SYSPRO 8 Highlights

SYSPRO Avanti lets users change their own password when logging in, reducing workload on system administrators.

This facility is available from the login screen, similarly to conventional SYSPRO.

Workspaces are customizable dashboards in SYSPRO Avanti that supply user roles with everything they need to perform their tasks efficiently and effectively.

They are essentially web views for roles and can contain anything that can be designed in the Visual Designer (e.g. Business Insights, Program Tiles, Charts, Flow Graphs, Cards, Grids, Forms, and any customized panes associated with the role itself).

A workspace is a way of grouping tasks or processes together in a way that is meaningful or relevant for an individuals role (i.e. similar to a Favorites menu, except that it is defined at a role level).

Benefits:

• Users have access to a single, customizable and personalized workspace.
• A single dashboard provides a view of the activities, actions and events most relevant to the user.

The Avanti Flow Graph Designer lets you add flow graphs to programs as well as create custom flow graphs to streamline your daily activities. A flow graph typically contains programs, reports and tiles that form part of a business process that you can navigate by selecting the flow graph entities.

SYSPRO Avanti is SYSPRO's web-based user interface developed in HTML5. It lets you access SYSPRO using a web browser, on any device, on any platform, from any location, at any time. It's available to anyone who has installed SYSPRO 8 (whether on-premise, in the cloud or both) using a concurrent single license. This lets customers choose the user interface best suited to the specific task at hand.

Benefits:

• Enables you to work where and when you want

  Access and experience the same SYSPRO solution on all devices 24/7 no matter your location - whether in the office, on the shop floor or on the move, you can choose the device that best suits the task at hand.

• Familiar experience

  SYSPRO Avanti, with its consistent user interface, uniquely gives you the same SYSPRO ERP experience through a browser on any device, without having to learn a different operating system.

• Quick and easy access

  If you're in manufacturing or distribution; whether you're upsizing, setting up a new company or expanding your multinational organization to new territories, SYSPRO's web interface gives you quick and easy access to SYSPRO through a browser.

• Flexibility and choice

  Select the best user interface for the role, or specific task at hand.

• Engaging user experience

  SYSPRO's web interface is easy to use, intuitive and responsive, providing you with a simplified, engaging and rewarding experience.

• Personalize your workspace

  The SYSPRO Avanti web interface lets you personalize and design your workspace without the need for development skills.

Web Views are self-contained HTML5 pages that can include Fields, Charts, Cards and Tiles.

They provide a complete picture on a single screen and have been designed to display the most important information in a manner that is intuitive and simple to use.

You can design and customize your own Web Views using the Visual Designer program. Once deployed, these Web Views can be viewed by pressing F11 in the program for which one was created.

SYSPRO ships template Web Views with the product, which are located in the \Base\Samples folder of your SYSPRO installation.

SYSPRO's Setup Options program provides a central area from which implementers are able to quickly configure SYSPRO modules as well as make information easily available to support staff - significantly speeding up the process to resolve issues.

Things you can do in this program include:

• Configure setup options.
• Search for and maintain setup options across all modules.
• View and compare company options.
• Import and export configurations.
• Monitor changes to setup options.

Microsoft Office 365 lets you access the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote and more, wherever you go and across all your devices.

With Office 365 integrated into SYSPRO, there is no need for a separate desktop installation of Office 365.

You can integrate or combine SYSPRO data into an Office 365 document directly from Office 365.

Toast notifications are notification windows that display information briefly on the screen to alert you of a condition, before disappearing automatically without requiring any operator input.

Toast notifications with only a single button are presented as auto-expiring messages.

Task dialogs are notification windows that display information which requires you to respond before continuing.

You can customize these dialogs to simplify processes and improve throughput - particularly on transactional screens.

Customizations range from removing buttons and changing the default action button, to preventing the dialog from being displayed at all.

