Inconsistent Manufacturing Suspected Cause of Homer-Happy MLB Season

August 15, 2017 at 12:47 PMChad Moulder

Night Game

Inconsistent Manufacturing Suspected Cause of Homer-Happy MLB Season

Without a doubt, the 2017 Major League Baseball season has been one for the record books. Currently, the leagues is poised to shatter the average home runs per game average of 1.17 by almost a tenth of a point (MLB average stands at 1.26 home runs per game at the moment). What this means is that if the league continues this pace, they will effectively destroy the previous single season home run record from 2000 by an impressively mystifying 350 additional homers (roughly 6400 homeruns). And although layman's logic would point towards advances in science or athlete training as the culprit, what many researchers are now finding is almost equally amazing: the baseballs themselves are at least partially responsible for the increase and it's due to inconsistent manufacturing.

Baseball-Reference.com via 538

The baseball wasn't initially expected as the source behind the recent spate of homers in the Major League. Last year, Ben Lindbergh and Rob Arthur began looking at the data to understand the sudden spike in home runs around the league. Beginning in the '09 season, the average runs per game inning to decline, from 4.7 runs per inning in '08 and eventually falling to 3.9 by the end of 2014. Something strange was happening in 2014, however. At the end of the season and into the postseason, teams that were still alive saw their runs spike from 4.06 at the beginning of the season to an average of 4.25 by the end of the season. Then in 2015, things got more interesting.

Pitcher on the Mound

Initially, 2010 was thought to be the "Year of the Pitcher", with many observers and commentators praising the explosion of talent at the mound for producing runs at a much lower rate than they had in any full season prior to 2010. So when the 2010 season kicked off and we witnessed an explosion of home runs that couldn't be attributed to anything like an increased strike zone or increased percentage of contact (at-bats minus strikeouts). What turned out to be the actual cause would take insiders and observers almost four more years to understand.

The culprit, as it turns out, was the ball itself. In June, Mitchel Lichtman and Ben Lindbergh started studying the official game ball in an attempt to understand what may be contributing to the spike in homers. Through experimentation on more than three dozen baseballs, they found what they had begun to suspect: the baseballs from 2015 were "bouncier" than previously. As they continued to look at historically used game balls and evaluate newer game balls, they noticed that the physical makeup of the ball had seemingly changed. The new balls were now smoother and the seams smaller, subjecting the ball to less air resistance. Additionally, the team found that the balls had begun to become "harder" providing for a better energy return when struck with a bat. The "problem" was that there was no announcement of changes being made to the official ball. 

The MLB for their part have denied that any such changes were made to the official game ball and that all materials currently in use are identical to previous generations. They also note that all game balls must fall within the league standard, which may have been left purposely wide so as to retain some unpredictability to the game. Anecdotally, players and coaches also seem to believe that a change has been made to the ball. In a recent interview with the Orange County Register, New York Mets manager Terry Collins said "The seams of the ball are definitely lower...and there is no question that the ball is harder." His voice joins that of Jake Arrieta ("I'll get a ball hit back that is oblong shaped and that never happened until this year"), Andrew McCutchen and pitcher Justin Verlander who have all mentioned changes to the official ball in recent months.

So what does this have to do with inventory solutions? Well in a nutshell, this is a pretty low-stakes example of the importance of consistency in your products. Small changes can have large impacts and in other cases could open your business up to unwelcome or unexpected attention. Having solid, reliable, and well-documented bills of material and assembly instructions could mean a world of difference and might help as a source of information if you are just now beginning to establish standardization across your products. 

What the moneyball data seems to suggest now is that after years of fluctuation, the performance of game balls is beginning to become consistent. By evaluating the standard of deviation in drag over the last few years, the trend is that the balls used across the league have become much more homogenous in their performance. One could suppose that with the league disavowing any knowledge of changes to the ball or the standards by which they are evaluated, the entire incident could be chalked up to a decade-long trend to bring standardization to baseball with an acceleration within the past two years pointing towards a game ball that would perform predictably game after game. 

