Concepts
Products are items that customers purchase. Any finished item sold by itself, not just as an option for another item, is a product. For example, in a pizzeria, the products might be pizza, lasagna, garlic bread, etc.
Products also track basic information about themselves. Recorded information always includes quantity, but might also include other details like size, weight, and color, or particulars like the style of pizza (e.g. flat, pan, square) or type of flour (e.g. white or wheat). These are properties of the product, which are recorded in either variables or modifiers.
In general, variables allow greater flexibility than modifiers, but modifiers are easier to maintain and reuse for multiple products. For most of the manual, we will explore the use of variables. Later in this manual, we will discuss modifiers in more detail and explain why and when they are easier to use.
Screens
Product entry consists of several different tab sheets. The Advanced tab allows you to choose which sheets to display, giving you the option to turn off those you do not use frequently, and turn on those not normally displayed by default.
PRODUCT TAB
| Main Menu | Setup | Pricing Setup | Product Setup | Product Tab |
Figure 3 1 Product Tab
INFORMATION FIELDS
| Product Code | Enter the name of the product. This name is used to lookup the product throughout the program. The product code must be unique among products. To rename the product code after you have saved the product, you must click on the Rename button. | ||
| Product Codes can be referenced in pricing forms or product layouts. If you rename a product code, you must manually change all references to the product in any pricing forms or products where that Product code appears. | |||
| Product Category | Use this field to select the product category for a product. The Product Categories appear in the product tree. | ||
| Display Name | Use this field to enter an alternate name for the product that can optionally be used on reports and as a hint within Control. Often the product code is not adequately descriptive for use on estimates/invoices; here you may include a description of up to memo size. By default, this text will be the same as the product code itself. | ||
| Bar Code | Records the bar code for this product. With the purchase of an external font package, Cyrious Control can print bar codes on invoices, work orders, and other customized reports. Enter or scan the numeric barcode to use for a product into this field. Cyrious will automatically encode it as a Product, so you may duplicate Bar Code numbers between Products, Parts, and other types of information. | ||
| Starting Station | If you are using stations to track the progress of a line item through production, you may want this product to start in a particular stage. Enter the desired stage here. | ||
| Production Time | Record the default amount of time (in days) it will take to produce this product, if appropriate. The default production time that is the longest of all the line items in an order is used to determine the initial due date for that order. | ||
| Pricing Family | Use this field to set a pricing family for the product. | ||
| Taxability code | Use this field to set a taxability code for the product. | ||
| Image | You may provide an image for this product that will appear in Quick Products. This image can also be printed on the invoice and work-order. | ||
| Active | When a product is no longer offered, rather than deleting the product, you should set it as inactive by unchecking this box. Inactive products are not shown to the operator when entering orders. You may also hide inactive products in Product Setup by unchecking the “Show Inactive” checkbox below the product tree. | ||
| Product is a child by default | Cyrious Control allows for one product to be listed underneath another product, as though it is a part of that product. The pricing for child products is normally attributed to its parent product. If a product is designated as a child product by default, anytime this product is added to an order it will automatically become the child of the product above it. If there are no other products yet in the order, the product will not be a child product. | ||
| Product is a child only | If this checkbox is checked, anytime this product is added to an order it will automatically become the child of the product above it. Furthermore, the operator will not be allowed to promote this product and make it a top-level product. If there are no other products yet in the order, the operator will not be allowed to add this product to the order. | ||
| Exclude product from promotions | If this checkbox is checked, percentage based promotions will not apply to this product. For example, if you have a 10% promotion that excludes shipping, checking this box for shipping products would prevent the discount from being applied to them. | ||
| Recalculate price on status change | Normally, changing the status of an order does not recalculate the pricing. If you want the pricing of a product to change automatically, check this option (such is the case for pricing based on actual costs). Checking this box tells Control to recalculate the pricing when the status of an order changes. | ||
| Setting this option will noticeably slow down the process of changing the status of an order. Only use this setting when absolutely necessary. | |||
| All Notes | This is a combination of all of the notes on the subsequent tabs. This display is read-only. To change any value, click on the appropriate tab and enter the new information. | ||
| Description | Record the default description used for this product. The description is a text summary of the product and is usually included on the invoice and estimate for the customer to see. | ||
| Flags | Flags are special “pop-up” messages that the operator will see whenever entering an order for this product. Flags might contain special instructions that you want the operator to know | ||
| Online Help | This provides a place to record any information about the product that may be helpful to the operator when entering the order. Typical information might include product specifications, warranty information, answers to frequently asked questions, and upselling ideas. | ||
