Version
2.100x
Software
Options are releasing
a standard package version of GWS Delta 4. This white paper defines the scope of this version and lists
all the features. As
other versions of Delta 4 are being used in special situations,
it will be possible to include additional modules into the standard
dealer sourced version. These are also listed below.
Delta
4 is distributed by Software Options and is available for direct
sale or thought an appropriate dealer or reseller.
Table of Contents
Delta
4, V2.100x
is a sales order processing system, naturally links to Sage Line
100 accounts. The system
is designed to fulfil special sales ordering requirements which
are not normally found in standard sales ordering packages.
Sales
order processing can be regarded as being ‘outside’ the main accounting
cycle. The act of taking
an order is often carried-out by staff with no access to the accounting
system. Indeed, there
might, in some instances, be no guarantee that an order taken is
actually fulfilled, although this is unlikely.
It must be possible for order takers to process an order
quickly and efficiently, at all times giving the customer as much
information as possible about availability, lead time for delivery
etc. It may even be
necessary to have the capability of fulfilling an order immediately,
either to existing credit approved customers or to non-credit approved
cash paying customers.
However,
the sales order processing function has to include the following
steps:
Ø
Taking
the order
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Providing
information about product availability
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Issuing
the correct immediate documentation – acknowledgement, pick list,
delivery note, bill of lading etc.
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Processing
the order through the despatch procedures
Ø
Raising
vehicle loading or carrier related loading sheets
Ø
Raising
invoices etc.
Ø
Updating
the accounting system
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Updating
stock at the appropriate stage
Delta
4 fulfils all of these requirements.
However, this product takes order processing a stage further
in that it recognises that different business types have their own
order taking screen requirements.
Delta 4 uses special front-end templates for specific types
of businesses. For
example the requirements of the food industry are totally different
to the garment trade. Fast
pro-active telesales makes its own demands on a system.
The pricing and discounting features are totally different
in the food industry compared with, say, fasteners.
Some businesses require consolidated invoices on a user defined
period basis or an invoice for every order.
Where the hiring of plant of machinery is involved, special
processing needs are involved.
Production control is another area where Delta 4 can provide
special help. Already
a module exists for the fish packing or processing industry, and
other templates, especially for the food industry, are planned or
in production. Delta
4 modularises these requirements, allowing a user to put together
the mix of features that are specifically required.
Delta
4 has been designed to enable additional, but associated modules,
to be added to the Delta 4 central system.
For example, purchase order processing is often dependent
on an initial sales order, especially in this ‘just in time’ world.
Purchase ordering may have special requirements, other than
back-to-back facilities with sales orders.
Some types of service related industries require the allocation
of recharges, either at the order stage or the subsequent invoice
entry stage. Also,
it is sometimes necessary to be able to allocate a purchase order
direct to a job. Current
or future Delta 4 family modules can be added to provide these features
DELTA
4 STANDARD FEATURES
This
section lays-out, as clearly as possible, the standard features
which are available in Delta 4 V3.100.00a.
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Special
industry related order processing screens providing layouts
to suite the product type.
Templates should not be confused with proformas, which
will be discussed below.
Templates provide the best possible interface with
the user for a specific type of industry.
Templates can be easily designed or modified to suite
special needs. |
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The
food industry very often requires variable or catch weight
order processing. This
is the definition of both a number of items and a weight
or quantity.
For
example, cheese might be sold by the block of a particular
nominal weight. The
customer therefore is only interested in specifying the number
of blocks of cheese at a particular weight.
The customer knows that the actual weight provided
will depend on the total weight of the product item when weighed
in the despatch department.
Another
example of this type of order processing is the fresh chicken
industry where individual weights vary and can only be confirmed
when picked. |
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Standard
Product lookup/entry |
Simple,
straightforward product quantity entry using a screen line-by-line
method of display. Each
new product added to the order is displayed on a screen item
select which allows fast modification, including quantity
and price/discount adjustment. |
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Garment
Industry |
When
garments (or other forms of apparel) are ordered it is easier
to enter the
quantities in a form of grid where each column relates to
a product size. Naturally,
size, colour, style etc for each product have to be regarded,
for stock control purposes, as individual product items with
their own code. Delta
4 looks after the stock control for you so you can deal with
a large number of colour or style combinations on a single
screen. |
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Proformas
are pre-constructed lists of products which can, optionally,
be used to dramatically increase the speed of order entry.
