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Most of the functions listed on the “Administrative Tools” menu make global changes to your system and help maintain your system. Use these functions with care. Most of the changes are easy to implement but difficult to undo. The “Administrative Tools” menu is located under “System” on the main menu bar.
Use this screen to set several conventions that you will use throughout your system. Access these features by selecting “System” on the main menu bar, then selecting “Administrative Tools,” and finally “Options.” There are 12 tabs with data collection screens located on this screen. Click on the tab to display its associated data collection screen. Each screen is described below. After you have completed all data entry on this screen, there are three ways to exit the “Options” screen and return to Almyta Control System:
· Click the “Apply” button to implement your changes and keep the “Options” screen open.
· Click the “OK” button to implement your changes and close the “Options” screen.
· Click the “Cancel” button to delete any changes and revert back to all values in place before you opened the “Options” screen. The “Options” screen closes.
Use this tab to change numbering and naming conventions that will be used throughout Almyta Control System. Almyta Control System is preloaded with default numbering conventions. You can use these or create your own. The following numbering formats are defined here. Please note that you define asset numbers on the “Assets” tab located within the “Options” screen. This “Numbers” tab allows you to change the numbering of purchase orders, shipping orders, work orders, manifests, serials, inventory items, invoices, appointments, and repair orders.
The screen has two parts. In the first column you type in the numbering format that you wish to display within your system; we call this the numbering style. The default in Almyta Control System for purchase orders is the letter “P” followed by six number signs. The number signs represent six numbers. The second column contains the actual numeric with which you wish to begin. So if the number in the second column for purchase orders is 123, the next purchase order created will have a number of P000123. If you leave the space blank in the “Next No:” field, Almyta Control System will begin numbering with zero.
When you are choosing a numbering style (placed in the left column) keep the following tips in mind:
· Almyta Control System stores a lot of different numbers. It is a good idea to use identifiers to differentiate between them. You do this by adding prefixes and/or suffixes to the actual number. For example, you may wish all purchase orders to begin with the letter P and a hyphen (P-12345) and all work orders to begin with the letter W and a hyphen (W-12345).
· Don’t forget that you can also add a suffix identifier to the back of the number.
· After you choose your identifiers, type them into the appropriate spaces, being sure to include the pound sign (#) where you would like the actual number to display.
· If you would like to enter your own number each time a form is created, enter “-1” in the “Next No:” field for the form you wish to custom number. The style will be ignored by the system if it sees the “-1.”
This tab collects information about each workstation. Every workstation running Almyta Control System needs to be uniquely identified to the System.
· “Workstation Name:” Type in a unique identifier. There are no limitations or naming conventions.
· “Workstation Location:” Use the down arrow to select the physical location of this workstation.
· “Workstation Configuration:” See Chapter 16—Customizing in this manual for particulars about this selection.
· “Show Tip Buttons on Screens:” If you check this option, light bulbs will display throughout the system. You can click on these to show tips.
This tab collects system information in the following fields:
· “Shared Data Folder:” This display-only field automatically fills with the name of the folder that contains Almyta Control System data that is shared across your network.
· “Local Data Folder:” This display-only field automatically fills with the name of the folder that contains Almyta Control System data and resides solely on each workstation.
· “Application Name:” This field is the same as the “Company Name” field that appeared when you installed Almyta Control System. You can change this at any time. It appears in the blue title bar of the application at the top of the screen.
· “Committed Quantities:” Use this field to determine how you want Almyta Control System to count inventory items that were committed via work orders and/or shipping orders:
· “Do not count committed:” This tells Almyta Control System not to decrease the available quantity until the item or part is actually used or shipped.
· “Only shipping orders:” This tells Almyta Control System to decrease the available quantity for any item(s) that is issued through a shipping order. Any part issued through a work order will not affect the available count.
· “Only work orders:” This tells Almyta Control System to decrease the available quantity for any part(s) that is issued through a work order. Any item issued through a shipping order will not affect the available count.
