The center of Elliott’s Customer Relationship Management is eContact. eContact is an extension to the Customer database, as well as Vendor, Employee, Salesman, Sales Orders and Purchase Orders databases. The nature of the eContact database is generic. It can be used not only for CRM, but as well as for vendor management, employee relationship management, etc. Although we identify eContact as a CRM feature to make it easy to understand, the ability of eContact is not limited to CRM.
In Elliott V7.3, we have greatly enhanced the ability of the Mass Email program and it is no longer used for Mass Email only. To match its name to its capabilities, we are renaming it to “eContact Processor”. It is intended to supplement “eContact Manager” and may possibly replace it.
Even though “eContact Manager” is a powerful tool, we found it lacks the ability to filter and export data. These two areas happen to be the strength of Mass Email (& Export Processor). On the other hand, the capability in “eContact Manager” to secure customer data by salesman and drill down to eContact detail is not in “Mass Email”. Therefore, we decided to incorporate the security features in “eContact Manager” with “eContact Processor” (Mass Email), as well as its twin, “Export Processor”. eContact & Export Processors are now the center of Elliott’s CRM solution.
“eContact Processor” will now be used as a way to select contacts to follow up (where eContact Manager lacks this ability). You may follow up selected contacts by either calling or emailing them (mass Email). You can mass add attributes for the selected contacts as a way to create a marketing campaign and to collect campaign information. You can also export the contact list to a spreadsheet for other processes (i.e. create a fax blast list). To help you with the marketing campaign, the selection condition and export specification can be saved into a template for reuse in the future.
The salesman security feature is also introduced to eContact and Export Processors so salesmen can only see their own customers’ data. Export processor can also be used as a report writer and let salesmen write their own report without the concerns of a salesman seeing another salesman’s customer data. You can now empower salesmen by letting them have crucial information at their finger tips without compromising security.
In V7.3, you can compare one Elliott field to another in the Export Processor Selection criteria. For example, you can select customer records that have a credit limit less than the account balance. You would specify the account balance in the comparing value field with the following:
@@arcusfil.cus_balance@@
In the previous releases, you could only compare to a value and not to another field.
Batch processing capability is also introduced for eContact & Export Processors. For the rep that does not know how to set up and use templates, the IT person can set up the template for them. The rep only needs to click on a desktop icon (shortcut) to get their followup user list.
More categories are added to Export Processor to cover the important master table in each module:
Since Export Processor is easier to use than a report writer and it supports Elliott user security, you should consider giving access to Export Processor to users as a supplement to or replacement for a report writer.
One of the missing features in the past for the Elliott CRM solution was the ability to import customers and contact information from other databases like ACT, Goldmine, or a list purchased from a leads database provider or contacts collected through a trade show. In Elliott V7.3, we are offering this import capability with a great emphasis of preventing entry of duplicate customers and contacts.
The warehouse management capabilities have been significantly improved in V7.3. This is especially true if you use the Elliott Multi-Bin add-on solution. The Multi-Bin process can now be either a one-step or two-step process. In the past, Elliott Multi-Bin was strictly a one-step process. The issue with one-step processing is the person in the office needs to know which bin the item is going to be received to or shipped from, which in many cases only the warehouse knows. The extra burden of communication between the warehouse and the office slows down the multi-bin process and makes it more difficult.
The optional two-step multi-bin process now relieves office personnel from entering bin information and lets the person who has the bin information (i.e. the warehouse picker) enter that information through the “Inventory Transfer” process. A new dispatch process is introduced in Inventory Transfer providing an easy-to-use user interface. The Transfer Ticket now comes with a pre-designed laser form template that supports item and bin barcodes. Data collection by the warehouse can be made much faster and more accurate by scanning barcodes.
A transfer between two warehouses can utilize the transit location. While inventory is in the transit location, it will show up in ATP as to be received to the To-Location warehouse. You may also utilize transit location for a transfer within the same warehouse which may be valuable in situations like “Outside Processing” for manufacturing.
With the Multi-Bin option, the Bin Inquiry has been significantly improved with a drill down option. You can now specify a range of bins and find out whether the bin is empty, half full, or full by looking at the weight, volume and quantity of that bin. When a user drills down to a bin, a list of items that are currently occupying that bin will show up. This screen is useful to find out to which bins to put away received items.
With the Multi-Bin option, the Bin Inventory Report is a new report that prints from the bin point of view and lists the items in the bin. You can also use this report to determine empty bins so users can decide which bins can be used to store received items. An option to block out the quantity information can be used to give warehouse personnel something to count when they are not busy.