The Predictive Search facility in SYSPRO automatically shows suggestions of search results as you type text into any key field in the product (e.g. stock code, customer, supplier, etc). The search uses a web service (configured within the System Setup program) to interrogate the database and return values based on a pre-defined configuration.

Search Configuration allows for the configuration of searches in the Predictive Search.

Benefits:

• You can configure the Predictive Search to filter on key fields, rows and order by, to return records while typing.
• Predictive searching helps you effortlessly get to the information you need by filtering the top records in the database based on what you have typed.

Configuring security and ensuring consistency across various operators is a complex process that involves various programs. SYSPRO's Security Settings Dashboard program lets SYSPRO administrators query operator security settings within a single program.

Benefits:

• Query and view security information.

• Verify which operators have access (and how the access is configured) to various securable entities.

• View possible program conflicts.

• Amend security configuration in related programs via smart links.

SYSPRO running on Azure provides you with a choice of running SQL Managed Instance or SQL Server running on a Virtual Machine (VM).

With SQL Managed Instance – a cloud-based managed database - you provision the SQL environment based on CPUs, Memory and Disk usage, and SQL Server is automatically configured and enabled for you. There is, therefore, no need for you to provision a separate Windows Server VM and then install and configure SQL Server.

Cost is based on the performance and scale of the managed Instance and this can be reconfigured simply as your needs grow, or even reduce, over time.

Benefits:

• Simplified SQL environment setup.

• PaaS environment - Automated patching and version updates, automated backups and high availability.

• Reduced management overhead and TCO – Improved IT flexibility and responsiveness.

• Flexibility to scale-up (and down) as required.

• Ability to exchange existing SQL Server licenses for discounted rates on SQL Manged Instance.

The new Hotfix Notification Maintenance program gives you more control over your site deployments.

Benefits:

• View who has conducted deployments on your site.
• Maintain who receives hotfix notifications.

Roaming Users is the technology that provides a consistent personalized experience to each SYSPRO user, regardless of the client PC they use.

In our aim to make SYSPRO simpler, a new system-wide personalization has been added making it easy to configure SYSPRO to support Roaming Users.

The concept of Roaming Users, configuring your server environment and the new system-wide personalization option has been explained in the new technical guide: SYSPRO – Roaming Users, available from the Resources section.

The SYSPRO 8 e.net Communications Load Balancer efficiently distributes network traffic to servers.

The resource usage of this service can grow beyond reasonable limits, which affects performance. To combat this, it now supports several settings that control when worker processes are recycled.

Benefits:

• Periodic recycling of worker processes.

• Detection and termination of hanging processes.

• Improved performance.

The SQL Health Dashboard provides SYSPRO Administrators and SQL Database Administrators a one-stop-shop for viewing and managing the system for high availability.

The dashboard displays information on both the system and company databases to assist in identifying potential problems, as well as enabling the repair of certain issues found within the databases.

The login screen for SYSPRO 8 has been improved:

• Simplified visual appearance of login dialog
• Incorporating Forgot password functionality

This lets you reset your SYSPRO passwords without the assistance of a system administrator. Typically, you are locked out of the system when you exceed the pre-defined number of login attempts allowed.

Benefits:

• Password change email notification

• Login exceeded email notification

• Operator self-service reducing requirements for administrative resources

• Notification and logging for traceability

• Forgot password using new system-wide email settings

Enhancements around hotfixes that now enable:

• Administrator can see and zoom into relevant hotfixes.
• Mandatory or customer-specific hotfixes are shown.

SYSPRO 8 Custom Help now allows developers to ship help content for their own apps using custom packages.

The software upgrade technology has been simplified and standardized for SYSPRO 8, allowing you to upgrade when it suits you.

Enhancements are made available as periodic releases several times a year, on top of which you can install hotfixes and security or other issues as they are identified and resolved.

Benefits:

• You can now plan to install a release with the features you require and have the stability of only installing hotfixes as required.
• This removes many of the issues with the monthly porting processes used in prior versions.

