Feature Highlights

Marlin Tyre and Mechanical Workshop Software is regularly updated with new features to enhance user experience and improve workshop management.

Below is a list of all the notable new features and capabilities introduced in each new version.

To find out more and take full advantage of these new features, please contact the Megabus Support Team.

Marlin 5.1.10

Released:20/11/2024

Automatic Follow-Ups

BLUE-7859 - Customer Orders: Simplified follow-ups creation and added automatic notification functionality.
BLUE-7494 - Business Planner: Added Follow-Ups tab to Add Booking/Enquiry window.

In addition to regular follow-up reminders, automatic follow-up messages can now be scheduled and sent directly to customers, via SMS or email, to remind them when additional services are due.

Automatic follow-ups can be turned on by enabling the Followup.EnableNotifications enterprise Setting.

Once enabled, separate customer message templates for automated email and SMS follow-ups can be set using the Followup.Notification.sms and Followup.Notification.email enterprise settings.

See the Automatic Follow-Ups Inform Guide for further details.

• add to follow-ups doc?

Enhanced Stocktake Sorting

BLUE-8028 - Stocktake: Enhanced stocktake to allow better sorting options.

Item field columns can now be added to and used to sort stocktake lists, which will also determine the order items appear on printed tally sheets.

The way the columns are sorted now also determines the order they appear in on printed tally sheets.

See the Stocktakes Inform Guide for further details.

Clearer Promotion Visibility

BLUE-5097 - Item Explorer: Highlight Promotional Items in Item Explorer.
BLUE-8086 - Menu: Repositioned Promotions module in menus.

The Promotions Master File menu has been moved to Master Files > Items > Promotions, to make it easier to locate.

Promotional items are now also highlighted in green in the Item Explorer to help better support supplier and customer orders.

See the Promotions Inform Guide for further details.

Relaxed Notification Reminders

BLUE-7962 - Business Planner: Added Disable for This Booking checkbox for booking notifications.

Notification reminders can now be disabled for individual bookings, by ticking the new Disable for this Booking checkbox in the Booking Notifications pop-up window.

This will also prevent the pop-up from opening again, if the booking is rescheduled.

If necessary, notification reminders can be re-enabled for a booking by opening it from the Business Planner and clicking on the new Booking Notifications button to the top-right of the Edit Details window.

See the Booking Notifications Inform Guide for further details.

Automatic Subsidiary Supplier Orders

BLUE-8010 - Intercompany Purchasing: Added setting to automatically create customer order when receiving or invoicing from subsidiary suppliers.

Multi-company Enterprise systems can now be configured to automatically create the corresponding customer order at the supplying branch, when a subsidiary order is received or invoiced, without needing to click Submit.

To turn on automatic customer order creation for subsidiary suppliers, enable the InterCompanyPurchasing.AutoCreateCustomerOrdersWhenReceiving branch setting for the supplying branch.

See the Intercompany Purchasing Inform Guide for further details.

Marlin 5.1.9

Released:10/9/2024

Supplier Batch Payments

BLUE-2665 - Supplier Payments: A Supplier Batch Payments module has been added.

Marlin's new Supplier Batch Payments module enables users to pay off outstanding supplier invoices in batches, using EFT banking files.

Supplier Batch Payments function similarly to Supplier EFT Payments, but record payments to each supplier as a single, combined supplier payment, allowing for easier bank reconciliations.

The Supplier Batch Payments module also enables the quick generation of Remittance Advice documents, which can be printed and sent, or emailed directly to suppliers.

See the Supplier Batch Payments Inform guide for further details.

Order Profitability

BLUE-6895 - Customer Orders: The ability to view customer order profitability margins has been added to Order Details list.

Users with Show Cost Prices permissions enabled can now view the profitability of individual item prices, as well as entire customer orders.

Once enabled, profitability amounts and percentages can be viewed by clicking on the Show% button to the top-right of a customer order's Details list.

