Welcome to the BlueBox Blog. This is where you will find out about our latest news, events. We also post developments from our company as well as partner news and other relevant business articles.
A primer on configuring your PDF's
To set up the creation of PDF's in BlueBox2.0 you need to configure how the BlueBox2.0 engine connects to itself from itself. This is done via the bb_pdf -> bb_pdf_url setting. For an internally hosted server this is always the internal IP address (15.0.0.105) or host name and not the external one.
Once this is has been set, then you need to specify the full internal path to all images in all templates ie: <img src=http://15.0.0.105/some_image/location.jpg>. So, in short, the PDF engine always connects from the internal server back to itself, and therefore you need to point the PDF engine as well as each image using the LAN address.
With integrated Gift Card, Kiosks, Competitions, Vouchers, Surveys and Communications.
The BlueBox has over 13 years experience providing business systems to all sectors of the market. Our loyalty module is available as a stand-alone solution (illustrated above), as an integrated solution with your 3rd party ePOS system or as a full end-to-end solution built on our ePOS.
Affordable For Small Business:
From £3000 setup, £50-£470 per month for the system (depending on no. of members)and £25-£50 per branch/site for location licenses.
Hardware and Card Printing:
Provide your own, or outsource to us!
We have 3 new bb_users sub_modules for permission micro management:
edit_debtors
edit_creditors
edit_staff
Essentially these permissions do what they say: if you do not have admin permission for bb_users and you do not have edit_all_users permission, then you would need one of the three new abilities to edit a user who fell into any of these 3 standard groupings. This is so that a creditors clerk cannot edit customers. This is a small change but we feel it is a helpful addition to your array of available permissions.
We have built some deduplication controls.
They have been built into the user->add function and are basic, but involve things like same first and last names, same company name, same telephone, same cell, same identity number, same code etc. If a duplication is detected, then the system will exit and give the user the option to go back or to force the duplication.
Affordable and effective hardware.
Mobile Internet Devices (MID's) are the emerging technology based loosely on the iPad craze. These are much cheaper "tablet" devices out of China and are basically small touch screen web browsing devices. What we like about them is their affordability (almost at a disposable-after-use level) and the fact that, through there web browsers BlueBox loyalty will run immediately on them without installing any extra software.
We have found suppliers in all of our regions and sourced decent MID's with bluetooth, wifi and USB slots. Some manufacturers we have been looking at run Google Android and we would be able to run a web-interface on them without installing any software. We will be able to secure volume discounts and preferred suppliers very easily, but it would literally be possible to have stores purchase a device from our suppliers and follow 5 easy steps to self installing The BlueBox Loyalty Solution in-store. Obviously if there are any technical limitations we will be happily involved in this process.
So, with regards to supporting the device, we propose the following: we would easily be able to avoid a costly human resource overhead and rather provide a courier-based service to support your business, whereby devices are pre-configured and shipped to the recipients with wireless connections intact. If hardware fails we will deal with the supplier and organise swap-out devices. There will obviously be small time, courier and hardware costs involved in this process but these would be minimal, and could be charged on an ad-hoc basis to avoid inflating the monthly costs. For ultimate redundancy, stores could install 2 devices so that they always have a backup if one device is being swapped out.
Alternatively, due to the open and common nature of the devices, a support contract with a national technical firm is also a possibility and perhaps this could be chosen on a store-by-store basis.
New "view/hide" toggle to make the screen easier to navigate.
If you click on a module name or click on [View] it will ajax-in the relevant methods for granting permissions to. Now you can [Hide] this list and it will still submit them when you push the button at the bottom of the form. Please note: if you choose to [View] the list again before submitting your changes will be lost and you will need to grant/remove perms again for that class.
New "quick links" to apply the basic permissions to a certain class, or across all classes.
This has come about for two reasons. Firstly, we get asked a lot "what methods must I tick to give a user permission to view sales orders" and secondly, it is a headache having to remember to tick very regular and mundane methods like "show" and "enable_menu" and "menu_bar". To solve this I have added 2 levels of javascript quick-links to the permissions dash, which apply [View][Add] [Edit] [Delete] or [Admin] permissions to that class automatically. Please note: you still have to push the button at the bottom of the page, it just auto-selects them for you.
A new pseudo-admin class.
A new class has been added called bb_users_pseudo_admin, if this class is granted with the method "admin" to any user group, then that group automatically get FULL admin rights across the entire system. This is powerful, so beware. but it will stop us handing out "admin" users to customers. So, you can now add a new user group to your systems, called "my pseudo admin group", link key super-users to this group and grant "bb_users_pseudo_admin" > "admin" permission to it, and all those users will be super users.
Session 2 - The BlueBox Vision
Paul de Villiers shares the vision of The BlueBox at The 2010 conference we held earlier in the year. Please note the filming was not professionally recorded and although the quality is not good, the message is.
The BlueBox believes in scaling business in such a way as to avoid having to scale resources accordingly. Paul, in half jest, describes staff as evil, eliciting a chuckle the BlueBox staff present, alluding to the point that you want a business that will scale with less staff. To that end we believe in engaging value added resellers; partners, who go to market on our behalf, engage customers and become the viable hands and feet on the ground that drive our product out there.
The BlueBox is a web-technologies company who specialise in the development of database driven websites, extranets and intranets. Our proprietary platform (BlueBox2.0) is built on open source technologies, making it collaborative, easily integrated with 3rd party solutions, rapid and affordable. BlueBox2.0 is the business-ready open-source web platform.
Local to the UK and Europe:
Based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, with partners across the UK and EU, we are able to provide strategy, consulting and development wherever it is required.
Host Yourself or SaaS:
Our software is able to be installed as a dedicated installation (on Linux/MySQL/PHP) or as a hosted online solution via our SaaS Model (Software as a Service).
Pay as you Go:
Our pricing is extremely competitive, with negligible setup fees and low monthly fees per module used. No large upfront costs and no per-user licensing.
Competitive Partner Program:
The BlueBox is always looking for partners to assist with roll-outs and customer relationship management. If you have experience in systems, a creative business problem solving mind and consider yourself to be 200% customer centric visit our site to sign up!
An overview of The BlueBox
The BlueBox prides itself on building robust and sophisticated web-based ERP systems. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software can be defined as helping integrate management, staff, and equipment, combining all aspects of the business into one system in order to facilitate every element of the manufacturing process.
With our comprehensive range of modules we are ready to provide your business with the software it needs and the system it deserves. BlueBox modules are divided into three sections, Transactional modules, Specialised vertical modules and Bespoke development.
Procurement:
The BlueBox system is a comprehensive procurement and price control system, with rigorous controls, supplier file, buyers guide, buying budgets, MRP calculations, project buying, backorder management and stock replenishment.
Sales:
The BlueBox ERP Sales Module provides the core for controlling sales within your business, offering the ability to see what sales staff are doing daily; producing and tracking quotes and converted sales, by product, client, salesman and region.
Inventory:
The BlueBox Inventory module can assist you to pinpoint where every item of stock resides in your business.
Manufacturing:
Integrating seamlessly with the other BlueBox ERP modules, the manufacturing module is a feature packed suit of works order and BOM oriented tools.
Financial Accounting:
When it comes to Financial Accounting this module solves three of the most vital areas; cashbooks, the general ledger and financial exports.
Human Resources:
Although not the newest module offered by The BlueBox, the Human Resources Module has very recently been injected with new energy in the form of the newly launched Payroll module, providing all the core functionality required to install and set up your own payroll system, and, as always, integrates seamlessly with the other BlueBox ERP modules.
