New Release – 1st MARCH 2020 – New Features: Production Module, DEAR B2B Portal Improvements, New UI Improvements

New Features

Feature 1: Production Module Improvements (Split Production Orders, New Scheduler Views, Manufacturing Buffer View)

Impact area: DEAR Production Module

Introduction: The Production module is aimed at addressing the needs of the production process. New production features will provide our current customers with powerful, logical manufacturing solutions to add to their inventory solution. Following on from our most recent release, we are continuing to improve the Production module functionality and add features.

Pre-conditions: None.

Functionality:

• Split Production Orders: Production Orders in Draft status can now be split into multiple independent Production Orders.
• New Scheduler views: In addition to the Production Orders view we have added the Planning, Resources and Sales Order views.
  • Planning View: View a Gantt chart schedule of planned and released production orders. See notifications of problems such as lack of resource capacity. Release orders directly from the Scheduler.
  • Resource View: View a Gantt chart schedule of resource utilisation. See which resources are used in which Production Order operations across your locations.
  • Sales Order View: View a Gantt chart showing the schedule of sales orders containing produced goods. Orders appear in this view once the Production Order has been released.
• Manufacturing Buffer: Manufacturing buffer is a value set in the Production BOM to protect production order deadlines. The buffer is set to allow enough time to complete the Production Order when something goes wrong. Manufacturing is visible in the Scheduler in the Planning view, Production Orders view and Sales Order view.

For more information, see Scheduler and Managing Production Orders.

Feature 2: DEAR B2B Portal Improvements (Sorting Options, Home Page Guest Access, Drag-and-Drop Menu Items)

Impact area: DEAR B2B Integration, DEAR B2B Portal front-end

Introduction: Sorting options are now available for products listed on your DEAR B2B portals, allowing your customers to more easily look for products in your Catalogue. In addition, guests who browse through a DEAR B2B portal do not need to log on anymore before they can view the product catalogue. Menu items in custom menus that have been set up as a horizontal navigation bar can also be dragged and dropped into place, allowing easier rearrangement of menu items.

Pre-conditions: DEAR B2B Licence, new or existing DEAR B2B portal

Functionality: For sorting options, go to Integrations > B2B Portal, click the General tab on a DEAR B2B portal, then navigate to the Sorting Options section.

The Allow Guest Access setting under the General Settings section on the General tab lets anyone, even uninvited customers, to access a portal’s Home page directly without requiring them to log on. Previously, this setting would take guests to the portal’s Login page, where they needed to log on before they could access the Home page. 

To see how the drag-and-drop functionality for custom menu items works, go to the Navigation tab on a portal’s Integration page, set up a horizontal navigation bar using a custom menu, add at least a couple of menu items, then drag an item to another position on the custom menu.

For more information on these features, see Getting Started with DEAR B2B Portal.

New UI Improvements

DEAR announced new UI improvements to make the system more user-friendly and in line with current standards in our February 16 release notes. This week, DEAR Inventory is implementing additional UI improvements in the following modules:

• Production
• Inventory
• Financials.

Gradual UI changes in the Purchase module are also being implemented.

Customers will immediately notice these changes in the aforementioned modules. UI improvements in other DEAR modules are set to be implemented in the coming weeks.

We’re currently updating our documentation to reflect these changes.