The Gross Profit columns and totals will automatically disappear again after a set time, determined by the CustomerOrder.GrossProfitTimeout enterprise setting (usually 30 seconds).

See the Customer Orders Inform guide for further details.

Vehicle Merging

BLUE- 7318 - Vehicle Master Files: Existing vehicles can now be merged.

Marlin now supports the merging of customer vehicles to help manage customer information.

To merge a vehicle into another, select it in the Vehicles Master File list and click on the Merge button at the top-right of the module window and then select the vehicle to merge with in the following window.

A pop-up window will open, allowing you to select the vehicle to merge in into and showing a preview of the merge results, once the second vehicle has been selected.

See the Merging Vehicles Inform guide for further details.

Editable Vehicle Database Attributes

BLUE-5833 - Vehicles: Editable vehicle attributes have been added for vehicle database systems.

Marlin now allows the editing of custom vehicle attributes in systems using the vehicle database.

The Business Planner can now be set up to show a table of editable vehicle attributes below the Vehicle Type textbox, when adding a vehicle to bookings using the vehicle database.

These attributes can be added as usual, and edited with specific vehicle information that isn't contained within the database, such as vehicle colours or fleet numbers.

See the Vehicle Logic Database Inform Inform guide for more details.

Enhanced Job Card Customisation

BLUE-7489 - Job Card: Job Cards can now be customised by enabling or disabling various sections.

In addition to customisable Technician Handback sections, job cards can now be customised to contain other useful information, including Existing Damage and Tyre Position diagrams, as well as Customer Acknowledgments and Additional Notes sections.

The contents of company job cards can be customised using the CustomerJobCard company settings.

See the Job Cards Inform guide for further details.

Streamlined Customer Messaging

BLUE-7944 - Customer Orders: A Message button has been added to customer order windows.

Customers can now be quickly messaged from within the Customer Order window by clicking on the Message button to the top-right of the module window.

See the Customer Messages Inform guide for further details.

Easier Catalogue Item Editing

BLUE-7370 - Item Master Files: An Edit button has been added to the View Details pop-up window for catalogue items.

Catalogue item details can now be edited from within item master files.

To edit an item's catalogue details, open its master file, click on the Catalogue Items tab and double-click on the relevant catalogue item in the list below to open the View Details window.

The catalogue details can then be edited by clicking on the Edit button at the bottom-right of the pop-up window.

See the Supplier Catalogues Inform guide for further details.

Odometer Readings

BLUE-6793 - Customer Orders: Vehicle summary and odometer readings are now shown in the customer order Summary tab.
BLUE-6779 - Transaction Archive: Odometer readings are now shown in and can be added to archived transactions.
BLUE-6793 - Transaction Explorer: Vehicle summary and odometer fields have been added to Transaction Summary windows.
BLUE-7911 - Customer Orders: There is now a warning if a new odometer entry is less than the previous one.

Odometer readings and vehicle summaries fields are now shown in the relevant tabs of the Customer Orders, Transaction Explorer and Customer Transaction Archive modules.

There is now also a warning when new odometer entries are less than the previous one.

Marlin 5.1.8

Released:29/5/2024

Feature Highlights

Feature Home

Registration Lookup

BLUE-5032 - Customer Orders/Vehicle Master Files: Added vehicle registration lookup functionality.

Automated registration (LPN) lookup can now be enabled for Marlin systems with the Vehicle Logic database integration.

Once enabled, there will be an orange Lookup Registration symbol wherever a vehicle can be added or edited, which can be used to search for customer registrations and return the relevant vehicle information to Marlin.

Registration lookup functionality has also been added to the Item Explorer, enabling fitments for customer vehicles to be found quickly, without needing to know specific vehicle information.

To enable registration lookup please contact the Megabus Support Team.

See the Vehicle Database Inform guide for further details.

Supplier EFT Payments

BLUE-7200 - Reporting: A Supplier EFT Payments module has been added.

A new Supplier EFT Payments module has been added, enabling the creation of EFT banking (ABA) files for batch supplier payments.