Marketing:
The BlueBox Multi Level Marketing Module is a highly comprehensive MLM solution aimed at online oriented MLM businesses; where both the operation and their members recognise the benefits of having a system that is accessible via the internet, both from a front and back-end perspective.
Reservations:
The BlueBox Hospitality Module, sometimes referred to as "Reservations" is a comprehensive hospitality management system, configured to meet a reservations oriented organisation's businesses requirements.
Reporting:
Increased information access and transparency in a business is critical, providing a better launching point for both strategic and day to day decision making. The BlueBox 2.0 Reporting module can convert your data into information you can use!
Integration:
What are you basing your business decisions on? Knowledge is power, and without the RIGHT information your business is dead in the water.
E-commerce & Web Development:
The BlueBox publishing module houses a range of tools, all geared toward facilitating the presentation of information, or publishing it in a web environment.
You may also be interested in our last infogrpahic - ERP Overview
Make sure your customers come back for more.
We believe the best way to look after your bottom line is to look after your customers. More importantly to look after your best customers; after all they are the ones paying your bills and adding to your profit. We have decided to give you a list post to remind you of the important points. We hope you find it useful.
Here are 5 ways you can retain your best customers:
Discover: Find out the details and demographics of who your best customers are. This is important, find out who specifically is buying your products and what precisely they are buying, either by being on the shop floor and monitoring the sales yourself, or by setting up a Customer Loyalty Solution and letting it do it for you.
Listen: Simple idea yet hard to keep up. Find out what platforms your customers air their views on twitter, facebook or hellopeter and pay attention to what they are saying about either your industry or if you are lucky your brand.
Engage: Now that you know who your best customers are and what they are saying engage with them but be sure to make sure yoy have their permission first, there is nothing worse than being spammed. Make sure when you connect you do it with something relevant to that specific customer, something that will add to their day or to their experience with your brand.
Learn: Each time you speak to your customers you should be learning more about them, more about what they want and need.
Offer: So now that you know your best customers pretty well, make them specific offers, we aren't talking just about Upselling we're talking about remarkable offers that will show them that you have been listening and that you care about them. There are few things better for your business than a happy customer telling their family and friends about the great offer they just received. Thanks to your knowledge of the customers buying habits you are able to not only upsell and cross-sell, but are also able to engage in Direct Marketing to them, giving them information that is specifically meaningful to them!
In the end it comes down to how much you really care about your customers, you don't always have to be the cheapest or the best, let them know that you care and they will come back.
You will never only hear about the BlueBox at our conferences, you will hear about what's happening in the world around us, what excites us, what motivates us and new ideas. Please note the filming was not professionally recorded and although the quality is not good, the message is.
The iPad has defined a new category of product, it sits in a weird new space, a market that never existed before. Sexy is important in business! There are a lot of businesses out there who don't put in the effort to make the environment they sell in look good. The challenge for The BlueBox and for your business is ask, "How sexy is our business?". The iPad tells us that we need to make a place for people to exist in our business that encourages commerce. You can buy other applications for the iPad, Apple have created an environment for people to spend money with them. Your business needs to make an environment that is conducive to business!
The BlueBox believes that business must be fun, that the platform you take form us must give you value for money and the good feeling that comes along with it. We aim to have excitement at the core of our business. The BlueBox has a mission about what we would like to achieve. We are really trying to build a community. We do believe that your understanding of what we do pulls you closer to what we are trying to achieve as a business and lets you enhance and get the most out of it on that journey.
New website design for Adgen Energy (London)
Adgen Energy, and exciting group at the forefront of Anaerobic Digestion Technology, have selected BlueBox to implement their new web development. The new site will include an advanced CMS, embedded web2.0 technologies and a sophisticated back-office project management suite. The project management development includes role based tasking and milestone measurement, inter-team communication and advanced document management.
Group-wide Business Management System implementation for Pepenbury Charity (Tunbridge Wells)
Pepenbury Charity, one of the largest learning disability facilities and domiciliary care organizations in Kent, has begun implementing a broad solution on the BlueBox2.0 platform. Initially key focus areas within the organization are being targeted, namely the Quality Asurance Manuals and Internal Auditing processes, as well as basic Cash/Donations Management and Human Resource Management processes. Over the next few years the system will be adapted and evolved to fit most areas within the organization, including Publishing, Document Management, Volunteer Lifecycle Management and Rotaring Schedules.
The BlueBox will be exhibiting later this year at 360°IT (London).
360°IT is the new, ground-breaking event that demonstrates how IT infrastructure solutions can help to achieve key business objectives such as improving service, reducing cost, managing risk and gaining competitive advantage and growth.
The event is happening from the 22-23 September 2010 in Earls Court 1 London. You can register now for FREE entry here. We are on facebook, so you can also view our facebook page event here.
We have an exhibitor page on the 360°IT website. We are very excited about this event and are looking forward to engaging with everyone there. If you need any more information you can visit http://www.360itevent.com/.
We are proud to announce our new SaaS (Software as a Service) pricing option.
A copy of the software is instantly installed onto on one of our web servers, on your behalf. The code and database is on a shared server with other installations and you do not get full access to it, limiting your control over the database and the code for customizations. No installation required, simply pay-and-go month by month.
Points you should know:
Suitable for micro & small to medium sized enterprises
Limited to 1000 users (customers, suppliers and staff)
No raw database access
Pay as you go support
Web hosted by us, on a pre-determined web address
No bespoke development beyond templating
Month to month leasing
Modular
Only certain modules available
You can find location specific pricing on our pricing page. If you would like to find out more you can enquire here.
Paul de Villiers talks about the past year in review, speaking about The BlueBox's latest news and developments. Please note the filming was not professionally recorded and although the quality is not good, the message is.
News and developments:
Point of Sale
User Dashboard
Simple Leave Module
HR Module
Mobile Platform
Loyalty System
Project Costing
Serialization and Batch Numbering
Delivery Route Planning
Landed Costs Module
Biometric/Barcode Readiness
Debtor/Creditor Control
Multi-level BOM's
Payroll
Replication
The BlueBox's corporate stratergy:
We have just incorporated in the UK.
We did a tour to Ireland and England.
Good partnership growth.
Paul is honest and shares why it is important to practise what you preach, The BlueBox tells it's clients to use the web however we haven't been making the most of it ourselves, we have learnt our lesson and now take our website very seriously, so should you.
You can get a full free version to test drive today.
The way you test The BlueBox is up to you, you can either set up a BlueBox2.0 Account, which will creatre a live webservices demo, by filling in a form or you can download BlueBox2.0 for a technical self-installation. All of this can be done on our demo page.
Creating the BlueBox2.0 Account is the easiest way, you will be given a url like demobb2.blueboxtwo.com to log in and test, the name in front of the first . is unique to you, you can make it your own and don't worry everything will be installed for you. On the form you can even tell us what functionality you are interested in so that we can give you specific help and support.
Or if you are technically oriented you can download and install BlueBox2.0 on your own web server. This will require a WAMP / LAMP environment installed. You can download the Quick Setup File, it's small, it will automatically download and install your BlueBox2.0 system. Here is the Quick Installation Guide. Another option is to download the Full Setup File, this is a complete set of all the code which contains encrypted and open source code. Here is the Full Installation Guide.
Now all you need to do is go and try out our system, as I said before this can be done on our demo page. If you need any help along the way feel free to contact us.
Session 1 - Introduction: Mash ups, tracking, alerting and lemonade.
