How Blue Link Connect puts report building in your team's hands, with the permissions and data structure of your ERP already built in.
Imagine that you need a report showing open purchase orders by vendor with dollar values. It’s a pretty straightforward request, but getting the report isn’t always so straightforward.
If someone on your team is an expert who understands SQL Queries, you can write the query yourself and add it to an Excel file, a Crystal Report, a SQL Server Reporting Service report, or the reports list in Blue Link ERP.
Without that skill in-house, the path gets longer. You submit a help desk ticket describing what you need. Simple requests can be handled by a support person. Anything more complex may require authorizing billable time with a Blue Link consultant to work through and refine the requirements for a more complex report. All of which takes time.
Now, imagine getting that same report didn’t have to depend on someone else building it for you. What if, instead, you could build it yourself in a few minutes, save it, and re-run it whenever needed?
That is the shift behind self-service reporting in Blue Link Connect.
Blue Link Connect is a web-based platform layered around Blue Link ERP, and its Report Builder lets your team design, save, share, and re-run reports on their own, using the same permissions they already have in the ERP.
Build the report you need without code
Report Builder uses a drag-and-drop workflow that guides you from top to bottom, no code required. You simply select a data source, choose the fields you want to include, then filter and sort.
For example, you could build a straightforward report such as an active product listing or a more advanced report showing open purchase orders by vendor with dollar values and line counts.
Finding the right fields is designed to be easier, too. Field descriptions display inline, so you can see what a field stores rather than relying on the column name alone.
Advanced search finds data sources and fields by keyword, including by description, rather than by cryptic column name. For example, a user looking for vendor information might not know that a field named “code key” stores the default vendor code for an inventory item. By searching for “vendor,” they can still find the right field based on its description.
Using Report Builder means you also have plenty of flexibility in how you build and refine a report. You can:
- Drag and drop fields into the report and reorder them
- Rename columns for the report
- Apply filters and sorting
- Format numeric values
- Preview the report before saving
- Create calculated and summary fields using count, sum, concatenation, arithmetic, and date difference
Together, these capabilities give teams more control over reports. No more struggling to find the right data or dependence on IT to create the report you need.
Work across linked data sources
Complex reporting often requires information from more than one data source.
Once you select a data source in Report Builder, it surfaces other sources that connect to the one you chose, handling one-to-many relationships correctly. For example, purchase order headers can be linked with purchase order footers to bring in product codes, cost, and quantities, then summarize dollar value and line counts.
In customer feedback, the ability to select the correct table for those relationships was noted as a significant benefit because it helps reports draw from the right data. This is the difference between a report builder that looks good in a demo and one that survives real data.
Save reports and re-run them as needs change
Your reporting needs to change. That doesn’t mean you should rebuild a report from scratch every time.
With Report Builder, you can save reports as private or share them across your user base. Saved reports appear in the report library, where you can favorite and re-run them whenever you need them.
Need to adjust a report? Update the filters and run it again. For example, you can change a date range without rebuilding the report from scratch. You can also export report data to Excel when needed.
Sharing doesn’t mean giving up control over the original report. Only the creator can edit its definition. Other users can run a shared report or copy it as a starting point for their own version.
That means less time rebuilding reports and more flexibility to get what you need, fast.
Keep your existing ERP permissions in place
Giving users more control over reporting doesn’t mean giving everyone access to every data source.
Report Builder respects existing Blue Link ERP application permissions. For example, a user without financial access cannot build or run financial reports.
This means your team can use self-service reporting while keeping the permissions already established in Blue Link ERP.
Blue Link Connect AI capabilities are in beta
Report Builder is available in Blue Link Connect today. Blue Link Connect AI, which brings AI capabilities into the platform, is currently in beta.
Blue Link Connect AI includes natural language querying against Blue Link data. Users can enter a natural language question, and the capability assembles a database query that can be run to return results. It can also create quotes and sales orders from information pasted from an email or spreadsheet or provided in a PDF.
Interested in learning more about Blue Link Connect AI? Contact us to learn more.
See Blue Link Connect in action
How long does it take for your team to get the data they need? How many reporting requests are sitting in a backlog? And how often does getting a routine report depend on IT or an outside consultant?
Blue Link Connect is designed to give you more control over these processes.
With Report Builder, users can build, save, share, and re-run reports on their own, using the same permissions they already have in Blue Link ERP.
Watch our on-demand webinar now to see how Blue Link Connect and Report Builder can help your team spend less time waiting for reports and more time using the information they need:
If you are evaluating Blue Link ERP for your distribution business, we’d love to chat about how we can help. Request a demo today.
