New Features and Enhancements - Release 7.15

A summary of enhancements made in updates since Release 7.14 is also included in this document.

Sourcing and Contract Management (SCM)

• When a contract is uploaded and all of its prices are expired, the contract no longer appears for activation on the Accept/Activate Contracts panel.

ERP Materials Management and Financials

• Blanket POs with zero quantity, zero cost, non-file lines: Receipts Required defaults to "off."
• Users need to be able to update additional fields on vendor records with the Vendor Import feature.
• Many report enhancements and a new report object ("Vendor AP and BuyFrom Restricted Locations") are available in this release.

Sourcing and Contract Management (SCM)

When a contract is uploaded and all of its prices are expired, the contract no longer appears for activation on the Accept/Activate Contracts panel.

When all prices on a contract are expired, on the Accept/Activate Contracts panel you can only accept the contract, or identify a missing entity. The Activate link does not appear. You cannot activate expired contract items.
If some prices are available (not expired), the contract can be activated. Figure 1 is an example.

Contract Loaded with No Active Items

ERP Materials Management and Financials

Blanket POs with zero quantity, zero cost, non-file lines: Receipts Required defaults to "off."

Blanket POs lines that are zero quantity and zero cost cannot have receipts. Otherwise, a match total error occurs with the invoice, and cannot be cleared. For this reason, the system behavior is changed for these types of lines.
This change is only for non-file items.

- The Receipts Required field defaults to "unchecked" (i.e., no).
- If a user were to check the field on, the application resets it to "unchecked." A warning message appears.

• Click OK on the message. (Figure 2) The Receipts Required field is reset to off (unchecked).

PO Non-File Line Receipts Required Field

Users need to update additional fields using the Vendor Import feature

Until this release, only the Vendor ID, Vendor Number and Vendor Name could be updated by using the Vendor Import (Action Code "C"). However, other fields were not getting updated on the vendor record even though new values were passed to the application. For the fields that could not be updated via the import, users had to edit the vendor records manually.

To meet this need, the Vendor Import now updates these fields (Figure 3) when values are entered on the template using the "C" Action Code:

Fields Updated for Vendor Records from the Vendor Import Template

This enhancement currently does not support updating a field to a "blank" value; e.g., changing Code 1099 from "H" to blank. Work on that issue is ongoing. In the meantime, you will need to enter blank values manually in the application.

ERP Problem Resolutions

• A problem occurred when editing and saving unprocessed requisition import lines with incorrect internal data codes (NaN) in two fields. An error message appeared (Figure 4).
  Requisition import lines were prepopulated with the value "NaN" ("not a number") on the Discount Percent (e.g. 2.500 = 2.5%) and Discount Amount fields. When the user edited the unprocessed requisition line, and then saved or submitted the line, an error appeared:

Error Message when Editing Incorrect Data on an Unprocessed Requisition Import

Users then had to manually delete the value in those two fields, before they could successfully submit the corrected import requisition line and reprocess. 
Resolution: When the user does not edit the fields to enter actual percent/dollar values, clicking Save or Submit from an edit of the line automatically defaults these field values to 0.0, and proceeds with no error message.

• Unclear error message for punchout items (for Staples) returned with incorrect MIN values.
  In validating punchout items, when an item ordered via punchout matches the VIN of an ERP file item, but not the MIN, an error results. The error message was not clear about the problem. This problem was preventing users from ordering items.
  This problem has been resolved with an improved error message, as the example in Figure 5.

Error Message for MIN Mismatch in Punchout Orders

• The Export Control Fields in the Item Inventory worksheet are not getting imported through Item Mass Maintenance (Item Inventories tab) for new items (Action Code "A").
  Getting these fields to import correctly will save users time in not having to re-import them as item changes. This problem has been resolved so that the fields import correctly when new items are added.
• When a journal voucher was re-posted, ERP was not checking the user's setting for the Prior Periods GL Entry allowed (Figure 6).

