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Quantum VS Help |
In Quantum VS there is the facility to use a document scanner to scan documents - such as Despatch Notes, Picking Notes, Purchase Invoices, Goods Received Notes and Batch Certificates - and store them against their electronic counterparts on the system. These may then be retrieved for viewing, printed off, or emailed to a customer.
Quantum VS offers two main types of document scanning:
Bulk document scanning: This is designed for users wishing to scan and archive a pile of Despatch Notes or Picking Notes in one go. Once the documents have been scanned, the system automatically detects the document type and data (although users may add/edit this data manually) so that the scanned image can then be archived; i.e. stored against its electronic equivalent on the system.
Individual document scanning: This is designed for users wishing to scan a document (or documents) for archiving against a selected Despatch Note, Picking Note, Purchase Invoice, Goods Received Note etc.
See Scanning And Archiving Documents.
Quantum VS enables the creation of discrete 'bulk' import/export routines in the form of ETL Routine records. Users (with enabled User Permissions) may:
export selected data from your Quantum VS database to a file; and
import selected data from a file to your Quantum VS database, updating data within existing records and/or adding data to new records.
Each business - with the assistance of a Quantum VS Professional Services Implementer - may set up ETL (Extract Transform Load) Routines to suit their own data import/export requirements. This might involve importing or exporting Branch data, Customer data, Product data, or data from another Quantum VS record type.
Before ETL Routines can be run, ETL Routine records must be created. Each ETL Routine record defines the Quantum VS record type (e.g. Customer), the fields data will be imported to or exported from, and the file data will be imported to or exported from. For example, a routine may be created whereby Address field data in your Quantum VS Customer records may be updated via an import.
For further details see ETL Maintenance.
Task Template Maintenance enables the creation of templates for 'email' Tasks. When an 'email' Task is created, authorised Branches/Roles/Users may select an existing Task Template so that the email Subject and body text is populated automatically with text from the template, which may be amended and added to. See Task Template Maintenance.
Alternative Stock Unit Maintenance enables the creation and maintenance of Stock Unit records which cross reference a 'base' stock unit with equivalent units and quantities. A Stock Unit record can be linked to a Product record so that the Customer or Sales Clerk, when adding the product to a sales document, may enter a quantity in any one of the stock units available for the Product, rather than being limited to ordering in the product's 'base' stock unit.
Example: The Acme Bathroom Tiles range comprises boxes of tiles of different colours. Each box contains 12 tiles, weighs 2 kilos and covers a total square meterage of 1.04. The product's unit of measure is defined in the Product record. So if the 'base unit' is Each, customers may only order a quantity of individual tiles.
It might help boost sales if you allow customers to buy these tiles in different units of measure, such as by the box, by the square metre, and even by weight, as well as individually.
This can be achieved by creating a Stock Unit record. Here you will define as many alternative stock units as you wish (e.g. box, kilo, m2) in addition to the 'base' stock unit (e.g. each). Features within the Stock Unit record make it easy to convert one unit into another (e.g. Box = Each multiplied by 12) and enter rounding requirements. The Stock Unit Record may then be linked with the Product records of all items in the Acme Bathroom Tiles range.
Thus, when ordering a product from the Acme Bathroom Tiles range, the customer/Sales Clerk may enter a quantity in their preferred unit of measure. For example: if the customer needs enough tiles to cover 1.5m2, they can order the required quantity in square metres, instead of having to guess how many individual tiles they require, or buying 2 boxes and having tiles left over. The system will automatically work out the quantity of the entered stock unit required for picking/despatch, and also the price.
You may maintain Stock Unit records to suit the different product types and groups you stock, to cross-reference alternative related units of measure, enabling the Sales Clerk or customer to easily switch between them when working with Sales Orders and other sales documents.
For further details see Alternative Stock Unit Maintenance.
Supplier Pricing records are used for recording and applying the buying costs/terms a Supplier charges for a product or group of products. If the Supplier offers discounts based on ordering a certain quantity, weight or value of the product you may define a breaks table to record the discounts available.
The standard method of recording a product's buying costs - how much a Supplier charges when you order that Product - is via the Buying Details tab of the Product record, where you may record these details for a defined Main Supplier, plus (optionally) up to two Alternative Suppliers. Supplier Pricing records offer the following advantages over this method:
They allow for the recording and maintenance of buying costs/terms for any number of Product/Supplier combinations - you are not limited to three Suppliers per Product.
You may choose to apply buying costs/terms to a group of products - such as a Product Group or Price Group - rather than a single Product.
You may record any discounts a Supplier offers for ordering a certain quantity, weight or value of a product by defining a breaks table.
See Supplier Pricing Maintenance.
Supplier Plating Charge records are used in Works Ordering for recording and applying the plating charges charged by a Supplier for processing a product based on the weight. If the Supplier charges different amounts for processing different quantities you may define a breaks table to record the applicable plating charges.
For example, you sell a product called Shiny Screws, which you do not stock. Shiny Screws are created via a Works Order Process, whereby a certain quantity of a 'raw material' product - Dull Screws - is sent off to the 'Supplier' Peter's Platers to be plated. Peter's Platers charge different amounts depending on the weight of the 'raw material' product to be processed:
Up to 4 kg: the processing cost is £56.00
5 - 19 kg: the processing cost is £52.00
20 - 49 kg: the processing cost is £48.00
50 kg or more: the processing cost is £44.00
These weights and processing costs may be recorded as a breaks table within the Supplier Plating Charge record, so that the correct processing charge is applied depending on the weight of the 'raw material' product to be processed.
See Supplier Plating Charge Maintenance.
The 'Supplier Rejections' features in Quantum VS enable you to:
enter details of rejected stock when booking goods in;
generate a Supplier Return Note to return rejected goods; and
view performance details in the Supplier record, including the number of rejected items and Supplier performance rating.
See Supplier Rejections And Performance.
Customer Product Break records give the ability to set up quantity or weight break discounts for a Customer/group of Customers when buying a certain Product/group of Products.
Note: In theory you may set up Quantity Breaks for a Product in the Product record. By using Customer Product Break records, however, you may set up different Product Quantity Break discounts for different Customers.
Customer Product Break records cross reference a Product (or Product Group or Price Group) with a Customer (or Customer Class). Each record has a break table defining quantities or weights of a Product a Customer needs to buy in order to qualify for discount. Alternatively the breaks table may point a Customer to different Price Bands.
Additional Customer Product Break options include the ability to:
apply discounts by weight, rather than quantity;
apply discounts from, to or between certain dates only;
make the record apply to a specific Branch only; and
link the break quantities/weights to Price Bands.
See Customer Product Break Maintenance.
A series of changes have been introduced to ensure the correct VAT rate is applied on sales documents when selling to customers in different VAT areas, countries and currencies.
Two new record types have been introduced to facilitate trading with customers in a different EU country who are not VAT-registered. Member Country VAT Records and Product By Member Country Records are used for determining the VAT rate payable by the customer in their country. Member Country VAT Records hold the VAT identification number for your company in that country. Product By Member Country Records hold the VAT code for the products you sell in that country. So if you are selling to a non-VAT-registered customer in another EU country and there is an existing Member Country VAT record for that country holding your VAT prefix and number, the associated Product By Member Country Record for the product being purchased gives the relevant VAT code, while the actual VAT rate comes from the european_union_vat_rates Table File.
Example: you - the seller - are in the UK and you are selling 'Acme Spanner' to a customer in a different EU country - the Republic of Ireland. A Member Country VAT Record - holding a valid VAT prefix and your VAT number for trading in that country - exists for the Republic of Ireland. A Product By Member Country record exists for the Republic of Ireland and 'Acme Spanner', determining that its VAT Code is the standard rate for the Republic of Ireland. The european_union_vat_rates Table File determines that the standard rate for the Republic of Ireland is 23 per cent. Hence, your Irish customer pays VAT - in their local currency - of 23 per cent when they buy 'Acme Spanner' from you (i.e. a selling Branch in the UK).
