Link Vendor Items

When a vendor item is purchased, the invoice contains an item description established by the vendor. Link Vendor Items allows the Systems Administrator to modify the item description, by linking the vendor item to a PAR OPs Item. In addition, this activity provides a quick way to create and maintain order templates for specific vendors. Order templates reduce errors in the ordering process and can be updated by the Systems Administrator or Unit Mangers. Linking Vendor Items is very important to ensure that electronic invoices come through. It is also important that PAR OPs Item Units of Measure are correctly aligned to the Vendor Item Unit of Measure.

Explanation of Bands and Columns

• 'VENDOR NAME' column: The name of the vendor

• 'ITEM CODE' column: The code for the item as provided by the vendor (vendor catalog item number)

• 'ITEM DESCRIPTION' column: The item description from the vendor (description from the vendor catalog)

  • It is possible to edit the Item Description from the vendor, but this is strongly discouraged. It is best that the vendor description matches how the item would be described in the vendor's catalog. This also will cause duplicate records for items when a vendor sends a new invoice or catalog since the edited name won't match the combination of the Vendor Name, Item Code, Item Description, and Unit of Measure coming in from the vendor.

• 'UNIT OF MEASURE' column: The Unit of Measure for the specific item noted by Item Code

• 'GLOBAL' column: A check in the column notes that this is an item from a global catalog

• 'B2B BRANCH' column: This is the Vendor Branch ID for the vendor

  • A red or yellow dot will indicate that there is an issue with the linking. It can be an unlinked item, or a link without a valid unit of measure. Hovering over the dot will display a pop-up message with more details.

• 'ITEM DESCRIPTION' column: The PAR OPs item linked to the Vendor Item

• 'UNIT OF MEASURE' column: The specific Unit of Measure linked to the Vendor Item

• 'STANDARD COST': Cost which is entered into the Item Master.

• 'ITEM MEASURE ERROR' column: This will indicate whether PAR OPs suspects that there is an error with the item unit of measure based on cost.

• 'CATCH-WEIGHT MEASURE' column: Used when an item is ordered in one unit of measure but needs to be translated into another.

  • This is common for items sold by the each but purchased by the pound.

• 'CATCH-WEIGHT TARGET' column: Read-only field that displays the conversion factor between the PAR OPS Unit of Measure (shown in the Unit of Measure column) and the Catch-Weight Measure (shown in the Catch-Weight Measure column).

• 'ACCOUNT' column: The Account the item will post to. This is a read-only from the Item Master.

• 'RECOMMENDED' column: Indicates if the item is recommended as part of the template.

• 'QUANTITY' column: Indicates quantity entered in the template.

• 'PREFERENCE' column: This will determine if this item is a preferred item for ordering (see Default Vendor Item From Column in Vendors documentation for details on how this influences ordering)

• 'MINIMUM ORDER QUANTITY' column: The minimum order quantity for an item

• 'MAX ORDER QUANTITY' column maximum order quantity for an item.

• 'ORDER ALERT THRESHOLD %' column: Used to configure a warning message that triggers when an ordered quantity is less than this percent of the suggested quantity. For example, a 10% Order Alert Threshold on a suggested quantity of 100 items warns the store if they attempt to order fewer than 10 units of that item.

• 'CAN BE SPLIT' (not shown) column: If you can split an item order (i.e. order a half-case), the column will be checked.

  A split automatically assumes half.

• 'STATUS' column: Notes if it is a linked catalog item.

• 'INITIAL COST' column: Initial cost of the item.

• 'PACK DESCRIPTION' column: Pack description of the item.

  • The Initial Cost and Pack Description can be very helpful to resolve Unit of Measure issues in linking.

• 'SOURCE ID' column: The source ID for the item in the catalog.

• 'SOURCE' column: The source for the item.

• 'SOURCE CATEGORY' column: The source category for the item according to the catalog.

• 'COMMENT' column: Allows you to enter any comments needed.

Bulk Editing Vendor Items

To update a common field (such as ordering preference) across multiple vendor item rows at once, select the check box next to the item(s) you want to change, then select the Action Menu ( … ) in the upper right and choose Change Selected. Use the popup window to choose which field(s) to change, enter new values, and confirm.

Purchase Measure Selection Helper

When you link a PAR OPs Item to a Vendor Item from a catalog, it is possible that you select a Unit of Measure that does not match.

