Help Center for Hjulius Solo

🏁 Get started with Hjulius Solo

Hjulius Solo is designed to bring customer records, tyre sets, storage locations and printing together in one program. Here is a simple way to get started.

1. Download the installation file.

   If you have not already done so, download the installation file using the link you received by email. Once the file has been downloaded, your browser may warn you about it. You may need to choose to keep or allow the file.

2. Run the installation file.

   Find the file, for example in your Downloads folder, and double-click it to start the installation.

3. Handle the Windows SmartScreen warning.

   Because the program is new, Windows SmartScreen may show a warning dialog that blocks it from running. This is a normal Windows security feature.

   • Click the "More info" text link in the warning dialog.
   • A new button, "Run anyway", appears. Click it to start the installation.
   
4. Choose your license file.

   The first time the program starts on a new computer, the "License missing" dialog appears. Click "Choose file…" and point to the license file you received from Formac. The file is copied next to the program, so you only need to do this once. The license file is required to use the program, so have it ready.

5. Log in with your customer number.

   At every startup you enter your customer number in the "Enter your customer number" box and click OK. The customer number is tied to your license and is the same for the whole company. Tick "Save your customer number" to skip this step next time. You can undo it later in Administration with "Remove saved customer number".

6. Start Hjulius Solo and create the first administrator.

   The first time the program is used, you create the first administrator account in the "Create the first administrator" box (the "Create admin" button). After that, each user logs in with their own username and password.

7. Go to Administration and complete the basic settings.

   Enter your company details (name, address, postal code, city, country, phone, organization number and Hjulius serial number), choose the language and decide how labels should be printed (ZPL or text) before you start using the program for real.

8. Create a test customer and a first tyre set.

   A good first step is to create a customer, connect a tyre set to that customer, choose a storage location and test saving the data. Tip: there is a "New..." button next to the storage location if you want to create one on the fly. The customer number is suggested automatically (from 1000) and must be a whole number.

9. Make a test print.

   Print a tyre label and, if you use that workflow, also a receipt. This lets you verify that everything is working properly.

🧩 Features in Hjulius Solo

Hjulius Solo is more than label printing. The program is built around a complete workflow for customers, tyre sets, storage and administration.

Overview and quick start

When you open Hjulius Solo, you are greeted by an overview page that helps you continue to common workflows. This makes it easier to quickly find the right function, especially for new users.

The overview (the "Overview" button at the top of the menu, or clicking the logo) opens automatically at startup. It includes the "Overview in numbers" panel showing the number of customers, tyre sets and storage locations, plus quick cards that take you to "Open customer list", "Open tyre list" and "Open storage".

At the bottom of the overview you will find "Quick links to tyre labels and accessories" (Tyre labels, Printer and Ribbon) that open the Formac webshop in your browser. There is also a separate "Webshop" button in the menu.

The left menu also includes a Help Center button that opens the help page in your browser.

Login and users

Hjulius Solo uses user accounts with permissions. The first time the program is used, the first administrator account is created. After that, users log in with a username and password.

Logging in happens in two steps. First you enter the company customer number (tied to the license) in the "Enter your customer number" box; tick "Save your customer number" to skip it next time. After that, each person logs in with their own username and password. Click the eye in the password field to show or hide the password.

Administrators can create additional users and assign different roles, such as standard users or read-only users. This lets you control who is allowed to make changes in the program.

There are three roles: Administrator (can do everything, including managing users and the Administration tools), Standard (can read and change customers, tyre sets and storage) and Read only (can only view, all save and edit buttons are disabled). Read-only users can, however, still print labels, receipts and A4 sheets.

Customer register

Under Customers, you can search the customer register, create new customers and update existing information. For each customer you can fill in the customer number (required, a whole number, suggested automatically from 1000), name/company, contact person, billing address and visiting address, postal code, city, country, phone, email, website, organization number and notes.

