Sandbach House, 8 Salisbury Road, Leicester, LE1 7QR

Tel: 0116 233 5559 Fax: 0116 233 5560 Web Site: www.barcellos.co.uk

I n t r o d u c t I o n

Welcome to the Christmas 2010 Barcellos Newsletter.

May I take this opportunity in welcoming our new customers and thanking you for your business. Also, a big thank you to our existing customers who have upgraded their systems to the latest versions. I’m sure you are benefitting from the extras already.

Some of you may be aware that Martin retired in September. We wish him and Jenny all the best for the future.

We will be emailing our invoices, statements, newsletters and bulletins from 1st December 2010 . If you would like to take advantange of receiving these by email, please let me know the email address you wish to receive them on. Thank you to all of our customers who have returned the replied email form back to us that I recently sent out.

My christmas quiz is back for it’s 4th year with a new format, I hope you like it.

Finally, our Christmas opening times/days are listed on the last page of our newsletter. It just remains for me to wish all our valued customers, a merry christmas and a happy new year. debbie@barcellos.co.uk

B A R C E L L O S L I M I T E D

Christmas 2010 Edition

In this Issue: • Introduction • ISO Ho! Ho! Ho! &

Notes Galore

• Who needs wires? (Christmas Lights excluded)

• M&E 2011 • Backups, that old

chestnut! • Track & Trace • Deb’s Christmas Quiz • And Finally …..

ISO HO! HO! HO! & Notes Galore

Written by: mark@barcellos.co.uk

ISO Ho! Ho! Ho! Well it has been just over six months since Barcellos released the New Supplier ISO software and it has been received very well. One of our sites has been audited and a comment was made that it was a superior system in comparison to what they were using before. During the six months I have finished off some enhancements to the system. You can now easily email off to new suppliers all the forms you need them to return to maintain your records.

The software allows for up to 20 attachments to be sent to all suppliers selected. This really speeds up the process whilst also saving you postage costs.

The Supplier Overdue Review Report has now got a summary column option to suppress some of the detail that was not always required.

If you would like to see the system and you currently have Global 3000 Creditors Ledger V6.0 then please feel free to contact me for a no obligation demonstration. Notes Galore TIS have been working very hard over the last 6 months and to provide extra functionality they have introduced a new extension database for the Global 3000 set of applications. This has allowed them to provide all of the features that users have requested over the last few years. There is now a note facility at transaction level allowing you to mark individual invoices or credits with notes that do not interfere with the customer notes.

All of the data entry screens and enquiry screens now have a new button “Item Notes”. This facility is in both the Debtors and Creditors Ledger. To mimic the Creditors ledger we can now hold transactions in the Debtors ledger.

This facility allows you to suppress these items from the credit checking function in SOP. It can also be used alongside the new Item Notes flag to show that an invoice or credit needs investigation. On the home front Well the last 6 months of 2010 have been even quieter than the first; in fact I have been quite bored, literally, so I moved onto the loft and boarded it out to allow more space for all the junk that I seem to collect. I also have been doing my bit for “Help the aged” in that my parents were getting free loft insulation now that they have reached a certain age. I volunteered to tidy up their loft as well. I keep watching the programs on the television, Grand Designs, Challenge Tommy Walsh, Homes from Hell to get any ideas for my next project but no luck so far. Back to the serious stuff For all the new customers who joined during 2010, may I take this opportunity to thank you for your custom and hope that we will have a long and prosperous working relationship. To all our existing customers may I thank you for your continued custom and support. I know during the current financial climate we have all felt the pinch but we hope that we are doing our best to provide services at affordable prices. And finally, may you all have a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year and let us all hope for a better 2011.

Are you sick and tired of being restricted to a cabled 2 metre scanning range? If you answer YES then on-site wireless barcode scanning is for you and Barcellos can offer you a great solution. This scanning solution consists of a wireless hand held scanner and base station which is in turn connected to the scan station. The hand held scanner is extremely versatile and durable and there are two options available - one with an LCD screen and one without. The display can provide battery status; radio coverage indicator and barcode read information. The cradle can be mounted to the desk if you wish and set up in two different positions. There are two versions of the cradle, one of which acts as systems communication and charging and the other as a charger only. Gavin and I have configured these units and tested them thoroughly. The scanner has a range of approximately 30 metres from source. When you go out of range, the scanner will continue to scan barcodes and store them within its inbuilt memory. When the scanner comes back into range it will automatically upload the barcodes. It is possible to register up to 16 hand held scanners to a single communications base station. One of our customers is already using this wireless scanning solution with multiple scanners. If you are interested in such a solution please contact Nick for Global system pre-requisites or myself for further details regarding hardware. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. steven@barcellos.co.uk

The new PSA Mechanical and Electrical Schedules in hardcopy are provisionally due for release by the end of March 2011. From then on Debbie and I will be hard at work preparing the databases, happy days. Let us hope that there are not too many new items to type in.

