Discover our new releases

At Lhotse, we continually enhance our product, developing new functionalities that simplify procurement process.
Release 2.4
August 20, 2023

Auditable Change Log, Export Request Summaries

The latest release brings mainly two very valuable new features: A revamped change log, aligning with global audit standards and offering improved event displays, and exporting functionality of essential request summaries, storing crucial data or sharing with external parties. Additionally, we were working on numerous enhancements and bug fixes to the application. Notable improvements include enhanced task alignment, improved error handling, and collaborative approval processes. Additionally, critical bug fixes have been implemented, addressing issues such as infinite scroll overload, inaccessible product attachments, erroneous requisition approvals, and workflow errors, along with the correction of hidden fields not consistently displaying in the intake overview.

Features

  • New change log - we're excited to introduce an enhanced functionality for our change log.  While we were already tracking very basic user activities before, we've revamped the way events are displayed, providing a cleaner, more organized view, and most importantly, fulfilling global audit standards!  We've refined the display of workflow block activations, approval actions, and skipped workflow blocks to provide clearer insights into your processes. Additionally, content changes and status updates to requisitions are meticulously tracked and logged.
  • Export summary of request - introducing our new request summary generation functionality, a powerful addition to your workflow toolkit.  With just one click, users can now export essential request details, including comprehensive approval activities, pricing insights, and more. This functionality empowers users to seamlessly store crucial information in their preferred data management suite, such as SharePoint, or efficiently share it with external stakeholders, like suppliers. We can also already teaser that we are working towards enabling automatic sending of these summaries via e-mail directly from Lhotse. Thereby, we will continue to elevate your workflow efficiency and communication capabilities.. Stay tuned!

Improvements

  • Task alignment -  enjoy an improved visual experience as tasks are now perfectly aligned at the bottom of the container, enhancing readability and organization.
  • Error message handling - enhanced user experience with improved error message handling. Clear and concise error messages will help users better understand and resolve issues.
  • Multiple approvers -  adding multiple users to a workflow step is now enabled, ensuring collaborative approval processes
  • Form view enhancement - improved the form view to show all questions in a single page for a more user-friendly experience.
  • b - request data such as requestor, creation date, total value etc. are from now on displayed under the request name on the intake overview.
  • Workflow builder UI/UX changes - improved the workflow builder interface for better usability, including workflow and block name editing improvements.
  • Auto-populated fields loading - auto-populated fields now load more seamlessly and faster, improving the user experience when working with pre-filled data.
  • History Section in Workflow Builder - We've fixed an issue where the history section in the workflow builder was not functioning as intended, ensuring a seamless workflow building experience.
  • Workflow Builder Workflow Name Display - We've made improvements to the workflow builder, now displaying only the latest version as the workflow name, enhancing clarity and streamlining the naming process.

Bug Fixes

  • Infinite scroll fix - resolved the problem of infinite scroll causing system overload and browser crashes.
  • Product attachment issue - fixed the inability to open product attachments submitted within forms.
  • Requisition approval issue  - rectified the problem allowing requisitions to be approved even after being rejected.
  • Workflow error fix - fixed the error when clicking on "approve" multiple times on the intake overview.
  • Hidden fields display issue - corrected the problem of hidden fields not being consistently shown on the intake overview.
  • Intake field update on overview screen - fixed a bug that prevented the update of intake fields on the intake overview screen. Now, users can easily update intake fields as needed.
Release 2.3
August 3, 2023

SAP Connector, UX Enhancements, Form Navigation, Search Improvements

We are exited to announce that we have launched a new SAP Connector for streamlined PRs/POs creation in SAP systems, as well as a new product & offer section that enhances user experience by displaying relevant offer options and looping for copying recurring values. Despite, we were continuously working on further improving our platform - feature flags now onboard customers more swiftly, while autopopulated fields are refined for seamless form navigation. Email designs have been updated, search capabilities are significantly enhanced, and UI improvements are made for search select fields. Furthermore, we've addressed bugs, including resolving issues with empty media submission and erratic logic in product sections.

Features

  • New SAP Connector to create PRs/POs in SAP - implemented a standardized SAP connector that enhanced our integration with SAP to streamline data collection and transfer of data. This update enhances the integration process and ensures more efficient communication between our platform and most common SAP systems. Thereby, it significantly reduces the implementation effort required by the customer as well as increasing overall customer onboarding speed, reflecting our commitment to continuous enhancement and optimization.
  • Product & Offer Section 2.0 - introducing an enhanced product and offer section to address user experience challenges. Users will now only see the offer table and the option to add offers when relevant, making the request process even more intuitive and catering the platform to specific customer needs. Dynamic looping enables requestors to copy re-occuring values across products & offers with one click. Enhanced integration, improved form logic, and streamlined data entry provide a more intuitive and efficient experience for the user.