For further details see VAT Record Maintenance.
Users have the ability (Role/User Permissions permitting) to create Prospect Customer and Customer Site records. These are similar to standard Customer and Customer Site records except:
While Sales Enquiries and Quotes can be created for a Prospect Customer/Customer Site, Sales Orders cannot be completed unless the Prospect Customer/Customer Site is converted into a 'full' customer.
While Notes can be created for a Prospect Customer/Customer Site, Billing and Credit Control options are not available.
See Prospect Customer Maintenance.
A Web Operator is a member of staff who is allowed to log in to a Quantum VS eBusiness website and - if authorised - view the product catalogue, view/amend prices, and place orders and convert quotes on behalf of the customer. This can be achieved by creating a Web Operator record which controls access to certain features and enables the staff member to access a designated Quantum VS eBusiness website.
A typical Web Operator will be a member of the sales team working out in the field. Alongside the customer they will log in to the Quantum VS eBusiness website and review products and prices. Potentially they may amend prices as an incentive to get the customer to make a purchase. They can also place orders and quotes on behalf of the customer as required. The Web Operator's ability to perform these tasks within the Quantum VS eBusiness website is controlled by the various fields and flags in the Web Operator record.
See:
Staff By Rep Maintenance enables staff members to be associated (via their Staff ID) with Sales Reps, to control which customers' data they can access. Staff By Rep Maintenance is linked to Web Operator Maintenance in that it can be used to control which customers' data the Web Operator can access when they log in to a Quantum VS eBusiness website.
Each customer is assigned a Sales Rep on their Customer record. A Sales Rep can only view and amend data for their own customers. However, certain users (e.g. National Head of Sales) must be able to access all customer data. It may also be desirable for other types of user (e.g. Regional Head of Sales) to access data for certain groups of customers (the customers in their region), but not others.
Staff By Rep Maintenance enables a system administrator to control which staff members can view and amend data for which customers in a Quantum VS eBusiness website. For example, you may wish to create a Staff By Rep record for each Regional Head of Sales, associating them with each Sales Rep in their region. This means that when the each Regional Head of Sales is logged in to a Quantum VS eBusiness website as a Web Operator, they will only be able to access data for the customers in their region.
See:
If your assigned Role/User Permissions prevent you from accessing manipulate prices/discounts in the Negotiation panel (Line Pricing window), you may gain temporary access by clicking the User Override button and logging in with a Supervisor login and password. See User Override: Getting Temporary Access To Line Pricing (Negotiation View).
Quantum VS integrates with the Luckins catalogue, enabling you - the user/merchant - to promote the goods listed in the Luckins catalogue for sale, while minimising the potentially laborious process of converting Luckins product/price data into Quantum VS Product records. The updating of Luckins data, and conversion of Luckins product/price data into Quantum VS Product records, is handled by the system automatically.
Note: The Luckins catalogue is a database compiling up-to-date price and product data for over one million products from hundreds of suppliers. Luckins price update files are provided on CD, via email and from the Luckins FTP site. The service is used by many industries, but primarily by the electrical, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) and plumbing sectors. See http://www.luckinslive.com/
The system works as follows. Each weekly Luckins catalogue update is downloaded to the Quantum VS server, updating the data tables and allowing products from the Luckins catalogue to display in the Quantum VS Product Finder with the latest Luckins price and supplier data.
There is no need to set up Quantum VS Product records and order goods into stock beforehand for each product in the Luckins catalogue. When a customer wishes to order a product from the Luckins catalogue, the Sales Clerk simply adds the 'Luckins product' to a Sales Order. A standard Quantum VS Product record, with the correct price and product details, is created on the fly, along with stock and other records as necessary. Alternative options are available for converting 'Luckins products' into standard Quantum VS Products as required by the user.
See Luckins Product Maintenance.
There is now the option to print a Certificate of Conformity when printing a Despatch Note.
A Certificate of Conformity is a document which shows that a product being sold/despatched meets certain regulatory, technical and safety requirements. Certificates of Conformity are commonly used in the automotive industry within the European Union, but may potentially be used within any market, country or territory worldwide.
See Certificate Of Conformity Maintenance.
There is now the option to print an Advanced Despatch Notification document when Confirming a Despatch Note. This is used to inform the customer that their order is being despatched.
See Advanced Despatch Notification.
The 'address' fields in Customer, Supplier and other records - which previously held only three address lines - have been expanded.
All names and addresses are now held as 40 characters, with additional lines for town and county. There is also the ability to select the country from a drop-down menu.
By default, settings in your User record control how far through the Sales Order Processing cycle the Sales Order will progress after it has been Completed, and whether the Picking Note Print/Confirm, Despatch Note Print/Confirm, Consignment Note Print and Sales Invoicing stages are automated or must be performed manually.
The new SOP Document Type drop-down in the Sales Order header (access to which is controlled via Roles/User Permissions) enables the Sales Clerk to manually override these settings for the current order only by selecting an alternative option.
For example, imagine a user raises a Sales Order and the SOP Document Type field displays Picking Note (default). This indicates that, based on their User settings, a Picking Note will be printed automatically, but subsequent order stages - such as Despatch Note print - such as must be performed manually.
The user may now override this for the current order by selecting one of the alternative options available in the SOP Document Type drop-down:
Despatch Note: To automatically take the order straight through to the Despatch Note print stage. Subsequent stages in the SOP cycle - from Despatch Note confirmation onwards - must be performed manually.
Consignment Note: To automatically take the order straight through to the Consignment Note print stage. Subsequent stages in the SOP cycle - Sales Invoicing - must be performed manually.
Sales Invoice: To automatically take the order straight through to the Sales Invoicing stage. This is the final stage in the SOP cycle. Selecting this option effectively makes this a 'fast-track' order.
For further details see: Completing The Sales Order Header Fields.
Deferred invoicing, also known as consolidated invoicing, where multiple Sales Orders are consolidated onto one Sales Invoice, is already available in Quantum VS. It is now possible to categorise customers so that consolidated Sales Invoices may be raised on a daily, weekly, fortnighly or monthly basis.
In the Customer record, the Invoice Type field has new Deferred Daily/Weekly/Fortnighly/Monthly options, enabling you to categorise customers for deferred invoicing accordingly.
Then, when running the Sales Invoice Update, you may use the new Deferred Invoicing check boxes to specify which type of Deferred Invoicing customers to include. For example, to raise Sales Invoices for Customers flagged for 'Weekly' deferred invoicing, in the Sales Invoice Update process fields you would select Include Deferred Accounts (or Deferred Account Only) and select Weekly. When the process is run, for each Customer flagged for Weekly deferred invoicing, all invoiceable Sales Orders for the week will be consolidated onto one Sales Invoice.
For further details see Deferred Invoicing.
There is now the ability to add alternative Nominal Codes against the codes maintained in the Purchase Nominal Control record.
Subsequently in Purchase Invoice Registration there is the option, when entering a buying gain or buying deficit for a PIR type (1) Stock, (2) Directs, (4) Haulage or (5) Credit, for the user to enter/select these alternative Nominal Codes for the gain/deficit as required.
For example, in Purchase Nominal Control the System Administrator might create, under the Nominal Code 'Goods For Resale', a series of alternative Nominal Codes for the categories 'Packaging', 'Stock' and 'Plating'. Later, when registering a 'Stock' type Purchase Invoice, after entering invoice totals and clicking Continue, you receive the Totals do not match! warning because you were invoiced for more than the correct amount. After clicking Select to allocate the correct amount for payment, then clicking End to Complete the PIR procedure, the Buying Deficit window will then display: here it will be possible to select one of the Alternative Nominal Codes created, so that the balance is posted to the correct Nominal Code in Quantum VS Financials.
