability to swap a Custom Product Code from within the Custom Product Script to a completely new code; which then replaces the code in the Sales or Job line you’re in. This Item Code doesn’t need to be a custom product nor does it need to exist; this means that a single custom product (used only to store the rules) can be used to create a new Item Code, and optionally, a Bill of Materials for the specific answers given. There are numerous uses for this feature in the manufacturing or engineering environments, but a less obvious one would be; as a way to enter Sales Order lines based on a series of questions.

A working example of this (use Custom Product OD-7002) is available in the latest Demonstration database.

Note: For those upgrading you can download it from: http://www.ostendo.info/downloads/ostendo/DemonstrationDatabase.zip

System Alerts – 2 New Alerts have been added

We have added 2 new System Alerts (In the System Configuration menu). Remember all alerts can be activated and then specifically linked to one or more users of the system. Another point to note is that some of the alerts have modifiable tolerances that can be adjusted to suit their sensitivity. The new alerts are:

1)       ItemsNotMoving: This alert flags any Item Codes that have a quantity in stock but haven’t moved for a specified (tolerance) number of days. Designed to highlight slow moving product lines giving both their current inventory value and the last date issued or sold.

2)       InvoicePriceTolerance: This alert flags any purchase invoice lines that have an invoice unit price that varies more than the specified tolerance against the receipt price for that product or service.

Analysis Views – New Assembly & Job Schedule Views (see the new Reporting Help for explanation of Analysis Views)

We have added 2 new Analysis Views that display the Order Schedules for either Assembly Orders or Job Orders. They display down to Labour Code level by either Assembly Step or Job Task. These Analysis Views can be found in either the Assembly-Views menu or the Jobs-Views menu. 

Please Note: See the New Reporting help for explanation on what is available when displaying and manipulating the Analysis views.

Pivot Views – 3 New Pivot Views have been added (see the new Reporting Help for explanation of Pivot Views)

We have added 3 new Pivot Views; these are: ‘Loading & Capacity’ (Labour-Views menu), ‘Job Orders’ (Jobs-Views menu) and ‘Assembly Orders’ (Assembly-Views menu). Pivot Views in general are an extremely powerful method of analysing and reporting on information in a cross tab or OLAP style of view. The most common use of the Pivot View would be for Sales & Purchasing analysis. The new Pivot Views are as follows:

1)       Loading & Capacity: This Pivot view allows you to analyse the loading, capacity and available hours by groupings such as Department and Labour Codes. The maximum horizon for this is out 365 days – however you can define your own horizon when running the view (Note: There is also a Chart view of this information).

2)       Assembly Orders: This Pivot view allows you to analyse the current assembly orders at an order level

3)       Job Orders: This Pivot view allows you to analyse the current job orders at an order level

Please Note: See the New Reporting help for explanation on what is available when displaying and manipulating the Pivot views.

Chart Views – New Loading & Capacity Chart (see the new Reporting Help for explanation of Chart Views)

We have added a new Loading & Capacity Chart allowing you to graph the loading, capacity and available hours by groupings such as Department and Labour Codes.

Please Note: See the New Reporting help for explanation on what is available when displaying and manipulating the Chart views.

New Help Files

We have added 3 new Help files under the main Help menu. These cover the following:

1)       Reporting Help: Explanation and help on using and editing Reports, Analysis Views, Pivot Views & Chart Views

2)       Functionality Help: Explanation and help on the process flows and logic within Ostendo

3)       Accounting Help: Explanation and help on the accounting Link to MYOB

Reports. A few new reports have been added and some old ones upgraded. These are:

Please Note: The Latest report formats can always be found in the ‘Reports_Backup’ folder in the Ostendo ‘Reports’ directory.

• Customer Order Transaction Listing: This report is available from the ‘Reports’ menu against the Customer. It allows for selection of a date range and then displays a detailed listing of Sales Orders with-in that range (including a summary of the average order values for that Customer, and compared to other Customers)

• Supplier Order Transaction Listing: This report is available from the ‘Reports’ menu against the Supplier. It allows for selection of a date range and then displays a detailed listing of Purchase Orders with-in that range (including a summary of the average order values for that Supplier, and compared to other Suppliers)

• Sales Order Pick List & Sales Order Delivery Sheet: These 2 reports are available from the ‘Reports’ menu against in the Sales Order Screen. They have been specifically developed for printing Pick Lists and Delivery Documents for the Counter Style of Sales Order.

Job Order Pick & Job Consolidate Pick: These 2 reports are available from the ‘Reports’ menu in the Job Order Screen. The Job Order Pick groups all items that require picking by Job Task, whereas the Job Consolidate Pick prints a consolidated list by item for the entire Job.

Ostendo Update Notes from 9 May 2007 – What’s New

Ostendo Update Notes from 9 May 2007 – What’s New

Colour Tracking in Order Screens

We have added the ability to define tracking colours for all order tracking codes. This colour can then be displayed in the opening lists for Job Orders, Sales Orders, Purchase Orders & Assembly Orders.