And for those that are curious, here's a video from How It's Made detailing the process:

Posted in: AllOrder | Did You Know | General | News | Order Time

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Five More Surprising Facts About Manufacturing

July 13, 2017 at 8:06 AMChad Moulder

5 Surprising facts about Manufacturing

Last week we looked at some of the impact that the Manufacturing industry had on the US economy, this week we look  at some additional facts that you may not have considered. American manufacturing has long been the backbone of US prosperity, but with the rise in automation and advances in efficiency and practices, some may be wondering if it still deserves that distinction. In this week's blog we look at 5 surprising facts about the state of manufacturing.

 

1.The manufacturing industry employs more than 12.3 million Americans, accounting for about 9% of the total workforce. Since the end of the Great Recession, manufacturers have hired more than 800,000 workers. There are 7.7 million and 4.6 million workers in durable and nondurable goods manufacturing, respectively. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)

2. Manufacturers have become more competitive globally over the past two decades. Overall the manufacturing industry has seen a revolution in efficiencyOutput per hour for all workers in the manufacturing sector has increased by more than 2.5 times since 1987. In contrast, productivity is roughly 1.7 times greater for all nonfarm businesses. Note that durable goods manufacturers have seen even greater growth, almost tripling its labor productivity over that time frame.

To help illustrate the impact to the bottom line of this growth, unit labor costs in the manufacturing sector have fallen 8.4 percent since the end of the Great Recession, with even larger declines for durable goods firms. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

3. Over the past 25 years, U.S.-manufactured goods exports have quadrupled. In 1990, for example, U.S. manufacturers exported $329.5 billion in goods. By 2000, that number had more than doubled to $708.0 billion. In 2014, it reached an all-time high, for the fifth consecutive year, of $1.403 trillion, despite slowing global growth. With that said, a number of economic headwinds have dampened export demand since then, with U.S.-manufactured goods exports down 6.1 percent in 2015 to $1.317 trillion. (Source: National Association of Manufacturers

4. For every $1 spent in manufacturing, $1.81 is added to the US economy. This is the greatest multiplier effect of any economic sector. Additionally, for every worker in manufacturing, another four are hired elsewhere. (NAM calculations using economic impact modeling)

5. The cost of federal regulations fall disproportionately on manufacturers, particularly those that are smaller.Manufacturers pay $19,564 per employee on average to comply with federal regulations, or nearly double the $9,991 per employee costs borne by all firms as a whole. In addition, small manufacturers with less than 50 employees spend 2.5 times the amount of large manufacturers. Environmental regulations account for 90 percent of the difference in compliance costs between manufacturers and the average firm. (Source: Crain and Crain (2014))

Posted in: AllOrder | Did You Know | General | News | Production

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It Might Be Time to Get Excited About The Internet of Things

July 10, 2017 at 9:00 AMChad Moulder

The Internet of Things Illustration

The Internet of Things

 

This week, we take a look at the Internet of Things, a buzz-y phrase that is getting more and more attention as the nation and the world move towards a truly digital future.

 

Let’s talk about the future.

 

The most popular definition of the Internet of Things (IoT) is that it is a network of connected devices that operate with a binary connection (on/off) to the Internet. This can include a variety of “things” from cell phones and wearables to the components that comprise them. It can also include other less obvious “things” like virtual items, information or even people. But why should you or your company be thinking about the Internet of Things?

 

Technology research company Gartner recently estimated that by 2020 there will be more than 26 billion devices connected to the Internet. Some analysts even suspect that number to be much closer to 100 billion devices or roughly 12 internet-capable devices per person in just a couple of years. Essentially anything that can be connected to the Internet will be connected very soon. Companies that are looking to improve customer satisfaction, operational efficiencies, and product or service quality should certainly be looking at IoT as a way to address them.

 

Unfortunately, many industries are currently struggling to find a point of access as processing such large amounts of raw data and attempting to create systems that rely upon this connectivity remains one of the most difficult barriers to overcome. Despite these growing pains, I can assure you that it is no longer a question of if but more a question of when large companies begin to integrate IoT into their business models.

 

One of the first industries to adopt IoT on a large scale has been in manufacturing. As many consumers look to curb capital expenses and replace them with operational expenditures, the IoT allows for a more seamless and efficient source of revenue for many businesses. IoT devices also have the benefit of improving the end-user experience which in turn increases customer loyalty and driving sales.