For further details see:
Supplier Rebate records are used for recording the details of an agreement with a Supplier, on the basis that they will provide you with a rebate when you purchase a certain quantity or value of a certain product or group of products from them.
On entering into a rebate agreement with a Supplier you will need to create and save a Supplier Rebate record which specifies the Supplier account, details of the Product(s) on which the rebate will be paid, and the percentage rebate applicable. Additional fields enable you to specify whether the rebate is ongoing or time-limited, whether - and, if so, at what stage (e.g. at goods receipt or Purchase Invoice Registration) - the product's stock cost will be updated to reflect the applicable rebate, and whether the rebate will be applied to stock orders, direct orders or both.
Subsequently, when goods for which a rebate applies are ordered, received into stock and invoiced, the aggregate 'claimable' rebate value which has accrued for the product or product group will be displayed within the applicable Supplier Rebate record. You may claim this rebate from the Supplier as and when you choose. You may also use business intelligence tools such as myViewpoint to report on rebate values.
Supplier Rebate Maintenance provides the ability to add, edit delete Supplier Rebate records, with various available options. For further details see Supplier Rebate Maintenance.
A new method of generating Purchase Orders in bulk is available: creating Purchase Orders from a .csv file.
This method involves first extracting Product data to a .csv file. You may then retrieve the file and manually update the listed 'reorder' products, suppliers, quantities and other details based on your own specialist knowledge of the market.
On saving the file and placing it in the appropriate directory on the server the specified Purchase Orders are automatically generated in Quantum VS - across multiple suppliers if required. You may optionally generate Parked and Suggested Purchase Orders as well as 'actual' Purchase Orders. See:
It is now possible to generate Special Prices for individual lines on a sales document. When a sales document is open and the Sales Clerk is in negotiation with a Customer, they may use the Special Prices tab of the Line Pricing Window (Negotiation View) to view existing Special Prices for the selected Customer/Product combination.
The Sales Clerk may then create a new Special Price for the selected Customer/Product combination by selecting Update Special Prices and entering the required criteria. On document Completion a Special Price record will be created for the current line, plus any other lines on the document on which Special Prices are being created/updated, based on the (negotiated) line price.
Note: It is also possible to generate Special Prices for ALL lines on the sales document using the Properties: Document panel when a sales document is open.
See:
New fields in the Stock Count Listing report allow for improved options and flexibility when performing a stock take or generating the related report.
The Last Stock Take Date field enables the entry of a date, used by the stock take/report to include batches where the last stock take date and the last receipt date is older than the date entered. This field - in conjunction with the Count Group - can be used to identify, using Quantum VS myViewpoint or a similar reporting tool, all records where a stock take has not been performed within a required timeframe.
For example, you might group your products into the following Count Groups to denote the stock count period:
1 - count every 30 days
2 - count every 90 days
3 - count every 180 days
4 - count every 365 days
Therefore you might wish to list, for example, all batch/bin records for products within Count Group 2 (90 days) if the last stock take date on the batch/bin record is older than 90 days and the receipt date is also older than 90 days.
This will help the warehouse manager to schedule and allocated appropriate resources to achieve the required goal and track the progress made so far; i.e. establish if they are on track or behind with the stock take procedure.
The following new fields have also been added:
From / To Bin - enabling you to limit the stock take or report to a selected Bin Location or range.
Max Number Of Records - enabling you to limit the number of products to be included in the stock take or report.
Include Temporary Products - enabling you to include Temporary Products in the stock take or report.
See:
Note: Build Stock Count Index has been removed from Processes and from the Stock Control tab.
New hyperlinks in the Purchase Order Lines Finder enable you to:
Add a Progress Note: by clicking Add Progress Note in the Progress Note Reason column.
Open an existing Progress Note (to view, edit or delete): by clicking Progress Note in the Last Progress Note column.
See:
A new User Permission - System Administration > Print Group > Restricted Access - can be used to restrict the User's access to Print Groups in the Print Groups Finder.
If Restricted Access is:
not enabled: the User will see all Print Groups.
enabled: The User will see only Print Group Names which (1) match or (2) begin with their User Name. For example, if your User Name is Bill, you will be restricted to Print Group Names called Bill or Bill_.
See Print Group Maintenance: User Permissions And Roles.
A new User Permission - Sales Desk > Forward Orders > Part Allocate Default - can be used to control a User's access to the 'part allocate line' features in Forward Ordering.
Enabling this User Permission means the User can use the Part Allocate Forward Order Lines check box in the Forward Order Stock Allocation process. When there is insufficient stock of a line to allocate the required quantity, if Part Allocate Forward Order Lines is checked, on completion of the process the system will allocate the existing stock to the line and place the balance on back order.
See:
The number of component Products which may be associated with a Kit record has been increased from 40 to 300. See:
It is now possible to reprint a Consignment Note by clicking Reprint on the toolbar when the Consignment Note is open. See:
The following changes have been made:
Discount Matrix records may now be created individually one of the standard available methods - see Creating A New Discount Matrix Record.
Discount Matrix records are available to be viewed and retrieved from the Finder. See Finding Discount Matrix Records.
Discount Matrix Maintenance has been removed from the Edit menu.
The Republic of Ireland's Eircode postcode format is supported in all records where an address may be entered (Customer, Supplier etc.). Eircode is seven characters in length, divided into two parts: a three character Routing Key followed by a four character Unique Identifier; e.g. A65 F4E2.
The Quantum VS 'carrier interface' provides an integrated system for providing delivery/shipping on via third-party carrier companies when Carriage, Premium Delivery or Haulage charges are applied to a Sales Order. Order data can potentially be transmitted directly to the carrier electronically - eliminating the need to manually key in data on a separate system - and updates on the status of the delivery can also be provided. See Carrier Maintenance.
You will initially need to create records corresponding to:
the 'carrier' transport/shipping companies your Branches will use - such as Royal Mail, ParcelForce Worldwide, DHL, UPS, FedEx, TNT.
and the services the carriers will provide - such as First Class mail, Second Class mail, Next day delivery by noon, Next day delivery, 2-day delivery, International standard delivery, International tracked and signed delivery.
You may set up as many of these records as you need, including default Carrier and Carrier Service Level combinations for each of your Branches, plus other default options. See Configuring Your System For Carrier Maintenance.
Consequently you may offer your customers a range of delivery options from your carriers on delivered Sales Orders when Carriage, Premium Delivery or Haulage charges are applied. After order completion the Sales Clerk can:
Accept the default carrier and service presented, or select alternatives, or defer carrier and/or service selection.
Apply a Premium Delivery Charge which automatically selects a default service - and potentially also carrier.
Change the selected carrier and/or service at a later stage of the sales processing cycle, such as at Picking, Delivery Assembly and/or Despatch confirmation, or when Printing/Confirming the Consignment Note.
Print (and Confirm) a Consignment Note - automatically or manually - which gives the carrier all of the details required for delivery, including the customer's address and information about the goods.
Track orders via a hyperlink in Quantum VS which clicks through to the carrier's website for detailed information on order status.
For an overview of the procedure for selecting/amending carrier-related options at Sales Order Completion (or potentially at any time before the order is delivered), Printing/Confirming a Consignment Note and tracking order delivery see Carrier Service Selection And The Sales Order Processing Cycle.
Works Order Processing is a system enabling companies to sell products which require processing or assembly while avoiding the need to keep these items in stock.