Paul de Villiers opening the conference with his thoughts on mash ups, tracking, alerting and lemonade. Please note the filming was not professionally recorded and although the quality is not good, the message is.
Karkloof Spa hosted the first conference of 2010, all of our guests arrived at 9:00 and took a drive through the valley to reach the conference room. The annual conference aims to give BlueBox customers and partners a product overview and to provide some nice drill downs into some of the new features we have developed. According to Paul mash ups mean chaos or rather the ability to take a web interface and to add the things that mean something to you. Paul then spoke about iGoogle and your ability to make your home page anything you want by plugging in different things.
He then spoke about a trend that customers will want to find information about things that interest them and want to track that information. Some questions that were asked, how are you going to push information about your business to your customer base? And how are you going to make that information available to people who are looking for it? Paul then showed us the trailer from Lemonade the movie. A positive perception has kept the BlueBox moving forward and with a "make a plan" attitude we are keen to blast through this tough time. You must take the resources you have and you must do something with them, for example with a business system you could get creative in the way you communicate with people. Paul reiterated that we should all take what we have and make a good go with it!
Let us help you find the best hardware set up.
Server costs will vary depending on the complexity and size of the installation. The client is expected to provide the hardware, although the BlueBox has strategic alliances with preferred hardware vendors who can offer our customers preferential hardware rates. Now you must also keep in mind that BlueBox is perfectly suited to being a fully hosted solution, so it is not imperative that you need to purchase your own hardware. The BlueBox Business Management System is not a power hungry platform and runs very effectively on most "normal" hardware configurations. Below are some recommended server hardware specifications (or comparative technology) according to the scale of the solution required. However we recommend you talk to us so we can understand your needs and assist you in building the correct server for your requirements.
An acceptable entry-level business scale server would be a dedicated machine of the following calibre:
Intel® Pentium® D, Intel® Pentium® 4
2 GB DIMMs for up to 8 GB of total system memory
500GB SATA (Raid 0/1/5)
DVD Media Rom
If the server is intended to serve ERP systems or 50+ users one would consider a machine that is critically designed for such a purpose, with generic server architecture, multiple processors etc:
The best way to keep spam out of your inbox is by securing your forms.
The BlueBox uses reCAPTCHA from Google.
We are sure you have all experienced some sort of spam on the internet so we thought we would share how we keep our inbox's clear of it. We have installed CAPTCHA's on all of our forms.
"A CAPTCHA is a program that can tell whether its user is a human or a computer. You've probably seen them — colorful images with distorted text at the bottom of Web registration forms. CAPTCHAs are used by many websites to prevent abuse from "bots," or automated programs usually written to generate spam. No computer program can read distorted text as well as humans can, so bots cannot navigate sites protected by CAPTCHAs."
reCAPTCHA is free, easy to use and very effective. The reCAPTCHA site is a great resource on information on how to keep you site and forms secured.
We have our latest wallpaper winner.
It was the closest wallpaper vote we have ever had but we loved this design for the following reasons, it was simple, brilliant and effective just like our software. You can view more of our wallpapers here and you can even submit your own. Please feel free to download, use and share the wallpaper below.
Our full ERP Overview infographic
The BlueBox is pretty proud of it's complete solution however it is quite a mouthful when describing exactly what it is capable of. So therefore we have this lovely infographic to help us do just that.
An overview showing how suppliers, staff, customers and users are all linked through the documents and processes that occur in day to day business. Going in depth with procurement, human resource, sales, manufacturing, inventory and financial accounting layers.
Are you interested in developing on The BlueBox?
BlueBox2.0 is a brilliant platform for rapid, web-based, business system development. Providing developers with an instant platform for not only customisation of existing modules, it is also a very quick, and simple platform for developing, and deploying new modules.
All modules are developed in open PHP code, on top of well documented, extendible, encrypted PHP classes, so that the experienced PHP programmer will have no trouble adopting BlueBox methodology, developing or modifying existing modules. We encouraged you to join our developer community, and submit your BlueBox2.0 .modules for inclusion in BB2.0 downloads area.
Become a BlueBox Partner! Join a dynamic network of Business Systems solution providers.
The BlueBox Partner Programme is designed to create and support a business partnership with those individuals and organisations that actively promote our products. Eligible consultants and companies should be directly involved in either the supply of IT related products, services, support or business consultancy services to their own customer base and have the knowledge and skills to make regular sales of our products,and support their customers.
We pride ourselves in offering an attractive business model, not only will you be associated with an international brand you are given everything you need to be a great BlueBox Partner. Standard and Preferred Partners are wanted all over the globe and if you are tired of this sales talk you can apply right now in our Partner Zone.
An answer to this frequently asked question.
The standard BlueBox payment model involves leasing the software modules you require on a month to month basis however if you are not interested in that you can choose to "own" the software you use. Please note that code ownership is not possible. All BlueBox clients use the same software base platform, and although individual modules may be configured or customised to suit a clients specific requirements, the vast majority of the software is standard BlueBox code and the software thus remains BlueBox's intellectual property.
Although the software or code remains the property of the BlueBox, and cannot be "sold" to our customers, we do offer the the option for customers to purchase, in advance, a 99 year license, which in effect gives the client the level of system ownership they require. The BlueBox calculates the value of this purchase at a rate of three years rental of the module price.
How to extend form elements in BB2.0 forms where you need to trigger a javascript process after an ajax lookup has been selected:
The BB2.0 forms engine will automatically trigger an ajax lookup object when the rowcount in the lookup table is greater than 30 (this is a variable in the conf file and therefore can e changed if you wish).
So, less than 30 items forms a standard select list, where the element is "named" global[fields][bomISbb_manufacturing_bill_of_materialsID], for example.
If there are greater than 30 items in the lookup table, the system reverts to the ajax lookup, and the jsFunction attribute can then be called for any post-click events.
The trick was finding an elegant way to load the correct method, and so this solution was proposed, which can be loaded into the pst_add_form php method:
Make sure everything relevant gets deleted with one click.
The following tables are nominated specifically to delete when item_data (ie a product/sku_code item) is deleted:
To ensure that this does happen, so that the setting is loaded correctly in your configuration, I would also do the following:
View the item that you are about to delete.
Then open one of the "category links" (viewed at the bottom half of the item view screen) in a NEW window, this should show the category name and the item name in a small view screen.
Then delete the item.
Then refresh the "category link" view screen.
This should now say "data not found" as it would have also been deleted.
Engine is unpacked into a temporary directory first and then moved to the live engine directory to reduce downtime.
Updates and backups are now stored under portal in "UserFiles\SysDocs\bb_update".
Only the latest 3 archive files are kept at any point. A garbage collection action is booted every time the update module is run to insure this.
You can now set the version check url and repository url as a bb setting, allowing for a LAN only environment.
You can store specific updates directly in the "UserFiles\SysDocs\bb_update\updates" folder, and this will show as an option to restore on the update page. (though, it should be noted that the naming convention must be the same as the other updates. AND it must be a date newer or within the top 3 newest updates in that folder, otherwise the garbage collection action will delete it)
This is you're chance to win.
Our monthly competition is still live, you can win $100 worth of Amazon voucher this month. All you have to do is create an advert, no longer than a minute long, featuring at very least, the BlueBox logo and slogan, "Simple, Brilliant and Effective Web-based Business Software" somewhere in video, you are more than welcome to use any content from our website as well. Once it's complete upload it to Youtube and send us a link via this form. Entries close at the end of this month and the winner will be announced on the 31st of May.
BlueBox warns you when customers are over their credit limit.
