Order Manager
Version 8
Order Manager
Version 8
Stone Edge Version 8 is a multiple warehouse solution, which splits the processes of order management and order fulfillment between the Stone Edge Order Manager (OM) and the Stone Edge Fulfillment Manager (FM) applications. The Order Manager and the Fulfillment Manager communicate with each other through a new component known as the Synchronization Manager (SYM). The Order Manager and the Fulfillment Manager each contain Sync Manager-code which generates and processes messages flowing between the two applications. Messaging can be configured to use a basic UNC folder path if both applications reside on the same LAN, but do not use mapped drives. Alternately, you can configure the system to send messages through a third-party application which uses FTPS (File Transfer Protocol Security Extensions), such as Filezilla. A file synchronization application, such as Dropbox, could also be used to exchange messages between the Sync Managers.
The main office runs the Order Manager application, while the Fulfillment Manager application is installed at each warehouse location. The Order Manager has a global view of orders and inventory, while each installation of the Fulfillment Manager is only aware of the orders and inventory for which it is responsible. Warehouses have no knowledge of other warehouses, and warehouses can only be associated with a single Order Manager store.
Orders from any number of channels are created, reviewed, and approved in the Order Manager, which seamlessly routes the entire order, or individual line items, to one or more warehouses based on product availability and warehouse ranking. This solution can improve throughput by its ability to dynamically direct orders/items to the warehouse best equipped to fill and ship them in a timely fashion.
For more details, see the Summary of Changes section of this guide.
ATP: (Available to Promise) the units of a given catalog item that can be listed for sale through the Order Manager (the sum of each warehouse’s QOH for a given item)
Catalog: list of all items the merchant offers for sale
Item –Source record: maps items in the catalog to a given warehouse so Stone Edge can track and maintain a record of the items a warehouse has in stock.
Fulfillment Manager: the Stone Edge component responsible for packing and sending shipments, as well as managing quantity on hand counts for all products
Order Manager: the Stone Edge component responsible for order creation, approval and routing, customer management, and management reporting
Payment Module: the Stone Edge component (Monsoon Commerce Payment Module) used to process electronic payments
Quantity on Hand: physical inventory of an item at a given warehouse (not the same as ATP)
Reroute/Optimize: the manual process of changing the warehouse route from one warehouse to another
Route State: the systematic management of the warehouse route (in version 8.0, “Allocated” to “Committed” to “Shipped”)
Routing System:the Stone Edge component that determines the warehouse or warehouses, to which an order, or parts of the order, should be sent for fulfillment
Sync Manager: a background component of the Order Manager and the Fulfillment Manager which manages the communication between the applications
Warehouse: a place that stores inventory and ships inventory to customers to fulfill orders
Warehouse association: the process of mapping products to warehouses in the Order Manager, all warehouses do not need to stock the same products
Warehouse rank: determines the order in which the order routing system searches warehouses to determine if they have stock to fill an order
Warehouse routing: the resulting determination made by the routing system as to which warehouse or warehouses fill the order, or parts of the order
Windows 7
Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows Server 2012, with all available service packs applied.
Microsoft .Net Framework 4.0 or higher with all service packs available applied.
MS Access or Office 2010 or higher with all available service packs applied.
SQL Server 2008 or SQL Express 2008 R2 or higher with all available service packs applied.
File synchronization application such as Dropbox, OR, an FTPS application such as Filezilla
You do not have to use either of these types of applications if you have a Wide Area Network (WAN) and use UNC paths to shared network drives. Do not use mapped network drives.
Dual or Quad core processor with 4GB RAM
Do not install the Fulfillment Manager and the Order Manager on the same workstation at this time.
Presently, there is no utility to convert an existing Stone Edge store data file to the Version 8.0 format, but one will be available in a subsequent release.
It is necessary to create new SQL databases for the Order Manager and Fulfillment Manager and configure the system from the ground up.
System Parameters must be configured manually, but product data can be imported from text files into the Order Manager, which in turn passes it on to the Fulfillment Manager. Product QOH information can be imported from a text file into the Fulfillment Manager. Once the bulk of the product information is stored in both databases, any new products are created in the Order Manager, which sends the product information to all of the associated warehouses. Each warehouse is responsible for maintaining an accurate QOH count, which are used to calculate the product ATP in the Order Manager.
Currently, the POS system is not supported in Stone Edge Version 8. If you have walk-in customers, use Manual Orders to take their orders and collect payments.
Rate Shopping is not currently available in the Order Manager, which affects those who use the Manual Orders screen. As a workaround, define static shipping rates in the Order Manager instead. See the Knowledge Base for more information.
For a complete list of changes, see the Release Notes in the program installation folder.
Both the Order Manager and the Fulfillment Manager have batch printing capabilities, however, the Order Manager is only able to print invoices, credit slips and mailing labels in batch mode. Pick lists, packing slips, and shipping labels are printed through the Fulfillment Manager’s batch print feature at a given warehouse.
An SQL database must be used to house your order and product information.
Since the Order Manager’s store data file can no longer be a Microsoft Access database, the Archive Data, Backup Data File, Compact Data File, Convert to SQL Server, and Re-import Archived Orders functions are no longer supported.
The Global Editor and Multi-Record Editor cannot edit ATP (formerly QOH).
All email from Stone Edge is sent by the Order Manager. The Fulfillment Manager does not send any email at this time.