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Standard
Proformas |
A
general or standard proforma would be used to define the products
normally ordered by, say, a group of like customers.
For example, where a food distributor or processor
supplies schools, hospitals etc. in a given local authority’s
area, then a standard list (proforma) might be constructed
and used for each of the customers in the group. |
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These
lists are directly related to an individual customer.
They can be constructed for specific purposes or on
a seasonal basis. |
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Popular
Product Proformas |
These
are automatically generated proformas, based on popular products
ordered by individual customers. |
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Last
Orders |
Delta
4 holds information about all previous orders prior to being
archived for additional sales analysis.
These previous orders are available to the user in
exactly the same way as a standard or customer specific proforma.
When the last order option is selected, the
user will see a list of the previous orders held on the system,
and any one can be selected.
NB
When historical orders are archived and purged from
the order system, they disappear from this last order list. |
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Fixed
Lists |
A
fixed list might relate to a specific item of equipment. It will list all of the parts required for that particular
machine. Users
can search for a machine and then display all of the associated
parts, including part number, manufacturer’s information and,
of course, quantity in stock.
This is ideal for the type of business where calls
are continuously received from customers looking for spare
parts for particular items of equipment.
The machine or model can be quickly displayed and the
part identified. If
required, it can be ordered immediately to the customer’s
account and then processed in the normal way. |
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Quotations |
A
quotation is a legitimate order type in Delta 4.
If a quotation exists, then it can be turned into an
order in the same was as proformas or last orders. |
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Adding
New Items to an Order or Building an Order from Scratch |
It
is not necessary to only use standard or customer proformas.
Products not listed on a proforma can be added
to the order or order processing can be carried-out on the
basis of building each order from scratch. |
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Standing
or Standard Order Processing on a Weekly Cycle
*
not
part of standard * |
This
is a separate Delta 4 module called Roundsman.
It allows the user to define standing orders for specific
products on a daily basis over a 7 day cycle.
At the end of the cycle the products which have been
specified will be included in the invoice, unless exceptions
to the standing order have been entered.
Such exceptions can take the form of
individual product quantity variances or holiday breaks
where all or some of the normal standing order is suspended.
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Proactive
or Reactive Order Processing?
Proactive
order processing can be defined as sales order processing
based on a positive decision to call a customer or group of
customers at a pre-defined time.
Reactive order processing, on the other
hand, is the entry of orders in response to a call from a
customer. This
can include telephone calls or trade counter visits. |
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This
is most definitely proactive.
Delta 4 allows the construction of staff related calling
schedules. These
are lists of customers under the heading of a designated member
of staff (or department) which can be accessed on the specified
day of the week. For
example, lists can be defined for Tuesday and then used on
that specific day.
Each
customer can have a specified time of call and the schedule
is displayed in this order.
Calls which have not been made and are overdue are
shown with flashing times.
Call
Schedule Analysis
As
a call schedule is worked through by the user, Delta 4 keeps
track of the success or otherwise of each call.
This is recorded in a separate file which can be analysed
at any time. The
type of information stored includes who called which customer
from which schedule, on which day, and was the call a success. |
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Call
Schedules with Associated Delivery Scheduling |
When
constructing a call schedule a pre-specified delivery round
can be defined.
For
example, a Tuesday call to a customer in Birmingham might
have a Wednesday delivery scheduled.
Unless this target delivery round is changed, then
this order will appear on the vehicle Bill of Lading for the
Tuesday Birmingham delivery.
If,
on the other hand, the customer specifies a different delivery
day at the time of order entry, then this can be confirmed
at the time the order is entered. |
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This
might be considered as reactive order processing (although
the method can be used when a customer is called out with
a normal schedule).
Customers
are selected using standard search and selection criteria.
All of the personal information about the customer
(e.g. terms of trade, pricing constraints etc.) are available
as normal. Likewise,
the user has access to standard proforma, customer proforma,
last order or new order in the same way as for call schedule
ordering. |
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All
orders have to be delivered or collected.
Delta 4 deals with the scheduling of the deliveries
and/or collating the collections.
These facilities extend to producing the right documentation
for delivery drivers, couriers or warehouse staff. |
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It
is important to minimise the work which needs to be done by
the order processing clerk.
Delta 4 takes the strain and can automatically allocate
a pre-defined delivery to the order.
This information is held on the calling schedule (and
can be altered at any time).
A
delivery round can be anything from a customer’s own van calling
fro the goods to a courier contract arriving to pick-up orders
at a specified time of day. |
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Once
an order has been allocated to a given delivery schedule,
it can be altered at any time.
