You will find that the Customer Specific Inventory Tutorial will present a lot more background information than earlier parts of the tutorial. By now, the mechanics of moving around the system should be getting fairly easy for you. The difficult aspect of Customer Specific Inventory is understanding concepts and later applying those concepts to what you need to do. In addition, Customer Specific Inventory has a lot of different aspects and is used by different people in different ways.
The Customer Specific Inventory Node is where most Customer Specific Inventory functions are performed. Because Customer Specific Inventory integrates with order entry, some work involved with processing Customer Specific Inventory accounts will be performed from the Order Entry Node.
Before entering the Customer Specific Inventory module, there are several basic data fields that should be completed or reviewed. These fields exist in records that you should already be familiar with and can be integral in the operation of CSI.
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Order Entry > View > Item. Now, using the Find action, look for the record of an item that you will be adding to CSI. For this example, find item # ABC12.
| • | Customer - In most cases a Customer Specific Item means just that: it is specific to one and only one customer. When this is true, the item record should reflect the Customer Code for which it is specific. In the example, this item is specific to Customer ABC. |
| • | Customer Item Number – Though not always available, your customer may have their own code by which they know and refer to this product. This code can be used to find this product in the future and can be made to appear on customer documentation for clarity. ABC, for instance, refers to product ABC12 as SI001G-REV A. |
| • | CSI Item – This option in the bottom portion of the Item Record will be necessary to check for any product that will be available through CSI. Notice the example Item Record already has this checked. Clicking on this option will reveal the need to enter an Inventory Unit of Measure, in this case Mills (M) has already been provided. This unit of measure is meant to be the measure in which you will want to track inventory levels and ultimately release product. As with packing information, it is usually best to list the smallest UOM in which you will handle this product. |
Order Entry > View > Customer > Shipping. Now, using the Find action, look for a customer that you will be adding to CSI. For this example, let’s look at the record for code ABC.
| • | Link to Operator – This option works in conjunction with the Minimum Stock Quantities we will be entering for each item in CSI. Linking a specific operator to a customer’s record will ensure that when inventory for this customer falls below acceptable levels the operator will receive a system message alerting them of the situation. This can be an invaluable tool in organization, customer service, maintaining inventory control and being proactive in future sales. |
Use the Go Menu to switch to the Customer Specific Inventory Node.