Release 6
Release 6 is here and we would like to thank you for all the feedback over the last few weeks of review.
Unimarket 6 brings with it a new clean user interface and makes the application more focused around specific modules. This release also adds a raft of new features such as consideration for weekends and holidays in the approval process, improved catalog template and upload process, product tags, position based approval strategy and new integration points.
Whats New in Release 6
A New Clean Look
There have been 46 major releases since our last UI update! Unimarket 6 introduces a new clean look with more breathing space due to the extra width, and new menus and icons for options.
Menus Down the Side
The menus that were at the top have been moved down the left side of your screen and collapsed into a ‘hamburger’ menu top left. This frees valuable screen space and is also more mobile friendly. 
Modules
We have divided the application into the different Unimarket modules including Marketplace (purchasing), Contracts, Invoicing, Sourcing, Expenses, Reporting and Administration. This creates a platform for future releases that will allow us to focus the application to your user’s specific roles e.g. AP managers, Contract Managers, Buyers etc. 
New Look Checkout
We have re-designed the checkout page to make it clearer to read and easier to use. Bill To has been moved to the left as this determines which organization you are buying for, the Organization panel has been shifted up so you can clearly see the organization unit, and most importantly we have improved the account code fields so you can see both the field name and the value entered at the same time.
New Features
No Approval Escalation on Weekends and Holidays
We have added functionality to the approval process to stop approvals from escalating on weekends and holidays. This change includes the ability for you to specify a community holiday calendar.
Organization Sharing Settings
With more customers configuring communities with multiple organizations, we have added flexibility to sharing by moving the settings from the community down to the organization. This allows you to configure different organizations differently if needed.
New Catalog Template
We have had lots of requests to capture additional information on catalog items such as if a product is hazardous, controlled or recyclable. To meet these requirements we have extended the catalog template and the supplier integration messages to support additional product information. This is then displayed on each product and searchable product tags can be assigned automatically. For example, products marked as Green will get the Green tag so that users can easily search and filter green products.
Product Tags
We have added the ability to tag products in much the same way as you can currently tag suppliers. This provides a way for your users to quickly filter and search using tags such as products you want to promote. The new catalog template also uses this feature by automatically generating tags such as HAZMAT or Green based on the information provided in the catalog.
Search Filters
With the introduction of the new catalog template we have also added search filters that allow you to refine your search results by tags, category, supplier and pack size.
New Integration Points
We have introduced several new integration points to allow greater connectivity with customer systems. These include the following:
- Payments API for sending payments to Unimarket which we match up to invoices and display to suppliers
- Contracts API for sending contract data into the Unimarket Contract Management module from an external system
- User API for creating and updating user information from an external identity management system
- Approvals API for sending position/organisation based approval information from an external system
Position Based Approvals
This release introduces a new Position based approval strategy and associated integration which can be optionally implemented by customers. In this model, users hold Position(s) in the organization hierarchy and the Position has delegation. The approval process determines the buyer's Position in the hierarchy, then routes the approval up the hierarchy until it finds a position with the right delegation.
Other Changes
- We have added a Community Integration Email for integration message errors.
- We have added a setting to ensure users cannot be manually created when Single Sign On is enabled.
- The account code 'eyeball' is now a hover rather than a click (yay)
What's Coming
Ushering in 2019 we will be working on forms to make them more flexible, making improvements to blanket orders, overhauling the catalog vetting process and adding support for a PCard payment gateway.