Works Order Processing is used with two main types of 'output' product:
Plated products - whereby raw materials are sent off to be plated and are received back into stock as a distinct 'plated' product; and
Kits - which are an 'assembly' of several components (which may themselves be Kits/sub-assemblies).
Assuming the required documents and records are in place, when a product requiring processing or assembly is Sales or Purchase Ordered and no free stock of that product is available, the system creates (1) a 'Works Order' Sales Order which generates the documentation required to pick and despatch any raw materials or components for processing/assembly, and (2) a Back-To-Back Purchase Order to order the 'finished' (i.e. processed or assembled) goods. Any ordering into stock of raw materials can be handled by the system automatically. Once the processed or assembled goods have been received into stock the sales or purchasing cycle can then be completed, with the system updating stock details at each stage of the procedure.
Note: For an overview of Works Order Processing see Works Order Processing: Overview.
For further details see Works Order Processing.
A Pro Forma Sales Order is a type of Cash Sales Order in which no payment is taken until the goods are delivered.
On initial order confirmation, a Pro Forma Sales Invoice is generated. This is not a legally binding tax document - it is an estimate showing the seller's commitment to provide the listed goods/services at the specified prices. It also includes the wording 'This is not a VAT invoice'. Pro Forma Invoices are often used by merchants in order to issue customers with a document for products or services which have not yet been supplied, perhaps for customs purposes.
Only later on when the goods have been delivered, the Sales Order recalled and the Despatch Note Confirmed, is the Pro Forma Sales Invoice converted into a 'true' Sales Invoice and your Sales Ledger updated.
See Pro Forma Sales Orders And Invoices.
Quantum VS now has various options for printing product labels - featuring Product and/or Bar Code and/or company-related details - onto your chosen stationery according to your requirements. The following types of label printing are available:
Product Label Printing
Despatch Note Label Printing
Picking Note Label Printing
Kanban Label Printing
Product Bar Code Label Printing
Goods Received Note Label Printing
See Label Printing.
The Clone Product feature enables you to create a new Product record from an existing record.
The new Product record has the same details as the original, apart from the Product Code, and can be edited as required before saving.
If the original Product record has any additional features assigned, such as Auto Add Ons, Product Processes or User Defined fields, you may choose whether or not to copy these to the new record.
The Cash Posting facility enables customers to make payments on account, by cash, credit card, cheque or another available payment method.
When a Cash Posting is Completed, the amount is added to the customer's account balance. The payment is also added to Quantum Financials and any relevant Nominal Codes updated.
See Cash Posting.
The Prepay check box is available on 'Cash Deposit' Standing Orders. Selecting this option allows the customer to use any positive account balance as payment against Sales Orders generated from this Standing Order. See Entering Standing Order Header Details.
When Prepay is selected and the Standing Order is Completed, the system takes note of any payment the customer has made against their account (see Cash Posting). When Standing Order Sales Orders are generated and Completed, the Payment Form will not require the customer to make payment if they have a positive account balance - see Processing Standing Orders After Completion.
If a customer wants to place a one-off order for goods you will typically create a Sales Order. However, if the customer wants to place a regular - repeating - order for those goods you will need to create a Standing Order.
A Standing Order is a type of Sales Contract representing a non-binding commitment to order a certain quantity of goods on a regular basis.
For example: you sell food, which you deliver to your customers. A customer rings up and wishes to place a standing order for a weekly delivery of certain food items. To do this you will need to create a Standing Order. This involves raising a Sales Contract and checking the Standing Order field in the header section. You will also need to enter the products and quantities required by the customer for each delivery.
The Route/Round field in the header may be used for selecting the required Route Round delivery for this order. This enables you to tell the customer which delivery they will be on and when you will next be able to deliver the goods.
Note: You must have first created Route Round records using Route Round Maintenance and subscribed the customer to an appropriate Route Round delivery using Customer Route Round Drop Sequence Maintenance. You have the option of selecting from one of the available Route/Rounds options to which the customer is subscribed. Alternatively, you may leave the field blank to allow the system to automatically select the next available Route Round delivery to which the customer is subscribed, based on the Required Date. For further details see Route Round Deliveries And Standing Orders: Overview.
Once a Standing Order has been created and completed you will regularly need to run processes in order to generate Sales Orders and print lists of daily/weekly deliveries to be made.
For further details see Working With Standing Orders.
Route Round Maintenance is designed for merchants who receive regular Standing Orders, as well as one-off Sales Orders, from customers and therefore need to deliver goods to those customers on a regular basis.
It is recommended that you read the Route Round Deliveries And Standing Orders: Overview before setting up Quantum VS for Route Round deliveries.
IMPORTANT: To 'switch on' Route Round Maintenance and related features within Quantum VS you will need to enable the Optional Enhancement Price Book 714 (Route Planning). See Optional Enhancements.
To operate Route Round deliveries you will need to:
configure certain fields and records in Quantum VS ready for Route Round Maintenance;
create Route Round records based on the deliveries you will be operating;
subscribe customers to your Route Round deliveries, creating a 'drop sequence'.
For further details see Route Round Maintenance.
With these records in place you will be able to assign and amend a customer's Route Round delivery within Standing Orders, Sales Orders and other sales documents via the Route/Round field in the document header.
Quantum VS provides support for Signature Pad devices. This enables the recording of 'proof of delivery' details - specifically, a customer signature - on goods collection following Sales Order Completion.
The signature is saved against the order/Despatch Note for retrieval as required. For details see Using A Signature Pad.
User Defined Fields are 'user configurable' fields which can be added to a range of document types. This enables your Users to record and display data in fields you have defined, based on your business's own needs and requirements. This gives you a huge range of possibilities as to the data you can record and analyse.
User Defined Fields are set up and maintained in the User Defined Data Maintenance screen. Depending on the document type you are creating them for, User Defined Fields can be configured to display:
in a tab within the chosen document type; e.g. for recording User Defined details for a Customer, Product or Supplier;
in the Properties panel when a sales or purchasing document is open; and/or
in the Finder, enabling the filtering and selection of records based on User Defined data.
For further details see User Defined Data Maintenance.
Sales Orders now have a series of date fields - including the Required Date and Target Date - on the header and on individual order lines. When enabled, these allow you to:
set 'expected' and 'target' delivery dates for the whole Sales Order and/or individual lines,
update these during the order's progress, and then
retrospectively compare differences between 'actual' and 'target' delivery dates to assess how well you met your delivery targets.
For further details - with practical examples of how Sales Order Date fields can be entered, amended and subsequently used in measuring your delivery performance - see Sales Order Date Fields And Delivery Performance.
Purchase Orders have a series of date fields which enable you to:
set 'expected' and 'target' delivery and ship dates for the Purchase Order and/or individual lines,
update these during the order's progress, and then
retrospectively compare differences between 'actual' and 'target' delivery and ship dates to assess how well the Supplier - and any additional shipping company used - met their targets.
See Purchase Order Date Fields And Supplier Delivery/Shipping Targets.
Note: For examples of how Purchase Order date fields can be used in reviewing Supplier delivery/shipping targets see Using Purchase Order Date Fields To Review Supplier Delivery/Shipping Targets: Examples.
A Progress Note is a document which may be added to a Purchase Order or Goods Received Note to record the details of the order's progress and any changes to expected/target/ship dates. Progress Notes may be added for a whole Purchase Order or Goods Received Note, or for an individual line. You may add as many Progress Notes as necessary.
Progress Notes enable you to record the detail of contact between your own company and the Suppliers and additional shipping/haulage companies involved in the progress of a Purchase Order - and its related Goods Received Note. This contact might be in the form of a telephone call, a one-to-one conversation, email, letter, or fax.