· “Work orders and shipping orders:” This tells Almyta Control System to decrease the available quantity for any item(s) or part(s) that is issued either through a work order or a shipping order.
· “Decimals in Currency:” This field allows you to designate how many decimal places (up to four) Almyta Control System will display when calculating amounts of money. To change how many decimal places show up on your screens throughout the application, you will have to change your WindowsTM settings. Go to your Control Panel to make this change.
· “Measure [Fill to] and [Reorder at] in:” Use the drop box in this field to choose between “Units,” “Days of Demand,” and “Months of Demand.” This choice impacts the reorder reports.
At the bottom of the screen are several boxes with additional system options. Check them as they apply.
· “One Supplier per Customer:” This option allows you to assign one specific supplier to one customer.
· “Support Multiple Warehouses:” When this feature is turned on, you can have multiple warehouses in the same system.
· “Confirm Warehouse Each Time:” This feature is used when multiple warehouses is turned on. If this feature is on, each transaction will require you to select the warehouse you are working in. If this feature is turned off, you will select a warehouse once when logging in. All transactions will take place in this warehouse until you manually select a new warehouse.
· “Warning System:” This feature is used with your customers in Almyta Control System. It permits you to place warnings on customer accounts so each time they are used on a shipping order, the order entry person will see this message. It also permits you to block a customer from future shipments.
· “Allow temporary item IDs:” This option allows you to assign a temporary ID when entering a purchase order. This will speed up the process when an item does not yet exist in the Item Master List but you need a purchase order number immediately. Note: You will not be able to receive this until you assign an item ID to it.
· “Discont. Items in Stock:” This option allows you to discontinue item IDs that still have stock in your warehouse. You cannot delete item IDs if you have stock but you will be able to remove them from active status.
· “Email:” This is for those who have Almyta Control System set up to send emails. See your system administrator for assistance.
· “Force tax recalculation:” This option will cause Almyta Control System to automatically recalculate the taxes when an order has been changed.
· “Currency Conversions:” This option allows you to use different currencies on shipping orders. It is a list you must populate and update.
· “Sales Tax Two:” This option allows you to use two sales taxes in your shipping and purchase orders.
· “Default additional units to standard ones:” Selecting this option directs Almyta Control System to automatically convert received items from the unit of measure that a supplier uses to the unit of measure your company uses. For example, if you distribute a product in ounces but can only purchase it in pounds, Almyta Control System will automatically convert the pounds to ounces upon delivery of the product. If you do not select this option, measurements in your inventory will remain in the unit of measure used by the supplier.
This tab lets you set standard defaults for information collected in fields throughout Almyta Control System. This helps reduce the number of data entry mistakes. Select the “System Defaults” tab. The selections for system defaults are selections you entered in the lists in previous steps. These system defaults can be changed at any time in the future. There can be no blanks in the system default lists.
1. Select a receiving spot. When you receive an inventory item, the system will automatically locate it at this location unless you specify a different location in the receive process. (A popular receiving spot example is “DOCK.”)
2. Select a package to which you always want the inventory item master to default.
3. Select a unit of measure to which you always want the inventory item master to default.
4. Select a payment term to which new purchase orders should default.
5. Select a ship via method to which purchasing suppliers and shipping should default.
6. Select one of the four options for PO supplier part. This selection is for the “Purchase Order Supplier Part” fields. This field allows you to assign a supplier item ID to your item IDs. Then, when you create a purchase order, the system will automatically list the supplier part number that corresponds with your item ID to facilitate communication with your supplier.
· “Supplier Catalog, My Item ID” will consider the supplier part number to be your item ID if the supplier catalog does not contain another ID for this item.