Physical Count now supports editing the count tag information by exporting to a spreadsheet and allows importing a spreadsheet to update the Physical Count Tag File. Users can utilize the “Create Count Tag” utility to first create the count tag file and then export it to a spreadsheet to allow easier editing. With the ability to edit count tags in a spreadsheet, it greatly improves the time required for physical count data entry.
This is an optional add-on feature to allow faster PO receiving than the traditional receiving method. It is designed for the warehouse to perform receiving directly and the process is simplified by eliminating cost and accounting information. The warehouse may enter an item number (or scan the barcode of the received item, like the UPC code) and the system can help determine the proper PO associated with the received item.
Shipping Data Update is a function that evolved from Tracking Number Update for Orders in V7.2. Now warehouse personnel can use this function to not only update the shipment tracking number for the order, but they can also update the Shipping Date, Freight, Misc. Charge, Freight Pay Code, Shipping Instructions, Comments, Weight, Bill of Lading Number, etc. In the Global Setup, the administrator can turn off and on each one of these fields based on your security policy.
Many organizations do not allow the warehouse to access the Order or Billing screens due to security concerns. However, the extra step of having the warehouse write down the necessary information on picking tickets and the accounting department input them on the order is not efficient. This new feature will streamline the data collection for the warehouse. In addition, the warehouse can optionally print a packing list immediately after the order data is updated through this window.
Billing Selection can now print an immediate Packing Slip. If your operation requires a copy of the Packing Slip to be included with the shipment, this can speed up your process of generating the Packing Slip. We are also adding laser form support of the Packing Slip to make the Packing Slip look more professional.
Shipping Verification now supports collection of package level data, including: Packing Code, Weight, Volume, Freight, Tracking Number and User definable information. This information may be used for Order Inquiry or sending an EDI Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN). The Shipping Data Export can export an “S” record with this shipping information and a “B” record with the box information.
During the Shipping Verification process, the F7 key will bring up a window to allow the user to verify the remaining quantity of the line item or the entire order.
Shipping Verification can optionally bring up the “Shipping Data Update Window” to allow the warehouse to finish the order data collection process. Upon order verification, the system can optionally perform billing selection to streamline the whole shipping process. The Packing List can be optionally printed immediately after the order is confirmed. A lot of effort has been put into allowing a user to un-verify (and un-select) an order. When an order is un-selected, the order qty-to-ship will be restored back to its original value.
Some will use Shipping Verification with a barcode scanner where the barcode contains the item number and the serial number. If serial numbers are used, there is a global flag to allow Elliott to scan the beginning and end of the item number entered for a serial number. If a serial number is found, Elliott will allow the entered barcode to be edited so the correct item number can be entered.
There is now a global flag that can determine if a note entered during shipping verification will be attached to the order header or line item.
During Shipping Verification, you can have Elliott write data to an ASCII file, defined in Global Setup, which contains information about the order and shipment. This is useful for interfacing with Bar Tender (barcode printing software) to create UCC-128 labels on a label printer.
We also support these additional fields when creating UCC-128 labels:
Shipping Confirmation used to be called “Simple Billing.” In V7.2, Simple Billing was an add-on option. In V7.3, we are including Shipping Confirmation as part of the Elliott base package.
Even though Shipping Confirmation can be used by both office and warehouse personnel, it is designed primarily for the warehouse personnel due to the security restriction of not allowing the warehouse to change the order header screen.
The line item confirmation screen in Shipping Confirmation is more user friendly than the current Billing Selection process, which will be welcomed by the office personnel to use if they don’t need to modify order header info.
Upon completion of Shipping Confirmation, the user can also choose to print an immediate Packing Slip to speed up the shipment process.
Through the support of “Terminal Server,” Elliott can now work very well for organizations with multiple locations. In Elliott V7.3, many improvements are related to the handling of multiple locations.
When you use Inventory Transfer between two locations with the “Transit Location” option enabled, a transfer from LA to NY while still in transit will show up in ATP as a future receiving transaction to NY (increase NY location’s qty in the future).
