Includes database changes. You will be forced to log all terminals out during upgrade

• Miner/Customer Query. You can now filter/selection first/middle/last name etc and filter on company vs individual entities
• Edit Customer : new ergonomic button to switch from individual to company would not work under certain button click sequence. Now fixed.
• Now support electronic stock taking. Merge in results of a stocktake tracked in a CSV/Excel file into c9.  More on how to use this feature in a separate post below.

C9 provides the ability to import inventory from a excel style spread sheet.  For example:

This can be useful for a number reasons, such as importing the results of a data dump from a cordless barcode scanner.

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Includes database changes. You will be forced to log all terminals out during upgrade

• Remove spare parts locking.  Two different terminals can view and sell the same part at the same time.  If 2nd terminal to sell part discovers it does not have sufficient stock, the sale will abort and parts will be automatically modified ready for ordering ready for a second attempt
• New Victorian Contract of sale documents.
• Multi payment method : remove no cash option (option is still there in single method mode. Under multi method mode user experience is confusing and error prone, so just removed it).
• Tweaks to Workshop invoice to print full VIN and rego as separate fields
• Select spares quote : display customer order number
• Phone book : tab to show suppliers only
• Keystroke ergonomics on modify customer, setting personal vs company customer
• BMW price file importing
• Access gift cards in spares
• Track whether or not spare parts were forced sold.  No functional behaviour yet, simply data gathering. Later versions of c9 intend to make use of  this information,  but precise usages are not yet defined.  One obvious one is to provide an additional metric on the 'quality' of inventory.  Other obvious usages exist, but they have non obvious negative consequences that need to be thought through properly before considering further.
• Bug fix : do not include predelivery workshop jobs in unit cost. Assume costs will be passed onto customer.
• Bug fix : convert unit quote into sale. Sale would not ask to use cash customer deposit on converted quote.  Now fixed.
• Bug fix: Fix displayed unit purchase confirm status when purchasing units not on system.
• Import KTM fiche. Remove confusing customize list option
• Overnight clockoff, do not allow user to modify date

For rapid onsite technical support.  Also to put a face to the voice.

• Changes to Add/Modify Account
• Version 4.305 removed the ability to independently set Contact. Now reinstated this feature
• Contact will default to Capitalized version of first name, but you can override this
• In setup is a new option : naming convention.  When you update c9, if more than 95% of your customer's names are in upper case, then the convention 'Upper' is initially enabled.  You can disable it and revert to original behaviour via setup
• If Upper convention is enabled, then name details are forced in upper case and contact is capitalized.
• Print Gift card : now goes to print preview screen on new gift card.  This will allow you to then email the gift card.
• Workshop tender amount.  Was not factoring in any payment method surcharges.  Now fixed.

Requires Database Changes. You will be forced to log all terminals out during upgrade.

• Messenger improvements.  On some dealers, messenger can be problematic with combination of slow network links and high traffic volumes, i.e. emailing and backing up monthly statement email send outs.  This version includes a number of changes to address this.
• Smaller PDF attachments :  pdf files are now aggressively compressed
• Logo in PDF. Previously each page would re-code the business logo. So 10 page pdf would have the same imaged coded into it 10 times. PDF allows you to code a image once and have if appear on multiple pages, resulting in much smaller pdf files. Now in place
• Network watchdog timer on client side is now sensitive to work load. previously it could cause link to restart even though it was in active use, due to buffering delays caused by existing workload. Now it does not run when network pipe is in active use
• Online backup retransmission  : was far too aggressive, retransmitting on 5 seconds by default.  Large blocks of data such as pdf attachments cannot possibly RTT in <5secs.  Added configurable threshold multiplier.  So by default first retransmit attempt will not occur for 60 seconds.
• Low level network fixes.  Threadrace conditions on outbound compress sockets; racing close and write operations.  Decoding of p2p messages not handling end of stream properly; yielding nulls instead of end of stream in some circumstances.
• Initial deployment to support unit sale paperwork.  Vic only. Just a few initial documents to get the ball rolling. (Contract of Sale)
• Customers - Ability to break down and track customer name into individual fields. i.e. [Mr] [Andrew] [Charles] [Barnham].  This allows for intuitive discrimination between incorporated bodies and individuals.
• Units - ability to track a finance deal.  Tracking finance company involved and balance owing from finance company as a debtor
• Workshop - cash sale using a payment method which is not configured as a tendered method (e.g. Eft/Card) will erroneously print 'outstanding' on the invoice.  Now fixed.
• Spares pack quantity. For suppliers that provide price files with pack pricing, or expect order qtys to reflect # of packs, not # of items c9 now has some mechanisms in place.
• Add/Edit part. Ability to set a pack value.  Ecordqty must be divisable by this figure.  They can be different. i.e. 6 in a pack, it is economical to order 3 packs at a time.  Pack value can only be set if either following two settings are configured:
• Edit franchise - ability to indicate if price file is pack pricing. If set then import price file will divide list price by pack value
• Edit franchise - ability to indicate if order must show pack quantities. if set then quantity transmitted to supplier on print order or export order is divided by pack quantity (rounded up).
• To try and keep things as simple as possible, in c9, c9 always consistently refers to things by their individual quantities and their individual prices.  It is only at the point of interface with a supplier, when sending an order and when processing a price file do these new rules and behaviours apply.  So for example on receive order, the data you input into c9 was, is, and will likely to remain, individual items and prices only.