The system has a default setting to WARN the capturer that an account is over credit limit.
To switch this to HALT the current document, you need to set the following bbsetting to 1
bb_finance::bbsetting_over_credit_stop_sales
You can find that setting under Admin > Module Settings.
A fairly common, usually POS related query that we get is whether BlueBox from a stock database perspective has some form of size and colour matrix for fashion outlets.
Indeed our system does handle sizes, colours, styles etc. exceptionally well on both the inventory management and POS side. In fact, if you will allow us to boast a little, one of our customers recently told our MD that they have never seen a system that handles this element as effectively as ours does (Test it out yourself to see if we are worthy of the accolade).
At the heart of BlueBox 2.0 is the inventory module, a sophisticated stock management module which compliments and integrates seamlessly with the sales and procurement modules. Items, and the item master are a key element of all three of these modules. 'Item Options' manage the varieties on specific items.
The way this works is through linking of item options to items within the item master. ie.:
One creates an item.
One creates an item option (assuming there isn't one already) such as size S, M, L.
One then links the options that apply to that item in the item master.
A specific price, cost, barcode extension etc. can be set for each item option in relation to that item.
Mass updating of prices on your item master and your item options is easily handled and the system also allows exporting and importing to and from csv to assist you with these sorts of exercises.
Sales Orders now automatically sweeping up behind themselves.
The Sales Orders module has had a slight upgrade whereby the add-edit object has been programmed to be aware of stock allocations in the case where a line is deleted from a sales order or where a sales order is manually marked as completed or cancelled. In such cases all stock allocated, either to the specific line or to the entire document is automatically released back into stock.
The votes are in and a decision has been made.
The winner of our first $100 voucher was Julie Patrick with her entry as show above. You can download a copy of your own below, feel free to share it and if you feel like winning next month why don't you dust off the old photoshop and enter here.
The following changes have been made to the Financial Documents Access Controls:
The item has moved from the admin menu to the finance menu.
It is now possible to filter documents requiring authorization by Sales Category or Purchase Category.
The parent class method has been deprecated, essentially meaning that the system will only be checking the new doc to be added for matching features.
Banding has been implemented as follows:
when filtering authorization instructions, the system will group by class_name and then order by a new priority numeric field.
thereby, for example, one is able to create 3 auth. instructions for bb_sales_orders, namely: priority=1 for so's over $10,000, priority=2 for so's over $5,000 and priority=3 for so's over $1,000.
each seperate priority/instruction can have either one or two signatory groups specified.
Recently completed is a new feature which allows the scanning of multiple serialized items to a GRN receipting list.
It's main purpose is to allow for speedy bulk capture of large quanties of items, as well as the splitting of GRN lines into individual serialized lines.
This is accessed via the purchase order view screen. Next to the older Capture GRN button, you will now see a Scan2GRN button as well.
This new screen basically lists all the items on the purchase order available for receipting, and then takes a scan-and-tab instruction to list multiple lines each with the newly added serial number applicable to it.
Once all items are scanned in quantities can be adjusted per line and then the final process populates the add GRN screen with the new serialized items. This will surely speed up your GRN capturing process.
We have two different ways for you to WIN $100.
Once a month the hottest submission will WIN $100 worth of Amazon vouchers, all you have to do is create a "simple, brilliant and effective" Youtube advert or desktop wallpaper and our management team will choose a winner from all of the submissions, only the best will win as we are looking for a mix of excellent witty copy and stunning design if you manage to get that right you will be the first winner announced on the 3rd of May. So if you feel you have got what it takes, create something remarkable and sumbit it.
The 2010 BlueBox Brochure is now available on our site.
Yesterday we put up our 2010 brochure onto our site which is full of information about us. Like our profile as a South African company with an increasingly global footprint and how we pride ourselves on building robust and sophisticated web-based ERP systems. You can also learn about our commited team, partners and our virtual office culture.
Inside the brochure we highlight the following modules:
Sales
Publishing
Procurement
Manufacturing
Financial Accounting
Human Resources
Bespoke Systems
Inventroy
There is a full ERP Overview which is finished off nicely with 10 reasons why you should choose The BlueBox as your business system solutions provider.
You will notice that our brochure is embeded into our site, we found and are using Scribd, it's free, awesome, loads fast and is customizable. In our opinion the best option for embeded pdf's into web pages.
What makes BlueBox software different? What makes BlueBox software great?
100% broswer-based, which means no desktop software required.
Your company can take over the world from anywhere and better yet you can be anywhere all you need is an internet connection and you can have full access to your system.
Runs as either a web-service or an installed intranet application.
With no need to purchase the software, SaaS is by far the most cost effective business decision you will make, getting all of the benefits of the latest software at a fraction of the cost. Time is also saved, depending on the size of your company deployment time tends to be much shorter with BlueBox than a our competitors.
No per-user pricing, you only pay per server and per site (office).
What makes us unique in this market is that we cater specifically for SMME's by offering 90% of our code as open source, developing on open-source platforms and pricing our product per server/site and not per user.
Runs on Linux or Windows, both at server and desktop level.
It doesn't matter what operating system you use, we support them all, all you need installed on your computer is a browser, can it be simpler than that?
Uses open-source technologies to reduce costs and enhance access and transparency.
Built on open-source technologies, makes it extremely affordable and easy to control and customize.
Full unlimited demos are available online for evaluation.
We offer a no obligation full free evaluation of our software. With the economy the way it is you should be testing everything before you buy it. Try it here.
Join a proven network:
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Regular newsletters and product and update communications.
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Invitations to our periodic partner conferences.
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If you would like to learn more or if you think you're ready to join a winning team then you can apply to become a partner in our partner portal.
We have got a requirement for generic archiving for businesses where large table sizes are slowing down system performance. This has been written as a standard tool in the database toolbox.
Go to admin->database and click on 'simple data archive'
This tool allows you to 'dump' rows of data from a live table in the system to an _archive table so as to fee up table space when the system begins to be slowed down in certain areas.
You are able to select:
whether to archive or unarchive the data
which table to select the data from
which data to archive/unarchive based on date range, specifically _dateadded, _datemodified or transaction_date
to run in test_mode which will not add or delete any data, but will simply indicate how many rows would have been affected had the script run in live mode
If a table is selected for archiving the system checks whether the table exists, and if not, it creates a shadow table with an _archive extension (ie bb_users will create a new identical table called bb_users_archive).
Data is then copied into the _archive table and deleted from the live table, preserving _id's.
The opposite is true if an unarchive method is run.
You now have the ability to select and force which columns display in BlueBox2.0 viewlists.
Select which columns to show in viewlists:
The tradional methods for hiding or showing columns in the system list viewer were done via bbsettings, namely: bbsetting_hide_columns_in_lists=array() and bbsetting_show_columns_in_lists=array(). The drawback of these methods was that one could not determine which columns to display on a need by need basis. A new variable, force_columns, allows you to specify exactly which columns to show in your listings.
<?php$users=new bb_users();$users=$users->getlist(array("where"=>" name like '%smith%' "));system_list_viewer(array("force_columns"=>array("_id","last_name","email"),"data"=>$users));?>
We wanted to add a nice feature which will help neaten the process of moving stock off a sales order that is unwanted. The scenario is that various stock items have been assigned to a sales order through allocations and pick slips. At the end of the project some of the items are seen to be in excess and need to be returned to stock.
So what is the neatest way to handle this?
Essentially one needs to view the stock items so that you can select the various ones you wish to release from the sales order, and primarily one would go to the inventory dash and filter for stock assigned currently to the sales order.