· “Supplier Catalog, Manufacturer/Model, My Item ID” will first check the supplier catalog for this item, if it does not have a supplier part number in there, the system will then go to the “Manufacturer/Model Number” field on the Item Master List. If there is no manufacturer/model number for the item, it will simply use your item ID for the supplier part number on your purchase order.
· “Manufacturer/Model, Supplier Part, My Item ID” will first look for a supplier part number in the “Manufacturer/Model Number” field. If there is none, it will check the supplier catalog. If there is not an ID there either, it will use your item ID.
· “Manufacturer/Model, My Item ID” will use the manufacturer/model if there is one. If this field is blank, it will use your item ID.
Use this tab to collect asset numbering and naming conventions that will be used throughout Almyta Control System. Almyta Control System is preloaded with default naming conventions. You can use these or create your own. Naming conventions can be changed at any time. For more information about naming and numbering, refer to the Numbers section above. However, asset tag numbers are automatically assigned when receiving. You can change the format (style) of the number to suit your needs, but you cannot assign your own unique sequence when receiving.
· “Asset Type Depreciation Defaults”—select two formulas to serve as your default methods of calculating asset depreciation. For more information on the formulas, see section 13.7.
· “Hide lookup lists for assets” (for bigger databases)—this option is useful if you have a very large database of assets. It will require you to enter asset ID numbers manually but will save you the trouble of scrolling through a lengthy listing of assets.
This tab collects information about the bill of materials component of Almyta Control System.
· “Maximum levels:” This field allows you to specify the maximum number of assembly levels that can be used when creating kits and assembling finished items. For example, entering “2” in this field will allow two levels of assembly. You will be able to create an assembly kit that is composed of items that also need to be assembled. However, you will not be allowed to add a third level and use the finished kit to assemble yet another product. See Chapter 10—Work Orders for more information on assembling a kit or finished product.
· “Chemistry sheets:” This option allows you to create chemistry sheets for your bill of materials. When activated (checked) you can access the chemistry sheet for a kitted item by going to the item in the “Inventory Items Master List” and clicking the “Components” button. You will see the “Chemistry” button on the bottom of the screen.
· “Create chemistry record using default:” This option allows you to use our default chemistry sheet.
· “Back Orders for Work Orders:” Back orders have three options:
· “Offer to create a new order:” The system will flag you when you issue a partial order to make a new order. This new order will be an extension of the original order. If the order number is 123456, the backordered items will appear on order number 123456:2.
· “Do not make back orders:” Back orders will be ignored by the system and the system will not offer to have any further action taken. The work order will be considered completed when any parts are issued.
· “Silently create a new order:” This will automatically make a new work order as an extension of the original order without notifying you.
· “B.O. Separator:” This field allows you to specify what number will be used to designate a work order that is created because of a back order. For example, if you issue part of an order then choose to create a new work order for the items that are now on back order, the number that you enter into the “B.O. Separator” field will be affixed to the end of the new work order to indicate the back order. Thus, if you issued part of order W-100001, the new order that is created for the remaining items might be named W-100001-2. If you do not enter a number in the “B.O. Separator” field, it will default to “2.”
· Note: When the system creates a new work order because of a back order it is creating a new order. When referencing completed orders, you will have to look for back orders as well to see the complete order.
This tab lets you change some of your receiving options.
· “Receiving Screen View:” There are a few different views you can select from for the “Receiving” screen. This will affect what fields you see when you go to this screen.
· “Allow User to Select Receiving Screen View:” This will allow you to permit your users to change this view themselves. If you do not select this, the “Receiving” screen will have the view you selected above for all users.
· “When receiving against a PO or Appointment do not populate receiving screen:” When a purchase order is received in Almyta Control System, it will automatically take the items from the PO and place them on the receiving screen. If you would rather have your users enter what is being received, click this box.
· “Assist in Serial Number Assignment. Enter the first number and get the rest populated:” If you have serialized items and will be receiving them in a range, you can use this option. It allows you to enter the first serial number, hit “Enter,” and all other numbers will be assigned sequentially.
