Order Guide Maintenance
Order Guides are groups of products hosted in the EPRO system that are maintained through both buyer and supplier efforts. Suppliers sometimes send contract price updates, which will be accepted or rejected by the buyer, ultimately changing the price of items on order guides. Additionally, when suppliers make updates to their product catalog in the system these changes can potentially cause changes to item availability on order guides. If this happens it is the responsibility of the buyer to locate suitable replacement items or to request items be added by the supplier.
Add an Order Guide
There are certain criteria required to create an order guide. Every field that requires information will help to shape your order guide. Fields required are marked with an asterisk (*). The steps to creating a new Order Guide are as follows.
Go to View > Account Setup > Order Guide Maintenance.
Click the green plus sign .
Enter the Order Guide Name and Number.
Choose an Order Guide Manager by clicking on the ellipsis (…).
Choose a Default Distributor Location.
Decide whether you would like to impose an Order Guide Allowance, if so enter the amount in the space provided.
Select Yes if it is a Punch Out order guide.
Select Column Options by referencing an existing order guide for the same vendor.
Once complete, click Save.
Upload an Order Guide
Order Guides are used in the EPRO system to create a controlled purchasing environment for the field users. Order Guides consist of a pre-determined list of items that the indicated client can purchase from. When an existing Order Guide is found matching the Order Guide being uploaded, the matching Order Guide is updated instead of creating a new one.
Below are instructions for uploading an Order Guide. There are three parts to this guide: downloading the template, updating the template, and finally, uploading the template.
Select Tools > Uploads.
On the Upload screen, make sure the Upload to EPRO tab is selected as well as the Advanced Mode option.
Using the dropdown control just beneath the Advanced Mode radio button, select Order Guides.
A link to download a template will appear just below the control. Select it to download the template in Excel format.
Find and open the template (.xlsx) file downloaded above on your computer.
In the file, you will notice two worksheets that make up the template. The first worksheet in the workbook, labeled Header, represents the Order Guide header information, namely the Order Guide Number, Name, and Buyer, while the other worksheet, labeled Template, represents the Order Guide details, namely the items and quantities orderable. The third tab, labeled Field Description, is informational only.
Enter all information on both tabs and save when done. It is helpful to rename the file to something recognizable and relevant to the file’s content. For example, VendorName_OrderGuide_2017.xlsx.
Click on the Browse… button and select your file.
Click the Upload button and wait for the results of the data to be displayed in the grid below. Note that the data has not been processed yet. This will give you an opportunity to verify the contents of your spreadsheet and any potential problems which might exist prior to importing your data.
If you are satisfied with the conditions of your data, click the Import button. The data will be imported and you will receive an email containing a report showing processing results. If you are not satisfied with the data showing, your spreadsheet can be altered and uploaded again using these same steps.
Header definitions
Required Fields
Allow Distributor To Manage YN—set to Y (yes) to allow for continued supplier management of the order guide. This will enable the supplier to make edits as needed to the order guide.
Allowance Amount- set to 0
Allowance YN - set to N (no)
Buyer Name - this is the buyer account you are creating the order guide for (must be displayed exactly as-is in the system) (contact techsupport@reactornet.com if you need this information)
Manager Name - first and last name of the corporate purchaser on the buyer account (contact techsupport@reactornet.com if you need this information)
Order Guide Name - The order guide name. Use a unique, easily identifiable order guide name so that the field user can identify your order guide in their listing.
Order Guide Number - A unique order guide number to identify the order guide.
Vendor Name - must be configured exactly as it is presented in OneSource
Warehouse Name - must be configured exactly as it is presented in OneSource
Optional Fields
Buyer Number Y/N - Setting this as Y (yes) will allow any buyer designated number to show for the applicable item
Data 1 Y/N - Setting this as Y (yes) will allow the Data 1 designator to appear in the order guide. (For more information related to Data 1, contact techsupport@reactornet.com).
Data 2 Y/N - Setting this as Y (yes) will allow the Data 2 designator to appear in the order guide. (For more information related to Data 2, contact techsupport@reactornet.com).
Days Discontinued Items Valid - Setting a value in this column will keep any discontinued items on the order guide for the number of days designated. Users will not be able to order these items—they will appear on the order guide with a “non-reorderable” symbol next to them until they expire off of the guide.
Days Items Considered New - Setting a value in this column will indicate the number of days a new item on the order guide is flagged as new. If you do not wish to use this feature, delete the column from the order guide header tab..