Users with Supplier Payment permissions enabled will have the new Supplier EFT Payments permissions automatically enabled as part of the 5.1.8 update.

See the Supplier EFT Payments Inform guide for further information.

Improved Password Security

BLUE-2770 - Users: Users will now be locked out of Marlin after excessive failed attempts to log in.
BLUE-7422 - Users: User passwords can now be set to expire after a specified number of days.

Users will now be locked out of Marlin after too many failed login attempts and will need to contact their system administrator (or other authorised user) to reinstate access.

Passwords can now also be set up to expire and need to be changed after a specified number of days.

To enable or edit expiring password settings, please contact the Megabus Support Team.

See the Users Inform guide for further information.

Enhanced Job Card Flexibility

Blue-7827 - Customer Orders: A section to record the VIN number has been added to the job card.
BLUE-7837 - Customer Orders: A setting has been added to allow customised checklists to be added to the job card.
BLUE-7743 - Customer Orders: Job cards can now be printed immediately after adding details to a customer order.
BLUE-7828 - Customer Orders: A setting has been added to set sales orders or job cards as the default print option for customer orders.

A customised list of checkbox items can now be added to the Technician Handback section at the bottom of the job card using the Report.CustomerJobCardHandbackItems company setting.

Any text can be entered and multiple checkboxes can be added by separating each item with a comma when entering them in the Value textbox.

A dedicated section to record the VIN number has also been added to the job card, which can now be printed immediately after adding details to a customer order, without needing to save.

The new Report.CustomerOrder.DefaultDocumentType company setting can also be used to set either sales orders or job cards as the default print option for customer orders.

See the Job Cards Inform guide for further information.

Marlin 5.1.7

Released:23/4/2024

Add-On Packages

BLUE-4898 - Customer Orders: Added automated add-on package functionality.
BLUE-7781 - Customer Orders: Added a green border to distinguish packages on customer order detail lists.
BLUE-7722 - Customer Orders/Packages: Item packages that use Prompt for Total pricing now allow individual item quantities to be edited.

Marlin Tyre and Mechanical Workshop Software now supports add-on packages, which are automatically added to a customer order whenever a relevant item is selected.

Further enhancements have also been made to package functionality, including the addition of a green border to distinguish them on order detail lists and the ability to edit individual item quantities for Prompt for Total packages.

See the Item Packages Inform guide for further information.

Item Explorer Branch Quantities

BLUE-7738 - Item Explorer: Branch Qty on Hand and Qty Available columns can now be added to the Item Explorer.

Qty on Hand and Qty Available columns can now be added to the Item Explorer for other branches within a Marlin system.

Although stock levels at other branches can already be viewed within the Item Explorer by opening the Details panel and going to the Other Branches tab, available and on hand columns for frequently checked branches can now be added as columns within the general results list.

Branch availability and on hand columns can be added using the usual process for configuring columns.

See the Item Explorer Inform guide for further information.

Xero Credit Providers

BLUE-7789 - Xero Integration: Xero integration now supports credit providers.
BLUE-7787 - Xero Integration: Fixed issue with merchant fee postings.
BLUE-7795 - Xero Integration: Fixed issue with COGS journal postings for zero accounting cost items.

Marlin Tyre and Mechanical Workshop Software's Xero integration now enables the synchronisation of payments made by credit providers.

See the Xero Accounting Inform guide for further information.

Marlin 5.1.6

Released:27/3/2024

Invoice Delivery Dockets

BLUE-7692 - Customer Orders: Added the option to print priceless delivery dockets for customer invoices and credit notes.

Invoice delivery dockets that do not display pricing information can now be printed for customers who have Payers associated with their accounts.

These are intended for use with fleet and other account customers where the payer does not want the pricing shown to the customer, but the customer still requires a document for their records.

See the Customer Orders Inform guide for further information.

Streamlined Lot Items

BLUE-7729 - Supplier Orders: Streamlined lot selection on customer orders.
BLUE-7729 - Supplier Orders: Streamlined lot selection on supplier orders.

