Notes for Release 5.0.03.0

hpCommerce Orion Release Notes

Build 5.0.03.0

Released May 24, 2018

New Features and Functionality

• Kits, ability to turn a Part into a Kit and a Kit into a Part - you can now perform these actions on the [L-L-F5] menu of Part Maintenance and the [M-H-B-U] Kit Maintenance form.  This is a great tool for switching an item back and forth and not losing the sales history of an item.
• Price Adjustment Controls - you can now control, by user, if they are allowed to change prices and by how much when adding items to a Sales Order and Quote.  This system requires that you have Orion's Security System turned on.  All users must have a username and login to use Orion.  If this system is activated the user will not be able to change the price of items via the Add Item form on Sales Orders and Quotes.  The default price for the selected customer is what will appear in the Price Each field.  If the user wants to change the price they would then press [F3] when in the Price Each field.  If their security options allow them to change pricing then the new "Standard Prices and Margins" form will open for the item.  If you have the need to control pricing this system will give you just that with the flexibility needed.  Here are some notes about this new form:
  • For each price level the margin is shown
  • The margin for the current Price Each is shown
  • The margin for the New Price is shown
  • Pressing [F9] allows you to set a percentage discount for the item
  • Depending on the user's security they will be able to:
    • Select a default price level A to H as the New Price
    • Adjust the New Price to be any value
    • Adjust the New Price to a minimum allowable margin
  • This system is turned on via [S-F7]
    • Price Adjustment Controls Active?
    • Allow Kit Pricing to Always to Adjusted?
  • Security settings are set via [S-F6-F3] Locked Pricing Override / Editing Level and on [S-F4-F11] Users:
    • Can Adjust Price?
    • Minimum Margin?
    • Always Allow Prices A - H?
• Orion Idle Time Lock - now you can setup Orion to automatically lock after a period of idle time.  This is great in a multi user per workstation environment.  By using this feature you can make sure that all users that use Orion are doing so using their security settings.  You can even instantly lock Orion.  Once Orion is locked it will require a user's PIN to unlock.  When a user enters their PIN their security profile is opened and applied to that Orion session moving forward until the next time Orion is locked.  Here are some notes:
  • This system requires that Orion's security system be turned on
  • Each user of Orion must have a Username and Password and PIN
  • This system is turned on via [S-F6-F3] Require a PIN after a Period of Inactivity
  • The idle time can be set via [S-F6-F3] Idle Time Period (Seconds)
  • The instant application lock can be turned off and on via [S-F6-F3] Allow Application Lock.  If this feature is enabled Orion can be locked from any location by pressing SHIFT+CTRL+L.  It can also be locked via [F3] from the Main Menu.
  • For individual users the default Idle Time can be overridden via [S-F4-F11] Users - Idle Time Period Override.  This is a great feature for users that work from a private office where it is less likely that their computer will be accessed and it can remain unlocked for a longer period of time.
• Print Customer's Total AR Balance Due on each Invoice - you can now turn on a feature that will print a customer's total AR balance on each invoice every time an invoice is printed.  This feature is turned on via [S-F7-F4] Print Customer Total Balance on Invoice.  If turned on the customer's total AR balance will print at the bottom of the invoice summary totals box on each invoice.
• Customer Default Shipping Method can now be set - A new option has been added to the Customer Management form "Default Ship Via".  By default this is set to "Default" and will follow whatever is set for [S-F7]  Default Sales Order Ship Via.  But you can override this at the customer level using this new feature.  If this is overridden then this will become the default Ship Via whenever a new order is created for this customer.  This is a great tool to use if your customer has asked you to always ship using a specific carrier or method.
• New Customer Shipping Addresses Options.  Many new Shipping Addresses options have been added to Orion.  Here are some notes for Shipping Addresses:
  • Contact Name has been added.  If this is provided then this will be passed to Orion's optional Integrated Shipping System as the contact for the label printed via this optional system.  This Contact Name will also be used if a "contact" tag is added to an email template in Orion.
  • Default Ship Via has been added.  If this is provided then if this Shipping Address is selected for use it will set the order's Ship Via method to this value.  By default this value is set to "Default" and will inherit the Bill To addresses shipping method.
  • Email, Email Contact and Function have been added.  If this is provided then this will be passed by default to any emails that are generated for an order or invoice.
  • Main Phone has been added too.
  • A Shipping Address can be tagged as "Default".  If this is done then this address will be automatically used when an order is created for this customer.  This is a great feature to use if your customer always wants deliveries sent to a specific address that is not their bill-to address.
  • Shipping Address Name, if this is provided then this will also be used if a "name" tag is added to an email template in Orion.
• Suppress Pricing, PLC and Part Number on Invoice, Sales Order and Quote.  Wow!  with this super flexible tool you can now hide line item pricing, PLC and Part Number from appearing on invoices, sales orders and quotes.  This is a great tool to help you make these documents print out just the way you want them to.  You can give a customer a quote for a job that can't be used as a "shopping list" some place else!  Or cut down on questions by not showing line item pricing and only show totals instead.  You can set these options by visiting [S-F7-F4] and reviewing the Printing Overrides section of the form.  You can even set these options to "ASK" you what to do each time you print these documents.
• Select Invoice format at Print Time - now you can configure Orion to let you pick the invoice format at print time.  This option is set via [S-F7-F4] Invoice Format.  Setting this option allows you to specify the Standard, List Price, Receipt Printer formats as default or to specify ASK.
• New Item Gross Sales Comparison Report - This new report is found at [M-L-F5-F5].  It can be run for one PLC or all items.  It will compare the gross sales of an item for two different periods and give you a variance for the two periods.  This is a great report for learning how the sale of specific items and lines are trending.
• New Product Notes Feature - It is now possible to add an Important Product Note and a Required Product Note to parts in Orion.  This is done via the [N - Notes] feature of the Part Maintenance form [L-L].  This features is used to provide these types of notes for a part.  These notes are then passed to a Yellow Hat website via our automatic Yellow Hat Web integration.  This is a fantastic tool for getting important product information to the website for display along with a part's detailed information.  Your shoppers will benefit from these details to make a great purchasing decision.

Improvements to existing Features

• ebay Import No Backorders Option - it is now possible to set this new option for the optional ebay integration.  You can specify that when ebay orders are imported they are not to create backorders even if Orion's backorder system is turned on.  This option is set on [M-E-E-2] Allow Items to be Backordered.
• New Emissions Disclaimer Message flag has been added to Orion's Part Categorization Master found at [S-C].  This new data is passed to the Yellow Hat Web integration for display with items on a Yellow Hat website.