The customer view also works as a hub for the customer’s tyre sets. From there, you can open an existing tyre set or create a new one directly for the selected customer.

In the search field you can search by customer number, name, city, phone, contact person or email, and also by a vehicle’s registration number, which shows the customer who owns that tyre set (spaces and hyphens are ignored, so ABC 123 = ABC123). Click a column header to sort the list.

Tyre sets

Tyre sets are the core of Solo. Here you can search through sets and view information such as customer number, customer name, registration number, season, status, check-in and check-out dates, brand, dimension and storage location.

When you open a tyre set, you can link it to a customer and storage location and enter registration number, car make and model, season, studded or non-studded, tyre brand, dimension, load and speed index, DOT, rim model and rim type, price information and notes.

For each tyre set, you can also:

• Check the set in and out (drop-off and pick-up).
• Print tyre labels, a receipt or an A4 sheet.
• Change check-in and check-out dates.
• Search for low tread depth with the tread depth report.
• Attach several images and notes to the set.

Check-in and check-out

Each set has a status: "In stock", "Checked out" or "Not saved". When a customer picks up their tyres, you open the set and click "Check out". The program then asks "Do you want to free the storage location at check-out?" Choose Yes to make the location available, or No to keep it reserved. When the tyres come back, you select a storage location and click "Check in".

If you need to correct a date afterwards, use "Edit dates…". The buttons "Check out", "Check in", "Edit dates…" and "Print receipt…" become active only once the set has been saved.

Fields and tyre rows

Under "Tyres in the set" you add any number of tyre rows with position (e.g. FL/FR/RL/RR), tread depth in mm and a note. Use "Add tyre" and "Remove tyre".

You can attach several images to the set with "Add image...". Click an image to view it larger, and use "Remove selected image" or "Remove all images" when needed.

Printouts for a set

From a set you can make three different printouts: "Print label…" prints tyre labels, "Print receipt…" prints a drop-off receipt and "Print A4..." creates a complete A4 sheet with customer, vehicle and tyre information plus tread depth and notes. The receipt and A4 are printed on a normal printer, not on the label printer.

Tread depth report

Click "Tread depth report…" in the tyre list to find sets with low tread depth. Enter a threshold in "Show sets with minimum tread depth <= (mm):", choose whether checked-out sets should be included ("Include checked-out") and click "Search". Double-click a row to open the set. The list can be saved with "Save CSV…" or printed with "Print…".

Tyre labels: printing and import

The "Tyre labels" menu option has two modes. In "Print tyre labels" you fill in customer number, registration number, storage location and date, choose a tyre position or tick "Print all four tyres", optionally set "Extra copies:" and print. In ZPL mode you choose the printer in the "Select printer" dialog when printing.

In the "Import and print tyre labels" mode you can print many labels at once: click "Download CSV template", fill in the file, click "Import", optionally "Preview" and then "Print all rows". "Clear" empties the list. (This is a different CSV template than the one for customer import in Administration.)

You can also download a CSV template here so that data is prepared in a standardized way:

Storage and storage locations

Under Storage, you manage your storage locations. You can search, create, open and update storage locations. Each location has a code (required), name, warehouse/area, description and status (Active).

When you select a storage location, the "Tyre sets in selected storage location" panel is shown with customer number, name, registration number, season, status (In stock/Checked out), check-in and check-out dates, brand and dimension. The location status is shown as "available", "1 set" or "{N} sets".

A storage location that is used by tyre sets cannot be deleted directly. The program then offers to mark it as inactive instead, until no sets remain there.

Administration

Under Administration, you manage the settings that affect the entire program. Here you enter company details (name, address, postal code, city, country, phone, organization number and Hjulius serial number) and choose the language for the whole app. This is also where you decide whether tyre labels are printed as ZPL or as plain text, using the "Print as text instead of ZPL" option.