• Added ability to query spares availability from supplier Kawasaki via F12 'Magician Lookup'
• Merge reserve/order parts onto existing invoice : added some advanced options to allow you to reprint the invoice to merge onto, and additionally print all parts or just list of newly merged parts

This version of c9 allows you to query supplier stock for Honda and Suzuki suppliers.

To do this, key in the part in point of sale and add it to the list.  Use up arrow key to highlight the part.  Press F12 to do a magician query.

The first time you do this on a Suzuki or Honda part, c9 will open up a window asking you for login details for Honda Dealer NET or SuzukiNET.  Once provided and c9 has successfully logged in it will memorize these settings and settings work globally across all terminals.

Query results are displayed in same window as Parts Magician results.

How does it work? : c9 will connect to supplier website as if you were browsing the website and make appropriate query.  Typically it takes ~ 10 seconds for first time lookup (as c9 has to login to the site), subsequent queries take about 2 to 3 seconds.

• Bug fix : prior version of c9 broke the ability to modify payment instrument used after the fact.  Functionality is now restored.

• Order book - option to access view part
• Stock Analysis - option to access view part
• Multiple payment methods. Under some circumstances c9 would appear to memorize payment values of prior txn performed (or even viewed) when user expectation in circumstances such as creating a new sale, is that these are reset. Now fixed.
• Receive order. Option to add parts to bottom of list instead of in part number order. This may be useful when receiving back order parts where parts printed in receive sheet from supplier are not in part number order and you would like to line up what is on screen with what you see on the printed sheet.
• Browse units by Query function.  Screen display would refresh in strange ways when viewing a unit and going back. Now fixed.
• View customer : new tab to show all parts they have invoiced
• Point of  sale : when you complete point of sale and set a discount. The prior window you could still see 'GT' which did not update when you tweaked values in complete screen.  Very unintuitive. To deal with this, the line of figures in bottom right is hidden when you click F10 to proceed with sale
• Point of sale : edit discount dollar value and press F10 would not apply the value entered. Now fixed.
• Import KTM catalogues.  The list of units retrieved is now sensitive to filter settings in advanced.  Means unit list loads faster and resulting list of units is only a sub set, making process of adding more units more intuitive.
• Import Generic CSV price file. Cope with '$' and ',' etc in numeric fields on CSV files.

Parts Magician is a service created 9 years ago to allow motorcycle dealers query one another for obscure parts to help reduce dead stock.

The service was moderately successful, but not nearly as successful as we originally hoped.  Though in the last 18 months two distinct things have happened that have triggered a dramatic increase in usage and in particular have delivered alot of value to c9 customers. (Parts magician is not just a c9 product BTW, it is used by many dealers that do not use c9 as their DMS).

• Improved integration into the c9 DMS means that with a single button press (F12) in point of sale you can check query a list of other dealers who stock the item being queried
• Automated integration into distributor inventory systems (only Butmac (KTM + Husaberg) and McLeods at this time).

Parts Magician was originally designed on an open architecture and openly encouraged all DMS vendors to provide automated integration because we recognized early on that this is a key ingredient for success.  No DMS vendor took up the offer.

An important recent learning which we did not realise then is that the integration needs to connect all the way into actual point of sale; a single button press provides instantaneous Australia wide query.

Other organisations, a car industry consortium, whose name I've long forgotten, offered alternative approaches though their technology was extremely cumbersome, complex and created risky network security profiles for dealers also tried and failed.  Some suppliers have tried web based upload and query solutions with very limited success.

It is heartening to see that 9 years on, parts magician over the past 18 months has finally unlocked a means to significantly increase it's value to those who use it.

Options feasibly exist for us to build further on parts magician technology to include modernised integration techniques (i.e. web services), and to build upon recent learnings.