SYSPRO 8 leverages Microsoft SQL Server's capabilities to provide enhanced performance, improved scalability, more robust security and increased system availability. Less planned downtime means more time to get the business benefits of SYSPRO 8.

Enhancements include:

• Reduced file system usage and improved security.
• Initial support for SQL as a Service.

Benefits:

• Our drive for simplification has also made the system easier to set up and administer, reducing requirements for valuable and scarce resources.
• Our benchmarks show up to 30% improvement in performance and scalability.

The Health Check Service innovation is designed to reduce scheduled downtime to a bare minimum, improving your core business process availability.

Ensuring the health of your database is paramount. With SQL Health Check, you are able to ensure that all tables, columns, indexes, keys etc. are as they should be and, if required, to add missing data.

Benefits:

• Reducing scheduled downtime.
• Balancing and correction optimization.
• Ensuring the integrity of your database.

Additional improvements have been made to the business insights feature:

• Simple and flexible warning and critical threshold definition.
• Color and/or Icon override when thresholds reached or exceeded.
• Operator, Role, Company and System-wide KPI definition.
• Definition provides single view of all KPIs.

Business Insights are essentially SQL scripts that are exposed as Tiles in a SYSPRO web view. These tiles are context-driven and enable you to act instantly on events, facilitating both informed business decisions and sound business behavior.

They are an individual employee performance management tool for all levels of engagement, providing an intuitive, real-time view of performance against KPIs, goals and targets.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) on tiles can be used to highlight values that approach or exceed pre-determined objectives or thresholds. This lets you proactively keep an eye on approaching targets. These targets could be a certain value, company-wide goal or a specific agreed target for a person or a role within the organization.

Tiles can be added to the main SYSPRO menu to surface company information (e.g. the total backorders for the company) or they can be added to specific programs and provide the key field as a context (e.g. the total backorders for a customer).

Additionally, when you click on a Business Insight tile, you can drill down to more detailed information displayed in a list view that derives its context from the specific tile measurement parameters.

You can also create administration insights (e.g. failed transactions, users logged in, etc).

Benefits:

• Accelerate turnaround time and drive throughput by streamlining the actions and activities that occur between one task and the next.

• Increase decision-making capability with increased visibility into operational performance of the company by individual and department across the entire operation to determine where you are successful and where you need to improve.

• Measure and improve performance by assigning standard, or tailoring specific, key performance indicators and metrics designed with the ability to immediately action work-to-lists - converting KPIs into meaningful improvement.

• Empower the workforce to meet goals and targets by assigning insights in an intuitive, self-explanatory, easy-to-use interface, aligned with critical business drivers and work-to-lists to be actioned

Machine learning forms part of the SYSPRO Artificial Intelligence module. It uses specific algorithms and statistics to examine historical data. The program then uses the data patterns to reveal trends and predict future outcomes, benefiting management by presenting the big business picture.

Although these predictions require minimal human intervention, they rely heavily on the data quality and the attributes of the SQL statement. Reliable predictions will support business processes and improve decision making by learning from past experiences.

Artificial Intelligence means customers deal with an intelligent and human-like chatbot that answers queries quickly.

Chatbots which answer and even predict customer queries automate customer service to free up resources in the business.

The (AI) web robot resides within the SYPRO ERP ecosystem and streamlines business functions through natural conversations with the BOT.

A new function in SYSPRO Espresso lets you use any camera-enabled device (e.g. smart phone) to scan barcodes on all fields where the scanning icon () is displayed.

SYSPRO Espresso lets users change their own password when logging in, reducing workload on system administrators.

This facility is available from the login screen, similarly to conventional SYSPRO.

The Espresso Xpress Cart provides manufacturers and distributors with an efficient, fast and simple-to-use mobile sales ordering app.

It extends the sales order experience directly to customers.

The Espresso Application Builder program includes a script editor that lets you add scripting to an Espresso component.

This allows you to build additional business logic into Espresso.