 

In a broader sense, we may begin to see how the IoT might become useful on different scales. Applications and devices could be used on scales large enough to manage traffic or parking. Smaller applications might be to have your refrigerator monitor what foods you have, their expiration dates or the ability to compile shopping lists or recipes based on that information. Although still very early in its current use and adoption, the Internet of Things will most certainly prove itself to be a game changer in ways that aren’t immediately clear.

 

As more consumers begin to move towards cutting capital spending and increasing operational expenditures, businesses may find that early adoption can lead directly to a more seamless and efficient source of revenue. Although it will still take some time to fully realize the potential of IoT, companies that figure out how to collect, process and analyze the vast amounts of information may find themselves at the vanguard of their industry.


Any business can implement IoT, but scale and investment are key to success. Cisco recently conducted a study about the Internet of Things where the discovered that about 70% of IoT campaigns ultimately fail. Why? The top contributing factors from the study revealed that internal expertise, quality of data, protracted implementation, and inconsistent implementation to be among the most challenging obstacles to overcome. The most damning, however was too much emphasis on the technology and not enough on the human element.

 

When trying to define metrics to gauge success, the study went on to suggest that the alacrity with which IoT is implemented and the company’s engagement consistency/commitment were the most important to track. Businesses should be looking at the Internet of Things like they would any traditional implementation. This means competent teams, technology and proper accounting (time and money) all contribute to the success of an IoT rollout. 

Posted in: AllOrder | Did You Know | General | News

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Tips and Tricks for using AllOrders

June 27, 2017 at 8:42 AMChad Moulder

 

In this week's blog, we look at some features we have added in previous versions that may help you to be a more efficient user of AllOrders.

 

Tips and Tricks for Using All Orders

 

One of the great things about All Orders is just how robust a tool it is and the flexibility it gives users looking to make their processes more efficient. With all of these features and functions, however, it can create situations where additional efficiencies can be overlooked. This week, we look at a few tips and tricks that can sometimes be overlooked.

·Using the Scan BoxYou do not need a scanner to use the scan box. Simulate a scan by pressing the tab key. You can enter in the Item Name, UPC, Manf. Part #., Vendor Part #, Vendor UPC, or Descriptions.

·Auto Email Shipping FormsShipping forms can be setup to be automatically emailed once a Ship Doc is marked as shipped. Emailing directly from All Orders has to be turned on for this feature to work. 

·Editing Multiple OrdersTypically only one single document for any document type can be open at a time. Users needing the ability to open more than one order or quote at a time can turn on the "Allow Multiple SOs/Quotes to be open" in the Sales Order Preferences. 

·Multiple Copies of All OrdersYou can open multiple All Orders windows. Simply Click the All Orders Icon to open another copy, confirm that you want to open another copy, and use the same username and password log in.

·Setting up Default PrintersTypically All Orders does not tell Windows which printer to use when sending documents to the printer. Use the "Apply default printer" in the Report Preferences to have All Orders dictate which printer to use. By doing this All Orders will make sure the report is sent to the default printer but allows users to set the default printer per report and override the default printer. 

·List HackSort multiple list columns by clicking the initial column to sort by and holding down Shift key while clicking additional columns to add to the sort. 

·

List Hack - Use powerful filters to find what you are looking for. Using the * for fuzzy matching, using the Greater than > and <less than characters to help filter the numeric columns.

·Batch ProcessingVarious commands can be done in batch from the list by using the filters and the check boxes to focus on the rows in the list that processing needs to get done on. Orders can be easily closed in batch directly from the Sales Order List, Ship Docs can be marked as Shipped and Recorded in Quickbooks, Work Orders can be changed to a status of Finished, they can by Picked and Allocated, Drilled Down, and Flattened in a batch.  

Posted in: AllOrder | Features | General | News | training

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Why You Should Update Your Inventory Process

June 20, 2017 at 9:37 AMChad Moulder

As more and more companies march towards in-store and online sales integration, it has become clear that there's more than just shipping costs digging into profits.

 

Why You Should Update Your Inventory Process

Modernizing your inventory management process could be just the change your business needs to stay successful. 