· “Fulfill Shipping Orders on Receipt:” When you receive an item that has a shipping order waiting for it, you can select this option and ship it directly from the “Receive” screen.
This tab configures different aspects of your Shipping module. Select those that apply:
· “Issue Screen View:” This allows you to change the fields on the “Issuing” screen that you view and into which you enter data.
· “Copy remarks into log files when loading:” This will allow any remarks you make for each item in “Line Item Notes” of the “Shipping Order Inventory Items” tab to archive as a remark to that unit when it is received.
· “Allow duplicate line items in shipping orders:” If you want to be able to have the same item ordered two or more times on an order, select this box.
· “Allow short issues:” This will allow you to ship a partial order.
· “Check for duplicate process numbers:” Check this box to be sure that the “Process No.” field on a shipping order does not have a value assigned to another order.
· “Archive units when issued:” IMPORTANT—If you need to track your shipments, use repair orders, or cancel a shipment after it has been issued, you Need to check this!
· “Support for kits when shipping:” This allows you to ship a kit versus an assembled item. There will be a “Kit” field into which you enter the assembly item ID, then the components will populate as line items. These components will be removed from inventory when the order is shipped. This is used instead of using a work order, which would create one final unit to be shipped on a shipping order instead of all the components appearing on the shipping order. If this is selected, you can use it for kits and also regular items that are not kits.
· “Use Line of Business Reference:” A customer can be assigned to a specific line of business when this is checked.
· “Back orders:” Back orders have three options:
· “Offer to create a new shipping order”: The system will flag you when a partial order is shipping to make a new order. This new order will be an extension of the original order. If the order number is 123456, the backordered items will appear on order number 123456:2.
· “Do not make shipping back orders:” Shipping back orders will be ignored by the system and not offer to have any further action.
· “Silently create a new shipping order:” This will automatically make a new shipping order as an extension of the original order without notifying you.
· “B.O. Separator:” This field allows you to specify what number will be used to designate a shipping order that is created because of a back order. For example, if you ship part of an order then choose to create a new shipping order for the items that are now on back order, the number that you enter into the “B.O. Separator” field will be affixed to the end of the new shipping order to indicate the back order. Thus, if you shipped part of order S-1001, the new order that is created for the remaining items might be named S-1001-2. If you do not enter a number in the “B.O. Separator” field, it will default to “2.”
· “Loading Scheme:” The setting for a scheme affects both shipping orders and direct issues. When you ship the order or do a direct issue there are a few ways the system can handle issues for you:
· “Office specifies preferred pick up location:” On the “Line Items” tab of the shipping order, the order entry person can designate what location to pull the items from when this selection is chosen in the “Pick from” location on the shipping order.
· “Serial/Lot numbers from lowest to highest:” When this scheme is selected, the system will start with the lowest serial number and progress toward the highest when loading an order.
· “Undefined:” This option will try and load inventory for you based on locations only, not on age of product or serial number. If the item is stored in more than one location, you will have to select this yourself.
· “Warehouse decides:” This selection will require that the warehouse manually select which units are shipped with each order.
· “Ship to/ Bill to unlinked:” Check this box if you will be shipping and billing to different addresses for a single shipment.
· “Require approval to issue part:” This is a security setting. When security is turned on you can allow only certain employees to approve a shipping order.
· “Show contact names:” Almyta Control System allows you to differentiate between customers and contacts, or prospective customers. Choosing this option causes the names of your contacts to appear in dropdown boxes that contain the list of your customers.
· “Units/Packages Recalculations:” These four options allow you to designate how Almyta Control System will calculate your units of measure.
· “Do not fulfill [ShipDate]-[Today] >:” This allows you to designate a maximum number of days in advance of the ship date that items can be fulfilled. For example, if you have entered “4” in this field, an item with a ship date of March 30 cannot be shipped until March 26 at the earliest. On March 26, the item can be shipped because the ship date (30) minus today (26) is not greater than 4.