Adding Progress Notes enables users in your business to keep tabs on an order's progress. This is especially useful if you have pending Sales Orders for these goods and it is vital they are shipped and received on time. They are also helpful in co-ordinating the receipt into stock of goods from large or multiple orders.
See Progress Notes.
Note: For examples of the type of detail you might wish to record in a Progress Note - and potential uses - see Using Progress Notes: Examples.
Note: See also: Reviewing Purchase Order Progress And Supplier Delivery/Shipping Targets.
A new Special Price type - Product Matrix Discount By Customer Class (Special Price Type 7) has been created, offering the ability to apply up to two Special Prices/discounts for a given Customer Class and Product - or Product range. See:
You may export results displayed in the Finder as a .csv file for viewing and editing in an external application such as Excel. See Finder Exports.
Forward Ordering is useful when a Customer wishes to order goods which are not required immediately. Normally stock is allocated against the order on Completion. When creating a Forward Order, however, stock is not allocated until a future Allocation Date, meaning you may continue selling 'free stock'.
Forward Ordering is now line-based rather than order-based, meaning Users can:
enter both 'Forward' and 'Normal' lines on the same Sales Order; and
convert 'Forward' lines on a Sales Order to 'Normal' lines - and vice versa; and
edit the default Required and Allocation dates for each Forward Order line on a Sales Order.
It is now easy to set up a Scheduled Order by splitting a Forward Order line's total Quantity into a series of smaller quantities/lines with different Required/Allocation dates, defining a regular (e.g. daily, weekly, monthly, yearly) or irregular delivery schedule for a Customer on one Sales Order.
For further details see Forward Orders.
Back-To-Back ordering is a system whereby Sales Order lines can be allocated to a Purchase Order on Completion, enabling you to 'back order' the goods from the Supplier.
Potentially, Back-To-Back ordering enables you - the merchant - to hold relatively small stock inventories, operating a 'just-in-time' stock management system. Unlike with traditional back-ordering, Back-To-Back ordering can be used not only when sufficient stock is not available to fulfil an order, but also when free stock is available but you do not wish to use it. For example, you may wish to keep a certain number of items 'on the shelf', or reserve stock for a favoured Customer.
The Back-To-Back ordering procedure may be configured on your system to be fully automated or to allow the User a degree of manual control. For example:
At Sales Order Completion lines can be automatically allocated to a 'Parked' Purchase Order addressed to the relevant Supplier. The buying team can then edit - and allocate lines to - Purchase Orders before they are Completed and issued.
Alternatively you may configure a User's settings so that Back-To-Back Purchase Orders generated on Sales Order Completion will also be automatically Completed and issued, without any manual input.
At the other extreme, instead of Back-To-Back Purchase Orders being generated - with lines allocated - on Sales Order Completion, the lines can be placed in the Back Order Manager for the User to review and allocate to a new or existing Purchase Order.
For further details see Back-To-Back Sales And Purchase Orders.
Delivery Assembly is a procedure enabling the user to manually 'add to a delivery' goods which have been picked for a Sales Order.
This feature is useful when dealing with large orders when many lines are back ordered and end up being received into stock at different times, resulting in the Sales Order having multiple Picking Notes. As order lines are picked, and each Picking Note is Confirmed, they can be manually added to a delivery in the Delivery Assembly tab. This minimises the number of Despatch Notes - and hence Sales Invoices - generated from the Sales Order.
For further details see Delivery Assembly.
Quantum VS now enables the operation of a Kanban supply management system, in which you - the merchant - are responsible for re-stocking Product bins in your Customer's warehouse.
This initially involves the creation of Kanban records in Quantum VS. Each record holds the Kanban bar code and (optionally) the replenishment quantity of a Product bin to be scanned in the Customer's warehouse, linking it with a Product record, Customer record and Web Environment.
Subsequently, the Quantum VS 'Scanner User' will visit the Customer's warehouse and scan the Kanban bar code visible on each empty Product bin which needs re-stocking. The file from the scanner is imported into Quantum VS and the system automatically generates Parked or Held Sales Orders for the Customer, with the required quantity of goods to replenish each empty Product bin. These Sales Orders may be amended/Completed/deleted as necessary.
For further details see Kanban Maintenance.
Product Process Maintenance enables the System Administrator to set up additional 'process' options against a Product or Product Group so that these are made available for selection when adding a Product line to a sales document (Sales Order, Quote, Sales Enquiry, Sales Contract, Credit Note).
For example: you sell a product called 'Commemorative Mug' - a plain white porcelain mug. You wish to offer the Customer a choice of having the following designs printed on the mug when they order it: a line, a logo, or a line and logo, for which the Customer will pay an additional charge or percentage. To do this you may set up the required Product Process options - in this case, Line, Logo and Line & Logo - in Product Process Maintenance. Product Process options may be applied to an individual Product or a Product Group.
For further details see Product Process Maintenance.
A range of options are available for optimising and maximising the lines view display when working with documents. The following 'lines view' options are useful when you are working with a small monitor and have limited screen real estate available:
Optimising Product line column display - to minimise empty space.
Showing/hiding Optional Columns - to hide columns not required.
Freezing lines view columns - so that required columns remain visible when scrolling to the right.
For further details see Optimising Product Line Display.
Note: Further options for maximising the available screen area for the lines view display are to: (a) re-size the desktop, (b) hide the Properties area, and (c) pin the Properties area and/or Finder. See Changing Your Desktop View.
There are various ways in which you may customise the available Finders, including:
Optimising the column width; and
Specifying which columns will display, and in what order.
Finder settings may be saved permanently for the current User and Finder type, so that they are available when you log off and back on again. For example, when you customise settings for the Customers Finder, the next time you open the Customers Finder the specified columns will display in the selected order, with the same optimised column dimensions.
When you update/save Finder settings as described below, Advanced settings (e.g. whether or not Advanced settings are displayed, which filter fields are on/off) are also saved for the current User and Finder type.
The Mega Menu is a 'smart' menu including only features relevant to your Role (as defined in your User record). For example, a Sales Clerk might see only sales-related features, a Buyer only purchasing-related features, and an Accountant only accounts-related features. The Mega Menu gives you access to your most-used features no matter which screen or area of Quantum VS you are working in. For further details see Using The Mega Menu.
Note: Quantum VS '9' releases onwards use a SQL database for improved performance and querying capabilities.
Call Manager is Quantum VS's integrated telephony system, enabling users with a telephone and headset to:
answer, queue and end incoming calls;
make outgoing calls;
view caller details; and
create documents relevant to callers (e.g. a Quote or Sales Order for a Customer).
Tabs are available in the Call Manager screen for viewing details of missed, received and dialled calls.
For further details see Call Manager.
Note: To set up Call Manager in Quantum VS see Setting Up Call Manager. If you are running Quantum VS alongside the VECTA sales intelligence application you will need to download and run the separate Desktop Link application - see Using Desktop Link (For Running Quantum VS With VECTA).
A Sales Enquiry is a new document type, the purpose of which is to enable a sales person to record a customer enquiry relating to products and prices.
Raising a Sales Enquiry is suitable for occasions when a company calls to enquire about products and/or prices but does not initially wish to obtain a formal Quote or place a Sales Order. This enquiry could be from an existing customer or from a new 'potential' customer.
The procedure for creating a Sales Enquiry is similar to creating a Quote or Sales Order. A 'sales enquiry' from a customer is typically the first stage of the sales procedure, at which the Sales Enquiry document is created and Completed.
There are procedures for reviewing Completed Sales Enquiries, to analyse the numbers taken, conversion rates, reasons why Sales Enquiries have not been converted, and the Telesales operators responsible. Sales Enquiries can be recalled using the Finder and re-used if required. Details from companies which are not already recorded on the system may be added as a Customer record.