 

There can be no doubt that as a whole, retail operations have become vastly more complicated within just the past decade. As more and more businesses and companies look to reconcile in-person (in-store) transactions with online sales, the importance of managing that business with an efficient inventory management tool becomes all the more apparent. Poor or inadequate inventory management can open the door to production and order delays, unhappy customers and unexpected expenditures, so it is not difficult to understand the importance of getting it “right”.

The problem seems to stem from the slow adoption of processes and technologies that have been proven to save time and money for businesses in all sectors. For example, according to a recent study 43% of small businesses operating in the United States do not track their inventory or do so through a manual process. In the same study, it was also discovered that 55% of those same small businesses don’t currently track their assets or do so manually. This has resulted in overstocks, out-of-stocks and returns costing the U.S economy more than $1.75 trillion dollars in lost revenue annually, a number that has been steadily increasing. In fact, if you sell a product within the U.S., on average it is costing you $1.43 in inventory costs for every dollar made in sales.

To the business planner looking to forecast costs and sales, numbers like these must seem especially egregious. With nearly $14 billion in industrial assets changing hands and an increase of 15% in eCommerce over the same period last year, many companies may find themselves wondering why their gross margins may not be experiencing the same growth. For some, increasing the number of skus to meet long-tail customer demands has been the solution, but a much more efficient solution is to integrate better processes that remove contributing factors like human error from the equation.

This may be changing, however. As more and more companies look to shore up holes in their budgets, more and more are looking towards taming their inventory as one of the more rewarding opportunities. According to a study by Motorola, 66% of warehouse IT and operations decision makers plan to expand technology investments by 2018, citing automation efficiency and worker productivity as the driving forces behind those decisions.

The benefits of improving tracking and inventory management are numerous, but there are some considerations for businesses still on the fence as to whether to embrace digital solutions (such as All Orders by NumberCruncher) or not. One key consideration that may not be so obvious is that whether you like it or not, customer satisfaction is absolutely an external factor that can affect your ability to forecast inventory or production. Agitating your hard-won customers with low or out of stock items will almost certainly lead your customers to question if their patronage is worth the hassle to get the product and just as a recall can damage a business’ reputation, failure to recognize the value and importance of managing your inventory is a nightmare waiting to happen.

Additionally, for businesses that operate with regulatory or government oversight, proper inventory management can not only improve efficiencies within your business, it can also help to keep your customers safe. In a study by the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers observed that the use of barcode tracking led to a reduction of administrative errors by 41.4% at an academic medical center. In other industries, this might translate into an avoided recall or unexpected costly expenditures so there are other benefits a company can expect to receive by integrating and updating their inventory processes.

If your company is one of the estimated 69% of small to medium-sized businesses expecting revenue growth this fiscal year, it certainly seems worth investing the time and resources to implement an efficient inventory control strategy.

Give your company accurate insights into stock and inventory conditions and see a positive impact on your business’ profitability. Connect with one of our industry inventory specialists today for a free demo or to start your free trial of All Orders from NumberCruncher.

Posted in: AllOrder | Features | General | News | Production | Tracking | training

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Can Your Business Avoid Total Recall?

June 13, 2017 at 9:23 AMChad Moulder

 

Recall Image

In this week's blog, we look at some popular ways of managing the risk of recall to your business.

 

Can Your Business Avoid Total Recall?

This week, United Pet Group was forced to recall five different brands of popular rawhide dog chews when it was discovered that several lots contained a quaternary ammonium compound mixture used in some of it's facilities as a processing aid. The recall, which affected five different brands including the very popular Digest-eeze, has been traced back to the company’s Edwardsville, Illinois distribution facility where it was packaged and sent to a wide range of retail locations including many popular online retailers.

What happened to United Pet Group isn't, unfortunately, that uncommon an occurrence. For just the first half of 2017 alone, there have been 78 official product recalls issued by the Food and Drug Administration for reasons ranging from Listeria contamination to undeclared ingredients. Seven of those were this week alone and affected not only pet products like Digest-eeze and Loving Pets (Salmonella), but also retailers like consumer-favorite Trader Joe's (Listeria). When one looks at the affect even a small recall can have on a business and brand, it quickly becomes obvious that having processes and protocols in place can be a company’s blessing should the unthinkable become a reality.