Administrators also have access to several tools, for example:

• User management and permissions ("Users…").
• Viewing logs ("Logs…", shown in English).
• Exporting customers to CSV ("Export customers to CSV…").
• Importing an old database or CSV data ("Import legacy database…").
• Backup ("Backup…") and clearing the database ("Clear database…").
• Editing the default receipt text and logo ("Edit receipt…") and manual update checks ("Check for updates").

Backup

Click "Backup…" in Administration (requires an administrator). Click "Create backup now" for an immediate copy, or tick "Enable automatic backup" and choose an interval (1, 3, 7, 14 or 30 days) and a "Backup folder:". Use "Open backup folder" to reach the files quickly.

To restore, choose "Restore backup…" and point to a backup file. The program replaces the active database and then closes so you can restart cleanly. Older automatic backups are removed over time, so copy important backups yourself to, for example, an external disk or cloud service.

Import from a previous version

With "Import legacy database…" you can move data over from older Hjulius versions. Choose the source under "Source:": "Hjulius Standard (s3db)", "Hjulius Business (mdb)" or "CSV customers". s3db and mdb bring over both customers and tyre sets; "CSV customers" imports customers only. Click "Analyze" for a safe preview before importing. A backup is created automatically and restored if anything goes wrong. Importing Business databases (.mdb) may require an extra driver from Microsoft. Contact support if you are unsure or if the import does not work.

Clear database

The "Clear database…" button removes all customers, tyre sets, tyres, storage locations and images, but does not affect user accounts. A backup is created automatically first and you must confirm. The function is useful for starting fresh with an empty database before an import.

Customize the receipt

With "Edit receipt…" you customize the drop-off receipt: title, logo, standard information and footer/terms. The company name, address and phone number are fetched automatically from your company details. When you print a receipt, you can also add a temporary extra text for that specific receipt.

🛠️ Troubleshooting

Here are common issues and what you can do about them.

"It is not possible to log in."

• If the program is brand new, make sure the first administrator has been created.
• If the admin account needs to be restored, you can contact Formac for a recovery code.

"Some buttons are greyed out or cannot be used."

• You may be logged in with a role that only has read access.
• Contact the administrator if you need a user account with permission to change or delete information.
• Read-only users can still print labels, receipts and A4 sheets.

"No tyre label is printed at all."

• Make sure printing is sent to the correct printer.
• Restart both the app and the printer.
• Try printing a test page from Windows to confirm that the printer is working.

"The text is misaligned or cut off."

• This is often caused by printer settings or the wrong label format.
• Choose whether the label should be printed as ZPL or as text. In Administration there is the "Print as text instead of ZPL" option. ZPL usually gives the best result; for text printing you must check the paper size and print settings yourself in Windows.
• In ZPL mode you choose the printer in the "Select printer" dialog when printing. Make sure the correct label printer is selected. Calibration is done on the Zebra printer itself (feed button/driver), not in Hjulius.

"I cannot delete a storage location."

• If the storage location is used by tyre sets, those sets must first be moved or closed.
• Alternatively, the storage location can be marked as inactive instead of deleted until no tyre sets remain there.

"I am unsure whether a customer should be deleted."

• When a customer is deleted, the customer’s linked tyre sets and tyres are deleted as well.
• Always make sure that both the customer and the linked tyre sets should be removed before confirming deletion.

"I have forgotten the admin password and cannot get in."

• Click "Restore admin" in the login dialog.
• Contact Formac for a recovery code, paste it in, enter a new admin username and password and click "Restore". The code is valid only for your customer number, can be used once and has an expiry date.

"The program closed after I entered the wrong customer number several times."

• After three incorrect attempts, "Too many attempts" is shown and the program closes as a safety measure. Start it again and enter the correct customer number (it is in your license / the email you received from Formac).

"The program closed after I restored a backup."

• This is intended. When a backup is restored, the active database is replaced and the program closes so you can restart cleanly. Just start Hjulius again.

"The logs are shown in English."

• The log view ("Logs") is intentionally English-only regardless of the language the app is running in.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)