For example, vehicle breakdowns, driver absence etc.
can cause deliveries to be re-scheduled.
Orders
can be moved from one delivery vehicle to another or whole
vehicle loads allocated to other vans or lorries. |
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In
Delta 4 a Bill of Lading is a document listing everything
that has to be included in a specified delivery round.
It will typically list all the customers, in calling
or delivery order, a full breakdown of each order and a comprehensive
list of products to be loaded onto the vehicle.
This latter section can show where in the vehicle goods
are to be loaded. The
document can also indicate where cash is to be collected,
how much and provide the driver with a section to complete
for cash collections.
The
Bill of Lading can be the vital company delivery document
and provide the driver with all of the necessary paperwork
to complete his round satisfactorily. |
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Delta
4 is extremely flexible in its product pricing facilities.
It makes use of all the standard features in Sage Line
100, and, adds a few of its own. |
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Product
prices can, optionally, be entered into a standard or customer
proforma. When
the proforma is selected, the price is automatically presented
to the user. Therefore,
by definition, prices can be customer specific.
A proforma for customer A can contain Product X with
a price of £1.00, but the proforma for Customer B can contain
the same product with a price of £1.10, and so on.
This
is one method of defining individual product prices for each
customer. However,
the housekeeping associated with this method, when prices
have to be adjusted, are fairly long-winded. |
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Delta
4 offers up-to 5 standard price lists for each product. Each price list price for every product is defined in the
product or stock file.
Customers
can be designated to a particular price list in the sales
ledger.
This
facility is useful when differentiating between, say, retail
and trade price lists.
During
order processing, Delta 4 checks to see which price list has
been specified for the customer and then picks the appropriate
price.
If
no discounts are set, then this will be the price offered
in the order entry screen.
The user is free to over-type the price, if desired
and the Price Adjust flag is set to Yes in the parameter file. |
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As
Delta 4 is linked to Sage Line 100, it can make use of the
standard discount matrix facility, of which up-to 9 are available.
This
means that matrices of products, product groups or a combination
of both, can be defined and percentage discounts, percentage
increments (or special prices for individual product items)
set.
Up-to
10 quantity breaks can be specified with associated amounts,
percentages or special prices. |
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As
well as
being able to define a standard matrix and associating a customer
with any of the 9 available, users can also define
individual products or groups of products as having special
prices or discounts.
Delta
4 allows users to use both individual and standard
matrices for any given customer.
Order of precedence is given to individual product
or group price settings, followed by standard matrices.
If,
for example, prices are generally derived from a standard
matrix, there may be times when a very special price has been
negotiated with a customer (perhaps based on a quantity off-take),
then these individual adjustments can be made for that one
customer. |
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Complete
price exceptions can be defined for any product.
This facility would, typically, be used for stock clearance,
special offers etc.
If
a special price exception has been defined, then any price
over-ride (see user Price Adjustments below) is disabled.
Price
exceptions over-ride any other method of price management. |
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Sometimes
it is desirable to allow the order process clerk full flexibility
when negotiating prices with a customer.
However, more often than not, management requires to
exercise constraints.
Delta 4 contains the following price over-ride facilities:
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Minimum mark-up – this allows for each product, the
setting of a minimum mark-up percentage.
This is initially done by product group.
A screen is provided, listing all the product groups. The manager can then enter the minimum mark-up percentage
allowed. Delta
4 will then go through the whole product database and enter
this value against each product in the appropriate file.
If individual products, within a group, have to be
adjusted, then this has to be done on a product by product
basis. |
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Last
Price |
Delta
4 maintains a database of the last price charged for each
customer/product relationship.
If the feature is enabled in the parameter file, then,
at the point of price confirmation, the screen displays the
last 5 prices charged for this product to the selected customer.
The
user can opt to use the last price, or ignore.
If the last price has been selected, then any automatic
discounting is ignored, the last price charged being regarded
as being a net price. |
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Delta
4 makes use of the standard Sage Line 100 stock control or
product management facilities, with the exception of factoring.
This is handled within Delta 4.
Only a few of the main features are listed below. |
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Product
groups are vital to price and discount management, as well
as future sales analysis. |
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Price
Lists |
Up-to
5 product price lists are available from within the product
management system. |
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Full
depot stock control will be available in future release of
Delta 4 V3.100x |
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At
the conclusion of each order, | |