When a Completed Sales Enquiry is reviewed, the user/telesales rep has the option to:
Leave the Sales Enquiry as it is (pending further contact with the customer);
Convert the Sales Enquiry to a Quote (if the customer, having been given product/price details, wishes to obtain a quotation);
Convert the Sales Enquiry to a Sales Order (if the customer, having been given product/price details, wishes to place an order); or
'Lose' the whole Sales Enquiry, with reasons recorded (if the customer, having been given product/price details, states that they do not wish to proceed with a Quote or Sales Order based on this enquiry).
Note: When Converting a Sales Enquiry there is the option to carry certain product lines to the Quote or Sales Order while 'losing' other product lines.
For full details see Working With Sales Enquiries.
Note: The Quotes/Contracts Entered Report has been renamed the Enquiries/Quotes/Contracts Report and now has the ability to report on new and lapsed Sales Enquiries. See Enquiries/Quotes/Contracts Report.
When one or more Direct Sales Orders and Purchase Orders are generated from a Direct Sales Contract, the Call Off Quantity field on the Sales Contract may be hyperlinked, enabling users to cross reference each Product line on the original Sales Contract with the associated Sales Order, Purchase Order, Sales Invoice and Purchase Invoice. See Direct Sales Contracts And Call Offs.
Quantum VS 8.3.1 includes sundry additional features, improvements, performance enhancements and bug fixes, including:
Additional Reports and Processes.
Additional read-only tabs on Customer, Product and Supplier records showing a variety of useful data.
Additional Optional Enhancements.
Fatal Error Logs and Lock Logs.
Product 'batch traceability' - also known as batch tracking - refers to the Quantum VS system's ability to classify stock by a Batch Reference, Serial Number and/or Bin Location. This enables goods to be tracked within the warehouse following receipt into stock, within the company if it is moved between branches, and afterwards when it is sold. See Product Batch Traceability Maintenance.
For a full overview of how 'batch traceability' works in Quantum VS see the Product Batch Traceability Overview.
To use the 'batch traceability' features you will need to configure various control records and set up 'batch traceability' flags in your Product records. See Product Batch Traceability System Settings.
When goods flagged for 'batch traceability' are ordered from a supplier, they must be associated with a Batch Number, Serial Number and/or Bin Location when received into stock on a Goods Received Note. There is the option to assign the goods a Certificate Number, Sell By Date and Shelf Life Date, and to mark incoming 'batches' for inspection. See Booking In Stock On A Goods Received Note and Allocating Batch/Bin/Serial Number Details At Goods Receipt.
A Product Inventory record is created when batch traceable products are allocated a Batch, Serial or Bin number during the 'booking in' procedure. This enables the goods to be tracked through their Batch Number, Serial Number and/or Bin Location. See Tracking Batch Traceable Goods.
Although user interaction is required in certain circumstances (e.g. booking 'batch traceable' goods in on a GRN or IBT; assembling/dismantling Kits), Quantum VS may be configured so that when 'batch traceable' products are added to documents, stock is automatically allocated from (or to) a Batch/Serial Number/Bin Location by the system. However, users have the option to view and amend this allocation manually.
For full details see Product Batch Traceability Maintenance.
Quantum VS can be used as the basis of a WMS (warehouse management system) which processes the movement and storage of materials. Users may scan products using bar code scanners which send data to - and receive data from - the system in real time. For full details see Bar Code Scanning Maintenance.
To set up bar code scanning you will need to:
configure your network and bar code scanners; and
set up the following records in Quantum VS: Bar Codes; Branches; Branch Stock/Product; Users/Roles.
See Setting Up Quantum VS For Bar Code Scanning.
Certain warehouse-based bar code-related procedures may be performed by a remote operator using a wireless RF scanner, which runs the Quantum VS Warehouse System application. This type of user must be defined as a Scanner User in Quantum VS, and have appropriate scanner user permissions enabled in their User record. The 'scanner user' may log into the scanner device to perform a range of bar code scanning procedures (depending on the scanner user permissions enabled in their User record). See Remote Bar Code Scanning Procedures.
Some bar code-related procedures may be carried out by an operator using a 'keyboard wedge' type scanner which connects between the user's keyboard and PC. Since this is carried out by a standard system-connected user, rather than a remote 'scanner user', these procedures are described on the relevant page within this User Help, rather than in a separate section. For example, Confirming Despatch Note Lines is a task which is typically carried out by a user at a workstation, rather than by a remote warehouse-based operator.
To facilitate bar code scanning, Bar Code records must be created in Quantum VS to cross reference your Product records with a bar code used by (a) the Customer, (b) the Supplier, or (c) by your own company/organisation. You may potentially create multiple Bar Code records of all types (i.e. Customer/Supplier/Our Code) against a single Product. You may then use a bar code scanner to perform a range of procedures. See Bar Code Record Maintenance.
Quantum VS now has the facility for users to display and print sales documents in the currency used by the customer, at the most recently-set exchange rate, when dealing with customers who trade in a currency different to the home/system currency.
When working with an open sales document, users may click Shift + [F10] to toggle the currency display between the:
'home' currency - i.e. 'your' currency - Pounds Sterling in this scenario; and the
'context' currency - i.e. the currency the customer uses - Euros in this scenario.
Alternatively the user may select View > Currency from the Toolbar - Main Menu and then switch between the Home Currency and Context Currency options.
For this to happen, Multi-Currency Selling must be enabled on your system. The customer must also satisfy the conditions, including having a currency setting which is different to your 'home'/system currency.
For details see Multi-Currency Selling.
You may now issue a Credit Voucher to 'cash account' customers as an alternative to tendering a cash or card refund when a 'cash' Credit Note is raised.
The Credit Voucher(s) may then be redeemed by the customer as payment for 'cash' Sale Orders.
See Working With Credit Vouchers.
The workflow for dealing with Quotes and converting them into Sales Orders has been improved, and a facility for monitoring converted and lost Quotes and Quote lines has been added.
The Enquiries/Quotes/Contracts Report can be used to generate a list of Quotes which require conversion. Tasks can then be created to schedule contact with Customers to see if they wish to place an order on the basis of the quotation. The users/sales reps responsible for dealing with Customers will see these Tasks in their Diary, which they can use to recall and Complete the Task, recording the outcome.
The Quote can then be retrieved and dealt with, depending on how the Customer wishes to proceed:
If necessary the Quote may be Converted into a Sales Order.
If the Customer wishes to order some, but not all, of the Product lines on the Quote, there is now a simple way to remove individual Product lines and specify the reason why they are not required, with additional keyboard shortcuts.
There are also procedures for 'losing' the Quote if the Customer does not wish to proceed, again recording the reason why.
When Quote lines are either lost or converted to an order, this information is recorded for sales analysis. Sales Enquiry Analysis gives a breakdown of the number of Quotes taken by each telesales representative, plus the number of lines and the value and cost of the Quote. Statistics for Converted, Deleted and Lost Quotes are also displayed.
For further details see Converting A Quote To A Sales Order.
Product Enquiry offers a simple and quick way to view products the customer has ordered before and add them to an open Sales Order or Quote. Sometimes this may be more convenient than the standard method of adding product lines.
Product Enquiry is a pop-up Finder window displaying products previously ordered by the currently-selected customer. You may browse through and filter the products displayed, then add them to the sales document with just a couple of clicks.
To open the Product Enquiry window from an open Sales Order or Quote:
click [Ctrl + Q], or
click the Product Enquiry button beneath the Product lines section.
Note: The Product Enquiry button becomes available only after you have added header details to the open Sales Order or Quote and clicked [Tab] ready to add product lines.
