New Features: New Incident Reports, Workflow Improvements

Welcome to the first issue of New Features of 2021, and also the first issue since we launched our Feature Request Forum! We love the suggestions and feedback that we are getting from our users (you) and we are working away at them. Here are some highlights from the year so far, including improvements to inventory management workflows, a new type of incident report for customer complaints, and more.

Inventory Adjustments

When was it released? January 26 2021

What does it do? Last September we released an Inventory Reconciliation interface, allowing you to count existing inventory and compare these counts to what you expected to have in stock. But sometimes you just need to make a manual adjustment to account for shrinkage, disposal, or other reasons for discrepancies. With this new feature, you can now make inventory adjustments directly from the Inventory Reconciliation Interface in a new seamless workflow.

This new feature also makes your initial inventory set up easier, whether you are a new Icicle user or an existing user who isn’t using Icicle’s Inventory Management or Traceability system yet. Previously, if you were starting up with inventory already in stock, you would have to create receiving records for the existing inventory as a workaround. Now, you can use Inventory Reconciliation to record what you have in inventory now and, from that point forward, you can use Icicle as you would normally. You might be tempted to use this feature for ongoing inventory adjustments but beware, if you do so, you won’t have a complete traceability chain to support you during audits.

Where did the idea come from? This idea comes from the Icicle team based on the feedback from several users.

New Scan Button for Inventory

When was it released? February 9 2021

What does it do? A simple but useful change, on your Inventory page you will now find a new scan button. Use it to scan a barcode to pop the existing inventory record instead of searching for it like you did before (another workflow improvement).

Where did the idea come from? Big thanks to Neil from Snow Cap Enterprises!

Required Best Before Dates (Optional)

When was it released? February 1 2021

What does it do? We’ve added a feature that allows you to require Best Before Dates (BBDs) at receiving. This is an opt-in feature, but we recommend that you use it so you can take advantage of Icicle’s shelf life reporting and FIFO picking that helps you reduce waste and improve quality. Requiring best before dates from your receiving team will feed that information into the other features and display it to users when selecting items for consumption during production runs.

If you do make BBDs required, you can also configure certain products to be exempt if they don’t need a best before date (like calcium carbonate) or if it doesn’t make sense for other reasons. This can be done from the Company Detail page and each Ingredient or Product Edit page.

Where did the idea come from? Another great idea from Neil from Snow Cap!

Refresh Enhancements to Pick by Product

When was it released? February 23 2021

What does it do? This feature is a great one for our users who have huge inventories and product lines. An enhancement has been added to the Pick by Product interface (previously called Pickng 3) so that you can refresh products, existing inventory, inventory locations, and sales order information separately. Previously, you would have to refresh everything all at once and users reported that it would be more convenient to do a partial refresh as you work.

We’ve also updated this interface so that sales order information is automatically saved before a refresh, so you don’t have to enter in the information again. More workflow improvements!

Where did the idea come from? Yet another improvement courtesy of Neil from Snow Cap!

Expanded Scanning Capabilities for Picking

When was it released? February 16 2021

What does it do? We’ve improved the scanning algorithms for the Pick by Product interface (previously called Picking 3), which used to work only for fully described GS1-128 labels. Now you can easily find products by scanning a UPC code or internal code label as well.

Where did the idea come from? You guessed it…Neil is our warehouse wizard!

New Service Supplier Certifications

When was it released? February 25 2021

What does it do? Icicle’s Vendor Management interface can do a lot of work for you and your team, but previously it only tracked certifications of tangible goods suppliers (for example, certification given to an ingredient). With this update, you can now also track the certifications of service suppliers (for example, scale calibration certifications).

Where did the idea come from? Thanks to our friend Oscar Jr. from Superior Food Safety!

Expanded Product Specifications Sheet

When was it released? March 1 2021

What does it do? Here’s one that is simple but useful: Icicle users can now add nutritional facts and certification logos to Product Specifications and Certificates of Analysis. This makes it even easier to show your customers how your products stand out!

Where did the idea come from? Thanks to Amy from Anita’s Organic Mill for this nifty suggestion!

Workflow Improvement for QA Holds

When was it released? February 15 2021

What does it do? Moving items out of QA Hold is a crucial part of quality and safety control, and it has now been added to Icicle’s Racking interface. Once you have marked which inventory location is the QA Hold location (where products should be segregated from production flow until it is either tested or reworked), you can move items into QA hold as previously. However, the workflow for moving items out of QA Hold has been improved, so that you can use the Racking interface to move items (individually or en masse) from QA Hold to another inventory location after they’ve been cleared for release.

One of the benefits of this change is that our Racking interface works quickly and is optimized for mobile devices. That means that your QA team’s workflow just got easier.

Where did the idea come from? Another great idea from Oscar Jr. at Superior Food Safety!

Customer Complaint Incident Report

When was it released? February 9 2021

What does it do? You could always log customer complaints related to products produced in Icicle as a production run incident, but we have now expanded this capability by making it a stand-alone feature that can now also be used for products you buy to sell directly. This new feature allows you to capture information like product, lot code, and the scope of the complaint. But don’t worry, you can still manage that complaint using all of Icicle’s existing Incident Management features like corrective actions and preventive measures.

Where did the idea come from? Big thanks to Karin from Snow Cap for this idea!

Numeric Question Type for Inspections

When was it released? February 9 2021

What does it do? Inspections typically involve questions with yes, no, or not applicable answers, but sometimes you need to record specific measurements or values (for example, temperature). While you could always complete these checks in Icicle’s Quality Control interface, we’ve now added the ability to add numeric type answers to inspections. One step made easier!

Where did the idea come from? Thanks to James from Country Prime Meats for this suggestion!

Meeting Clones

When was it released? March 10 2021

What does it do? Let’s say you have a recurring meeting every week; previously, you could create a recurring meeting template, but each time you would still have to add the agenda, indicate who was invited, and so on. Now, with just one click, you can clone previous meetings to save you some time.

Where did the idea come from? Thanks to Tammy from Longhorn Barbeque for this idea!

Keep up-to-date with the latest Icicle features by signing up for our newsletter! Icicle users can also check for updates in real-time in the Icicle Change Log. If you have a feature request or question, submit a request or vote on existing requests in the new Feature Request Forum!