When you use PO regular receiving (batch mode) or Warehouse receiving, before it is posted, it will show up in ATP as a “Receiving” transaction. This feature is especially helpful if used together with the Vessel file. For overseas shipments, you most likely will get confirmation of the contents of a container as it leaves the port. You may pre-receive these goods in the Receiving transaction files by identifying their vessel ID without posting them. Then, you can simply update the vessel file with the scheduled receiving date which will then update the ATP date for all items under that vessel. The ATP inquiry and report will show the Vessel ID and Description and give users a more accurate status of when the goods are going to arrive.
In the Item Search window, users have the option to scroll through any location’s quantity. Users can also set up the default location for the item search window. This feature is helpful with answering questions like “Do you have these type of items in stock? In which locations you have them in stock?” You may drill down to each item’s location quantity breakdown window as well as the Wish List window.
The Stock Status Inquiry screen is now designed to drill down by locations. You may drill down to each location’s Location History, Serial Number, ATP, Substitute Items Available, Component Available and Multi-Bin Info.
Component Available Inquiry Improvement
The Component Available Inquiry screen allows drill down to the ATP inquiry screen. This helps users to answer the question, “if a component is out of stock, when will the component become available?”
Location History is a new function introduced in Elliott V7.3. You can drill down to Location History through the Stock Status Inquiry screen and view quantity, sales, cost and margin by month and year. You can see the break down by location, as well as the total of all locations. You can also see demand location sales instead of actual location sales. For example, if a customer in California with a default location of LA tries to order an item that is out of stock in LA and ends up shipping from NY, the actual sales location is NY, but the demand sales location is LA.
You may also view certain Sales Desk statistical information like the number of times an item is out of stock when inquired in Sales Desk, the number of times this item is quoted in Sales Desk, the quantity quoted in Sales Desk and the quantity of this item on the wish list. This is not sales information, but is extremely helpful to a planner to determine what items are on demand.
The Elliott print feature will remember the printer you used the last time you printed a picking ticket. This is fine if you have only one physical location or if you have multiple locations and each location prints their own picking ticket. What if you are at the LA location and you need to print a picking ticket to both the LA and NY printers? In Elliott V7.3, you can optionally let the system remember the last picking ticket printed by the order’s location.
In Elliott V7.2, we introduced a new Print Options window that supports different printer configurations. Elliott takes a snap shot of the printer driver information and saves it into the Elliott printer configuration database. If the printer driver information changes, then the printer configuration will be grayed out.
The printer driver information can change due to a Windows Service Pack update. Therefore, in Elliott V7.2, it is possible your printer configuration may become grayed out due to a service pack update. In Elliott V7.3, the system will try to refresh the printer driver information as long as you are using “Default Configuration” and avoid the need to set up the printer configuration again.
Elliott now supports the start up option of /CO:01 which means starting Elliott and going directly to company 01. This feature applies to other Elliott EXE programs like EL700TK, EL700ME, EL700GE, EL700DP, etc. For example, if you start Elliott with the following command:
EL700.EXE /CO:02
Elliott will bypass the multi-company selection window and go to company 02 automatically. This may be convenient if you have a user that can only access a certain company. You can set up the company selection right in the startup shortcut for that user. You can also combine the company selection option with Elliott Internal Macro features. For example:
EL700.EXE /CO:02 02 0101 02
This will bring up Elliott and go directly to company 02. It will then choose the “Accounts Receivable” module (02), and then choose customer file maintenance (0101) and end up in change mode (02). You may consider using this capability to organize periodic routine tasks by setting up icons on a user’s desktop or in a desktop folder.
For Elliott eContact and Export Processor (EL700ME), it supports even more parameters to allow for batch processing. For example, you can use the following command:
EL700ME –E /CO:01 –T:15 –OL –S
This command means:
-E Use Export Processor (instead of eContact Processor).
/CO:01 Choose company 01 automatically.
-T:15 Use Template 15.
-OL Output to file and launch spreadsheet.
-S Stop at Selection Tab before processing it.
The batch processing capability for eContact and Export Processors allows users to automate a routine task to a simple click. You can even use the Windows scheduler to run this routine task nightly, weekly or monthly (provided you keep an Elliott session open on your desktop, so the task does not have to log in).
For more details on how to use the eContact and Export Processors’ parameters, use the following command:
EL700ME /?
This will give you a help screen on how to use the parameters.
If there is a file access error in Elliott, the error will now be saved in the IOErrors.TXT log file in the corresponding DATA directory. This information may be helpful for system administrators to audit the stability of the database without being in front of the user’s terminal when file access errors happen.