The Espresso Customer Workbench includes various customer components that lets you view customer data and add or update transactions within one application without having to leave the current application.

When maintaining a sales order in SYSPRO Espresso, the SYSPRO Espresso Sales Order Document Printing application lets you generate invoices, delivery notes and order acknowledgments.

The Espresso SFDC (Shop Floor Data Collection) Workbench provides a mobile solution for capturing all production-related transactions directly from the shop floor.

It enables access to all job-related transactions and work-to-lists available to the shop floor via mobile devices.

Operators are directed to their work-to-lists, have insight into job specifications and are presented with a single point-of-entry for recording all their production progress.

With the ability to input manufacturing transactions from a mobile device directly into SYSPRO, Espresso SFDC enables accurate, paperless and up-to-the-minute tracking and monitoring of your manufacturing operation process.

A shop floor data collection system closes the loop by recording the actual transactions associated with production against the production plan. This provides visibility, control, monitoring and administration of immediate variance management.

Benefits:

• Reduce errors caused by manual data capture
• Eliminate shop floor paper
• Improve material accuracy and tracking
• Provide current production visibility for better decision-making support

The Product Recall feature caters for a request from a manufacturer to return a product after the discovery of safety issues or product defects that might endanger the consumer or put the organization at risk of legal action.

It lets you process full product recalls or mock product recalls, placing a hold on any warehouse, stock code, bin, lot or serial.

The Bill of Landed Costs program lets you copy a bill of landed costs from a specific stock code to a single, a range or a defined selection of stock codes.

Phase 1 of this feature has been released and is focused towards the Food and Beverage industry (as well as similar industries like pharmaceuticals) where expiry dates are regulatory.

In order to properly manage the life-cycle of a product, there is often the requirement for a unique range of recorded dates that need to be attached to any product.

New functionality in the Lot Number Maintenance program enables industries to record a further range of dates, where previously Expiry Date was the critical date recorded.

Job nesting combines several small jobs to form one larger nested job process. It provides the ability to view and select combinations of work orders that can be batched together in larger processes (i.e. you can nest multiple jobs utilizing the same raw material or components).

This results in:

• Reduction of waste
• Optimized use of raw material
• Optimized use of resources
• Reduction in operational costs
• Improved efficiencies

Benefits:

• Group jobs requiring the same raw material (such as sheets) to a nested job. Optimize the raw material and labor usage against the nested job.
• Record actual raw material and labor usage against the nested job as well as results of the nest.
• Disburse material, labor and scrap against the original jobs on completion.

The new Purchase Order Bulk Email functionality lets you email multiple purchase orders to corresponding suppliers in a single process.

Benefits:

• Improved purchasing efficiencies

• Quicker processing time

The Warehouse Maintenance program lets you add and save custom forms for a warehouse.

SYSPRO's Preferred Supplier feature lets you configure and manage sourcing policies for your stock codes.

A sourcing policy determines who is the preferred supplier of a stock item and helps a company stay competitive by ensuring that purchasing agreements and policies are upheld when creating requisitions and purchase orders.

By implementing procurement policies, organizations can leverage whole-company spending potential in establishing long-term preferential agreements with suppliers. These policies could be to reduce risk associated with satisfying material demand, preferential negotiated rates, or demand planning optimization.

A purchasing strategy benefits buyers and suppliers - suppliers have guaranteed sales, while buyers can negotiate favorable terms.

Benefits:

• Improved value-to-price relationship (i.e. achieve cost reductions while maintaining or improving quality and service).
• Understanding of category buying and management processes to identify improvement opportunities.
• Examination of supplier relationships across the entire organization.
• Leveraging the entire spend of the organization.
• Developing and implementing multi-year contracts with standardized terms and conditions across the organization.
• Sharing best practices across the organization.

With an ever-increased focus on warehouse management, the improved bin to serial linkage feature in SYSPRO 8 enables you to accurately determine where serials reside in a warehouse from the perspective of bins.