Obviously, the best policy would be to avoid a recall altogether, but when dealing with complex manufacturing or production processes across multiple facilities and/or countries, the task of managing the individual parts can certainly become challenging. It’s too early to see the impact this recall will have upon its brand, but it does provide a chance to look at ways your business can minimize the risk of a recall. Let’s take a look at a few.

It cannot be overstated enough: although often tedious, this is by far the most important method of protecting your company from this kind of embarrassment. Having accurate knowledge of where your materials are, what condition they are in, and when materials are going to be in transit is one of the most essential contributors to maximizing efficiency and being proactive about introducing (and maintaining) processes. It can be a godsend for established businesses that have frequent interactions with multiple customers, manufacturers and suppliers or companies looking at releasing new products.

When looking at establishing procedures or standards for your company, it can often be helpful to model them to support or utilize industry code standards. One valuable resource for this is the American National Standard Institute which can provide comprehensive information about the standards within a variety of industries.

Organization also affords companies traceability of their products and when dealing with complex systems of crates, bins, lots and pallets. For some industries, such as food and beverage, traceability is not only important for internal business but also a matter of compliance with laws like the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. Having lot traceability, MSDS maintenance, and easily accessible HACCP documentation is one of the simplest methods for staying compliant and can make the process of ensuring quality across the brand easier.

When introducing new products or making changes to existing ones, it is not uncommon to receive components that do not conform to your specifications. Having the ability to trace components to their origin allows you the capacity to address quality control issues early on or to identify suppliers that produce inconsistent materials for your business. There are a variety of ways to accomplish this by leveraging software and experience, but one of the simplest is to establish and cultivate relationships with your suppliers.

Very few products today can be created from components manufactured in-house, so the use of third party suppliers is a well-established tradition in nearly every industry. Just as you would (likely) not buy a car sight-unseen, it is important to have a good understanding and relationship with your suppliers.

Although we are talking about recalls, the cultivation of these relationships have multiple benefits that reach beyond just ensuring your materials are of a suitable quality. For example, a company that produces food may want to ensure that their ingredients come from clean processing facilities or that the supplier meets kosher or organic guidelines in their production.

Even with all the planning and standardization, no system can really be considered complete until it has been tested. It is obvious that no company wants to issue a recall, but how can you know if all the work you put into place to protect your business from it works? You test it.

Many companies find great benefit in running mock recalls once or twice a year to target specific aspects of their production and distribution cycle. On the Quality Assurance & Food Safety website, Brian Honigbaum dives deeper into the how’s and why’s a company would want to run a mock recall, but the primary reason is to find holes in whatever system you have established for your company. Speed and the goal to locate 100% of a product regardless of production or distribution stage is an activity that affords a company the chance to refine processes and make improvements to its system. This will in turn ensure that high standards are not only adhered to, but maintained and refined across the landscape of your business.

The resilience of your customer base should the worst happen is dependent in very large part upon that consumer’s faith that your products are safe, that you take every available opportunity to ensure that all laws and regulations are followed, that your company is fully in control and being proactive by taking immediate action against specific lots and batches getting to the consumer.

A Software Solution

All Orders™ by NumberCruncher helps make avoiding recalls easier and managing them more efficient with a full suite of tools and features. Lot Number Tracking ensures that no batches can be created and no stock moved into or out of inventory without the correct data entered. This system of locks and gates means whether your company is consuming raw materials or ingredients with lot numbers, or even producing new batches with new expiration dates and lot assignments you will always be able to maintain full visibility of all the components of your production.

Receive lot numbers into stock, create Work Orders to deplete existing raw material numbers and move them into newly manufactured WIP or Finished Good Lot numbers. Transfers allow lot numbers to be moved around the warehouse and Ship Docs enable users to pick and choose which ones are sent to the customer and which will be invoiced to QuickBooks. Once tracking is configured, no user will be able to circumvent it always ensuring data integrity.

In the unfortunate event that a recall is needed, various tools are in place to take advantage of all existing tracking data that has been entered as lot numbers in All Orders™. The Lot Number Find Screen allows users to enter any series of lot numbers and generate a list of every document it appears on in an easy to filter Inventory Movement Detail Report that can provide logistical information such as a breakdown of precisely where each affected lot number was used.