| Internal Notes | Record any product-specific information you want to print on the work-order when this product is ordered. These are internal notes not viewed by the customer. | ||
| Invoice Notes | Record information for the customer's benefit that you want to print on the invoice when this product is ordered. This is often used for installation or warranty information. How and where this information is printed is a function of the invoice. |
Pricing Tab
| Main Menu | Setup | Pricing Setup | Product Setup | Pricing Tab | Figure 3 2 Pricing Tab A product must contain pricing for the default pricing plan. However, a product may contain pricing for any number of other pricing plans. To switch views between the different pricing plans, click on the desired plan located at the top of the screen. During order entry, Control automatically selects the appropriate pricing plan based on the pricing plan assigned to the customer. Sales Account Identify the general ledger income account to associate with this product. When an order is marked as a Sale, the General Ledger records income under the applicable Sale Account. Often, many products use the same GL Sale Account when there is no bookkeeping reason to differentiate between product sales. PreDiscount Price Your price for the product. Enter the value or formula for the price. To select a saved formula from the formula templates box, click inside the PreDiscount Price box and double-click on the desired template. You may also use the formula builder by clicking on the Fx Builder button to the right of the formula entry box. BuiltIn Discount Enter the value or formula for the built-in discount. This discount typically applies to high-volume discounts. Any value given to the built-in discount will not appear as a line item. To include a visible discount, use the Default Discount function instead. Default Discount Enter the value or formula for the displayed discount. This will appear on the invoice and estimate, usually referred to as “Discount”. Product Warnings Enter a formula to test for any potentially problematic situations. Provides a warning message to the User when the line item pricing form is closed. The User may still save the product with warnings. When there are no warnings, an empty string is returned. Product Errors Enter a formula to test for any potentially problematic situations. Provides a warning message to the User when the line item pricing form is closed. The User cannot save the product while any errors are returned. When there are no warnings, an empty string is returned. Formula Templates Create and select a saved formula by using the Formula Template box. If this box is not visible, click and drag on the size bar to reveal it. To create your own saved formula, select the Add button at the bottom of the box. Inside the New Pricing Formula screen, you may either write your own formula or select the formula builder button to create your own formula. Advanced Pricing Options | Main Menu | Setup | Pricing Setup | Product Setup | Pricing Tab | Advanced button | Clicking on the Advanced button opens a window with several extra pricing options. Figure 3 3 Advanced Pricing Options Base Min To set a minimum base price (pre-discount price – built-in discount price), enter a value or formula in this field. If the base price is less than this amount, regardless of quantity, then the base minimum is used instead. SubTotal Min The subtotal will never be less than the amount specified in this field, regardless of quantity. Per Piece Min To set a minimum base price per piece, enter a value or formula in this field. The unit price of your product will not fall below the value entered. Rounding Select how the product subtotal is rounded for a given product. Taxes occur after the rounding and result in a non-rounded number even when rounding is enabled for a product. Display Unit Price based on You may want to consider the unit price of a product based on a variable different from quantity. For instance, if you were selling shoes, you might want to choose to consider the unit price based on “pairs” rather than the quantity of shoes. You may select any of the numeric variables assigned to the product as the unit variable. Control will automatically adjust the unit price calculations that display on invoices, estimates, work orders, order entry screens, etc. Pricing Family Some products are discounted based on the total quantity of similar products in an order and not just the number of this product. If this applies, select the pricing family that these products belong to for grouping purposes. Include modifier cost in product's cost before applying multipliers If this box is checked, the costs for all modifiers are combined into the product's cost before any cost-plus calculations are performed. If this box is unchecked, the price and cost for each modifier are calculated individually. Variables Tab | Main Menu | Setup | Pricing Setup | Product Setup | Variables Tab | Figure 3 4 Variables Tab This tab allows Users to select the variables used by the product and set the variables' units, default value, and other distinctions. Adding a variable in this screen automatically adds it to every pricing plan, though unique default values and characteristics may be set for each pricing plan. Click on the appropriate pricing plan to switch views between the variable configurations for each. When you click on a variable being displayed in the variable tree, the configuration information for that variable is displayed on the right. You may override any of the global variable settings for this individual product. For information on configuring variables, refer to the Global Variable Setup section of this manual. Modifiers Tab | Main Menu | Setup | Pricing Setup | Product Setup | Modifiers Tab | Like variables, modifiers are associated with products. While modifiers are not as flexible to use as variables, they do have their own pricing and costing capabilities which makes them easier to use for stand-alone options that are consistently applied to many products. Figure 3 5 Modifiers Tab Modifier Grid This grid displays all of the modifiers currently associated with this product. To add a modifier, click on the Add button and select the modifier to add. To remove a modifier, check the box in the first column and click the Remove button. You may