· “Email notifications:” This feature is only available as an add-on. Contact your system administrator for assistance.
This tab will set up your defaults for using repairs orders. These choices are from your “Repair Process Points” list. There are three choices:
· “Screen startup filter default:” When you open repair orders, this status of orders will be available.
· “Create new order with this status:” When you create a new repair order, it will assign this status to it.
· “Order complete status:” This will represent when a repair order is complete.
If you have imported your company’s logo into Almyta Control System, this tab enables you to chose which logo(s) you want to appear on reports, purchase orders, packing lists, shipping order invoices, and service invoices (work orders). If you do not select your logo in the appropriate reports, it will not appear on the report. See Chapter 16—Customizing for information on customizing Almyta Control System.
The settings on this tab are used to adapt Almyta Control System to your specific network. The various options are briefly explained below.
· The “Number of Update Retries” and the “Update Retry Interval” govern the system’s response to a record that is locked because another user is updating it.
· The “ODBC Refresh Interval” and the “Refresh Interval” set up a screen refresh cycle that dictates the frequency with which Almyta Control System automatically refreshes screen data.
· Almyta recommends choosing “No Locks” as the “Default Record Locking” setting.
This tab lets you change some of your purchasing options.
· “Copy P.O. Line Items into remarks:” Clicking this option will copy the purchase order line item into the remarks that appear with the item’s unit detail on the Item Master List. The remark remains with the item for its whole life cycle.
· “Unlink Purchasing from Inventory:” Unlinking the Purchasing and Inventory modules allows you to enter purchase orders and complete them without the inventory being received into the database. This provides you with a point of reference for orders without creating new stock for them. Additionally, this allows purchasing to be used for the printed order only if desired.
· “Filter Inventory by selected supplier:” Checking this option affects the inventory choices that appear on the purchase order. If you select to filter inventory by supplier, once you choose a supplier on the order header, only items that you receive from that supplier will appear in the dropdown box on the “Inventory Items” tab.
· “Hide deliveries tab on P.O. screen:” Setting the “Purchase Order” screen to display the “Deliveries” tab enables you to schedule items on the same purchase order to be delivered in several installments; this setting is particularly useful when making blanket purchase orders.
· “Allow direct shipments to customer:” This option allows you to ship backordered items directly from the “Receive” screen, rather than moving them into inventory and then shipping them.
· “Allow duplicate items:” This option will allow you to order the same item ID on a single purchase order or warehouse appointment more than once. This may be needed on a purchase order, for example, when you get the first 100 of an item at one cost and the next 100 is a different price. To show the correct cost for the items, you will need to list this as two separate line items. On an appointment, you can use this when entering an appointment for an item that has a unique serial number for each unit.
· “Do not split line items in receiving:” This option prevents the splitting of line items when they are received. For example, if you receive a line item that contains 10 units of a product, Almyta Control System will prompt you to split this line item so that a unique serial number can be assigned to each unit. However, if you choose this option, Almyta Control System will no longer prompt you to split lots when they are received.
· “Multilevel PO Approval:” This is a security function that allows you to require more than one level of approval for a purchase order.
· “Order in multiples of:” This field allows you to define order quantities based on the number of items in the economic order or the number of items in a package.
· “Print P.O. on:” This option allows you to specify a type of paper on which to print purchase orders.
Use this screen to assign forms to your printed documents. All forms are preset. Access these features by performing the following steps:
1. From the main menu bar select “System.”
2. Select “Administrative Tools.”
3. Select “Document & Screen Assignment.”
4. Choose a document or screen from the “Document Type” column.
5. From the dropdown box under “Available Documents,” choose a document or screen format.
6. After you have completed all data entry, exit the screen and return to Almyta Control System by clicking the “Exit” button to accept your changes.