User Setting to Allow Posting GL Journal Vouchers in Prior Periods

Work in Administration > Administration > Users > search for user > edit

For example, a user without prior period authorization could incorrectly re-post JVs from an earlier period than the current period. Because the application was not checking the user's prior period authorization, the Fiscal Period/Year on the journal voucher was not being validated in re-posting actions.
To resolve this problem, the application now checks the user's authorizations and returns an error if the user is not authorized to re-post to a prior period. The message to the user is:

"The Fiscal Period and Year entered are beyond the permitted GL Future and Prior Period boundaries set in your User Settings."

• Users who are not invoice approvers were receiving an error when trying to complete receipts; thus receipts could not be completed.
  Attempting to create a receipt generated the following error on the receipt line(s): "Invoice Group is required. (Not an invoice approver)". Research found that this error occurred if an invoice existed with a receipt exception for the item being received. The problem was sporadic.
  This problem is resolved so that a user who is not an invoice approver, but has the appropriate authorizations for receiving, can successfully complete a receipt without encountering any errors. 
• When the "Catalog" role object in a user's role is set to View, the user could still reinstate deleted catalog items through the Reinstate Deleted Inventory Items panel.
  An item that is deleted from the catalog must be put back in the catalog before it can be reinstated in any inventory.
  - Deleting and reinstating a catalog item is controlled by the role object "Catalog." When set to View, the user cannot reinstate catalog items that have been deleted (Figure 7).
  - Reinstating inventory items is controlled by the role object "Inventory" when set to All, Modify or Create (Figure 7).
  In this problem case, users with the "Catalog" role object set to View and the "Inventory" role object set to All could incorrectly reinstate items in the catalog using the Reinstated Deleted Inventory Items panel (Figure 8).

Role Objects Including "Catalog" and "Inventory" for a User Role

Work in Administration > Administration > Roles > locate role in list > click Role Objects and search for Catalog

Figure 8 is the Reinstate Deleted Inventory Items list. For an item deleted from the catalog, selecting the Reinstate Inventory box produces a message telling the user to reinstate in the catalog first.
Users with the "Catalog" role object set to View checked Reinstate Catalog (Figure 8). Then, clicking Submit produced incorrect results by reinstating the item in the catalog.

Menu and Panel for Reinstating Inventory Items

This problem has been resolved as follows: For the list of items for reinstatement (Figure 8), ERP checks the user's security setting for the "Catalog" role object. Unless the security setting is at least Modify, the Reinstate Catalog boxes are protected (grayed out), preventing the user from selecting that option.

• The application was not using the system default Payment Method defined for vendor AP locations.
  The Payment Method system default for new vendors was set to Check.
  New vendor AP locations should thus be created with a Payment Method of Check. Although Check appeared correctly on the system defaults panel, on the AP location tab for the new vendor. the Payment Method was incorrect as Local Print.
  This problem has been fixed so that the Payment Method displayed for new vendors on the AP location tab is consistent with the value in system defaults.
  

Reports

Several enhancements to reports and report fields are available, as listed below.

• A new field, PO Line Expense Code Description has been added to the "Invoice Match Header, Detail, and PO Line" report object. This addition will provide a better explanation of the PO Line Expense Code.
• The Buyer field has been added to the "Vendor Locations" and "Vendor AP and BuyFrom Locations" so that users can see which buyers are assigned to the various vendors. Also, the fields Org, Org Desc, Buyer (User Name) have been added.
• The fields Document Attached YN (1 or 0) and Document Attached Desc (yes or no) have been added to the "Vendor Master" report object. This field lets you know whether or not the vendor record contains attached documents.
  Tip: For .pdf output, as with any report fields, you may wish to shorten the field names or change them, and adjust their horizontal size. The panel Help for the field editor on reports explains how.
• The following fields have been added to the report objects "Invoice Activity" and "Invoice Activity Summary:"  Deleted by User, Deleted by Date, User Notes YN, OCRinvoiceYNB. and OCRinvoiceYNDesc.
• The Requisition Number (Requisition No) field has been added to the "Delivery Confirmation" report object. Previously, users could only search by the Pick number. Since requesters only know the Requisition Number, this enhancement will make it easier to find requisitions available for picking.
• The ManufItemNo (MIN) and VendorItemNo (VIN) have been added to the report object " Requisition Detail."
• A need arose for the Premier item number and any associated sub-primary item numbers to be available in a receipts report. The report users wish to filter on a Vendor Number and view all its receipts and the associated primary items, including any associated sub numbers for each primary. To accommodate this need, the fields Vendor Name, PrimaryYN (1 or zero, yes/no) and PrimaryYNBDesc have been added to the report object "Receipt History".
• For the report object "Warehouse Activity," no date-related comparison fields -- today, yesterday, last week, this week, etc. -- were available. To resolve this situation, all the date-related comparison fields have been added to the report object.
• Users need the vendor name and address that is transmitted in the 810 import X12 file to be a part of report object "Import 810 Details (EDI Invoices)." To meet this need, the enhancements below in the report object are available:
  - All the fields listed below are now present in the report object "Import 810 Details (EDI Invoices)."

