Who Are The 90 Minds?
The 90 Minds Group is a non-profit trade association of over 200 North American Sage 100 consultants and independent software vendors ( ISVs ).
The group, formed in 2005, strives to provide mutual support to their Sage 100 consultant members.
Annually the group has a two-day meeting where they trade best-practices and share knowledge used for supporting their Sage 100 customers.
Meeting Of The Minds 2019
The 2019 Meeting of the Minds was held February 28, 2019 to March 2, 2019 in San Diego, California.
Approximately 150 consultants and ISVs attended the 2.5 day conference. The majority of the conference content was focused on providing an update about the next release of Sage 100cloud.
Additional updates were provided by various ISVs who delivered updates about their integrations and any new features.
What’s Coming In Sage 100cloud 2019?
The main topic of conversation for this conference was the upcoming release of Sage 100cloud version 2019.
First up was Sage North American. Timothy Harfield, VP of Marketing and Linda Cade, Product Manager for Sage 100 delivered a look ahead to the expected features in the next few releases of Sage 100cloud.
Sage 100cloud version 2019 is expected April 2, 2019. The major new feature for this release will be the upgrading of Work Order and MRP modules to the latest programming framework.
These are the last two modules which Sage had been working to bring up to their latest programming standards. This new programming standard allows for certain types of user defined fields, scripting and data import to be more easily implemented.
Having these the last two modules at framework also means that all users of Sage 100cloud now have the ability to move to Sage 100cloud Premium aka SQL.
Sage 100 Production Management – Coming in 2019
This new module, available for both Sage 100 and Sage 100cloud, will replace the Work Order and MRP module which will stop being sold as of March 2019 with support ceasing in 2022.
Some of the expected features include:
- On framework ( SQL / Sage 100cloud Premium compatible )
- Extended field lengths for work order numbers & steps
- Work order templates and revisions
- One-click purchase order for outside processing
- Import materials from bill of material or flat file
- Simplified transaction workflow
Three New Manufacturing Extensions for Sage 100 & Sage 100cloud
In addition to Sage 100cloud Production Management, there are expected to be three additional manufacturing extensions.
- Make to Order – formerly Sage 100cloud Manufacturing
- Enhanced Scheduling
- Product Configurator
Less Costly Manufacturing Licenses
New to Sage 100cloud 2019 is the availability of two types of licensing for Production Management
- Standard Users – Access to all tasks
- Shop floor users – Transactional tasks only
Rather than purchase expensive full Sage 100cloud licenses you will now have the ability to purchase limited licenses which are less costly and provide access to only the manufacturing functionality required.
Additional New Sage 100cloud Features
The following enhancements were also discussed. Some of these features may appear in a product update issued after the April release of Sage 100cloud 2019.
Paperless Office
- Electronic delivery messages – additional merge fields
- HTML email
- File attachments
- cc and bcc email addresses
- Email copies to salesperson
Grad Caps
In the lower left corner of several modules, you will now find an image similar to a graduation cap. Clicking that image will take you to additional training resources relevant to the particular task.
Payroll Enhancements
- Default bank code
- Payroll advance checks
- Reprint employer’s expense report
- Tax payment checks
- Tax rate inquiry
- Expand department number
- Include employer contribution on check / DD stub
- Check reversal outside current quarter (security option)
General Enhancements
- Improved System Activity Log
- Data File Display and Maintenance for Sage 100 Premium ( SQL )
- Paya click to pay functionality ( 2019.x )
- Payroll reports enhanced for portrait layout ( Data Entry Report, Employers Expense Report and Check Register)
Sage 100cloud ISV Updates
During this meeting several ISVs provided updates on their product lines. Listed below are three enhancements and a list of what’s new and available for these solutions.
Warehouse Management for Sage 100cloud: Scanforce
In their session, ScanForce reviewed case studies of several large manufacturing and distribution companies using their mobile data capture technology to streamline warehouse operations. They also cited examples of some pretty big names using their technology, MTV and Whirlpool, to name a few.
In addition, they announced enhanced capabilities for pallets:
- Pick to Pallet – Group items together at SO Picking/Staging and printing of Pallet tag from within mobile program. User is able to scan/select the Pallet ID at SF Pallet Shipping rather than each item/qty/lot/serial.
- Pallet Tracking/License Plating (avail. Q2) – Detailed grouping of items and item info tied back to an ID Tag/Pallet Tag. Allows easy data capture/entry by scan/entry of an ID or Pallet Tag (sometimes referred to as a License Plate).
The attendees got a kick out of their Million Record Challenge, which compared the speed to retrieve one million item records from Sage 100 using various technologies.
Cloud Hosting for Sage 100cloud: Summit Hosting
Putting the ‘cloud’ in Sage 100cloud by putting Sage 100cloud in the cloud.”
Summit Hosting offers private cloud hosting for Sage 100 / Sage 100cloud. Each hosting customer has a dedicated server – no shared environments.
They offer 2-Factor Authentication (aka Secure Sign-On), an added layer of security that is no longer a “nice to have”, but a “must” for any cloud environment.
In addition to the free admin login every partner receives when their customers host with Summit, Summit Hosting also announced some partner program benefits exclusively for 90 Minds members.
Integrated Credit Card and ACH for Sage 100cloud: APS
APS Payments displayed their new ClickToPay for Sage 100cloud, a secure way for Sage 100cloud users to use eInvoicing and have invoices paid by their customers with one easy click.
They also highlighted the workflow efficiencies that can be achieved by using DSD Business Systems’ InstaDocs, an embedded document management solution, in conjunction with ClickToPay. Using these solutions together lets Sage 100 users automatically eInvoice their customer a copy of the invoice, plus all related documents stored in
APS Payments also announced support for DSD’s multi-currency and master invoice, further illustrating their connection to so many of the tools Sage 100 users need.
Sage Summit Atlanta – May 13-15, 2019
The next event on Sage’s calendar is their Sage Summit conference in Atlanta May 13-15, 2019.
Summit Atlanta will be a good opportunity for an update on the new Sage 100 release which will have been released by that time.
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