Various Receiving, Ship Doc and Work Orders Log Reports have even more detailed breakdowns specific to each type of movement to help pin down as many details as possible for the lot numbers in questions. Production reports help find raw materials that went into the productions batch/lot numbers in the event that contaminated inferior raw material went into various batches or lots and lists all related production batches your company may need to have recalled.

Each of these reports is easily exportable to Excel, Access, CSV and PDF formats. Database experts love our SQL Server back end database for building any type of customer queries, connected Excel sheets, and custom business intelligence dashboard reporting. When combined or used in concert, these tools give users the capabilities they need to efficiently address the recall with precision and efficiency.

 

Contact us today for your 30 day free trial or to schedule a demo with one of our industry experts to see how All Orders™ can help you.

 

 

Posted in: AllOrder | Features | Lot Numbers | Production | Tracking

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New Release - All Orders Data Import/Export Optimization

June 6, 2017 at 4:00 PMChad Moulder


RELEASE NOTES
 

All Orders 6.2.16

DOWNLOAD 64bit 32bit

 

What's New

Starting with release 6.2.16, All Orders has added features that will enable users to easily export/import and edit bulk information within the software.

This is was one of the most requested features from our users and was voted on at the "Creative Feature Session" at this year's CRUNCHTREAT.

In addition we have enhanced our tools for update BOMs in bulk, added multi line custom fields and more. Read on for the details!  

 

Export/Import

You will notice on various lists and entity editing screens throughout the system a new Excel Export button. Some of the more popular ares it is available in include the item, customer, vendor and price level lists. This button can be used to export the data you need into the same format as our standard Excel import templates. By doing this we eliminate the need for exporting data from reports and then copying and pasting into our standard import template. Now you can export, make the changes you need and then import all without having to copy and paste a thing!

 

Bulk Updating BOMs

We've added a new and enhanced screen that will allow users to bulk edit bill of materials (BOMs). Simply go to the Production menu and click on the Bulk Update BOMs button.From here users can easily add new components in bulk, remove components in bulk or replace existing components in bulk. Select the components and the assemblies and click Process to quickly and efficiently get all your BOMs in order!


Multi Line Custom Fields

Ever wanted to add a new custom field to have notes, comments, or store any other type of data that needs to have multiple lines? Now you can! When managing custom fields and adding or modifying a Text type of field a Lines box will appear where a number of lines can be entered for how many lines should be visible for that custom field. Once a number larger than 1 is entered it automatically turns the custom field into a multi line that can store as many lines as needed and the number entered will be how many lines are immediately visible on the custom field entry screen before the user needs to scroll down.


Customer/Vendor Notes

Now users can view notes and comments for customers and/or vendors while saving order documents.


Edit Custom Fields on read only Ship Docs

Now users can create and edit custom fields on shipping documents even after the document has been marked as shipped or invoiced which would have rendered the fields as read only in the past.


Additional Features

  • Importing sales order from QB picks up custom fields as well.
  • Setting for showing customer/vendor notes when saving order documents.
  • Cost fields on the BOM screen made wider.
  • Download button on the attachments screen for downloading web based attachments locally.
  • New setting to leave inactive items off new order being created by duplicating existing orders.
 
 

We're always working to improve All Orders. If there is a feature you would like to see in a future release, please take a look at feature release page (link) to vote on other user-submitted suggestions or to submit your own.

For more information about this release, please email contact@numbercruncher.com. For details about CRUNCHTREAT 2018, including registration, programming and sponsorship opportunities, please contact chad@numbercruncher.com.




All Orders Training Webinars

April 5, 2017 at 11:56 AMJoshua Goldberg

FREE All Orders Training Webinars Start this Thursday, April 6th!

Starting on Thursday, April 6th at 3pm (est) and continuing every week, NumberCruncher.com's trainer, Veronica, will be hosting a 60 minute All Orders Training Q & A where current users can ask her any questions they may have on the software, as well as, learn some nifty tricks & tips too utilize All Orders to the fullest!

