Release Notes

Training: December 20, 2021

Production: January 10, 2022

 

ESM Source

New Posting Board

We are very excited to announce that a new version of the Posting Board is launched. The new Posting Board is built with latest technology, modernized design, and enhanced user experiences.

 

The Posting Board will work on desktop and laptop computers, and be compatible with the following browsers (current and one previous version):

Windows Platform:

• Microsoft Edge
• Google Chrome
• Firefox

Apple – Mac Platform:

• Safari
• Google Chrome
• Firefox

 

With the new Posting Board, suppliers can easily find out where to create a new account or log in to ESM.

New Posting Board > Supplier Registration and Log In

 

Moreover, a Help widget is now available for suppliers to easily search and find help articles from ESM Support as needed.

New Posting Board > New Help Widget

 

New Posting Board > New Help Widget > Typing a Keyword to Search for Help Articles

 

New Posting Board > New Help Widget > Displaying Search Results

 

On the Current Opportunities tab, Suppliers can see events that are published to the Posting Board and are open for responses. If the due date of an event is passed, the event will be moved to Past Opportunities tab.

New Posting Board > Current Opportunities

 

New Posting Board > Past Opportunities

 

Once suppliers log in, they can see a calendar with due dates marked. When the suppliers click on a day with the indicator, they can see more information about the event(s) that dues on this day.

New Posting Board > Current Opportunities > Calendar

 

Suppliers can see event details when they click into one of the events on the new posting board.

 

New Posting Board > Current Opportunities > Event > Event Details

 

With the new Posting Board, suppliers can view attached documents all in one place. Unauthorized users can view the document names and descriptions on the Event Documents tab. Suppliers are required to log in in order to download the documents.

 

New Posting Board > Current Opportunities > Event > Event Documents

 

If commodity codes are assigned to an event, they will be displayed on the new Posting Board as well. Suppliers can view them on the Commodity Codes tab.

New Posting Board > Current Opportunities > Event > Commodity Codes

 

Please stay tuned for more new features of the new posting board in the next release.

 

New Section Type: Files

A designated section type to allow event creators to specify which documents and files are required from suppliers for an event has added to ESM Source. Now event creators can pre-define the file sections in the Source Admin > Event Library > Add/Edit Event Section.

 

Source Admin > Event Library > Add/Edit Event Section > Add New Section

 

Users can pre-define the document slot name, description, file type and all other settings.

Source Admin > Event Library > Add/Edit Event Section > Add/Edit File Section

 

For any created document slots, users can Edit, Copy, or Delete it as needed.

Source Admin > Event Library > Add/Edit Event Section > Add/Edit File Section

 

ESM Source Admins can also add the pre-defined file section(s) to templates.

Source Admin > Event Library > Add/Edit Template > Add Event Section

 

 

Other Enhancements

Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy Acknowledgement statements have been added to Attachment Upload pop-up window in ESM Source.

 

A link to ESM Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy have been added to the footer for ESM Source.

 

ESM Purchase Enhancements

Email with PDF Attachment - New Order Release Method

Suppliers can now select to receive orders via email with a PDF attachment. They can select this delivery method directly on their catalogs. They can login to their portals and navigate to the add/edit catalog page to configure their default release method.

The purchase order will send using the same email body they have received in the past with the addition of the PDF version attached.

 

Note: The Supplier Portal has not been updated with this selection in the user interface yet.  The update will be developed in Q1 of 2022.

 

ESM Supplier Enablement—Add/Edit Catalog—Order Delivery Email with PDF Attachment

 

Non-Catalog Supplier – New Order Release Method – Email with PDF Attachment

Purchase application administrative users may update a supplier to start using a new release method that will attach a PDF copy of the order to the existing email body.

ESM Purchase—Admin—Add/Edit Supplier—Delivery Method Email with PDF Attachment Option

 

Non-Catalog Supplier Import Template Update

The ability to import non-catalog suppliers in the Purchase application was updated with a new column in template version 1.9. The new column, PO Email with PDF Attachment, can be used to specify that the supplier will use email with PDF.  If left blank, the application will assume the normal email body only should be used for order release. If the customer wants to send using PDF, enter a value of Yes in the column.  The column can be skipped if updates to this column are not needed by using the !SKIP! syntax.

 

 

Order Release Details – Control Order Releases with More Granularity

Customers can configure the transaction to show a new section that displays exactly which method will be used for sending a purchase order to a supplier.  Based upon the user’s permissions, they may view or edit the email addresses or release method.

ESM Purchase—Checkout—Order Release Details—Email with PDF Attachment 

 

Setup:

From the Admin menu, on the Edit Entity Settings page, there is a new setting called: Enable Order Release Details section on Transactions and Change Orders.

Please turn this setting on in your Training environment in order to preview this new feature.

Please create a test plan for each type of user in your system and verify the functionality as part of your regular business processes before enabling this setting in your production environment. The new feature is very powerful and in the hands of an uneducated end user, you may end up sending orders to the wrong email addresses.  End user training will be important for this feature.  Please exercise caution.