This is a bit tedious, though, and so a quick-link to view all stock assigned to a sales order was created at the bottom of the sales order item analysis block.
By clicking on this link you will instantly be taken to the filtered green lines inventory detail report and will then be able to select and transfer the correct items away from the sales order.
Do you need control over creating documents for customers who have passed there credit limit?
If a customer is over their credit limit or is set as on-hold then no NEW sales docs can be captured in their name.
If an existing sales doc is already captured and then the customer later becomes over limit or on hold, a warning pops up to alert the operator, but currently it does not stop the creation of the document.
A setting bb_finance->bbsetting_over_credit_stop_sales needs to be set to 1 to force these downstream docs from being created if you want the system to force them not to be created.
Our item_data module has been extended with two new modules, for volume_pricing and promotional_pricing.
Volume pricing very simply stipulates alternative price OR discount for a sales volume over a certain quantity, whereas promotional pricing is DATE sensitive, and will apply EITHER a price/dicount OR will add a 'free item' to the items list automatically.
This info then 'pops up' in the sales price field when doing item lookups:
Finally, this data then changes the price/dicount for the specific line you are adding to a sales document, OR, in the case of promotional items, it will automatically add a new line to the sales document with the correct details (fields which have been auto-updated are bordered in red):
We have just implemented a user access lock for the Basic Sales Report.
Essentially this means that if a Sales Rep (any one of the three types of sales rep) tries to access the report they will be locked down to only see their data.
How it works is as follows (see screenshot below):
If you access the report with 'admin' permission for the bb_sales module, you will see a 'click here to manage user access' link at the top of the page.
Here you get to select three user groups (or any one of the three) in which you have your sales reps of that 'type' linked.
The minute one of these groups is 'selected' then the report will challenge any new user who tries to access it as follows:
if the rep has bb_sales->admin permission then they will be able to view all reps data
if they do NOT have the above permission, then the report looks in each of the three specified user groups for their _id
if their _id IS found in any of the three specified groups, then their _id is locked into the appropriate 'rep field' in the filter
essentially locking them down to only see sales data which pertains to them
A quick and easy way to make the information you are sharing easier to interpret.
If you would like to display bar graphs in some of your custom dashboards, and have the need to display the 'bar values' at the top of each bar, there is a simple variable to pass through whether you are using the TAG method or the PHP method.
TAG method:
<!--:class:bb_widgets:draw_widget| widget type(bar,line,table,dial etc)~ Widget Title Goes Here~ width~ height~ dial zone values eg 0,33,66,100~ dial zone colors eg green,orange,red~ Yaxis Title~ Xaxis Title~ bar line color eg green~use trend line?1for yes~use curve line?1for yes~ bottom buffer~ side buffer~ sql query eg: selectround(sum(grand_totalCUR_BASE),-1)asdata, DATE_FORMAT(transaction_date,'%Y-%b')AS labels from bb_sales_orders where transaction_date >= DATE_FORMAT(DATE_SUB(CURDATE(), INTERVAL 1 YEAR),'%Y-%m-01')AND transaction_date <= CURDATE() group by DATE_FORMAT(transaction_date,'%Y-%b') order by DATE_FORMAT(transaction_date,'%Y-%b') asc~//this extra tilda is required after the sql statement show_values // you would set this to 1 if required:-->
PHP method:
<?php$chart=new bb_charts();$chart=$chart->draw(array("type"=>"",//bar,line,dial,pie"width"=>"","height"=>"","show_values"=>"",//set this to 1 if required"data"=>"",//also: data1,data2,data3"labels"=>"","labels_font_size"=>"","titles"=>"","xaxis_title"=>"","yaxis_title"=>"","legend"=>"","bar_line_color"=>"","trend_line_color"=>"","curve_line_color"=>"","zones"=>"","zone_colors"=>"","bottom_buffer"=>"","side_buffer"=>"",));?>
Short and sweet helpful post for a friday afternoon.
The getcommalist PHP function in BB2.0 is used to build a comma seperated list of a certian field within an array listing.
If you're a Financial Director we have something that will make you smile.
We have just upgraded a very attractive feature for our financial controls. It's purpose is to allow the "signing off" of certain document types which meet certain criteria.
This translates to a massive amount of control being allowed in terms of transactional process management. Businesses can now manage approval processes in a systematic way without stepping out of workflow. Think of some of the applications: sales reps restricted from discounting products below say, 10% margin without authorisation from management; buyers limited to buying stock below a, for example $10 000 value unless signed off by the Financial Director, who has insight into the cashflow impact of such a procurement decision; or what about forcing authorisation on creation of sales orders for customers with certain debtors aging statuses? This truly allows businesses to leverage off their system to control segments of their business that put them at risk.
How does it work? In the event that a "trigger" is set off, an alert is emailed to up to two signatory user groups (each group can have unlimited users in it, but a signatory will be required from either one or both groups, depending on how the alert was set up).
The users then go to the "FinDoc Acc.Ctrl" menu (found under admin), and on the dashboard they will see all the alerts that pertain to them: either they have LOGGED the request, or they are in the primary or secondary signatories group.
They can then "preview", "approve" or "reject" requests. On Rejection or Approval, an email is sent to all parties.
Finally, the requesting party can "re-post" their original request, and this time, because it is approved, it will pass through and create the document.
All in all, this is a powerful feature and worth applying in any business where control is paramount.
$system_transaction_costing_method="LIFO";//FIFO, LIFO, AVERAGE or STANDARD//Note on Costing Method: - this gets cost of goods for quote/sales order values and any other cost lookup when there is not actual stock being implied (ie the stock is theoretical)//On GRN: all 4 methods place the actual cost of goods into the inventory value, but STANDARD also places the variance into the StandardCostVariance GL Category//On Despatch: LIFO and FIFO use the literal stock value of goods despatched, while AVERAGE uses the current average cost of the goods and STANDARD uses the current standard cost of goods despatched
Setting the system transaction stock allocation method:
$system_transaction_stock_allocation_method="FIFO";//FIFO,LIFO//Note on Stock Allocation Method: - this is purely used when the system tries to AUTO allocate stock to sales orders for shipping//If LIFO costing method is used with FIFO allocation menthod, you will see a discrepency in the margins on sales orders vs the final actual margins on despatch/invoice//The same is true for FIFO/LIFO combination. This scenario is most obvious when the goods shipped have a long shelf life or a rapidly changing price
If you would like to ensure that when you print one of the following documents (Sales Orders, Despatch Notes, Invoices, Returns, and Credit Notes) even with a selling price of zero for a line item it will display.
By default this is set not to display and you will notice in the the view mode the item is grey, which is a hint that it will not print.
This is very easily changed by editing the print templates, using database templates, search for the _items table in each specific classes template.
eg: in bb_sales_orders_items-viewlist_print.template
If you remove the ifnot and if statements, and change it to 'white' for the bgcolor tag it will print (and display as white) rows with zero selling price.
All the relevant information you need in one place.
An exciting little enhancement has been made to both the debtors and creditors modules. A Proof Of Delivery sub-module has been introduced to allow multiple scanned/pdf POD's to be attached to invoices in each module. This simple addition is in line with our strategy to simplify things for our users and we trust that this ability will help streamline your activities.
Would you like to know immediately when one of your users is having a permission error on your system? BB2.0 can give you that power to solve those headaches you are having regarding permissions. Our system allows you to receive an email whenever there is a permission error, you just need to enable it.