Activities Log is a new feature introduced in Elliott V7.3. Currently, you may access these activities either by users or contacts. To access a user’s activities, go to password setup and enter a particular user. Then at package field, click the “Special Function” button on the toolbar for “User Activities.” The following activities are captured under “User Activities:”
To access a contact’s activities, simply bring up an eContact detail window and choose the “Activities” tab. The following activities are captured under “Contact Activities:”
Contact log in and out from the web (eStores)
Mass Emails sent to this contact
Credit card charges, refunds and verifications for this contact
There are other activities that we currently capture in the SYACTLOG.BTR table like critical posting errors in COP and AP, but we do not have a user interface to access them other than using event. You may consider using ODBC or a tool like Pervasive Control Center to access the data.
When an activity is written to the log, it also triggers a management event (which can be subscribed through the global setup screen). For system administrators who wish to know when certain activities take place, an event subscription for certain activity events can be set up to monitor the Elliott system.
Two new Event Reports are introduced in V7.3:
Additional detail events are supported now:
The Elliott linking function now supports the @@REF-ID@@ variable in the program link template. This feature automates the link setup process. In the past (V7.2 and earlier versions), you could set up an Image Link that points to the M:\Elliott7\Image directory. When you put an item image file into this directory, you still needed to go to the item and add the Image Link to point to that image file. The system did not assume any automatic association between the file name and item number.
With Elliott V7.3, you can setup an automatic program link with the template like:
M:\Elliott7\Image\@@REF-ID@@.JPG
and indicate that @@REF-ID@@ refers to IMITMFIL (Item Table). This will set up the automatic program link between Item and the M:\Elliott7\Image directory. As you place an image file like 123456.JPG into this directory, then the link between item number 123456 and image file 123456.JPG is established automatically and there is no need to manually add the link to the item. On the other hand, the system is smart enough to know if you bring up an item 654321 and the 654321.JPG file does not exist in the M:\Elliott7\Image directory, then the link will not show.
The REF-ID also supports substring and condition parameters. For example, you may define a link template for APOPNFIL with variables like @@REF-ID(8:6,1:1=’V’)@@. This means take the reference key of APOPNFIL, starting from the 8th byte for 6 bytes, if the first byte is equal to ‘V’. In the APOPNFIL table, there are two types of records. ‘X’ represents the Payment record and ‘V’ represents the Voucher record. This syntax means if it is a voucher record, take the 6 bytes starting from the 8th byte (which is the voucher number) and use it as the reference.
Even though this automatic program link works for web pages (URL address) as well, Elliott won’t be able to detect whether a URL address is valid or not and it will always show the automatic program link as available.
The following are new Global Security flags introduced since the Elliott V7.2 general release. Review them for proper default values when you upgrade to Elliott V7.3:
Disable Interaction w/eContact & Export Proc. You can use this flag to give a user only the batch processing access to eContact & Export Processors (i.e. to let this user use existing queries designed by someone else) and disable the user from designing their own query.
Change Others’ Template in Export Processor. Only system administrator level users should be given power to override other user’s templates.
Disable User Others’ Template in Export Processor. Use this flag to determine if this user can use templates owned by other users. Most likely you would answer “N” to this flag and make the templates shareable for other users to use.
Allow Change to Other’s Attribute. By default, only the user who creates the attribute should have the right to change or delete it. For the system administrator, you can set this flag to “Y” so they can update other users’ attributes.
Allow User Enter Negative Qty in Order Entry. Since entering a negative quantity in order entry is equivalent to issuing a credit memo, you might want to control the users who can perform this function.
Allow to Edit/Print Other User Transfer Batch. This flag is for the Inventory Transfer function, which is the center of the two-step multi-bin process. For the warehouse supervisor or dispatcher, you want to answer “Y” to this flag. For the warehouse picker, you might want to answer “N.”
Allow to Select Diff Job in Inventory Transfer. If you enabled the Job Number feature for Multi-Bin, then you probably do not want to allow the user to override the Job Number during Inventory Transfer, unless this is a system administrator.
In the past, there are many areas the system produced an un-friendly record lock message like “A Locked Record Is in the Way of the Next Operation …. Please Wait”. Messages like this do not tell you which table or record is locked and is not very useful other than telling you that you have to wait.
Therefore, a new global message is introduced in the Elliott System Manager layer which displays in the status bar of Elliott’s bottom left corner. For example, “ARCUSIL 000100 locked in way” may display as a record lock. The ARCUSFIL is the table name which stands for A/R Customer File. 000100 is the record’s primary key. In this case, it is the customer number. When you encounter a message like this, you are more likely to find out which user locked the record and resolve the conflict quickly.