The Product Enquiry window displays, listing products previously ordered by this customer, displaying the relevant Sales Order, quantity ordered and how much the customer paid for the product (which won't necessarily be the product's list price).
To add products listed in Product Enquiry to an open Sales Order or Quote using your mouse:
check the fields next to individual products to select those products; or
select all products by checking the 'select all' check box; then
click the Add button in the lower left-hand corner.
You may also enter/select products from the Product Enquiry window using your keyboard. The method is similar to when using the standard Finder:
Use [Tab] / arrow keys to move from one field/line to another.
Click [Space] to select/deselect product lines (i.e. toggle on/off).
When you have selected product lines to add, either:
Click [Return] to add an individual product line to the sales document. Or:
Click Alt + A to add all selected products to the sales document.
Note: You may now click [Esc] to close the Product Enquiry window.
When you add products to an open Sales Order or Quote using Product Enquiry, the Quantity will default to the last quantity ordered by the customer. You may edit/overwrite this quantity on the sales document if necessary.
For further details see Entering Product Lines With Product Enquiry.
The Update A Document section of the Home tab enables you to quickly retrieve a Picking Note or Despatch Note. This saves you having to use the Finder to retrieve the document, or open it from the Tracking tab of the Sales Order.
From the Home tab, simply:
Click the Confirm Picking Note or Confirm Despatch Note link under Update A Document. Then:
Enter the Sales Order number and click [Tab] to open the Picking/Despatch Note.
You may now: (a) print; (b) scan in bar codes and enter quantities for; (c) manually enter variance for; and (d) Confirm the Picking Note or Despatch Note.
See:
There may be occasions when a third-party haulage company is used to transport the goods from the Supplier's premises to your premises.
When you receive goods from a supplier, you may click the Haulage Details option on the Toolbar - Sub Menu to specify the haulage company and how much they are charging you for delivery. When the haulage company invoices you, after the invoice has been registered in Purchase Invoice Registration you can match invoice totals against haulage charges recorded at goods receipt.
For further details see Entering Haulage Details For Goods Received.
Quantum VS has a variety of features enabling the user to keep their hands on the keyboard, speeding up data entry. Taking the time to learn these shortcuts will drastically speed up data entry and editing within Quantum VS.
For a full list, plus examples of how a 'speeded up' workflow may be achieved using the keyboard's function keys and shortcuts, see Keyboard-Based Working In Quantum VS.
Quantum VS 8 includes full support for Inter Branch Transfers (IBTs), the procedure used to transfer stock between Branches.
There are potentially four stages involved in processing an IBT:
(1) Raising An IBT Request: The Request Branch (i.e. the Branch which wants the goods) raises an IBT Request.
(2) Allocating The Goods: The Issue Branch (i.e. the Branch issuing the goods) opens the IBT Request (OR creates a new IBT Allocation) and generates a Picking Note.
(3) Despatching The Goods: The Issue Branch opens the IBT Issue and generates a Despatch Note.
(4) Receiving the Goods: The Request Branch opens the IBT Receipt and generates a Goods Received Note, reporting variance if necessary.
You may Hold and Cancel IBTs/IBT lines if required. You may also retrieve IBT documents from the Finder in two ways:
Outgoing IBTs: This is used to find IBTs relating to stock which is outgoing. See Finding Outgoing IBTs.
Incoming IBTs: This is used to find IBTs relating to stock which is incoming. See Finding Incoming IBTs.
Before performing any IBTs you should ensure that your Branch IBT Control Record has been set up. The Branch IBT control record holds your system settings for each of your Branches for Inter Branch Transfers (IBTs). See Branch IBT Control Record Maintenance.
The following Processes and Reports are also now available in relation to IBTs:
Auto Confirm IBT Receipts: This process automatically confirms IBT Receipts so that received stock is automatically booked in at the Request Branch.
IBT Period End: This process is used to delete fully Completed and/or Cancelled IBTs up to a certain date.
IBT Listing: This report generates a summary or a detailed report of either Incoming or Outgoing IBTs by Branch. You may filter the report by IBT Type (Request/Issue/Receipt/All), IBT Status (Confirmed/Unconfirmed/Cancelled/All) and IBT Document No.
For further details see Inter Branch Transfers.
Quantum VS 8 includes two new forms of delivery charge which may be applied when certain Customers place a Sales Order or Quote.
Carriage Charges may be applied to 'Delivered' or 'Direct' Sales Orders and Quotes based on the total order/quote value (excluding VAT). For the Carriage Charge to apply, the customer's Customer Record must be flagged as being subject to Carriage Charges. Also, the order value must fall within one of the Carriage Charge Bands set up in the Carriage Charge Bands control record.
The Carriage Charge Bands control record holds a table comprising up to 12 Carriage Charge Bands. This defines the Carriage Charge value which will be applied, based on the total order/quote value (excluding VAT).
In situations where Carriage Charges apply (i.e. for a qualifying Customer, on a Delivered or Direct Sales Order/Quote with a value falling within one of the Carriage Charge Bands which have been set up) the user/Sales Clerk may enter an appropriate Carriage Charge to the order/quote at the point of sale, which will be presented to the user on completion of the Sales Order or Quote. The user/Sales Clerk has the option to (a) accept the carriage charge that is automatically obtained, (b) reject the carriage charge or (c) change its value.
To set up and maintain Carriage Charges see Carriage Charge Bands Maintenance.
Premium Delivery Charges are a form of delivery charge which may be used alongside, or instead of, Carriage Charges. Whereas Carriage Charges are used to apply a delivery charge based on the total value of the Sales Order or Quote, Premium Delivery Charges are used to apply an additional - or 'premium' - delivery charge to a Sales Order or Quotation.
For example, you might set up a series of Premium Delivery Charges to make the following delivery/charging options available:
standard Royal Mail second class postage
standard Royal Mail first class postage
Royal Mail registered first class post
Courier 24-hour delivery
... and so on.
For Premium Delivery Charges to apply, each 'Premium Delivery' charging option must be set up and saved in a separate Premium Delivery Charge record. The customer's Customer Record must also be flagged as being subject to Premium Delivery Charges in order to qualify.
If Premium Delivery charging options have been set up and the Customer qualifies, on completion of a Sales Order or Quote the Sales Clerk is prompted to select a Premium Delivery Charge option on behalf of the customer, which will be added to the cost of the Sales Order/Quote.
To set up and maintain Premium Delivery Charges see Premium Delivery Charges Maintenance.
Note: If neither Carriage Charges or Premium Delivery Charges have been set up then the default method for applying delivery charges - adding a Manual 'haulage charge' line to a sales document - still applies.
Quantum VS 8 gives Users the ability to view and create Tasks. Tasks are a record of what you - and other users - have to do, enabling you to plan and prioritise your workload. For example: 'telephone company X'; or 'complete spring campaign paperwork'.
Tasks are a way of managing and recording user interaction with Customers, Suppliers and Branches. When a Task is created it is given a Category (i.e. Customer/Supplier/Branch), a Start Date or Due Date, Status (e.g. In Progress/Complete), Priority (e.g. High/Medium/Low) and is assigned to yourself or another user. Tasks can be monitored and marked as Complete, enabling users to manage their daily/weekly/monthly workload.
There are four types of Task:
Branch Task: a Task assigned to a particular Branch.
Customer Task: a Task assigned to a particular Customer.
Supplier Task: a Task assigned to a particular Supplier.
Personal Task: a Task assigned to yourself, rather than a Branch/Customer/Supplier.
Customer, Supplier and Branch Tasks must be assigned to a Quantum VS user when they are created. Any user may view Tasks for a particular Customer, Supplier Or Branch (assigned to yourself and all other users) by selecting the Tasks tab within the Customer, Supplier Or Branch record.
