>>>>I would make GetShopOrderDetails static and call it with:
>>>>

>>>>dtShopOrder = ERP.GetShopOrderDetails(txtSerialNum.Text);
>>>>

>>>
>>>Why static? Isn't an instance the desired return value?
>>
>>Because you wouldn't need to instantiate ERP in order to call GetShopOrderDetails()
>>
>>This is one object less to create and one object less to garbage collect
>
>Thanks. That famous C trickery? ;-)

trickery ? Not really, just efficiency