Vendor Name - The pay-to vendor name.

Vendor Address - A combination of these fields below:

Vendor Pay To Address Line 1

Vendor Pay To Address Line 2

Vendor Pay To City

Vendor Pay To State

Vendor Pay To Zip

Vendor Pay To Country

• Users need to run the report object  "Account Data Consolidated by Year" so that YearPeriod(YYYYPP) and AccountSubType fields are in the output. These fields YearPeriod(YYYYPP) and AccountSubType have been added to the report object.
  Tip: When the YearPeriod field is a selection field, use the Range operator to enter a range of periods in the same year, or different years when you run the report (Figure 9).

Using the Range Operator to Display Data from Period 4 through Period 6 of 2020

• A new report object is available: "Vendor AP and BuyFrom Restricted Locations." Here are the fields for this report object:
  

  Field Label	Field Name	Data Type	Length
  Address Line 1	AddressLine1	varchar	50
  Address Line 2	AddressLine2	varchar	50
  Address Line 3	AddressLine3	varchar	50
  AP Location Bill To GLN Code	APLocBTGLNCode	numeric	13
  AP Location Ship To GLN Code	APLocSTGLNCode	numeric	13
  Approval Needed Date	AprvNeededDate	datetime	23
  Approval Status	VendorStatus	numeric	1
  Approval Status Desc	VendorStatusDesc	varchar	50
  Bank	Bank	varchar	15
  Bank Account	BankAccount	varchar	20
  Bank Routing Number	BankRoutingNumber	varchar	15
  Buy From Loc Bill To GLN Code	BFLocBTGLNCode	numeric	13
  Buy From Loc Ship To GLN Code	BFLocSTGLNCode	numeric	13
  Check Name	CheckName	varchar	50
  City	City	varchar	30
  Code 1099	Code1099	varchar	2
  Contact Tel No	ContactTelNo	varchar	30
  Create Date	CreateDate	datetime	23
  Cust Svc Contact	CustSvcContact	varchar	50
  Default Location	DefaultLocation	varchar	250
  Default Location YNB	DefaultLocationYNB	numeric	1
  Default Location YNB Desc	DefaultLocationYNBDesc	varchar	3
  DefaultYNB	DefaultYNB	numeric	1
  DefaultYNDesc	DefaultYNDesc	varchar	3
  Deleted Date	DeletedDate	datetime	23
  Deleted YNB	DeletedYNB	int	10
  Deleted YNB Desc	DeletedYNBDesc	varchar	3
  Description	Description	varchar	200
  Dft Remittance Advice	DftRemittanceAdvice	varchar	100
  Discount Terms	DiscountTerms	varchar	10
  EFT Location YN Desc	EFTLocationYNDesc	varchar	3
  EFT Location YNB	EFTLocationYNB	numeric	1
  Email Address	EmailAddress	varchar	50
  External AP Vendor No	ExternalAPVendorNo	varchar	15
  Hold Future Inv Pmts YNB Desc	HoldFutureInvPmtsYNBDesc	varchar	3
  Invoicing Location	DftInvoicingAPLoc	varchar	15
  Invoicing Vendor	DftInvoicingVendor	varchar	15
  Last Maintained Date	LastMaintainedDate	datetime	23
  Last Used Date	LastUsedDate	datetime	23
  Loc Type	LocType	varchar	1
  Loc Type Desc	LocTypeDesc	varchar	50
  Location	Location	varchar	15
  Maintained YNB	MaintainedYNB	numeric	1
  Maintained YNB Desc	MaintainedYNBDesc	varchar	3
  Min Order Amt	MinOrderAmt	money	19
  Organization	Org	varchar	15
  Paying Vendor	PayingVendor	varchar	15
  Paying Vendor Location	PayingVendorLocation	varchar	15
  Payment Method	PaymentMethod	numeric	1
  Payment Method Desc	PaymentMethodDesc	varchar	50
  Payment Priority	PaymentPriority	numeric	1
  Payment Terms	PaymentTerms	varchar	10
  Scheduled Job Group	ScheduledJobGroup	varchar	15