Your Tasks - Tasks assigned to you - are shown in the My Tasks tab within the Finder. This includes your own Personal Tasks and any Customer, Supplier and Branch Tasks which have been assigned to you.
Once the Task has been carried out it must be 'Completed' - formally marked as being complete. All Tasks are created with a due date so you can see when they are due/overdue.
For further details see Task Maintenance.
Quantum VS 8 adds improved support for the adding of Contacts, which record the names and contact details of the people you and your company deal with. Contact records are used to record each person's name, job function, site address and any other details you wish to record.
Contact categories include:
General contacts - general contacts with whom you do business (i.e. a contact not linked to a Branch, Customer or Supplier), such as a plumber or window cleaner.
Branch contacts - contacts at your various branch sites (i.e. linked to a Branch record).
Customer contacts - contacts at customer companies you deal with (i.e. linked to a Customer record).
Supplier contacts - contacts at supplier companies you deal with (i.e. linked to a Supplier record).
For details see Contact Maintenance.
Contact records can be accessed and viewed using the Finder. Branch, Customer and Supplier Contacts can be viewed via separate tabs on the Branch,/Customer/Supplier record you are viewing.
The Contact Group Maintenance control record is used to define and manage the fields available for recording the contact details of the available contact categories. See Contact Group Maintenance.
Quantum VS 8 adds improved Notes features. Customer, Supplier and Product records in Quantum VS 8 have a separate Notes tab where users may Create, View, Edit and Delete Notes for the Customer/Supplier/Product currently being viewed.
Notes may be used to record useful information about the Customer, Supplier or Product. There is an option to create popup text boxes which appear automatically when the Customer/Supplier/Product is added to a document, providing timely information for staff/users. There is the further option to make the Popup a 'one shot' (displayed once only).
See:
Branch, Customer and Supplier records in Quantum VS 8 now feature an Event Logs tab. This can be viewed in order to see details of changes and updates to the Branch/Customer/Supplier record which is currently open (e.g. Subject Changed, Content Changed, Date Changed). Event logs are created automatically.
See:
Branch, Customer and Supplier records in Quantum VS 8 now feature a Document Defaults tab, enabling System Administrators to set up and maintain default Branch/Customer/Supplier Contacts and Contact methods to be used when a certain document type is created for a specified Branch/Customer/Supplier by a specified User.
When a user raises a certain document type, the default output method - such as email, printer, disk, fax, etc. - is defined in their User record. So, for example, the default output method for Quotes created by Abbie Sherwin might be 'Email'.
The default Contact (or recipient) for various document types may be defined within the Document Defaults tab on Branch, Customer and Supplier records. So, for example, the default Contact for Quotes on the Customer record for Abbey Forest Products might be Lorna Jameson.
Therefore, when Abbie Sherwin raises a Quote for Abbey Forest Products Ltd it will automatically be emailed to Lorna Jameson. (There is the facility to allow users to select an alternative output method at the document completion/print stage.)
For further details see:
Print Groups are another new feature in Quantum VS 8. Print groups are used to preview, print and email text and PDF files which have been generated in Quantum VS and saved to the Linux server, such as:
Sales Documents, such as Sales Orders, Quotations, Sales Contracts and Credit Notes.
Reports generated by running a Report or a Process.
A 'Print Group' is simply a set of Templates and Documents. Each Print Group is given a common group name (e.g. Source Files, Audit Trails, Account Status, Price Lists) and its own set of default options which apply only to that group.
Each Print Group can contain one or many Templates (or Directories). When the user has selected a Print group they may select one or more Templates in order to view Documents for that Template. Typically, each Template might relate to a specific Role or User (e.g. Helen's Documents), or a certain file type (e.g. PDF Documents) or a certain purpose (e.g. Statements). Users may then view, print and email selected Documents.
Before Users can view/print/email Documents the System Administrator must set up the necessary Print Groups and Templates.
For further details see Print Groups.
Web Users, Web Environments and Web Registrations enable Quantum VS installations to be synchronised with a Quantum VS eBusiness website (see note below) which may incorporate a built-in 'Quantum VS' Product Catalogue and secure online card ordering facilities. This potentially enables web users to place orders and obtain quotes via your website, thus generating the appropriate Sales Order or Quote record within Quantum VS and updating stock and other records accordingly.
Note: Quantum VS eBusiness is a separate product package designed as an add-on to the main Quantum VS application. For further details please contact Quantum VS Professional Services on 01342 333807 or psg@edp.co.uk
The available Quantum VS 'Web' record types are:
Web Users: A Web User record is created in Quantum VS to allow authorised Web Users or Guests (using a Guest account) to access your website, view the online product catalogue and prices and potentially place orders online. Web Users may be created from scratch or you may convert a 'confirmed' Web Registration into a Web User. Web Users are linked to an existing Customer Record, so that they are offered the correct prices against each product, and, if required, a specific Customer Site record. The Web User is also tied to a Web Environment. Fields on the Web User record determine the Web User's active status, ordering details, and more.
Web Environments: All Web Users are linked to a Web Environment record, which will define the Company and Branch which will process Sales Orders and Quotes for Web Users assigned to this environment. You will need to create one or more Web Environments before you create Web Users. Fields on the Web Environment record determine what happens with stock checking and whether Web Orders are immediately parked, or pushed through the Sales Order Processing Cycle. Quantum VS Users/Installations might wish to set up multiple Web Environments; for different Branches and/or order types, for example.
Web Registrations: A Web Registration is a record created when a User/Company who is not a registered trade customer contacts your company via your website with the intention of registering as a Web User to place orders. The registrant enters their details via the website (see note below) and a Web Registration record is created automatically within Quantum VS. The registrant can later either be confirmed as a full Web User or denied Web User/ordering status.
For further details see Web Users, Environments And Registrations.
Quantum VS 8 now allows System Administrators to set up Waste Weight records which store the weight of a Product's waste packaging.
Once a Product's Waste Weight records have been set up, the waste weight is multiplied by the Quantity ordered. The total for each Waste type may then be printed on the bottom of Delivery Notes and Invoices to report the waste weights of packaging associated with the Products being despatched.
This is a useful feature for Merchants as it enables them to provide Customers with the information they need to report on their handling of the waste they receive, to comply with the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997. This 'Waste Weight' data is used when submitting Packaging Waste Recovery Notes (PRNs) to the appropriate government agency. The regulations oblige businesses to recycle and recover packaging waste or get a third party to do so on their behalf.
For further details see Waste Weights Tab: Viewing Product Waste Weights.
Quantum VS 8 now supports FIFO (First In, First Out) costing, a system of maintaining product receipts and valuations based on the buying cost at the time of receipt, rather than the cost of replacing the stock today. This has certain advantages, such as:
it potentially provides a more accurate stock valuation; and
it potentially gives a more accurate margin calculation: when selling the product you may want to base the margin you achieve on this sale using the FIFO cost (i.e. buying cost), rather than the current cost (i.e. replacement cost).
When stock is received it is 'placed' into 'FIFO Buckets' - conceptual system-maintained 'buckets' or 'slots' within the Product record - according to its age (date received) and cost. Quantum VS maintains ten FIFO buckets for each Product. As stock moves - i.e. as new stock is received and stock is sold - each Product's FIFO records are continually updated so that the Received Date/Quantity, Buying Cost and value of the stock can be monitored.
For general information about how FIFO costing works in relation to Products see About Products And FIFO Costing. For details on viewing a Product's FIFO record see Viewing A Product Stock FIFO Record.
When activating the FIFO functionality in Quantum VS you will first need to run the Initialise FIFO Buckets Process. This sets each Product record's FIFO buckets to default values based on the current stock balance.
For further details see Products And FIFO Maintenance.