Elliott V7.3 also improves the handling of status 84 (record or page lock, which can be caused by TTS). Efforts have been made to eliminate user interface messages in a TTS loop to ensure TTS operation will finish quickly. In addition, when a status code 84 is encountered, the system will display the proper status code without re-trying over and over (which may appear to be locked up in V7.2 and prior versions).
With the introduction of PSQL 8.5, there are two issues to be dealt with in Elliott: (1) The Local Cache Engine; (2) The security feature.
The Local Cache Engine in PSQL 8.5 significantly increases the database performance. This can be seen especially with report printing. However, the Local Cache Engine also introduces the possibility of getting a file access error Code 80. The new Elliott file handler engine has been changed to better handle and eliminate most of these errors.
The security feature in PSQL 8.5 allows a system administrator to turn off a user’s O/S level file access privilege for the Elliott data files. Before PSQL 8.5, a system administrator had to grant users O/S level file access privilege in order for Elliott to function. This often caused concern for system administrators since users could accidentally, or intentionally, delete Elliott data files through Windows Explorer. The latest Elliott version has been changed to work with the new PSQL 8.5 security feature. This includes a change to the GLJNLT99.BTR file where the new version does not delete the file, so the user does not have to have delete privileges for the data directory.
Our prior experience with the Pervasive Transaction capability proved this feature is very valuable for allowing users to perform real time posting without requiring other users to exit the system. With Elliott V7.3, we will always utilize Pervasive Transaction during posting and we are removing the TTS (Transaction Tracking System) flag from Company Setup.
Pervasive Audit Master can monitor most every transaction that takes place within Elliott. This includes every time Elliott rewrites the record back to the database, regardless if the record had changed or not. In some areas of the Elliott application, it may attempt to rewrite to the Pervasive database even if there is no change. In order to reduce the size of the log file within Audit Master, the Elliott V7.3 system manager will now compare the record in the database with the data it intends to write. If they are the same, then the Elliott system manager will not write back to the database to avoid cluttering Audit Master. This is also somewhat of a performance improvement because it avoids the unnecessary rewrite operation.
With the latest Elliott V7.3, you can now designate a default form for each supported Saturn Design your Own Form (DYO) in Global Setup. When a default form is designated, the normal Saturn Forms Selection Window will not display and the default form is selected automatically to make the printing process automated and user friendly.
New tables and columns have been defined to reflect the latest updated features. Many new views have been added as well:
The following tables have been added:
The table POREQTRX has been changed to support Blanket Orders and IMLOCFIL has been changed to support Receiving, Shipping and Production bins. The tables POWHRECI and POWHRECS have been changed to support multiple receivings per PO Line Item before posting. As a result, if you were using PO Warehouse Receiving in V7.2, a special data conversion is required when upgrading to V7.3.
Editing a user in Password File Maintenance will now allow for the up-arrow key to change the Name, Position, Email, etc. Also, the 5 Amigos are supported which means you can now attach an Elliott Note, Link, Attribute, Event or eContact to the user ID. We have added the F3 key to Copy User Company in addition to the F2, Copy User.
When you perform a Customer or Vendor search, the highlighted customer or vendor detail information like address, customer type, phone, etc., will be displayed at the bottom of the search window to make it easier to identify if this is the right customer or vendor that the user is searching for.
Deferred Processing has been significantly improved in Elliott V7.3. Deferred Processing can run in minimized mode by default now (like Services running in the background). Deferred Processing can be started automatically with an assumed user identity (setup under Elliott toolbar button Setup Preference, Print etc. tab) so as soon as a user logs on the server console, the Elliott Deferred Processing can be loaded and minimized in the task pane on the right side of the task bar. In the past, Deferred Processing needed to run in the full screen mode and could not be minimized, which may have interfered with the server console operation.
The V7.3 Deferred Processing also generates events when it runs into an error. The system administrator can subscribe to Deferred Processing Error events and be notified by email when a deferred process stops due to an error.
In General Ledger G/L Account File Maintenance, you can now designate an account as “Inactive.” When an account becomes inactive, you will not be able to enter that account throughout Elliott where it prompts you for an account number. The exceptions are G/L Account File Maintenance, G/L Account Inquiry, each sub module’s account file maintenance and printing selection screen programs where it prompts for an account number. Also, the F7 or F8 Account Search will not display the inactive account (if you choose to validate G/L accounts in the sub module setup).