ESM Purchase—Admin—Edit Entity Settings—Enable Order Release Details Section on Transactions and Change Orders

 

ESM Purchase—Admin—Add/Edit User—Permission Overview

 

Visibility of the new section is controlled by permissions.  Users will not see the new section unless they have a permission to see it.

When a user is viewing a transaction from Checkout, there are two new permissions that control user access on the Order Release Details section. The View Order Release Details permission allows the end user to see the section in a read only mode.  The Edit Order Release Details allows the user to change the release method and override email addresses for automatic delivery.

ESM Purchase—Checkout—Order Release Details—View Only

 

The edit permission allows users to override the release method and override details like the email address. It also allows them to provide up to 5 semicolon separated email addresses.

Approvers have view (read only mode) access to this new section as part of the Approve privilege. When approvers have permission to Edit Release Method and Order Release Details, they will be able to edit the section on a regular transaction.  (Does not provide edit access on change orders.) The Approve Tab privilege and the Approver Edit permission pertain to the approve page for regular transactions.

Manage users can see the new section and edit it just like they would for any other section on a transaction.

Order Summary users with view access only will see the new section in a ready only mode.

Order Summary users with edit access will be able to edit the new section.  Once a transaction has been sent to the supplier, the order release details is no longer editable.

 

Editing Order Release Details – Release to Multiple Email Addresses

The user with edit permissions will be able to change the email addresses or add more email addresses to the order release. An end user can edit the email addresses for releasing the order.  They can add up to 4 more email addresses in addition to the default email address. They can also remove the default email address and use a different address. The end user will separate the email addresses with a ; semicolon.  The application will verify that the email address formats are valid, but it will not send out a verification email.  If the end user types in an email address that does not exist, the application will attempt to send an email.  If the address does not actually exist, the application will not have that information; no bounce back information can be presented in the application.

Warnings around overriding electronic releases to a supplier URL:

ESM Purchase—Checkout—Order Release Details Edit

 

Printing the transaction will show the new section and the release method used.

ESM Purchase—Checkout Print Report

 

Change Order – Order Release Details

Two new permissions were created for controlling visibility and edit access to the Order Release Details section on a transaction.

• View Change Order Release Details – provides read only access when viewing an unsubmitted change order.
• Edit Change Order Release Details – provides edit access when viewing an unsubmitted change order.

The change order will display the release methods originally used on the main purchase order if they were an email method. If the original PO was sent electronically and posted to a supplier URL, the supplier’s default PO change order email address will be used.

Users with the edit permission will be able to add more email addresses to the existing default PO change order email address. They can remove the default email address and enter a new email address.

Provide up to 5 valid email addresses separated by a semicolon.

End users can also choose to release the change order manually either to send as the normal HTML body they have always received or with a PDF attachment.

 

 

Ability to block sending a change order to the supplier.

Occasionally, the conversation around the change order may have occurred outside of the application.  In this situation, sending a PO to a supplier may cause more confusion and the customer may not want to send anything to the supplier regarding changes made to a transaction.  A new setting has been added into the order release details section to override the automatic send of a change order to a supplier.

ESM Purchase—Checkout—Order Release Details—Supplier Change Order Release Option

 

Order Release Details Features Coming in the Q1 Release of 2022

1. Restricting the edit of electronic delivery. When the supplier has specified a URL to post a purchase order to, the application will not allow the end user to change this setting.  It will allow the user to add in another method.  The user will be able to provide additional email addresses to send the order to as part of automatic order release.
2. The user import template has not been updated with new permissions. The template will be developed during the first quarter of Q1.
3. The ability to control sending a change order in an integration point with an ERP/GL system from Order Release details. Occasionally, an ERP/GL system will be manually updated for change orders and in this case, the customer does not want to transmit the change order to the ERP/GL system in an integration message. Provide a way for the end user to specify that the change order should not be transmitted to an ERP/GL system. It will be labeled something like, “Do not send integration message to ERP/GL system”.
4. The ability to create an internal only change order against a punchout or punchout level 2 supplier transaction.

 

Checkout Search Navigation – Next and Previous Arrows

When viewing a transaction from the Checkout or All Transactions search page, the user will see next and previous buttons that allow them to switch between results from their initial search.

ESM Purchase—All Transactions—Search Results Navigation Arrows

 

Supplier Catalog Management – Catalog Effective Date

To improve catalog management for hosted catalogs, level 1 punchouts, and level 2 punchouts, we will require an Effective Date to be specified. The effective date is when the prices should be available for shoppers in product search.

ESM Supplier Enablement—Catalog Effective Date

 

ESM Storeroom Enhancements

Fulfillment Orders – More fields available

Fulfillment orders will display the following fields at the header:

• Any aux fields that are configured on the purchase order.
• Header level Ship To Address Location Name
• Header level Ship To Attention To
• If the line level details are different from the PO header, the fields will show “See Item Details”

ESM Storeroom—Order Fulfillment—Order Summary Additional Field Options