//debug{$debug=0;//0=off, 1=on$enable_bug_emailer=0;//0=off, 1=on //enable this to send your system bugs to bb2bugs@bluebox.co.za for quick support$debug_logging=0;//0=off, 1=on$custom_debugger=1;//0=off, 1=on//}
This will email all error messages in the system to the email address for system admin. The area where you edit the 'send to' email address is found in this section of the same file, show below.
//email settings{$system_email_address="email@domain.com";//this address receives system generated emails, including the contact form$system_email_name="System Administrator";//name of the above recipient$system_smtp_server="localhost";//address of your SMTP server$system_smtp_port=25;$system_smtp_username="";$system_smtp_password="";//}
Just another way the BlueBox is making your business better and easier to run with our simple, brilliant and effective solution.
The use of a Business Unit and Location combination for all financial documents created in BlueBox2.0 is a powerful way of channeling data into the General Ledger at a Business Unit/Branch/Division level.
Business Units are created in the form of a tree, starting at the highest level, namely 'Global', and working into divisions and sub-divisions from there. For example, a holding company called 'ABC Corp' would appear under Global, and then three subdivisions 'Spares Division', 'Servicing Division' and 'New Equipment Division' would appear under that.
Locations work the same way, with the 'Global' location at the top of the tree, and subdivisions working down from there. These can be as detailed as 'country'->'province'->'city'->'warehouse'->'sub-warehouse'->'bin' or as simple as 'branch a' and 'branch b', depending on your requirements. Locations should be left as is for most installations, as the standard locations tree is more than adequate for all business units to use. The system rolls out with a standardised set of locations and sub locations which comply with all the standard requirements. While locations are an important part of the unique pairing (BU/LOC) as described here, they also provide a place for stock to exist within, and this can be described as 'warehouse' or 'bin level' depending on the requirements.
Each user in the BB2.0 system logs into their secure account with a specific Business Unit (BU) and Location (LOC) combination, as defined in their user profile when they were originally created.
All documents in the BB2.0 system are created with a snapshot of the author's BU/LOC combination. So, if a sales rep was created under the BU/LOC of 'Spares Division'/'New York' then their quotes will be created under the same combination. It follows that the flow of documents coming from the original quote will therefore also be stamped with the same combination. So, Quote links to Sales Order, Sales Order links to Despatch Note, Despatch Note links to Debtors Invoice will all be stamped as owned by 'Spares Division'/'New York'.
The General Ledger comprises multiple GL Entries per transaction. GL Entries are automatically created when a document (ie Debtors Invoice) which has a link in the GL Document Map table, is created. The GL Document Map table carries within it a set of instructions for each document that is intended to 'talk to the GL' and these instructions are combinations of DR's and CR's into one of four possible GL Account Categories, namely Assets, Liabilities, Income and Expenses. GL Entries are also stamped with the same BU/LOC as their originating document (Despatch Note, Invoice, Payment etc), which ensures that the GL stores information automatically segregated into the various Business Units and Location combinations.
When a user logs into their secure account, they can only view documents/data which falls in their 'downline' for both the Business Unit and Location Trees. So a user who is set as 'Spares Division'/'New York' will not be able to see quotes which were created in 'Spares Division'/'Washinton', but a user who logs in as 'Spares Division'/'USA' would. This filtering method allows one to view the General Ledger in division slices, so the user who logs into 'Spares Division'/'New York' will only see GL Entries which were created for that division. The group accountant would log into 'Spares Division'/'USA' to see the total GL summary for both divisions.
"Skimming" can be defined as removing excess cash from the till during busy periods.
If you would like to enable Skimming you need to authorize it which is bb_setting bb_sales_point_of_sale::permission_skim_excess_cash this will allow a supervisor to do the skim, you set skim 'on' by setting the skim_level in the till_definition for default_till or a specific till.
There are two skim_levels... the 'warning' level is there to warn the teller that a skim is close at hand. The 'skim level' is the actual point at which a skim is required. If 'force skim' is set to on, then one has to skim to proceed, else it is optional.
All your supervisor needs to do is select the Extra button which is directly below our account and discount buttons and they can find the skim excess cash button on the menu that appears of the left hand side.
With this activated you won't have to worry about having too much cash in your till/s when your shop is at it's busiest, just another reason to have a BlueBox 2.0 powered POS.
Just a short summary of some of our latest updates regarding the Stocking Location Reference and the Debtors and Creditors Payment Screen.
Stocking Location Refence: this text field in the item_data table can be used to specify an 'informal bin location' which, if present, shows on pick/pack slips and stocktake sheets.
The Debtors and Creditors Payment Screen now: has sub-totals for the amount allocated and the amount unallocated between the 'paid' column and the 'discounted' column.
The Debtors and Creditors Payment Screen now: has a 'dynamic balance owing' for invoices. As you type into the amount paid field or the discount field it auto calculates the balance remaining.
The Debtors and Creditors Payment Screen now: shows the name of the company being paid on the 'results page', so that when processing lots of payments you do not forget which was the last entity paid.
Would you like to hear more of our latest updates and product enhancements? Then you need to be at our first conference of the year, you can find out more details on our events page.
Need to draw a graph in BB2.0, here is a tag that will allow you to do so. It is completely customizable so you can make it look exactly how you would like it.
<!--:class:bb_widgets:draw_widget|widget type(bar,line,table,dial etc)~Widget Title Goes Here~width ie 600~height ie 300~dial zone values eg 0,33,66,100~dial zone colors eg green,orange,red~Yaxis Title~Xaxis Title~bar line color eg green~use trend line? 1 for yes~use curve line? 1 for yes~bottom buffer ie 20~side buffer ie 20~sql query eg:selectround(sum(grand_totalCUR_BASE),-1) as data,DATE_FORMAT(transaction_date, '%Y-%b') AS labelsfrombb_sales_orderswheretransaction_date >= DATE_FORMAT(DATE_SUB(CURDATE(), INTERVAL 1 YEAR), '%Y-%m-01') AND transaction_date <= CURDATE()group byDATE_FORMAT(transaction_date, '%Y-%b')order byDATE_FORMAT(transaction_date, '%Y-%b') asc:-->
We all know that price is one of the defining factors when choosing an ERP system and I would like to discuss this and how competitive our product is; with regards to the competitiveness of our product in relation to other solutions offering the same features, I must say that I firmly believe that BlueBox is unmatched for value for money. This is why:
Big system features for the price of small system competitors:The BlueBox system offers big system features for the price of small system competitors (100% web based, fully integrated modules, end-to-end business process management, customisable platform, multi user, multi business unit and multi currency). Often we are compared with smaller packages, but these do not offer the features or the flexibility we offer. Find out more reason why you should choose BlueBox2.0 as your business platform here. At the same time, these other packages also include various hidden costs which are often overlooked (see below).
Fully modular solution: The BlueBox offers a fully modular solution which can be trimmed to fit the budget of our customers (ie features can be added or removed, like Sales, Inventory, Finance, Procurement etc). Modules can be added and removed on a month-by-month basis, which is unmatched flexibility in the market. You can view all of our modules on our Product Tour
No hidden costs: The hidden cost with all our competitors is support and consultation. BlueBox believes in our all-in-one pricing model, whereby you pay the monthly fee and this includes the monthly consultation process (as required) as well as unlimited call-center support. I remember recently that I heard of a company that was delighted to hear that they could get a *big brand* ERP system for R1mil approx. Their shock was the accumulated consulting costs that amounted to another few million Rand by the time the solution was implemented.