If PAR OPs detects that there is a potential mismatch between the Unit of Measure for the PAR OPs Item compared to the Vendor Item, the 'ITEM MEASURE ERROR' column will be checked, and the first row will display a yellow dot. This value is calculated based on the standard cost from the Item Master. If you need to update standard cost in the Item Master, see Update Standard Cost for an Item.

Report to Identify Unlinked Items

Running the B2B Data Linking Alert (MU) (RDC_B2BDataLinkingAlert_Rpt) displays items that are not linked.

This is a great report to put on a schedule to regularly alert Administrators to items that need to be linked so they can correct them. It should be set up on a daily schedule.

• If there are no unlinked items, the report will not deliver, ensuring that your administrator only receives alerts when there are items which need attention.

The report will show all unlinked items, what Unit imported the item, what invoice, the date, This provides details enabling the Administrator to find what exact item was on the invoice and needs to be linked.

It is grouped by vendor description, which allows you to easily see unlinked items imported to multiple stores or invoices. You can filter by invoice number to ensure all items on a specific invoice are linked.

Units can easily advise administrators of unlinked items by reviewing invoices in the Receive new B2B Documents screen in Purchases.

Invoices with unlinked items will have colored box to the left, New in the 'STATUS' column, and the Last Error will note that there are unlinked items.

Expanding details will show items with Not Ready in the 'STATE' column, indicating that the specific item is not linked.

How Do I Link Vendor Item To A PAR Ops Item?

Once you have opened Link Vendor Items, perform the following.

1. Select the appropriate filter options
2. Click Next
3. Select the Vendor Item to link
   1. A pink dot indicates the Vendor Item is not linked to a valid PAR OPs Item
   2. Vendor Items get into this activity through invoicing or by a vendor sending a catalog. A new line will be added when a unique combination of Vendor Name, Item Code, Item Description, and Unit of Measure come in from the vendor.
4. Select a PAR OPs item from the 'ITEM DESCRIPTION' column in the PAR OPs Item band
5. Select the Unit of Measure in the 'UNIT OF MEASURE' column
   1. If you select a Unit of Measure for the PAR OPs Item which does not seem to match the Vendor Item, PAR OPs will check the box in the 'ITEM MEASURE ERROR' column. Additionally, when you click out of the 'UNIT OF MEASURE' column, it will launch the Purchase Measure Selection Helper to help you select a better match
6. Enable the flag in the 'RECOMMENDED' column to add the item to the order template
7. Enter the item amount in the 'QUANTITY' column
   1. This amount displays in the order template. If left blank, the order template defaults to zero.
8. Click Done
   1. It is best to link items as an Administrator because it will link the item for future invoices. If a Unit is given the Advanced Permission to link item, the Unit can perform this action, but it links the item for that invoice only.

How Do I Add Items To A Vendor's Template?

Users with the Unit role or Multi-Unit role can create and maintain order templates using the Vendors activity.

Once you have opened Link Vendor Items, perform the following.

1. Check the box in the 'RECOMMENDED' column to add an item to the order template
2. Enter the default Quantity for the template order in the 'QUANTITY' column
   1. If 'QUANTITY' column is blank, the order template defaults to zero.

How Do I Update Standard Cost For An Item?

PAR OPs uses the Standard Cost value of items configured in the Item Master to calculate cost. The action allows the Administrator to update the Standard Cost of an item from the last B2B invoice imported. If there is no invoice with this item, the cost updates from the PAR OPs catalog for the price.

Once you have opened Vendor Item Linking, perform the following.

1. Select the item for which to re-calculate the standard cost
   1. Use the Ctrl key to select multiple items.
2. Click Actions
3. Select Update Standard Cost for Item
   1. You can also run the Update Item Standard Costs (MU) Report (RDC_UpdateItemStandardCost_Rpt).

How Do I Add/Update Vendor Price Control?

This activity updates the price of an item listed in the Purchase Cost Control activity using the price of the last B2B invoice imported. If there is no invoice with this item, the cost updates from the PAR OPs catalog for the price.

Once you have opened Vendor Item Linking, perform the following.

1. Select an item
   1. Use the Ctrl key to select multiple items.
2. Click Actions
3. Select Add/Update Vendor Price Control
   1. Purchase Cost Control allows the PAR OPs System Administrator to track the vendor purchase price against the agreed upon contract price. If an invoiced item exceeds the agreed upon amount, PAR OPs records the variance on the Cost Control Variance Report.

How Do I Create Item And Unit Of Measure?