The ability to search for existing lots when adding lot items to customer orders has been added to the Select Catalogue Item pop-up window, and its additional functions have been streamlined and clarified.

The ability to search for existing catalogue items when adding item lots to supplier orders has also been added to the Select Catalogue Item pop-up window.

Double clicking on an item in the Existing Lots list when adding a lot item to a confirmed customer order (or selecting it and pressing enter on the keyboard) will now assign as much of the outstanding quantity to the order as possible, based on the Lot’s Available Quantity.

See the Lot Items Inform guide for further information.

Marlin 5.1.5

Released:28/2/2024

Xero Integration

BLUE-7677 - Integrations: Marlin Tyre and Mechanical Workshop Software now allows basic integration with Xero Accounting Software.

The basic integration automatically pushes transactions from Marlin to Xero, enabling back office accounting to be managed externally.

To enable Xero integration please contact the Megabus Support Team.

See the Xero Accounting Inform guide for further information.

Marlin 5.1.4

Released:29/1/2024

Booking Notifications

BLUE-7474 - Business Planner: Added booking notification functionality.

Marlin's new Booking Notifications function enables businesses to update customers about their bookings via sms or email.

Users will now be prompted to send Confirmation notifications to customers whenever a new booking is added, or when the Time, Contact or Vehicle information for an existing booking is edited and Reminder notifications can also be scheduled a specified number of days (up to a week) before a booking is due to take place.

Email and sms templates can be set for each booking notification type, by editing the relevant Planner.BookingNotifications enterprise settings.

See the Booking Notifications Inform guide for further information.

Burson EzyParts Integration

BLUE-6445 - Burson EzyParts: Added Burson EzyParts integration, enabling the creation and submission of electronic supplier orders.

Marlin's integration with Burson EzyParts, enables users to search the Burson catalogue and return items to customer orders, as well as job sheets for log book servicing.

Marlin can also be configured to send and receive electronic supplier orders directly to Burson.

To enable EzyParts integration please contact the Megabus Support Team.

See the Burson EzyParts Inform guide for further information.

Podium Integration

BLUE-7466 - Podium: Added Podium integration, enabling centralised marketing communications with customers, such as review requests.

Marlin's new Podium integration enables centralised review requests and other follow-up marketing communications to be sent to customers.

Once the integration is set up, Marlin will automatically send contact and order information to Podium whenever a customer order is invoiced, which can then be used to manage follow-up marketing communications using the Podium portal.

To enable Podium integration please contact the Megabus Support Team.

See the Podium Inform guide for further information.

Vehicle Database Quick Matching

BLUE-7489 - Customer Orders: Added a Quick Match function to simplify the addition of vehicles from the vehicle database.

Rather than having to enter individual attribute details each time, Marlin's vehicle database enables vehicles to be quickly added to bookings and orders from an extensive list, which is loaded into Marlin and updated regularly by the Megabus Support Team.

The vehicle database now also supports the addition of Quick Match and Custom Vehicles, for when specific vehicle information is unknown or cannot be found.

See the Vehicle Database Inform guide for further information.

Marlin 5.1.3

Released:15/11/2023

Neto Commerce Cloud Integration

BLUE-7008 - Integration Partners: Marlin's integration with Neto Commerce Cloud, enables customer orders from various online stores to be received into Marlin.

The integration can be set up to automatically update item and order information in Marlin, which is then used to manage inventory, place supplier orders and finalise invoices.

The integration can now also be set up to automatically add and submit supplier orders when there is insufficient stock to fill any Neto orders.

See the Neto Commerce Cloud Inform guide for further information.

Marlin 5.1.2

Released:11/10/2023

Customer Order Bookings

BLUE-7367 - Customer Orders: Added functionality to link existing customer orders to Business Planner bookings from within the Customer Orders module.

Customer orders can now be linked to Business Planner bookings using the Bookings section of the customer order Information tab.
New bookings can also be created (and linked to the order) from within the Customer Order module.