Improvements

  • Feature flags tweaks -  Introduced feature flag improvements to onboard new customers even faster according to their requirements.
  • Autopopulated / filtered fields - improved user experience in the form when multiple fields reference each other.
  • Response time when approving a request - Improved response time when clicking on approve in the intake overview.
  • Email Design - Updated email design to make them visually more appealing for users and aligned with our corporate identity
  • Search capabilities - significantly improved our search functionalities throughout the platform to enhance user experience
  • Search select UI - updated the way search select fields using multiple columns and longer text are displayed.

Bug Fixes

  • Submitting the form with empty media - resolved a bug related to submitting the form with empty media.
  • Logic in product sections - resolved a bug causing the form to jump back to the first section when clicking "next" in a product section.
Release 2.2
July 28, 2023

Mercateo Unite integration, Lhotse MS Teams App, Dashboard enhancements

This release brings two major new features - the integration of Mercateo Unite for seamless catalog search within the forms, and the introduction of the Lhotse MS Teams App, enabling direct request initiation within Microsoft Teams. The update also includes improvements such as detailed change log events, additional data on the dashboard, enhanced file management, and various design refinements. Bug fixes address translation inconsistencies, supplier search issues, net price display problems, and offer duplication concerns.

Features

  • Unite catalogue integration - introduced the capability to integrate Mercateo Unite in Lhotse with minimal implementation effort by the customer, enabling requestors to search for products in the Unite catalog while filling out forms. Users can trigger a catalog search directly within in the form, view search results and product details in a modal, and add suitable products with one click to the request. Once the request is approved, the product details including price, vendor, and product id will be automatically transferrred to your ERP system.
  • MS Teams as starting point - implemented the Lhotse MS Teams App that allows requestors to initiate requests directly within MS Teams, without navigating to the Lhotse platform first. The Lhotse Teams App automatically synchronizes and displays published forms in your tenant. The user can then select a suitable form directly within teams before being automatically redirected to the respective section on the Lhotse platform.

Improvements

  • More detailed events in change log - added more detailed change log events to the side panel on the intake overview to ensure that change log is reflecting all audit relevant information.
  • Additional data on dashboard - additionally displaying relevant datapoints such as created date and intake name per request on the dashboard to enable users to identify requests more easily.
  • File table enhancement - added drop zones to file tables for improved file management.
  • Other smaller improvements - made additional smaller improvements such as modifying input labels in the summary tab on the sidepanel, refining the design for text and date inputs, adjusting delivery date behavior, and optimizing the polling mechanism for transmission updates.

Bug Fixes

  • Translation issues - resolved issues related to translation inconsistencies when submitting a form and being redirected to the intake overview screen.
  • Supplier search fix - fixed unexpected behavior in the supplier search within the offer modal.
  • Net price display fix - corrected the display issue where the price wasn't showing up properly in the summary tab on the side panel.
  • Offers duplication - addressed the issue where offers were not duplicated when duplicating and reusing previous submissions.
Release 2.1
July 13, 2023

Workflows enhanced, Approver overview, Streamlined intake

In this release we are happy to announce that tasks can now be included in workflows to further structured and standardize the request processes, approvers have a more comprehensive overview of the request that needs to be approved, and we introduced the capability to handle multiple products within one form, streamlining intake. The update also brings improvements to offer modal design, tasks module functionality, and the ability to delete uploaded products/offers. Furthermore, bug fixes address smaller issues related to filtered fields, form breaks, media uploads, and email notifications.

Features

Workflow tasks

Introduced the ability to integrate task actions in workflows, including prerequisites for process continuation, either as standalone tasks or within approval stages. Users can allocate tasks to designated individuals, ensuring accountable task completion prior to workflow progression, hence adding an additional layer to our workflow component. Tasks are the perfect way to further structure the request process, and ensure clear accountability, enhanced collaboration, transparency, and efficiency.

Overview of Request

Approvers now have a comprehensive view of pending requests. The newly introduced side panel displays a summary of the most important request information without having to navigate though all request details.  Approvers can view completed, current, and pending approval steps. Based on their permissions, they now also have the option to edit or view specific request details

Multiple products in form

Requestors can now include and manage multiple products within a single form, thereby even further improving the intake process. This enhancement also includes improvements in how inputs are displayed, the overall layout, and how data is presented. Moreover, users can now effortlessly upload files for each specific product section as part of this update.

