xTupler #1 | October 2008
Dear Community —
xTuple ERP is constructed in cooperation with our users, customers and partners. We're proud of the product that has emerged. Our goal is to be nothing less than the best open source ERP platform on the market.
This newsletter is our newest community-building tool. We'll update you with product news, changes to the xTuple community website and upcoming training classes. Also look for tips and techniques for using xTuple ERP.
And if you're a fan of xTuple ERP, we hope you'll pitch in to promote the software. Look below for some easy ways you can help us get the word out.
We're excited about the future of xTuple ERP and we look forward to working with you to continually improve the products and services we offer.
Sincerely,
BC Wilson
Director of Internet Services
xTuple ERP 3.1 Final Release
The big news this month is the final release of xTuple ERP version 3.1. Here are a few of the major new features in version 3.1.0:
- Multi-Company Financial Consolidation
- Average Costing
- Kit Item Type
- Package Manager
- Sales Order Reservations by Location
- Purchase of Manufactured Items
All together there are over 50 new features and 275 bug fixes in this release. This update applies to users of all three editions of xTuple ERP, including the free PostBooks Edition and the commercially licensed Standard and OpenMFG Editions.
To get version 3.1 software:
For PostBooks Edition, go to our SourceForge PostBooks repository.
For Standard and OpenMFG Editions, head to the xTuple Downloads page.
Make Your Upgrade a Success
We're here to help
Upgrading from a previous version to the latest and greatest (3.1) can seem intimidating, but we're doing all we can to ease the transition.
For starters, head to the xTupleWiki UpdaterDoc page, which contains helpful information about the Updater Tool and a set of steps to guide you through updating your database.
To find out what others are saying about the upgrade process, or to ask questions of the xTuple community, join us in the How do I...? section of our forums.
New xTuple Training Videos
Learn about new features in version 3.1
Our video instruction series continues with four brand-new videos:
These videos, produced by our training guru Mike Atherton, are a great way to learn about specific features of xTuple ERP.
To see the entire selection of videos, visit our video demos page.
Employee Showcase
A 7-year veteran of xTuple, Pierce maintains the documentation and oversees the wiki, among other critical tasks. Pierce is the point of contact for our international translation effort, and is always active in the xTuple forums.
And if you've got a paid support contract, Pierce is there for you, live. (If you haven't purchased a support contract you can always ask the community for help. Our forums and wiki are essential tools for finding information about xTuple ERP.)
CRM Basics
Learn Essential xTuple ERP Techniques Using the xTuple Demo Database
xTuple offers a hosted demo where you can experiment with the software before installing. The demo database contains sample data and it's a great way to learn the basics of xTuple ERP. You can request a demo account.
This month we'll focus on the CRM component. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a critical part of any business and the CRM tools in xTuple ERP allow you to associate Incidents to your customer Accounts in order to manage them to successful conclusion and increase customer satisfaction.
xTuple ERP's Incident Workbench enables you to monitor and record Incidents that are linked to Accounts, Contacts, Users, and To-Do's. The flexibility offered by the Incident Workbench enables you to effectively manage a variety of business processes:
- Customer requests
- Customer issues
- Vendor certification
- Outbound product quality tests
- Inbound component quality tests
- Any other processes that require tracking
To learn more, we recommend you sign in to the demo database and follow along with the instructions on our CRM Basics wiki page.
Next month we'll highlight another aspect of xTuple ERP using the demo database.
Help Spread the Word
It's easy! Just click the "Add This" button above to bookmark xTuple.com on delicious, digg, reddit or another site where you have an account. Every bookmark you add helps our search engine rankings.
And for extra credit:
- Add yourself to the PostBooks Project on Sourceforge.net
- Add yourself to the following sites (make sure to join the PostBooks project there):
Attention PostBooks Users!
Now you can purchase bundles of prepaid support directly from xTuple, in increments of as little as five hours. The more you buy, the more you save.
5 hours - $1500
10 hours - $2500
20 hours - $4500
30 hours - $6000
40 hours - $7500
Contact sales@xtuple.com or +1-757-461-3022 for more information.