See the Customer Order Bookings Inform guide for further information.

Competitor Prices

BLUE-6751 - Item Explorer: Competitor Prices functionality added to the Item Explorer.

Competitor tyre price lists, obtained from third party providers or otherwise, can now be imported into Marlin and viewed in the Competitor Prices tab of the Item Explorer.

See the Competitor Prices Inform guide for further details.

Customer Transaction Archive

BLUE-7316 - Customers: Archived customer transaction history can be imported into Marlin.

Customers' and vehicles' transaction history with the business, from prior to using Marlin, can now be imported into Marlin for easy access.
This historical data can be viewed from the Customer or Vehicle master files.

See the Customer Transaction Archive Inform guide for further details.

Marlin 5.1.1

Released:29/8/2023

Improved Invoice and Order Documents

BLUE-5950 - Reporting: Improved invoice layouts.
BLUE-6894 - Reporting: Expanded and added header to the customer messages section.
BLUE-7269 - Reporting: Price columns now indicate whether tax is included or not.
BLUE-7268 - Reporting: Added a company setting to enable companies' legal names to appear on customer and supplier order and invoice documents.
BLUE-7267 - Reporting: Adjusted negative space on selected transaction documents.
BLUE-7265 - Reporting: Added a company setting to hide the country on transaction documents, if desired.

In response to customer requests, various invoice and order documents have been redesigned to improve clarity and enable customisation of company information. The Customer Message body has also been expanded and given a header, which can be set via the Report.CustomerInvoice.MessageBody and Report.CustomerInvoice.MessageHeader report settings.

Improved Job Cards

BLUE-7005 - Customer Orders: Update the Job Card layout.

In response to customer requests, the job card has been redesigned to show more detailed vehicle and order information, as well as customer acknowledgments and technician sign-off sections.

See the Job Card and Sales Orders Inform guide for further details about job cards.

Bulk Due Date Allocations

BLUE-7199 - Supplier Payments: Supplier Payments can now be Bulk allocated by the due date.
BLUE-7198 - Supplier Payments: A Due Date column has been added to the Supplier Payment Allocations list.
BLUE-6766 - Transactions: Customer and supplier credit notes and journal entries now display and record the relevant due dates.

The ability to bulk allocate payments based on due date has been added to the Supplier Payments module. Due Date information has also been added to the Supplier Payment Allocations list and relevant payment windows to support this functionality.

See the Supplier Payments Inform guide for further detail.

Improved Customer Statements

BLUE-6846 - Customer Statements: The type of customer statement ageing periods are now shown when opening statements from within customer master files.
BLUE-6845 - Customer Statements: The type of ageing period is now shown on customer account statement headings.
BLUE-6893 - Customer Statements: Statement messages are now included on pdf statements.

Various enhancements have been made to customer statements, so that the printable pdf documents now show ageing periods and statement run messages. Ageing periods are now also shown when viewing individual statements from within a customer master file.

Connect Plus

Blue-7173 - Integration Partners: Added Connect Plus integration.

Marlin now supports integration with MTS Auto's Connect Plus application, which will replace Fitment Finder later this year.

See the Connect Plus Inform guide for further details.

Integrated EFT Payments

Blue-7144 - Customer Orders: Framework added to support integrated EFT payments.

Marlin Tyre and Mechanical Workshop Software now supports integrated EFT payments using the Till Payments integration partner. The Integrated EFT functionality is currently in the pilot stage. To participate in pilot testing please contact your Megabus account manager.

See the Till Payments and Integrated EFT Inform Guides for further details.

Marlin 5.1.0

Released: 31/5/2023

Boyce Autolibrary Integration

BLUE-5695 – Integration Partners: Added Boyce's Autolibrary integration.

Boyce's Autolibrary is a widely used Australian vehicle and parts database that has been providing automotive data to Australian aftermarket businesses since 1970.

Once enabled, Boyce's Autolibrary integration functions similarly to the existing Repco integration partner, allowing users to search for items and import them into customer order details lists.