Not being able to link serials to bins in previous versions of the product created problems in the stock allocation, depletion, balancing and stock take procedures. The improved linkage now provides efficient traceability of stock serial tracking across warehousing functions.

You can now find and use serials in a more timely manner, as any stock movement can be traced at bin level for serialized stock codes.

Also, when receipting, issuing or selling serialized items, you can now view the specific bin location of the serial.

Benefits:

• Improve Traceability:

  An improved method of tracking serials linked to bins provides for better visibility into serialized stock items in specific warehouses.

The Sales Order Release function lets you release large quantities of sales orders from suspense.

This is a new program that lets you balance SYSPRO sub modules with the General Ledger, enabling you to find reasons for any difference between the two as well as resolve any discrepancies.

SYSPRO now allows you to make a payment to a supplier in a currency that differs from the one held against that supplier. It also allows you to receive payments from a customer in a currency that differs from the one held against the customer.

This eliminates manual calculations and the need to process receipts and payments in alternate currencies.

This new feature lets you configure control account integration to General Ledger in detail. Previously, transactions to control accounts were consolidated and written to the ledger in summary, regardless of your integration level.

The detail lines are now printed on distribution reports and can be viewed using the GL Query program as well as from within the relevant ledger journal maintenance program.

• A new business object (ARSQAG) allows you to query customers' invoice details and age them according to the invoice terms code defined using the invoice ageing methods available for current period, previous period 1 or previous period 2.

  The invoices can also be aged using the supplied aged date, the aged buckets held against the customer, or you can elect to ignore ageing.

  Available invoice selections include zero current period invoices and zero retained invoices.

  It also caters for credit control options such as credit status, highest invoice due, average number of days to pay and available discount due.

Dunning Credit Management reduces risk and aids collections by providing the credit department with management, control and reporting tools.

Benefits:

• Reduce risk and improve collections.
• Manage the communication with your customers with regards to collection of accounts receivable.
• Record when letters and reminders have been issued to your customers.

To optimize month-end and year-end processing, the Balance functions in the following modules have been created as separate business objects and are no longer automatically included in the month-end or year-end processing:

• Accounts Payable
• Accounts Receivable
• General Ledger
• Cash Book
• Asset Register
• Purchase Order
• Work in Progress

Previously, the balance function was always automatically performed in conjunction with the month/year end routines.

Benefits:

• Improve productivity with faster month-ends

A payment cycle can be completed without first needing to print a check remittance.

You can select the following printing options within the Accounts Payable module:

• Print checks and remittance advices combined on pre-printed stationery
• Print checks and remittance advices separately on different stationery and/or printers
• Print only remittance advices

• Print nothing at all (useful for electronic payments as remittance advices are often not sent when paying via EFTs)

This functional enhancement provides for better visibility, control and management of variances associated with purchase price variances and exchange rates in the purchasing cycle and sales cycle.

Benefits:

• Better visibility of exchange rate variances allows for better control over variances during your purchasing and sales cycle.

Supplementary Information: A tax reporting business object has been developed that produces a generic tax activity report in XML. This extract can be used in the creation of statutory tax reports.

Benefits:

• An export facility Tax Submission Query for your input/output tax submissions.
• You now can create your own tax reports using this feature.
• Functionality now exists to extract tax data (Sales Invoices, Purchase Invoices and Cash Book, etc.) based on your defined filters and date selections.
• A generic extract template is available that allows you to develop your own reports or import into other systems.

All programs in the Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable modules handle withholding tax and tax on settlement discount concurrently depending on the configuration settings.

The AP payment cycle process has not been effected by this change.

The following programs were enhanced to ensure that both types of taxes can be used at the same time:

• AR Payments and Adjustments
• AR Payments and Adjustments business object
• AR Bank Deposit Slip
• AR Payments Distribution Query
•  Payment Cycle Maintenance
• AP Manual Check Entry
• AP Release Invoices to Pay by Review

We also updated the Re-establish Invoice pane to accommodate this change.