New Release – 06th March 2022

FEATURES: Buffer inventory for eCommerce integrations, MES application for iOS, Edit customer details during POS sales and more!

Feature 1: Buffer inventory for eCommerce integrations

Impact area:

Magento, Magento2, LeafLink, Faire, BigCommerce, Vend, Square

Introduction:

Instead of showing actual inventory values in e-Commerce storefronts, many retailers prefer to display an estimated display quantity where there is a safe buffer stock on their backend to avoid overselling products. DEAR allows for buffer inventory on stock quantities pushed to the following eCommerce integrations, both for the whole channel and at the product level.

• Shopify (already available)
• Magento
• Magento2
• LeafLink
• Faire
• BigCommerce
• Vend
• Square

Pre-conditions:

• Native integration with listed eCommerce channels
• Update Stock Levels in [Channel] setting must be enabled on the Setup tab (Integrations → [select channel] → [select store], Setup tab).

Functionality:

1. Buffer inventory levels for the whole channel are controlled from the Setup tab (Integrations → [select channel] → [select store], Setup tab). Update Stock Levels in [Channel] setting must be enabled.
   • Use Buffer Inventory: Displayed when Update Stock Levels in [Channel] is enabled. Allows for an inventory buffer on stock quantities pushed to the channel. Enabling this setting will enable the Buffer Inventory field.
   • Buffer Inventory: Displayed when Use Buffer Inventory is enabled. Enter an integer number of stock to act as a buffer.  Sync Quantity passed to the channel when updating stock levels will be equal to Actual Stock – Buffer Inventory.
2. When this setting is enabled, Sync Quantity and Buffer Inventory quantity will be added as fields to the Catalog and Bulk Listing tables alongside stock availability. However, sync quantities will only be updated in the channel if the user updates or lists a product.
3. Buffer Inventory for the whole channel can be overwritten by product-level buffer inventory from the Catalog page.
   • Click on a listed or unlisted item to open a pop-up window and slide Use Product Level Buffer Inventory to enable. You can then enter an integer value for Product level buffer which will overwrite the channel buffer value. You will then need to Update or List the product for the new stock level quantity to be displayed in the channel.
   • NOTE: The product-level buffer value will ALWAYS override the value set on the Setup tab. If the Setup tab inventory buffer value is changed, this will not affect products with product-level buffers.

More information:

• Shopify – Catalog – Buffer Inventory
• Magento – Catalog – Buffer Inventory
• Magento2 – Catalog – Buffer Inventory
• LeafLink​​ – Catalog – Buffer Inventory
• Faire – Catalog – Buffer Inventory
• BigCommerce – Catalog – Buffer Inventory
• Vend – Catalog – Buffer Inventory
• Square – Catalog – Buffer Inventory

 

Feature 2: MES application for iOS

Impact area:

Applicable to MES application only.

Introduction:

Each day, human resources on the production floor will have production tasks to complete and finished products to put away. DEAR MES mobile application makes this information available on shopfloor workstations or user devices and allows workers to view required information and execute production actions in DEAR as they take place.

Actions executed in the MES application are passed to DEAR to initiate stock movements and accounting transactions for production orders, production run, capacity planner, and scheduler.

Previously available only for Android, with this release MES can now be used on iOS devices.

Prerequisites:

Using the MES application requires familiarity with the production module:

• Getting Started with the Production Module
  • Define Shopfloor Locations
  • Managing Production Resources
  • Set up Work Centers
  • Managing Production Orders

MES application requires Android 5.1+ or iOS 11. It can be downloaded from the Google Play store or Apple store. Application does not support offline mode.

Functionality:

Users who are specified as a production resource can log in to MES. Users can only see tasks that have been assigned to them. MES allows users to carry out the following actions directly from their workstation or device:

• View production tasks that have been assigned to them.
  • Start, suspend, and complete operations
  • Track actual time elapsed in an operation
  • Specify output location
  • Specify batch/serial # and expiry date of finished products
  • Enter actual produced and wastage quantities
  • Consume components for production
  • Edit operation components and resources to reflect actual quantities
  • View notes and attachments
  • Add notes and attachments for production operations
• Put away finished products
  • Pick finished products and components from shopfloor work centers
  • Put away picked items to any organisation location

More information:

• DEAR – Manufacturing Execution System (MES)

 

Feature 3: POS updates

Impact area:

Applicable to POS application only.

Introduction:

With this release, two updates have been made to DEAR POS.

• Edit customer details during sale: Adding a customer to a POS sale is mandatory for some sales features, such as layby sales, on account sales, using store credit, or using loyalty points. In some cases, the customer record may not be accurate and may need to be updated. Previously to this release, it was not possible to edit the customer record during the sales process, now DEAR has added the ability to edit customer details from the sales register screen.

Pre-conditions:

• Active POS integration.

Functionality:

Edit customer details during a sale:

• Customer details can be added to a sale and edited from the Shopping Cart or Payment screen of the POS register.
• When adding a customer to a sale, click View Details, then choose Edit Customer.
• Edit customer details and save to continue with the sale.

More information:

• Selling in DEAR POS – Add a Customer