We have created several Bespoke or Addendum schedules for users recently. They seem to be particularly relevant to contracts where many items used are not the standard items listed in schedules, such as at Health Trusts. Items are easily added to any schedule by users, saving typing the same information in each time needed. Occasionally users contact us to see if they can get assistance with processing measures. There are several QS users who can provide this service and if you would like assistance then contact us and we will put you in touch with them. We still have quite a number of companies purchasing the Psa data from us in Excel format. I always feel that we have failed when this happens, as I do not see where Excel can possibly compete with a system written for MTCs, be it ours or anyone elses. But many people are very comfortable with Excel and I guess that is why they make that decision. I would dearly like the opportunity to try to convince them otherwise. Recent additions to the system; Quantity used per schedule code program. Not many users run this report. However, several users have been in touch recently asking whether they can generate the exact information that this report produces. The report goes through all the orders held for a contract and lists each schedule code used, quantity of that code used and value. Additionally, these details can now be exported to excel. It is a very useful report for analysing what sections of the schedule have been used the most. Try running it to see what is produced. A list of operatives can now be created. Then when a new order is entered an operative name can be selected from the drop down list. Operatives are added by clicking on Contract on the main menu and then selecting Enter Operative Details. Then, for instance, the Outstanding Orders for a selected operative or those Orders completed within a certain period can be produced. To achieve this run Print or Display Miscellaneous Order Report and click on ‘Report on Actioned by’ at the bottom right. Many Users do not use Estimated Value, which appears on several reports. In Enter/Amend System Variables (Program Defaults/Actions – Part 2), a new question ‘Estimated Value in Use?’ appears. If not ticked then Estimated Value will not appear on the reports, thereby avoiding any confusion. May I sign off by wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year, un Joyeux Noël et une Nouvelle Année prospère, um Natal feliz e um ano novo próspero.

john@barcellos.co.uk

I’ll start with well wishes to everyone for the upcoming festive period. I hope Santa brings you lots of nice things. As with us all I’m sure he’s been working harder than ever during 2010, plus I hear reindeer food has gone up in price so it’s now even more expensive to fuel his sleigh! For this edition of the Barcellos Newsletter I will continue where I left off in the summer in sticking to the subject of data backups. Are you taking daily backups? If so is your Global system included? (Programs / menus / configuration settings / data) How often is your backup checked in detail? Is the backup hardware in good working order? These initial questions lead to a couple of major questions relating to the unfortunate scenarios of fire, flood, and theft or system crash. How much downtime can you afford? And perhaps most importantly - can my business continue to run smoothly without an up to date full Global system? I’d guess the answer to both of these questions is “None” and “No”. Given I’m probably on the right track Barcellos are here to help. If you don’t currently back up; or if you backup, yet aren’t sure of specifics or best practices; or even if your backups are looked after by a 3rd party – speak to Barcellos for advice. Included in this newsletter is the latest flyer that I’ve produced with the aim of promoting the importance of taking system backups. This is specifically geared around backing up the complete Global system; however you of course wouldn’t want to permanently lose any other company data such as documents or Payroll data for example. We are able to advise you or your 3rd party provider exactly what Global files and folders you need to back up. Alternatively we can provide setup services and associated hardware, plus support assistance where required at a very competitive rate. However you need us, you are left with the peace of mind that data backup jobs are including all the files necessary to keep downtime to a minimum should the unthinkable happen. Please note that we do not provide a pro active backup service. The monitoring of backup job results along with notification to Barcellos of backup job, hardware or procedural changes is the responsibility of the end user. We provide setup and support services where necessary. Don’t put this off, even if it’s just to check that your existing processes are in good working order – tomorrow could be too late! Something else to note for those running the Global system outside of “normal” working hours; or in the instance of a scheduled backup job over running into live working hours; or even if you need to take a backup to include Global data during a live working period – the Pervasive Backup Agent is invaluable. This product protects your active Global data files eliminating file locks during backups. Please refer to my summer 2010 newsletter article for details. This can be found on our web site if you don’t still have it to hand. If you have any question or worries regarding backups, please contact me via phone or email. Have a fantastic Christmas and New Year. Best Wishes, Gavin. gavin@barcellos.co.uk

Barcellos has been tracking garments for as long as I can remember, so I guess it will come as no surprise to you when I say that we are now able to track cages. Alongside our new wireless scanning software we now not only know where each cage has gone, but what was in the cage if Pool Linen is used.