· Inventory must be tracked in Version 8, you do not have the option to turn inventory tracking off (CheckInventory=False).
· The “Don’t do fulfillment field” on the Inventory form is removed. Item records are either assigned to a Fulfillment Center or they are expected to be filled through your warehouses, you cannot temporarily override the assignment and ship a Fulfillment Center item from your warehouse. ATP for Fulfillment Center items can be edited through the Order Manager’s Inventory screen.
· The Change SKUs feature is removed from Version 8.
· All tasks related to the management of the inventory catalog take place in the Order Manager, such as defining SKUs, kits, assemblies and warehouses.
· Assemblies are only built or broken through the Fulfillment Manager
· FIFO is initially unavailable, but will be added into Order Manager in a later release.
· It is no longer possible to see the unit cost when breaking or building Assemblies, as the Fulfillment Manager has no knowledge of FIFO costs.
· Kits can have parts in different warehouses.
· Inventory lots are only built or broken through the Fulfillment Manager.
The Order Manager is only aware of the ATP of each product, which is the sum of the QOH values from each warehouse. The QOH of individual products is managed by Cycle Counts at each warehouse location.
It is no longer possible to import product QOH from a web store. Likewise, it is not possible to manually adjust the ATP values of your warehouse inventory through the Order Manager.
ATP for items which are shipped from a Stone Edge-defined Fulfillment Center (not FBA) can be edited in the Inventory screen of the Order Manager. However, items can no longer be assigned to a Fulfillment Center and also be shipped from your warehouse stock. Items can only be fulfilled one way or the other, not both.
The functionality of the Purchase Order system is split between the Order Manager and the Fulfillment Manager applications.
Product images in Inventory records must reside on the web at this time.
· Ctrl+Shift+E (clear tracking table), Ctrl+Shift+D (open database) and Ctrl+Shift+Z (zip data file) have been removed from the program.
Based on warehouse associations and ranking, the Order Manager routes the entire order, or individual line items, to warehouses for fulfillment.
Once an order is routed to a warehouse, the order must be unapproved in the Order Manager before any changes can be made, such as adding or deleting a line item, changing the routing, etc. The warehouse must be contacted and instructed to place the order on Hold so it is not shipped before the order is unapproved and the changes are made in the Order Manager.
Pick lists, packing slips and shipping labels are no longer printed by the Order Manager, so it is no longer possible to print these documents when an order is approved.
The Multi-Order Processor cannot add shipping labels to the Order Manager’s batch printing queue as they are printed through the Fulfillment Manager at the warehouse from which the order is shipped.
You are not currently able to shop for shipping rates at Manual Orders. Define static shipping rates in the Order Manager as a work around.
When placing a manual order, you cannot add a kit to the order without also listing the kit parts at this time.
Cross-selling is not supported in Version 8.
The Fulfillment Manager does not support Notes or Tasks.
It is no longer possible to collect payments at the Pack and Ship screen, which is now part of the Fulfillment Manager.
Stone Edge uses a newer version of PDF Writer, which requires users to go to a website and download an installer for Ghostscript during the Stone Edge installation process. Ghostscript is required for PDF Writer to function properly.
The installer removes the old version of PDF Writer before installing the new version.
The printer OM2PDF is also defined during the process.
The Purchase Orders system now has components in both the Order Manager and the Fulfillment Manager.
Purchase order creation and invoicing takes place in the Order Manager, while purchase order receiving takes place in the Fulfillment Manager.
Communique Lite is no longer distributed with Monsoon Order Manager, but if you have it from a previous version you can still use it through the Main Menu>Run My Reports>Open External Reports.
Returns and exchanges are created in the Order Manager. The items are received by the Fulfillment Manager at the warehouse, which in turn notifies the Order Manager when the products arrive.
All returns and exchanges created in the Order Manager are automatically assigned an RMA number.
Returning items to multiple warehouses requires a separate RMA for each warehouse.
Once an item is received as a Return by the Fulfillment Manager, it cannot be Unreturned. Up until that time, you can change or cancel the return or exchange.
Unsolicited returns (no RMA number) can be processed by the Fulfillment Manager. If an order number is entered during this process, it must be the Order Manager order number. Entering an order number is optional. There is presently no user interface where you can manually review this type of return.
· This functionality is not available in Stone Edge Version 8.
All functions related to picking, packing and shipping warehouse stock now takes place in the Fulfillment Manager and have been removed from the Order Manager. Shipping status, packing records and tracking numbers are reported back to the Order Manager.
It is no longer possible to collect payment for orders at the Pack & Ship screen. All payments are collected through the Order Manager.
· Some shipping integrations or features have been dropped from Stone Edge Version 8:
DAZzle Batch
Postal Package Partner
ShipWire
Shipping Export Templates
UPS Online Tools – use ShipRush for UPS to print labels through Stone Edge
USPS Web Tools
· The Shipping Setup in Order Manager has changed dramatically. It is now used to define shipping method names in the Order Manager which match those used in your shopping carts. Eventually, those method names are mapped to the shipping carrier’s method name in the Fulfillment Manager.
· It is no longer possible to have the program process DAZzle tracking numbers immediately after the labels are printed. They are only processed when the Process Tracking Number function is executed. System parameter DazzleProcessTrackingNumbers is removed.
· Shipping carrier information must be supplied when importing tracking data. The program no longer attempts to determine the shipping carrier from the tracking number.