The BlueBox never charges for upgrades: Other companies charge annual per-seat license renewal fees, often not taken into account in the intial purchase price, and charge for every upgrade as they are released. BlueBox never charges for upgrades and includes unlimited users, thereby allowing you to scale your business without increasing the cost of your system.
This is why the BlueBox is very competitively priced for what we offer. If you are unhappy with your current system or would like a quote to find out exactly how much our system will cost you please enquire here. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us here.
This new feature sorts items by SKU_CODE in financial documents.
It will be available on the latest code from tonight, initially only on the Quote Template, but it is generically invocable using the following syntax:
<!--:class:bb_sales_quotes_items:viewlist_print|sales_quoteISbb_sales_quotesID=15 and bb_sales_quotes_items._id>= and bb_sales_quotes_items._id<=|bb_item_data.sku_code asc:-->
For any viewlist tag, when the second | (pipe) is called it allows you to specify the 'ordering' of the list. Up until now it was not possible to order by extended data from the item table. The new code automatically loads the item data as part of the record set and therefore you can sort by bb_item_data.any_field... the trigger being bb_item_data. in the string.
As the year winds down to a close, we thought we'd take this opportunity to announce that BlueBox will be hosting our first major South African conference of 2010, in Kwa Zulu Natal on the 17th and 18th of February next year.
BlueBox conferences are used as an opportunity for, informing the BlueBox community of new developments and enhancements to our software; providing additional insight into the functionality and flexibility of the platform, and; networking and sharing knowledge, skills and experience with other BlueBox users, partners and developers.
Invitations to existing customers, partners and developers will be sent out later this month confirming the agenda, times and venue; but please note that attendance is also open to prospective partners, customers and developers too.
Should you be interested in attending and wish to receive an invitation, please e-mail your interest to carlv@bluebox.co.za or visit our events page
Just a quick primier on the Communication->Alerts class.
This class has the ability to run a sql query, and then email or sms the results to specified recipients on an automated basis.
The class is invoked by adding the following tag to a 'frequently requestd page' in your system (probably page.template). (Note that the person requesting this page (ie a staffmember) will need permissions to run this class/method.)
<!--:class:bb_alerts:check_alerts-->
This then triggers a loop-through of all the registered alerts you have set up.
Each alert is checked for the following:
has it's optional interval in hours passed since the last time it ran
is the current time between the span_from and the span_to for this alert
lastly, does the sql query yield any results
If these three conditions are met, then it processes the alert:
it will send an email with subject and body containing possible bb2 tags which extract results from the data
it can optionally send a formatted CSV file with the data results in csv format as an attachement
it can also send an sms whereby the contents can contain results from the sql query as bb2 tags
finally it logs that the alert was sent, so that it does not re-send until applicable again
Here are the fields and descriptions for the bb_alerts class:
<?phpvar$name;The name of the alertvar$name;The name of the alertvar$alert_interval_hoursNUM;Optional hour-span between re-sending this alertvar$alert_hour_span_fromNUM;Optional from_hour when this alert may send communicationsvar$alert_hour_span_toNUM;Optional to_hour when this alert may send communicationsvar$alert_sql_queryISplaintextbox;Required: the sql query which will populate the email/sms (for alerts which do not require a query - ie alerts which run system functions -use'select 1;'var$from_email_detailsISsmallplaintextbox;The from email addressvar$to_email_detailsISsmallplaintextbox;The to email addressvar$cc_email_detailsISsmallplaintextbox;Self explanatoryvar$bcc_email_detailsISsmallplaintextbox;Self explanatoryvar$to_cellphone_detailsISsmallplaintextbox;The to cell numbervar$alert_email_subjectISsmallplaintextbox;The subject of the emailvar$alert_messageISplaintextbox;The email or sms messagevar$alert_csv_docnameISsmallplaintextbox;The attached csv file doc namevar$alert_csv_layoutISplaintextbox;The layout of the attached csv filevar$alert_run_class;Aclass to run when this alert is runvar$alert_run_method;The method to run for the above classvar$alert_run_variablesISsmallplaintextbox;Optional variables for the class/method running abovevar$run_silentlyYN;No output will show if this is setvar$archiveYN;The alert will not run if this is set?>
What happens when we run the livedata function?
The /?livedata function has recently been enhanced (latest code 1 Dec) to include a flush mechanism for the 2 system cache's which speed up system response times.
The two cache's are:
The Menu Cache (also manually flushable via the Publishing->Menu Manager)
The Tree Cache (which auto flushes each time a node is added to a particular tree-set ie: business units or locations)
So now, /?livedata runs through all bb2 classes, confirming that the data structure matches the codebase, and it also flushes both these cache sets.
Why would I need to run the livedata function?
The function self-heals database changes that have been introduced by any new code placed into "engine" or the "custom_modules" folders.
How do I run the livedata function?
Surf to the following url of your site - http://www.yoursite.com/?livedata - after the database has been updated you will be redirected back to your previous page.
<?php$chart=new bb_charts();$chart=$chart->get(array("type"=>"bar", ⁄⁄or'line'"data"=>"10,20,30,40,50", ⁄⁄data is provided in comma seperated format"data1"=>"5,10,15,20,25", ⁄⁄data1 and data2 are OPTIONAL extra commaseperated lists for line sets 2&3"labels"=>"Mon,Tue,Wed,Thur,Fri", ⁄⁄labels are provided in commaseperated format"legend"=>"", ⁄⁄optional"titles"=>"Sales : ".date("d M",strtotime($week_start))." - ".date("d M",strtotime($week_end)), ⁄⁄the title of the chart"xaxis_title"=>"Day","yaxis_title"=>"R's","width"=>192,"height"=>180,"bottom_buffer"=>15, ⁄⁄optional"side_buffer"=>0, ⁄⁄optional));?>
Here is a 'dial example':
<?php$chart=new bb_charts();$chart=$chart->get(array("type"=>"dial","data"=>round(($tot_sales_figure_for_the_week/($last_year_week_figures["total_sales_exvatNUM"]?$last_year_week_figures["total_sales_exvatNUM"]:1))*100),"labels"=>"labels","legend"=>"","titles"=>"Sales vs Budget : ".date("d M",strtotime($week_start))." - ".date("d M",strtotime($week_end)),"xaxis_title"=>"Day","yaxis_title"=>"R's","width"=>192,"height"=>180,"bottom_buffer"=>15,"side_buffer"=>0,"zones"=>"0,80,100,113,200","zone_colors"=>"red,orange,yellow,green",));resp($chart);?>
We now have a 'snapshot' module in the inventory suite which allows for daily snapshots (or occasional snapshots) of the inventory table.
This is a summary snapshot, recording:
location
item/code/options
qty on hand
total value
It is not storing extra details(ie serial_numbers etc) (in order to keep snapshots to as small a size as possible).
To get to the snapshot module, go to Inventory->Inventory Snapshot (remember to log in freshly to get a refreshed menu).
To capture a manual snapshot simply push the 'Take a new snapshot for today' button on the snapshots dashboard.
If a second/third snapshot for any day is requested, the system flushes the old data and creates a new snapshot.
It is possible to 'autorun' snapshots after each stock take sheet is processed (but this will slow down the completion of any stocktake sheet considerably, so needs to be done with caution).
(To do this set the bbsetting_autorun_snapshots=1 for bb_inventory_stock_take)
Another 'auto' option is to run the following php script via linux system cron-job on the last day of each month:
A little improvement to the BB2 mailer:
The ability to embed images in an email, and then refer to them by their CID within the body of the mail is now available within the BlueBox.