Once you have opened Vendor Items/Barcodes

1. Click Create
2. Select Create Item and Unit of Measure (UM)
   1. If you only need to add additional UMs to an existing item, you can select the Create Item Unit of Measure
3. Enter an Item Description in the parameter
4. Select the Costing Unit of Measure  in the parameter
5. Select the Costing Unit of Measure  in the parameter
6. Enter the Number of Costing UM in Purchase UM in the parameter
7. Enter an Other UM in the parameter if appropriate
8. Enter the Number of Costing UM in Other UM if you entered a value for the Other UM field
9. Enter an Account Description in the parameter
10. Click Ok

Catch Weight

Catch Weight describes the process where a vendor sells items by weight and the customer purchases by count.

For Example: Many pre-cut meats are sold by pound but the consumer orders a specified quantity of steaks

• The customer ordered 2 Cases of ‘Sirloin Steaks, 7oz’ (Each case contains 8 packs of 8 steaks or 64 steaks per case, with each steak an average of 7 ounces)
• To fulfill the order the supplier fills each case with 64 steaks of approximately 7 ounces, and then adds up the total weight of both cases. The B2B invoice reads 57.46 lbs at $4.461 per lb.

The customer orders 2 cases of 64 steaks of approximately 7oz each. If put through our fixed unit of measure conversions it would equate to 56 lbs of ordered steak.

But 7oz is not fixed, but a target cut size for the supplier. There will be variances. Variance can be above and below the 7oz average.

A real example showed a vendor delivering 128 steaks weighing 57.46 lbs, or an average of 7.128 ounces each steak. The per-steak cost in this purchase is more expensive than a case of 7oz steaks.

The problem is not simply to convert LBs back into Cases (using the above example) because this would throw off our targets. If the 57.46 lbs was converted to the Case unit of measure, it would calculate 2.0524 Cases, or 131.3536 steaks. But only 128 steaks we received.

So, to properly convert between the measures, you have to convert the quantity and the price using a catch weight formula:

2.0524 = [57.46 Total Lbs] * [2.286 Each per Lb] / [64 Eaches in Case]

The solution is to constrain the quantity posting portion of the measure so that it adheres strictly to the counts of the measure to which it is being converted, and to make the remainder of the balancing change to the new unit of measure cost. Our conversion would create 2 Cases, or 128 steaks at $128.165 per case for a total of $256.33 which satisfies all of our business requirements.

The catch weight conversion to solves the conversion in two steps:

1. Round Purchase Quantity to the nearest integer: 2 = Round(2.0534,0)
2. Set Purchase Cost to Total Cost divided by Quantity: $128.165 = (57.46 * $4.461) / 2

How Do I Launch Catch Weight Activity?

Below are the steps on how to launch Catch Weight

1. Select Purchasing Setup from the Menu Folder
2. Select Catch Weight activity

After opening Catch Weight, click one of the links below to learn how to do one of these functions:

Explanation Of The Actions Button

• Unmatch X-Ref Vendor Item: Unlinks the Vendor Item from a PAR OPs Item
• Refresh Catalog: Reads in the Vendor catalog
• Refresh Barcodes from Catalog: Reads in the Barcodes from the Vendor catalog (barcodes can be unique to Item and Unit of Measure).
• Update Catalog Initial Cost from last Invoice: The 'INITIAL COST' column will update with the cost from your last invoice. This helps keep prices updated with your purchase costs.
• Update Catalog Initial Cost from last Price Catalog: The 'INITIAL COST' column will update with the cost from your last Price Catalog.
• Update Item Standard Cost from Catalog Initial Cost: The Standard Cost in the Item Master is updating from the Catalog Initial Cost.
• Add/Update Vendor Price Control: Adds of Updates Purchase Cost Control.
• Force B2B Import: This will ensure invoices with unlinked items will import into Purchases
  • Force B2B Import is a good action to run after you link items to ensure any units with new invoices with unlinked items get the linked items imported.
• Add Vendor Items from Global Catalog: Brings in items from a Global catalog.
  • This will add all items from the global catalog.
• Add Vendor Items from Pending B2B Invoices: This will add items that are on outstanding invoices but not in Link Vendor Items.
  • This is helpful when a unit has an invoice that is outstanding but will not come in because an item was deleted from Vendor Item Linking. This will import it so it can be linked, allowing the invoice to import into the unit.
• Add Vendor Items from Price Catalog: This will add items from the Price Catalog. This is the unit-level price catalog.
• Validate Best Purchase Measure: This will turn on the function to check Item Unit of Measure Error checking.