To learn more about the Webinars & to Register, please click HERE

Posted in: AllOrder | General | News | training

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Springing into Updates & Webinars

March 1, 2017 at 1:47 PMJoshua Goldberg

Hey Cruncher's! Hope everyone's 2017 is starting off well! Here at Numbercruncher, we've been busy between our First Client Retreat, that just passed & getting our newest product, Order Time, ready for launch!

Our First Client Retreat was a HUGE success & everyone in attendance had a great time, learning everything there is too know about All Orders & networking with fellow Numbercruncher Customers. If you weren't able to attend this year, make sure you keep your eyes out for information on next years Client Retreat, happening in February 2018!

 All Orders Update 6.2.14

Numbercruncher has released update version 6.2.14 for All Orders. Since the last major update we pushed out was 6.2.10, 6.2.14 covers all the release notes from the past couple minor updates (6.2.11, 6.2.12 & 6.2.13). Please find all the release notes for 6.2.14 below. To update, please click HERE or visit Numbercruncher.com --> Support --> Software Updates --> All Orders Version 6.2.14

- Added All Orders Features:

* New Preference to allow Item Costs per Vendor to be entered in the Purchased as Measure Cost

* View Line #'s on Documents

* Currency & Exchange rate columns are now available on all Document Lists

* Checkbox on Location to Include/Exclude their Quantities from the main Item List

* Preference to ignore QuickBooks Errors stating that a User has updated their information in QuickBooks

* Payments can be added to Invoiced Ship Docs

* Ship Doc Ref is Editable, even after being Invoiced/Shipped

* Preference to hide Standard Cost & Discounts on the Purchase Order

* Linked Ship Docs/Customer Returns on the Ship Doc/Customer Return Screen

* Allow Payments to be processed in the Gateway, even after posting to QuickBooks

- Fixed All Orders Features:

* Division by zero error on orders with $0 totals and Discounts assigned

* Overflow error after selecting a Group on the Item screen

* Consignment Customers not loading

* Shift + Z shortcut preventing Capital Z from being typed on the screen

* Adding a new Attribute to a style making inactive styles, active again

* Emails unable to send from the List without an email assigned to the Customer Account

* Package Type assigned to Items not showing in the Shipping Estimator when launched from the Sales Order

* Package Type weight added to weight total in Shipping Estimator

* Cannot delete default form values assigned to Customers/Vendors

* Discounts not calculating properly for some Customers

* Custom fields for Kit selection Items not editable

* Repair Orders send to QuickBooks not picking up the Proxy Items

* Back Order column on Sales Orders not updating as Quantities are entered

* Error adding new Yes/No Items to Kits on the fly

* Foreign Currency Prices on Quotes using Price Levels changes with Exchange Rate update

* Changing the Cost on a Sales Order updates the Cost to keep the Discount the same when the Discount is what should be changing

* Handshake errors when getting UPS rates

* Leave the Ship Doc number off the Invoice memo in QuickBooks, if the Invoice number matches the Ship Doc number

* Errors trying to create Vendor Returns from Repair Orders

* Linked Sales Orders created from Repair Orders not showing in the list of Linked Documents

* Payments with open amounts when the entire Payment has been used

* Purchase Order Statuses on Sales Orders not showing fully Received, when it is in fact, fully Received

* Shipping estimate rates defaulting to multiple packages on quotes/orders

* Item type not valid when trying to add a job to a customer return

If you need help installing the update, please visit the Update Setup Instructions Page, located on the All Orders Version 6 Update Page (View directions on accessing the update page, above) or contact Support to schedule an update appointment

All Orders Weekly Webinars

After the success of our Client Retreat, Numbercruncher.com has decided to launch a FREE Weekly Webinar Program with our In-House Trainer, Veronica! Each week will feature a different in-depth, hour-long LIVE training demo conducted via teamviewer software. These webinars are currently for existing Numbercruncher Clients and are limited to five participants each week, however we have plans to expand the number of weekly participants & open the webinars up to non-Numbercruncher customers. Participants will be required to preregister for the event, no later than 24 hours before the webinar starts. More details on the Webinars & Registration process will be announced in the coming weeks, but if you are interested in more information or would like to request a topic to be covered, please email jgoldberg@numbercruncher.com

Posted in: AllOrder | Features | General | Maintence | News | Order Time | Retreat | training

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Why does QuickBooks show Accounts Receivable, when it's on a Cash Basis?