See the Boyce's Autolibrary Integration Partner Inform guide for more detail.

Marlin 5.0.46

Released: 06/03/2023

Business Planner Search

BLUE-6335 – Business Planner: Comments tabs have been added to the Business Planner.

BLUE-6373 – Customer Orders: Comments tabs have been added to Customer Orders.

BLUE-6399 – Customers Master File: Comments tabs have been added to customer master files.

BLUE-6379 – Users: A Notification Destination setting has been added to User profiles for future implantation with booking comments.

The new Business Planner Search tab allows current and previous bookings to be easily located by searching for customer and vehicle information.

See the Business Planner Inform guide for more detail.

Customer Booking Comments

BLUE-5995 – Business Planner: A Search tab has been added to the Business Planner.

Comments can now be added to customer bookings by clicking on the Comments tab at the top of the Add Enquiry/Add Booking pop-up window.

Booking comments will also appear and can be added to the new Comments tab of all associated customer orders.

All of the comments added to a Customer's bookings can be viewed in the new **Comments **tab of their Customer Master File.

A Notification Destination setting has been added to the user settings, to specify which users will receive comment notifications.

See the Business Planner Inform guide for more detail.

Approvals

BLUE-6145 – Supplier Payments: Approvals have been introduced for supplier payments.

BLUE-6146 – Journal Entries: Approvals have been introduced for journal entries.

Permissions can now be edited so that only specific user roles can commit supplier payments and journal entries.

The Commit action button will be disabled for users without the relevant permissions, who will instead need to click on the Submit action button to forward them for approval.

See the Supplier Payment Approvals and Journal Entry Approvals Inform guides for more detail.

Surcharges and Cash Out

BLUE-6202 – Customer Orders: Surcharges can now be added to EFTPOS and credit provider payments on customer orders.

BLUE-6204 – Customer Orders: Cash out can now be added to EFTPOS and credit provider payments on customer orders.

**Settings **have been added to allow surcharges and cash out to be added to EFTPOS and credit provider payments on customer orders.

Once the settings have been enabled, surcharges or cash out amounts can be added to the Payment Methods window during invoicing.

See the Surcharges and Cash Out Inform guides for more detail.

Accreditations

BLUE-6308 – Customer Orders: Accreditations can now be configured to appear on customer documents.

Accreditations, such as Motor Vehicle Repairer License numbers, can now be configured to appear on Quote, Sales Order, Job Card, Customer Invoice and Customer Credit documents.

See the Accreditations Inform guide for more detail.

HR Integration

BLUE-5945 – External API: Marlin HR integration has been added.

Marlin Tyre and Mechanical Workshop Software can now be configured so that pay runs from Marlin HR are sent directly to the** Journals Inbox**, to be directly committed to the General Ledger.

To set up Marlin HR integration, please contact your Megabus Account Manager.

Marlin 5.0.45

Released: 10/10/2022

Item Explorer Markups

BLUE-5976 – Item Explorer: A "?" icon has been added next to the Sell Price field in the Item Explorer's Details tab to show how the sell price of the item is calculated. Previously, the calculations for an item's sell price could be viewed in the Item Explorer by hovering the mouse over the Sell Price field. Now, the calculation can be viewed by hovering the mouse over the new "?" icon to the right of the field, making this functionality more obvious and accessible.

Deposit Refunds

BLUE-6074 – Customer Orders: A specific Deposit Refund document has been added for printing, giving customers greater detail about the Deposit Refund. To print the Deposit Refund document, select a Deposit Refund transaction in a relevant list and click on the Print action button to the top right.

Stocktake Quantity Control

BLUE-6036 – Stocktake: An option has been added to include or exclude Qty on Hand column when printing a Stocktake report, in order to improve accuracy and facilitate greater flexibility during stocktakes. The Qty on Hand column is excluded by default and can be enabled by ticking the Print Qty on Hand checkbox in the pop-up Print window.