  State Country	StateCountry	varchar	2
  Suspended YNB	SuspendedYNB	int	10
  Suspended YNB Desc	SuspendedYNBDesc	varchar	3
  Tax Group	TaxGroup	varchar	15
  Tax ID vchar	TaxIDvchar	varchar	30
  Tax ID	TaxID	numeric	9
  Tax ID Char	TaxIDChar	varchar	9
  Tax Type	TaxType	numeric	1
  Tax Type Desc	TaxTypeDesc	varchar	50
  Use System Tolerances YN Desc	UseSystemTolerancesYNDesc	varchar	3
  Use System Tolerances YNB	UseSystemTolerancesYNB	numeric	1
  Vendor Bill To GLN Code	VndBTGLNCode	numeric	13
  Vendor Create Date	VendorCreateDate	datetime	23
  Vendor Deleted Date	VendorDeletedDate	datetime	23
  Vendor Deleted YNB	VendorDeletedYNB	int	10
  Vendor Deleted YNB Desc	VendorDeletedYNBDesc	varchar	3
  Vendor EFT Bank Account	VendorEFTBankAccount	varchar	20
  Vendor EFT Bank Routing Number	VendorEFTBankRoutingNumber	varchar	15
  Vendor Group Code	VendorGroupCode	varchar	10
  Vendor ID	VendorID	varchar	15
  Vendor Last Used Date	VendorLastUsedDate	datetime	23
  Vendor Name	VendorName	varchar	50
  Vendor No	VendorNo	varchar	15
  Vendor Ship To GLN Code	VndSTGLNCode	numeric	13
  Vendor Suspended YN Desc	VendorSuspendedYNDesc	varchar	3
  Vendor Suspended YNB	VendorSuspendedYNB	varchar	3
  Zip Code	ZipCode	varchar	10

Enhancements and Problem Fixes from Updates

Update 7.14.1

ERP Problem Resolutions

• The EDI 810 invoice transformation process was including deleted POs.
  This problem is resolved so that POs which have been deleted are ignored when matching POs to EDI 810 invoices.
• When executing PO auto authorization jobs, the system normally validates the vendor buy-from Minimum Order Amount. This validation was not working.
  Purchase orders with a Total PO Cost less than the Minimum Order Amount were getting authorized and transmitted to the vendors. The result was additional charges to the hospital per PO.
  With this update release, the validation has been fixed and POs can only be auto-authorized when the Total PO Cost is greater than the Minimum Order Amount.
  The scheduled auto-authorization job, when run, displays an error message from the History link (Figure 10) similar to this text: Unable to Auto-Authorize PO [Org/PO#} because the Total PO Cost is below the Minimum Order Amount set in the Vendor/Buy From Location.

The History Link on the Scheduled Jobs List
Materials Management  > Misc Functions > Scheduled Jobs

• A run-time error appeared when users tried to clear a non-file quantity exception on a PO invoice.
  Under some conditions, a runtime error would occur when a cleared price exception existed on a previous invoice
  for a non-file PO Line, and users attempted to clear a quantity exception for that line on a subsequent invoice.
  The runtime error condition has been resolved to allow the exception to be cleared without error.
• When a non-stock item is being updated from one requisition and at the same time, another requisition tries to retrieve the item record, an error occurs due to out-of-date information or inability to receive the information.
  This concurrency problem has been resolved by a code change. Submitting requisitions with the same non-stock items in them simultaneously no longer produces an error. Instead, POs are created each requisition with the correct number of non-stock items.