You may now view Reference Information of the A/R Open Item record as the 2nd line in the A/R Account Inquiry screen (the traditional inquiry screen only, not applicable to summary account inquiry). This feature can be turned off and on in Global Setup.
The following are new features added to the customer file maintenance screen:
Elliott Freight Calculation now supports Fuel Surcharge by allowing the user to enter the surcharge percent in Freight Mode table.
You may now enable this feature in Global Setup and automatically assign the next vendor number.
This is a new feature in addition to the original Account Inquiry which is now called “Detail Account Inquiry.” Contrary to the name “Summary,” you can actually see more detail in “Summary Account Inquiry” than in “Detail Account Inquiry.” Initially, the system will display a list of vouchers with one line per invoice. You may highlight each voucher and the detail of that voucher will display at the bottom of the window.
In some situations, a voucher may be paid through multiple checks or distributed to multiple accounts. The system will offer you the option to drill down for more information. In addition, if a voucher is linked to a PO, the system will offer you the option to drill down to the PO detail.
You may also select a date range of vouchers to view and zoom in on the detail easier than inquiring the information in “Detail Account Inquiry.” You can access Notes, Attributes and Links that were created during the voucher entry. This give you an extensive ability to document the voucher if there are any irregularities. The Links function also provides a foundation for the Document Imaging System.
Although “Detail Account Inquiry” can be fully replaced by “Summary Account Inquiry,” we are keeping it for backward compatibility.
Similar to COP Sales Order Import Utility, this add-on feature will let you import and create New A/P Transactions from a pre-defined fixed length ASCII file. This function is provided mainly for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) where you may receive invoices from vendor on a mass basis. Instead of entering them into the Elliott A/P module manually, you may go through a mapping process to map your vendor invoice data into the Elliott A/P Import ASCII file format and automate this process.
Like COP Sales Order, the A/P Import Utility requires very little information in the ASCII file and can assume most of the information if they are not present. This makes it easy for the data mapping process.
Payment Preparation
The Vendor Type has been added to the Generalized Payment Selection. You can leave this blank to select all.
The 2004 W-2 form layout has been slightly changed with more margins on all four sides of the form to make it laser printer friendly. It is recommended you use the laser form to print 2004 W-2s, however the multi-copy dot-matrix form (same layout as laser form) will continue to work. Also, the magnetic media file has been updated to match the current SSA specifications.
This field is introduced to differentiate between Section 125 (Cafeteria Plan) and 401K. Both of these deduction codes are exempt from Federal Withholding Tax (FWT) and were considered as the retirement plan by Elliott in the previous release. While the 401K plan is tax deferred (retirement plan), Section 125 is not. This newly introduced flag will allow the Elliott W-2 print program to correctly differentiate between them.
A global setup flag is introduced to allow you to print Payroll checks so the employee’s address will appear in the window of a standard #9 window envelope with this release.
One significant improvement in this release is Elliott now supports BOMP Production Order components to show up in ATP. ATP has been used by many users as the distributors’ MRP and manufacturer’s customer service tool. It couldn’t serve as the manufacturer’s MRP tool before because it did not support component ATP for the production work order. With Elliott V7.3, manufacturers can use the ATP to control the material purchasing, as well as sub-assembly manufacturing.
Also, in the new ATP inquiry window, the system now supports drill down so users can see the Sales Order, Purchase Order and Production Order detail easily. Certain drill down functions can be disabled by the user if there are security concerns (i.e. if the “See ATP Vendor And PO Info” security flag is turned off for a user, then user can’t drill down to the PO).
Two additional ATP transaction types are introduced in V7.3: Transfer ATP and Receiving ATP. Transfer ATP refers to the inventory in transit from one warehouse to another. Receiving ATP refers to the PO receiving transactions that are entered into the system, but not posted yet (due to QA inspection, or maybe still at sea). This gives users better visibility of available inventory in the near future with a high degree of certainty.
A new selection criteria is introduced to prompt for “Select by Customer or Vendor Number?”. The possible answers are “N” = No (default), “C” = Customer, “V” = Vendor. This option allows users to narrow down transactions that were issued or received from a particular customer or vendor. In addition, comment and reference document number from the original transaction can be printed on the inventory transaction audit trail report. The following is a table illustrating where the Reference-Doc-No and Comment in inventory transaction audit trail originally come from.