Documents assignment will also be used when a custom form is
added to the system. For example, if we
make a custom purchase order for you, you will have to add this custom add-in
to your system. Then you will have to
select it under “Documents Assignment” so it will always print as your purchase
order.
This screen has a few options. Selecting the option’s corresponding radio button and clicking the Run button executes the option.
Use this function to purge data records. You can either purge data between calendar dates of your choosing or purge an entire list.
It is important to understand that you cannot purge records that are tied to records that are not being purged. For example, you cannot purge a supplier that has purchase orders outstanding to them. We stress that you should back up your Almyta Control System files prior to doing this!
Please note that a purge is a physical deletion from your disk. You
cannot reverse the purge. Once data is gone, it cannot be retrieved.
Follow these steps to purge files from your database:
1. From the main menu bar select “System.” A pop up box displays.
2. Select “Administrative Tools.” A pop up box displays.
3. Select “Purge Files.” The “Purge Data Files” screen displays.
4. If you wish to purge an entire list(s), click on the box adjacent to the list you wish to purge. If you with to purge by date, type a date into the “Older than” box in MM/DD/YY format.
5. Click the “Purge” button.
6. Type in the password. The password is specific to this operation and is not your user ID or password. The password can be obtained from either your system administrator or the software vendor.
7. Click “OK” to complete the purge.
This option is needed for support. It lists all modules and versions Almyta Control System is using.
This option is used to install custom reports. Don’t confuse custom reports with add-ins. Custom reports are accessed from the Reports/Configurable Reports menu.
There are three options on this screen.
Transfer security allows you to transfer group permissions between Almyta Control System companies. For example, if you have two companies A and B, you have done an object permission setup for company A, and want to apply it to company B, use this option. Open company B, go to this option, and browse for folder #A#. There should be a file named amcsc280.logic or amcsc290.logic in that folder. Select it and your security will be applied to company B.
Use this option to set up access permissions to Almyta Control System screens and reports. See Chapter 18—Security for detailed explanations.
Use this option to specify logins and groups for Almyta Control System. See Chapter 18—Security for detailed explanations.
There are a few screens where you can see the following totals for the inventory items: In Stock, On Hold, Committed, and On Order. Almyta Control System maintains the totals automatically all of the time to speed up report running and screen record fetching. “Fix data discrepancies” runs though the entire database and recalculates the totals. This function is needed because there are ways in Almyta Control System to modify the totals manually. If you had modified some of the totals or individual quantities, you would probably need this function to recalculate the totals.
Running this function will update the count contained within the “On Order” field based on purchase orders entered since the last time the function was run.
Running this function will update the count contained within the “Committed” field based on shipping and/or work orders entered since the last time the function was run.
Running this function will update the count contained within the “On Hand” and “On Hold” fields based on shipping and/or work orders entered since the last time the function was run.
Running this
function will recalculate assembly costs based on the bill of material.
You can use this utility to attempt to repair a database that is not working properly. This can occur if Almyta Control System was closed improperly because of user error, a power outage, or a computer hardware problem. It will also defragment and free up disk space. Follow these steps to repair and compact a database:
1. Ensure that the database you want to repair is closed before you run this function. If you are using Almyta Control System on a network, all users must log off Almyta Control System.
2. From the main menu bar select “System” and “Administrative Tools.”
3. Select “Repair and Compact Database.”
4. Select “Yes” if you wish to repair and compact the database or select “No” to only repair the database. You will see a box appear in the left upper corner of the screen to indicate that the utility is in progress.
All users must stay logged off until the utility is
complete.
Shows the users currently logged onto Almyta Control System and what files they are using.
There are some extra fields that remain hidden until you use this function. If you want to use the extra fields, open a screen, select this function, right-click on the field, and select Customize from a popup menu. Change field name and attributes. Reopen the screen for your changes to take permanent effect. To restore an original name and attributes, use Remove This Field Customization on the Field Customization/Translation screen.