Expanded Job & Sales Quoting Options

We have added the ability to select 3 different styles of quotes (Formal, Letter & User) and have included an additional quotation options screen for defining the contents of the layout (eg: Letter body) and the amount of detail to print.

NOTE: If you are upgrading Ostendo the new Quoting functionality will only be available to you if you copy the ‘JobQuoteSheet.fr3’ and the ‘SalesQuoteSheet.fr3’ from the ‘Reports_Backup’ folder in the Ostendo ‘Reports’ directory.

Displaying Task Bill Contents on Invoices & Quotes

There is now an additional option in Job Orders (for Task Bill types of Job Lines) to select whether the planned or actual contents of the task bill is printed on the quote and/or invoice. Useful for where a fixed price is quoted for a task, but the customer still requires the material & labour breakdown (no prices for the content details).

NOTE: If you are upgrading Ostendo the new Quoting & Invoicing functionality will only be available to you if you copy the (‘JobQuoteSheet.fr3’, ‘SalesQuoteSheet.fr3’, ‘SalesInvoiceSheet.fr3’, ‘SalesProformaInvoiceSheet.fr3’) from the ‘Reports_Backup’ folder in the Ostendo ‘Reports’ directory.

New Job Issues Screen

We have added a simple issues screen (located in the batch toolbar of the lines tab) for high speed issuing while in a Job Order. This provides a fast method of creating both the job lines & actuals issues in a single entry.

Improved Inventory Replenishment

The speed of running the inventory replenishment for a large number of products has been significantly improved.

Setting Currency Decimal Places

There is now the ability to define the number of decimal places allowable for currency type fields (eg: Unit Costs & Prices) from 2 to 6. The default is set to 2, but can be altered in the System Setting screen (System Configuration menu).

Screen Sensitive Help

We have added the ability to display the specific screen help while in that screen by pressing the function key (F1).

Running Ostendo in a Scheduled Command Line Mode on a Server/Workstation

The Ostendo executable will now run in command line mode (non-graphical) if a script name is passed as the final parameter (eg: “C:\Program Files\Ostendo\ostendo.exe” SCRIPT=CallCentreEmailScript). See the ‘Scripting Enhancements’ for examples of how this can be used in a business.

Scripting Enhancements

We have added approximately 50 new functions to the Ostendo scripting engine. We are in the process of documenting and developing working examples. To provide an insight into what will be possible here are some typical uses:

• Importing Orders such as Sales, Purchases, Jobs and Assemblies into Ostendo from emails/web sites
• Importing Supplier Catalogues either manually or automated
• Automatically running reports at pre-scheduled times, and then emailing these to specific staff (an example of this will be provided)
• The ability for your customers to request copies of documents; such as invoices, quotes or delivery notes via an automated web/email solution (an example of this will be provided)
• The ability to capture requests such as: service or quote requests via a simple web form, and then have them feed automatically into the Call Centre Ticketing system within Ostendo (an example of this will be provided)
• The ability to automatically update web sites with new price lists etc (an example of this will be provided)
• Automatically create timesheet entries based on employees emailing timesheets in excel (an example of this will be provided)
• Provide the ability to automatically feed information into Ostendo from external sources (such as PDA’s and Data capture devices)

Reports. A few new reports have been added and some old ones upgraded. These are:

• Sales Invoices – We have modified the layout to include the additional Task Bill functionality (as covered above). NOTE: If you are upgrading Ostendo, to use the additional functionality you will need to copy the new form ‘SalesInvoiceSheet.fr3’ and the ‘SalesProformaInvoiceSheet.fr3’ from the ‘Reports_Backup’ folder in the Ostendo ‘Reports’ directory.
• Job & Sales Quotes – We have modified the layout significantly for these forms for the new Quoting functionality (as covered above). NOTE: If you are upgrading Ostendo, to use the additional functionality you will need to copy the new form ‘JobQuoteSheet.fr3’ and the ‘SalesQuoteSheet.fr3’ from the ‘Reports_Backup’ folder in the Ostendo ‘Reports’ directory.
• Delivery Pick List & Delivery Document – We have modified these layouts to display the contents of Kitsets. NOTE: If you are upgrading Ostendo, to use the additional functionality you will have to copy the new form ‘SalesPickSheet.fr3’ and the ‘SalesDeliverySheet.fr3’ from the ‘Reports_Backup’ folder in the Ostendo ‘Reports’ directory.
• Invoice & Statement Remittance Forms – We have included a remittance style of invoice & statement layout (CustomerStatementReportRemit.fr3 & SalesInvoiceSheetRemit)
• Purchase Receipts Not Invoiced – We have included 2 different styles of this report.

Various Small Fixes & Improvements

Various issues and enhancements that have been reported to us over the last few weeks have been fixed in this update.