Working in conjunction with one of our longstanding international communications clients, we have developed an integrated aggregation billing solution for them, resulting in a dedicated portal solution suitable for the aggregated billing of either cellular or satellite customers. BlueBox Worldwide's Managing Director, Paul de Villiers, who personally project managed this solution to conclusion, views this project as further evidence of BlueBox 2.0.'s ability to provide a solid transactional foundation for vertical solutions.
What the system does:
The principal reason behind the development of the solution was to provide a means for our client, who provides a premium time billed sattelite communications network service to their customers which is capable of monitoring and verifying resource usage by terminals in the network, to import and consolidate the time usage of their various customers, by terminal, simcard and by account, and then, using that aggregated data, generate and deliver consolidated invoices for them. The BlueBox interface enables the customer to integrate with their own applications, and, using the integration tools provided audit the success, accuracy and summary data on the import before producing the consolidated invoices and thereafter send the invoices directly off the system.
The web based system features all one would expect from a comprehensive billing system with General Ledger backing and sophisticated financial reports, including of course, the usual accounts receivable functionality such as:
> Creation of Invoices
> Issuing Credit Notes
> Capturing Payments
> View Age-Analysis
> View Account Transaction Details
> Pull Statements for view/print/email
> Print Bulk Invoices
The real-world application of this solution can, of course be extended to use in any similar business or indeed any business needing to track and consolidate unit based data for billing purposes. BlueBox has a proud history of providing integrated solutions to a variety of businesses ranging from banks through to best brand manufacturers.
The Mobile Billing System provides more solid evidence that the BlueBox 2.0 platform scales nicely into providing solutions for verticals.
BlueBox Worldwide's Managing Director, Paul de Villiers, will be exhibiting at London's "In Store Show" at the London Olympia from the 30th June to the 1st July, in participation with our newest UK VAR Partners, Corporate Rewards. BlueBox's Customer Loyalty solution will be on display and the team will be available for questions and discussion. In light of that we thought we would share Corporate Reward's answers to some of the questions about Customer Loyalty.
What Is A Loyalty Store Kiosk?
"A Loyalty Store Kiosk is a stand-alone internet based ‘Touch Screen’ branded unit , which can be placed in any retail environment with the aim to attract customers in-store to take advantage of offers and discounts.
Users simply have to pre-register their details, in-store, to become a loyalty club member. They will then receive a loyalty card which they ‘swipe’ at the kiosk to access the offers that are relevant to them.
The platform uses a points based system that allows customers to earn points for answering a call to action, spending in-store or online. They are then able to print coupons / vouchers at the kiosk that can be redeemed at the checkout via simply scanning the printed barcode.
On returning to the store, customers simply login to their personal loyalty account by swiping their loyalty card at the kiosk. Each time they login they can also earn points which encourages customers to frequently revisit a store. The amount of times a user can login in a 24hr period can be limited.
Each kiosk is free standing, can be branded, and is independent of in-store POS systems, no integration is required. The kiosk simply requires an internet connection by ether cable.
Why Should I Implement A Loyalty Kiosk Into My Stores?
In this ever increasing competitive marketplace customers are constantly bombarded with fragmented and irrelevant offers and too many mixed or unclear marketing messages. Time is a precious commodity and is a key factor in the purchasing decision process for consumers. Consumers want to make purchases quickly and efficiently based on informed decisions. For high value purchases consumers often go to great lengths to choose the right product for them, however for everyday low value purchases research shows that over 70% of purchasing decisions are made in-store. This is where a Loyalty Kiosk gives you the competitive advantage, over in-store TV, POS advertising, posters, flyers, signage and rafts of paper money off coupons.
By going directly to and interacting with a Loyalty Kiosk shoppers can immediately see what current offers are available to them. These offers can be tailored to individuals preferences through pre-survey, spend patterns and demographic data. Saving time and increasing per basket spend.
The kiosk does not necessarily replace traditional marketing it merely acts to enhance, streamline and simplify the offering, making the marketing more pertinent to the consumer and increasing higher return on marketing investment.
BlueBox Worldwide's Managing Director, Paul de Villiers, will be exhibiting at London's "In Store Show" at the London Olympia from the 30th June to the 1st July, in participation with our newest UK Partners,Corporate Rewards. BlueBox's Customer Loyalty solution will be on display and the team will be available for questions and discussion.
Paul de Villiers will be available for meetings with any interested UK parties for the week after the show.
Should you be interested in meeting with a BlueBox representative over that time, please e-mailcarlv@bluebox.co.zato book time and arrange a meeting.
BlueBox will be hosting a small conference in Randburg, Johannesburg on Wednesday, 27th May 9:00am-12:00pm.
Please consider yourself invited.
The agenda for the conference will be as follows:
Session 1: (9:00am-10:15)
1.BlueBox Mobile ERP
2.Manufacturing Costing Methods (& adding indirect costs to manufacturing items)
Session 2: (10:30am-12:00)
1.Introducing BlueBox Payroll
2.Software as a Service
Please Note:
The conference isfreeto attend for anyone interested. Should you wish to attend please e-mail Carl Verster atcarl@bluebox.co.za . Carl will confirm your attendance and e-mail the conference details and directions through to you.
The latest module addition to BlueBox2.0 stable is the 'TimeKeeper Module' which can be found under "Tasks" section of the BlueBox System.
The main aim of this neat little module is to provide a useful visual 'report' on the live progress of each productive staff member who is responsible for producing 'billable hours' in an organization, allowing both staff members and their managers to track daily progress of billable, costed or productive time against daily targets over a monthly time period.
In essence this module allows for the capture of 'time stubs' against sales orders and eventually works orders which are, in turn calculated and summed up against the staff member's billable time target. As seen in the screenshot above "time stubs" can quickly be added by the staffmember who assigns the work done to the applicable Sales Order, along with the Date and the appropriate number of hours. The small plus link allows the capture of any additional notes.
The manager view displays all their own staff on one dashboard and shows billable time versus the allocated target.
Any organisation needing to track the productivity of staff whose time is costed or billed for would be well advised to consider using this module to manage that time.
For a while I have wanted to introduce a standards-based 'thin' mobile module for BB2.0, and this last week had an opportunity to sink my teeth into this.
Essentially what the new bb_mobile module introduces is a simple method for developing mobile phone browser compatible 'screens' on top of the wealth of BB2.0 data.
See attached demo screenshots for your info.
As a kick-off module within this sub-set, I have developed a simple Sales Survey tool, which works like this:
Setting Up the Backoffice Functions:
To Set up the Mobile Sales Surveys module, surf to Communication->Mobile Tools->Mobile Sales Surveys
From here you will be asked to link your salesforce with an itinerary of customers for them each to cycle through
You will also be able to define questions for them to answer after each sales call
From there you will be challenged to enter a password, which is used for user lookup
Once authenticated, you can then select the module you wish to use (in this case there is only one -> Surveys)
Within the surveys module, the rep can then select the customer they have just visited (which comes from their pre-defined itinerary) and enter sundry info in a 'Notes' box about the visit.
By 'logging their visit' the system then looks to see if any Survey Questions require answering. If so, these are listed and textboxes provided for each answer.
Finally the rep can cycle back to the main page where they can start the process again for their next customer, or edit their answers from the past visit.
This module will no doubt go through the usual learning-curve of changes, and I welcome any feedback.
It is my intention to quite quickly (based on demand) expand the set of mobile sub-modules to include a powerful suite of out-of-the-box value-adds for BB2, like:
An answer to this frequently asked question.