Update 7.14.2

ERP Problem Resolutions

• Par Cart Requisitions were sometimes creating duplicate PO lines.
  This situation was occurring when a requisition was in edit mode on two different browsers, and the users clicked "Finish" close together in time.
  This problem has been resolved by adding a check in the code to make sure that a job for the requisition isn't already in process.
  When the situation occurs, the user now receives an error message: "This Requisition is actively being processed by another asynchronous request or has unread error messages. It cannot be processed at this time."
  The PO created by the successful requisition processing job no longer has duplicate PO lines.

SCM Problem Resolutions

• SCM was timing out when users tried to display vendor Supply Contracts on the "Work with Vendor" page.
  The problem occurred when navigating to the "Work with Vendor" page and clicking the Supply Contracts tab as follows:
  Search Vendors > enter vendor name > search results > select vendor > Work with Vendor > Supply Contracts
  A "Problem retrieving data" message appeared instead of the contracts list.
  This issue has been resolved so that timeouts no longer occur.

Update 7.14.3

• This release has internal changes only.

Update 7.14.4

ERP Problem Resolutions

• Performance improvements were needed in Delivery Confirmations.
  Several performance improvements have been made so that the Delivery Confirmations page loads more quickly.
• A run-time error was occurring when buyers attempted to move lines on POs.
  On the organization record's MM Info tab, the field Project Code: Comm Type set to Print was enabled. When staff attempted to use the Move PO Lines feature for non-file items, at the final step after selecting the PO lines to move, clicking Submit resulted in a run-time error. This problem has been resolved so that the Move PO Lines feature works as expected, without any runtime error.

SCM/ERP Problem Resolutions

• Correction to gauge: The Welcome Page gauge "On Contract Spend and Items" was incorrectly displaying $0.00 amounts and 00 units for On Contract Spend. This problem has been resolved so that the values are now current and correct.
  Note: This gauge is now rebuilt daily at 6:00 am.

Update 7.14.5

ERP Problem Resolutions

• ProSheet users:  Users were receiving Execute Batch Request errors when opening the JV template after two hours, when the application has been idle and had timed out. The problem was that the error would then cycle in a loop that users could not exit out of gracefully. At times, unsaved data would be lost.
  This problem is resolved as follows: When the application is idle and has timed out, users receive a new message informing them of the timeout and instructing them to log in again:
  "Your session with the host system has timed out. Please signon again"  
  Clicking OK closes the error. The user can now log in as usual via the login icon on the ProSheet ribbon.
• Item Import: Adding one or more UOMs to an existing Item Vendor UOM import deletes the primary vendor "yes" indicator.
  The problem also occurred when importing a new item vendor record.
  The Primary Vendor "Y" flag was being set to "N" on import of the new vendor UOM data. Also, because no primary vendor seemed to be set due to the error, the item imported as "Incomplete."
  This problem has been resolved so that the primary vendor flag on item imports is not affected, and changes to item vendor UOM records (and new records) import normally.
  

SCM Problem Resolutions

• Contract documents were not opening.
  For both Supply contracts and Services contracts, using the Contract > Documents tab, users were unable to open documents.
  In addition, the application was adding an extraneous underscore to the filename extension (e.g., ".pdf_") when users tried to open a document.
  This problem  has been resolved so that documents open as designed, and no characters are added to the filename extension.

Update 7.14.6

SCM Problem Resolutions

• In some cases, Items appear as "activated" on the contract, but the Analysis Workbench does not show them as being on contract.
  This problem has been resolved so that the items appear with the correct price and activation date on the contract, and the data is captured on the Analysis Workbench.
• Several Chrome/Edge issues have been fixed. For example, with Internet Explorer, users could click a popup and drag the pop-up around. This feature was not working in Chrome, and now is working. This resolution allows users the flexibility to adjust based on their screen size.