March 1, 2017 at 12:59 PMJoshua Goldberg

The best way to begin this blog topic is to discuss what on earth are we talking about?

Accrual Basis is a bookkeeping method in which you regard income or expenses as occurring at the time you ship a product, render a service or receive a purchase. In Accrual accounting, the time when you enter a transaction and the time when you actually pay or receive cash, may be two separate events. An Accrual-Basis report shows income regardless of whether your customers have paid their invoices and expenses, regardless of whether you have paid all your bills

Cash Basis is a bookkeeper method in which you regard income or expenses as occurring at the time you actually receive a payment of pay a bill. A Cash-Basis report shows income income, only if you have received cash and expenses. If you have not received a payment for an invoice, a Cash-Basis report does not include the income

What's the difference? The Cash accounting method is very straightforward: When cash comes in the door, we record it as revenue & as cash goes out the door, we record it as an expense. The Accrual accounting method is a bit more complicated. With the Accrual method, you need to record revenue when you earn it. For example, you ship a customer on net 30 terms, Using the Accrual method, revenue would be recorded when the product ship, whereas in the Cash method, revenue is recorded when the customer pays after the 30 days.

Likewise, when you purchase an inventory item, your Bill, Check or Credit Card charge will debit the item's Inventory Asset account and credit your Accounts Payable, Bank or Credit Card account. It is not debited to an expense account because (a) it is an asset that you can sell for future benefits & (b) you record the expense to match the income. When you ultimately sell the inventory, QuickBooks will record Revenue and Cost of Good Sold.

So if you are using the Cash Method, you would expect there to be no Accounts Receivable, right? That is not always the case, especially if you have Inventory. Recall that when you create an invoice, QuickBooks records both the Revenue and Cost of Good Sold, but since you are on the Cash Method, Revenue is not shown your Profit & Loss report until you receive the check from your customer. But it would seem right to not record the Revenue, yet still record Cost of Goods Sold, so QuickBooks will temporarily "plug" that amount into your Accounts Receivable. It would make a lot more sense to plug that back into Inventory Asset, but QuickBooks is QuickBooks.

Here are some helpful hints:

The best way to track your Inventory Purchases is to run the Inventory Valuation Summary/Detail reports for all dates:

- Accrual-Basis reports will count Sales as of the Inventory Date & Count Expenses as of the date the goods or services were received

- Cash-Basis reports will provide the reader with a history of cash inflow & outflow

- Under Cash method, Income is reported in the year it is received & expenses are generally deducted in the year they are paid

QuickBooks automatically sets itself to the Accrual Method of accounting because the Generally Accepted Account Principles (GAAP) basis requires the Accrual Method. But since the GAAP is what's generally accepted & not what's required, you are able to customize your QuickBooks to record in the Cash Basis instead.

Although you may have your preferences set to Cash-Basis reporting, some reports will automatically default to an Accrual Basis. Since Accrual Basis is the more common of the two types of accounting method, QuickBooks defaulted the Profit & Loss Report to this method. If you would like to be able to run your Profit & Loss Report without having to customize it each time, you can setup and save a customized report

 The process for customizing your Profit & Loss Reports differs in QuickBooks Desktop & QuickBooks Online

 - In QuickBooks Desktop:

- Click on Reports Tab

- Run the Profit & Loss Report

- At the top left of the Report, click on the Customize Button

- In the pop-up window, set the Account Method to Cash Basis

- Click Run Report

 - In QuickBooks Online:

- Click on Reports to open the Report List page and select the Report you'd like to view

- At the top, click the Customization button

- In the new window that opens, go to the General section and then note which Accounting Method is selected

- Click to select a new Account Method

- Make any other necessary customizations and click Run Report

Your Profit & Loss Report shows the Sales of Product Income accounts and the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) accounts that are associated with your inventory-enabled Product/Service Item. COGS is an account that reflects the cost of materials and goods held in inventory and then sold. When you sell an item from your inventory, COGS increases by the amount you paid for that item when you purchased it. The difference between the income from the sale & the increase in COGS is the Gross Profit of the sale of that item

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