Screen showing electronic packing items and the despatched container it was in.

As you would expect we also make use of the scanning history module to store a complete breakdown of all movements for an individual cage. We can even see which cages each customer currently has out, a real plus if you haven’t seen a cage for some time. If any of you can remember our quotation module, you will be showing your age! If you are saying “What quotation module?”, then I wouldn’t blame you as it’s something that was dropped from our offering some time ago. But not any longer, as it’s currently undergoing a bit of a makeover.

No matter whether it’s rental, wash only or short term hire, you can enter details for an existing customer (via the contract enquiry), or for a potential new one. For short term hire, you will be able to enter this way in advance of you needing the stock; very useful for keeping tabs on all those future events that require your services. The next phase of development for this module is to allow quotes to be transferred to orders, so watch this space to see how that turns out….

For those of you who have wanted to create your own complete task orientated menus, and have different ones for differing work departments, we are now able to do this, thanks to some new calling root programs. Just give me a call and I’ll explain all. We have added another extended backdrop print to the growing list. Not only do we have a very professional looking invoice, delivery note, purchase order and CAN note (to name a few), we now have an RPG print as well. More, of course, to follow. There’s also now an easy way to see if you need an upgrade! Just look at your contract enquiry window and compare the bottom third of the screen with the picture below.

If your screen doesn’t have all these buttons then you probably need an upgrade…..

There are lots more things we have done, but I’ll let Paul tell you all about those on his visits.

Have a great Christmas and New Year

nick@barcellos.co.uk

Can you guess the Christmas Carols / Songs from just the 1st letter of each word: for example; O L T O B – answer: O Little Town of Bethlehem – couldn’t be easier!!!!

1. A I W F C I M T F T? 2. C R O A O F? 3. H Y A M L C? 4. J B? 5. O C A Y F? 6. L D B? 7. R T R N R? 8. T T D O C? 9. W W Y A M C? 10. W C? 11. W W? 12. A L S? 13. A I A M? 14. D T H? 15. G R Y M G? 16. I S T S? 17. D D M O H? 18. T H A T I? 19. W S W? 20. O I R D C? 21. S C I C T T? 22. R A T C T? 23. F T S? 24. S B? 25. B C? 26. I S M K S C? 27. L I S! L I S! L I S!? 28. J B R? 29. W S G S U T C? 30. D T K I C?

How did you score out of a possible 30 – 1 Point per Question? Between 1-10 – Bah Humbug! – have you been taking lessons from Mr Scrooge? Between 11-20 – Not bad – but you need to attend one of Santa’s Sing-A-Longs!! Between 21-30 – Excellent, you could be Santa Claus himself! Well Done!! You can find the Answers on the last page of the newsletter, but no cheating now!

We hope you have enjoyed our Christmas Newsletter. If there is anything you have found of interest just email the person noted at the bottom of each article.

Office hours during the Christmas period:

24th December – 9:00am to 1:00pm 27th December – CLOSED 28th December – CLOSED

29th December – 9:00am to 1:00pm 30th December – 9:00am to 1:00pm 31st December – 9:00am to 1:00pm

3rd January – CLOSED 4th January – Normal Office Hours

PLEASE NOTE: Staff are contactable after 1:00pm until 5:00pm on 24th, 29th, 30th & 31st December on the following mobile numbers: -

Nick 07702 471212 Paul 07713 740145 Mark 07702 074406 Steven 07515 851328 Gavin 07713 740289 (24th Dec Only) Debbie 07713 410525 (24th Dec Only) John 07973 313614 from 29th-31st Dec only

It just remains for everyone

here at Barcellos Limited to

wish you all a

Very Merry Christmas

and a

Happy New Year!

Answers to Quiz: 1) All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth 2) Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire 3) Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas 4) Jingle Bells 5) Oh Come All Ye Faithfull 6) Little Drummer Boy 7) Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer 8) The Twelve Days Of Christmas 9) We Wish You A Merry Christmas 10) White Christmas 11) Winter Wonderland 12) Auld Lang Syne 13) Away In A Manger 14) Deck The Halls 15) God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman 16) I Saw Three Ships 17) Ding Dong Merrily On High 18) The Holly And The Ivy 19) While Shepherds Watched 20) Once In Royal David’s City 21) Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 22) Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree 23) Frosty The Snowman 24) Santa Baby 25) Blue Christmas 26) I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus 27) Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! 28) Jingle Bell Rock 29) When Santa Got Stuck Up The Chimney 30) Do They Know It’s Christmas