Processes | Reference-Doc-No | Comment |
Invoice Posting | Purchase Order Number | Ship To Name |
PO Warehouse Receiving | Inv/Doc Number | Comment |
I/M Transaction Processing |
| Comment |
W/O Production Posting |
| W/O Description |
In the previous version, when warehouse personnel tried to enter an inventory transaction (batch mode) they were prompted for the distribution G/L account number. This usually caused operation difficulty since most warehouse personnel do not have sufficient knowledge to know what account to use under what condition. In Elliott V7.3, we are introducing “Distribution Code” which users can set up in advance. For example, you may set up a distribution code for “SAMPLE” that distributes to the following two G/L expense accounts:
50% 5720-040 Marketing Expense – Sales Department
50% 5720-050 Marketing Expense – Marketing Department
This means the Sales and Marketing Department will share the sample merchandise expense 50-50. Once the user enters the distribution code “SAMPLE” in I/M transaction processing, the user does not need to be concerned with which G/L Account to distribute. The Distribution Code will be printed on the Inventory Transaction Audit Trail Report to aid auditing.
You may turn on this flag in Global Setup to exclude obsolete items in the Item Search Window to reduce the number of items that show up and thus making locating the item easier.
A Short Cut Item is similar to a kit item except the components of a short cut item will be managed as individual line items in a sales order or purchase order. To set up a short cut item, you must first designate the parent item with an “S” (Short Cut) in the End Item Code field of the item master. Then, you need to set up all the components in the kit item file maintenance. You are allowed to set the price of each component in the kit item maintenance. As you enter a short cut parent item, the components will be copied over to the Sales Order or Purchase Order as individual line items. Since each component is an individual line item in a Sales Order or Purchase Order, you may individually backorder or receive them.
The Copy Item function now prompts if you wish to create all inventory locations as the new item is created.
The credit card receipt will now print the reference number (Order Number from COP or maintenance window reference from AR). The reference text in the AR Credit Card Trx Process will also print as well as the customer name.
Security is improved in the payment window so if a user does not have privileges to access credit card information the F7 lookup window will not display the information.
The system now supports a force transaction in A/R Credit Card Transaction Processing by entering the Approval Number in advance before Interfacing with Credit Card Gateway.
The option to print an Immediate RMA Acknowledgement is now available. The email option and laser forms have been added for RMA as well. These can be configured in the Global Setup.
When a posted order is now purged in V7.3, its data is being moved to Order History. The same principle applies to a deleted order. Users can inquire Order History by Customer and Order Number. In the past, some users were reluctant to purge posted orders and this caused the Order files to grow quite large over time and caused performance issues in the COP module. Since order details are now kept in Order History (as well as invoice history), there will be no reason not to purge the posted orders more often. Smaller order files (open orders only) means various operations in Customer Order Processing module will go a lot faster.
This is a new report in V7.3 that provides the ability to analyze each customer’s delivery performance by comparing the following category:
Request Date vs. Promise Date
Deliver Date vs. Request Date or Promise Date (Based on Global Setup)
Quantity Deliver Early
Quantity Deliver On-Time
Quantity Deliver Late
You may define the time frame window for early in customer file maintenance. Without setting up the time frame window, then shipping it one day early will be considered early. There is no option to define a late delivery window because one day late is considered late.
Sometimes, a shipment is not delivered on time due to reasons other than our fault. You may exempt this shipment in Sales History Transaction file maintenance from calculating to negatively affect our delivery performance for the customer.
This utility, located under the Utilities in Global Setup, will delete orphaned line items in the CP Order Line Item file (CPORDLIN), CP Order Lot/Serial file (CPORDLS), CP Order Option file (CPORDOPT) and Item Inventory Bin file (IMBININV). These are line item records that do not have an Order Header record.
In addition to the price and cost information, the weight and volume of the item can be configured through the Future Price function. The global flags for each must be turned on first.
The Order Status Report has been improved to include options for Selected Orders and Not Posted Invoices. A Status column has been added to the report to show the order status; X = Not Posted Invoice, S = Selected, I = Incomplete, P = Picked, (Blank) = Open Order. The report has been redesigned to make it more readable, especially if printing by customer.
Elliott V7.3 now supports printing of Item_Note_1 – 5 on Purchase Order Line Item level. The UPC code is often stored in one of the Item_Note_1 – 5 fields and this improvement essentially enables you to print UPC codes on the PO. In addition, you may print the PO Revision Number on the PO.