Distributor Number Y/N - Setting this as Y (yes) will allow the distributor item # to be visible.
Group By - Order Guides can be grouped by BC (buyer category); CSC (System Category) or VC (vendor category). Most order guides are grouped by VC (vendor category)
Item Count per Unit Y/N - Setting this to Y (yes) will display the item count per unit, which is helpful in determining how many units of an item need to be ordered.
MSRP Y/N - Setting this as Y (yes) will allow the item’s MSRP to be visible to the field user.
Model Number Y/N - Setting this as Y (yes) will allow the item’s model # to be visible to the field user.
Order By - Setting an order by designator will dictate when an item must be ordered by.
Par Level Y/N - This field is used in conjunction with the EPRO inventory functionality. Setting this to Y (yes) will indicate the par level requirements for the particular item. If the unit’s Quantity on Hand is below the par level indicated, then they need to re-order.
Product Description Y/N - Setting this as Y (yes) will display an item’s long description underneath the item name.
Quantity On Hand Y/N - This field is used in conjunction with the EPRO inventory functionality. Setting this to Y (yes) will indicate how many of the item is on hand (based on receiving and inventory counts), which assists with accurate ordering practices.
Quantity On Order Y/N - Setting this to Y (yes) will indicate if the item is currently on order.
Rebate Amount Y/N - Setting this to Y (yes) will allow any buyer rebates to display on the order guide.
Vendor Number Y/N - Setting this as Y (yes) will display the vendor item # to the field user.
Note
When creating an Order Guide using a Supplier Template, you cannot affect the name, number or distribution location. You can add and remove products, but you will not be able to change the products a Supplier has selected for that order guide. You have full control over adding locations.
Add Products and Locations to an Order Guide
The next step after creating an order guide is to add products and locations to the applicable order guide. To add a Location, follow the steps below.
Go to View > Account Setup > Order Guide Maintenance.
Locate the Order Guide.
Click the blue numerical hyperlink under Locations.
Select the green plus sign .
A new window will pop-up, search for the location you wish to add.
Check the box next to the location(s) you wish to add and click Save.
To add a Product or products, the steps are similar to that of adding a location.
Go to View > Account Setup > Order Guide Maintenance.
Locate the Order Guide.
Click the blue numerical hyperlink under Products.
Select the green plus sign
A new window will pop-up, search for the product you wish to add.
Check the box next to the product(s) you wish to add and click Save
Note
While in order guide maintenance, you have the ability to view current order guides by Supplier or Location. To perform this function, select the yellow View button located at the top of your order guide list and choose your preference. To verify that locations or products were successfully added, note that the blue hyperlink numerical value for either column has increased.
Options List
Suggested Order Quantity - This setting must be enabled in the Order Guide Maintenance screen for the specific order guide. This setting goes hand in hand with Inventory information setup in the system. When using the Inventory function to keep track of items, this column will show the suggested quantities to place an order for according to what is available in inventory
Customize an Order Guide
Users have the ability to create and manage their own custom order guides. They can also dictate which Order Guides an item appears on from the perspective of the product. This includes the ability to create, name, and manage custom Order Guides for individual locations. The ability to assign items to a user’s custom Order Guides from other places where the item name is displayed, including in the Product Catalog as well as the Receiving screen.
Go to View > Purchasing > Order Guides then select an Order Guide. You can also click Use an Order Guide from the Quick Links panel.
Select your property location if one is not already pre-selected for you.
Select an Order Guide with items you wish to order.
Click the blue star next to an item you wish to manage Order Guides for.
Click the green plus sign button to create a new Order Guide.
Enter the desired Order Guide # and Order Guide Name in the boxes provided, then click Save to commit the change.
Click the Location Count hyperlink in the corresponding column to add a location to your Order Guide. Note that if you are only assigned to one location, that location will be automatically assigned.
Click the green plus sign button to select a location for your Order Guide.
Click the checkbox next to the location you wish to attach to your Order Guide, then click Save.
Click the black X in the top right-hand corner of the Order Guide Locations screen to return to the Item Order Guide Maintenance screen.
Click the black X in the top right-hand corner of the Item Order Guide Maintenance screen to return to the original Order Guide to select other products.
If you wish to add other items to the your new custom Order Guide, click the blue star next to those items, then click the checkbox next to your new custom Order Guide.
To access your new Order Guide, repeat steps 1-2 then select the new Order Guide from the list.