Improvements

  • Offer modal changes - improved the design of the offer modal inputs for better visibility and user experience. Made adjustments to layout, spacing, and alignment. Aligned input fields with calculated fields for clear input-result relationship.
  • Tasks module enhancement - worked on enhancing the tasks module, aiming to provide improved functionality and user experience related to tasks within workflows.
  • Deleting uploaded products & offers - users have now the ability to delete uploaded products and offers
  • Tasks cut off - fixed a visual issue where tasks were being cut off by the side panel action buttons when the task list was long.

Bug Fixes

  • Filtered & hidden fields - fixed issues related to filtered fields in combination when they are hidden in the form as they were not consistently not working as expected, both in the intake overview screen and forms.
  • Form breaks - resolved a bug where the form would break upon clicking the editing option on the intake overview screen, specifically for hidden fields.
  • Media upload in Intake flow - addressed an issue where media uploads were not functioning properly within the intake flow. Users can now upload media files as intended, both in the form as well as on the intake overview screen.
  • Cannot Save an Offer - resolved an issue preventing the successful saving of offers
  • Email Notifications - fixed an issue where unexpected email notifications were being sent for specific workflow steps
Release 2.0
July 1, 2023

Lhotse 2.0: Game-changing request automation solution

Beyond the capabilities of our request automation tool, we've been on an intense journey crafting a game-changing solution for the enterprise request process in the past months. Today, we are extremely excited to introduce Lhotse 2.0 - our new innovative solution that enables requestors to create simple, fast and compliant requests while ensuring maximum transparency for all stakeholders involved. Curious to see the new features? Discover the constellation of new capabilities that Lhotse 2.0 brings to your fingertips below or contact us directly to see them in action in a live demo:

Features

Forms

  • Customizable forms - create effortlessly forms tailored to your individual request processes through our intuitive, user-friendly form builder without requiring any coding or design expertise. If you still happen to need support in creating your customized forms, our customer excellence team will be more than happy to assist you.
  • Various question formats - include a range of interactive question formats for respondents, including text, multiple choice, dropdown, master data, file upload, date, and time.
  • Conditional logic - tailor questions based on previous answers given by respondents
  • Auto-population - enable automatic population of form fields based on previously entered information or user default information.
  • Form reusability - easily duplicate and reuse forms, saving time and effort when creating similar forms or recurring processes. Perfectly guide the request creation process with our highly adaptable Lhotse Forms. With an array of intuitive features, you can easily design and customize forms to capture the necessary information for each request type and modify their appearance to align them with your organization's visual identity. No coding or technical expertise is needed.

Workflows

  • Enhanced workflow configuration - tailor and fine-tune workflows without writing a single line of code. Set up rules and conditions that automatically trigger actions or routing within the workflow to streamlined the entire request process.
  • Multistep approvals - implement (simultaneous) multistep approval processes to ensure proper authorization and adherence to company policies.
  • Communication management - manage and track communication related to requests within the tool, ensuring seamless collaboration among team members.

Other

  • Alerts/notifications - receive real-time alerts and notifications regarding task updates, deadlines, reminders and important milestones.
  • Activity dashboard - gain a comprehensive view of the workflow status, pending tasks, and track the overall progress of requests in real-time through an interactive dashboard.
  • Audit trails - maintain a detailed record of actions taken within the workflow tool for maximum transparency and compliance / accountability purposes.
  • Dashboard - gain a centralized view of all requests, empowering users to track and stay updated on the status quo of their request in real-time.
  • Search and filtering - quickly locate specific requests, tasks, or documents through the intuitive search and filter functionality on the dashboard.

Improvements

  • Offer file - enhanced the offer file uploading functionality.
  • UI adjustments - adjusted various UI elements to match new design standards.
  • Form confirmation page - improved displaying sections on the form confirmation page and harmonized the confirmation page header style with other forms pages.
  • Workflow versions - enabled editing of live workflows using the latest published version.
  • Adding products - refined the behavior of adding and editing products in forms.ges, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.

Bug Fixes

  • Incorrect Input IDs - fixed a bug causing incorrect input IDs in the form builder endpoint.
  • Product section issues - resolved issues related to offer persistence, product selection, and cost center in the product section.
  • Form saving & submission - corrected errors related to form saving, multiple product submissions, and refreshing pages.