A PO Revision database is introduced in Elliott V7.3 to track when a PO is added, changed, canceled or purged. Each time a PO is printed and posted, the PO revision database is updated. The revision number zero is for the new PO. Each POchanged or canceled will increment the revision number by 1.
The current PO revision number is displayed on the PO header and Inquiry screens. In addition, the PO revision number can be printed on the PO form. In regular PO inquiry, you may press F4 to bring up revision history. The full revision details are kept in the revision database.
When the PO is purged now, the final version of the PO is saved in the PO revision database. Therefore, the user can now perform inquiry on purged POs through the PO revision database.
Let’s start with an example for illustration. Let’s say you are using standard cost method. Standard cost for item A is $10.00. Due to currency fluctuation, the current cost is $11.00 on the PO. When we received the invoice, the vendor charged us $11.50. In this case, there is a $1.00 standard cost variance and a $0.50 purchase variance.
In previous Elliott releases, there was only one purchase cost variance account and the entire $1.50 went to that account. In V7.3, you can setup both a purchase price variance account and a standard cost variance account in Material Cost Location Account File setup. You do not have to enable this feature. If you do not set up a valid standard cost variance account, then all cost variances will continue to be posted to the purchase price variance account.
Vendor Delivery Performance Reports
This is a new report in V7.3 that provides the ability to analyze each vendor’s delivery performance by comparing the following category:
Request Date vs. Promise Date
Deliver Date vs. Request Date or Promise Date (Based on Global Setup)
Quantity Deliver Early
Quantity Deliver On-Time
Quantity Deliver Late
You may define the time frame window for early or late in Vendor file maintenance. Without setting up the time frame window, then it is only considered on time if the vendor delivered on the same date as the request or promise date on the PO.
Sometimes, a shipment is not delivered on time due to reasons other than vendor’s fault. You may exempt this shipment in PO Receiving Accrual file maintenance from calculating to negatively affect vendor’s delivery performance.
The report shows the actual variance and a percentage of the variance. Compared with the Vendor History Report, you do not need to close or purge a purchase order in order to use this report, which is a great relief to many users (since they do not want to lose the ability to inquire past purchase orders).
A global flag has been added to determine if the PO Requisition Process should consume a blanket Purchase Order. In the past, Purchase Requisition always assumed creating a new purchase order. In V7.3, it can optionally create a Blanket Release if a Blanket Order is found.
In Elliott V7.2, users were restricted to making one receiving transaction per PO line item before it was posted. This restriction is lifted in V7.3. Because of this change, we are changing the database structure for PO Warehouse Receiving Files, which you need to convert if you were using this feature in V7.2.
In Elliott V7.3, you can optionally implement the batch receiving process by using Vessel Number. Not only you can print and post by Vessel number now, you can also update the vessel’s expected or actual arrival date in one central place and update all associated ATP records for the new date. This makes it practical for you to track the shipment as soon as it leaves your vendor’s port and provide more accurate ATP information for customer service and planning.
In addition, the system now optionally supports “Pending Update” for updating the invoice number to Serial History. Pending Update takes place when you receive the serial number, but the warehouse has not received the invoice yet and therefore there is no invoice number to enter. However, once the invoice is received, the user would like to update the serial history with the invoice number for warranty purposes. Pending Update will store all posted, received serial numbers that do not have an invoice number. Once the invoice number is received, the user can update the Pending file and post the pending file to update Serial History with the proper Invoice Number.
In Product Structure Maintenance, we have introduced a new feature where pressing F3 will import the structure from a handheld scanner. This feature allows users to build a parent item’s product structure with a scanner.
A new template had been added for the SFC Dispatch Report to allow the printing of barcodes for Shop Order Number, Operation Number and Quantity. This feature can speed up the data collection process in SFC Activities Transaction Processing. By connecting a keyboard wedge scanner to a PC, the user can now scan shop order numbers, operation numbers and quantity information directly into Elliott.
With Dispatch Report, we also support the option to print a separator line between two operations to make the report more readable.
In previous Elliott releases, users could close a shop order through the “Close Order Processing.” It was designed as an interactive process for users to close one shop order at a time. In Elliott V7.3, we introduce an additional function to allow users to close shop orders on a batch basis. Based on parameters the user supplies, the system can determine the shop orders that are qualified for closing and close those shop orders automatically. It is designed as a report to list the shop orders in range and show the status of whether it has been closed or not. If not, it will show the reason for not closing it.