not change any of the values directly in the grid, but selecting an item in the grid will display its information in the right-side panel. The information displayed on the right of this panel will vary based on the particular type of modifier being displayed. Not all of these options are available for all modifiers. General Modifier Options Show in the modifier grid in order/estimate entry Check this box if you want the modifier to appear in the list of “All Options” displayed in the modifier grid. If this box is not checked, the modifier will not be displayed in this list. It remains active and can be used without restriction otherwise. Default None, Answer not required Select this option to specify no answer is required to save this order. No default will appear. Default None, Answer required Select this option to specify that an answer be required to save this order. No default will appear. Default Value Select this option if you want to enter a default value for this modifier. For yes/no and list modifiers, select the default value from the list provided. For other modifier types, enter the default value in the edit box provided. List-Based Modifier Options Use Modifier List Check this option to use the default “Selection List” entered in the Modifier tab of modifier setup. This is the default setting. Use Alternate List Check this option to select a different Selection List to use with this modifier for this product. Click on the Edit List button to add or edit the values in the Selection List. Note that changing these values will change them for all modifiers or variables that use that Selection List. Default Part Consumption Formulas For selection lists that link to parts, the consumption formula is normally entered in the selection list itself. Alternately, the selection list can lookup the consumption formula in the variable or modifier using it. In this case, you will need to enter the consumption formula for these lists here by clicking on the Add button. If the necessary consumption formulas are in the selection list itself, leave these fields blank. Use Dependent List From (if possible) The selection list used by the modifier can be set to vary based on another user selection. Select this box to use the secondary list from the list used by another variable. Enter the variable and selection list name to use. If this variable/name is not found, the default list will be used instead. Add Remove Modifier Dialogue You may add and remove links between the product and modifier by clicking on the Add or Remove buttons on the Modifier tab. This opens the Add/Remove Modifier Dialogue. Figure 3 6 Add/Remove Modifier Dialogue Modifier Grid Displays all of the modifiers linked directly to this product. To add a modifier, select the modifier on the left and click on the Add button. To remove a modifier, select the modifier to remove on the right and click the Remove button. Parts Tab | Main Menu | Setup | Pricing Setup | Product Setup | Parts Tab | One of the most significant highlights in Control is the beneficial capacity to break products down into parts. The most direct mechanism for relating parts to products is in the Parts Tab of the Product or in the Product Tab of the Part. Figure 3 8 Parts Tab Inclusion Formula There are often numerous configurations for a product in Control. The inclusion formula specifies when a part is included in a product. Include this part always Select this option to specify that part is always included when the product is ordered. Include this part when this expression is True Select this option if the part can sometimes be included when the product is ordered, but not always. Enter a logical, true/false expression in the formula box. Control evaluates the formula each time a variable in the product changes to determine if the part should be included or not. Consumption Formula Once Control has determined that a part is to be included, it calculates the amount of the part to be consumed in the order. The consumption formula calculates the usage of this part (before rounding and scrap setup in the part) in a given order. Consume this much when ordered Enter the consumption formula in this box. The final value must be returned in the unit identified in the next field. In units of To facilitate different ways of measuring, different parts may be recorded in different units. Select your units from this drop-down box to indicate the units that the consumption formula returns. Normally, the consumption formula will return a value in the default units for the product. If you want to choose a custom calculation, select (none) from the list and do the units conversion explicitly in the consumption formula. REPLENISHMENT FORMULA *Note: This option is only available in versions 04.50.1103.2201 and later. This field is part of the Fulfillment feature. For more information on fulfillment, click on this link: fulfillment_overview. Once Control has determined that a part is to be included, it calculates the amount of the part to be produced in the order. The replenishment formula calculates the produced amount of this part (before rounding and scrap setup in the part) in a given order. | Replenish this much when ordered | Enter the replenishment formula in this box. The final value must be returned in the unit identified in the next field. | ||||||||||||||||
| In units of | To facilitate different ways of measuring, different parts may be recorded in different units. Select your units from this drop-down box to indicate the units that the replenishment formula returns. Normally, the replenishment formula will return a value in the default units for the product. If you want to choose a custom calculation, select (none) from the list and do the units conversion explicitly in the replenishment formula. | ||
| What is the value (cost) of all inventory replenished? | This formula computes the dollar value of the restocked inventory. The default value of this field is “TotalCost”. | ||
| And offset any adjustments to Inventory from this GL Account | This field allows the user to specify the GL Adjustment Account used for this the inventory replenishment. |
Add/Remove Parts Dialogue
You may add and remove links between the product and parts by clicking on the Add or Remove buttons on the Parts tab. This opens the Add/Remove Parts Dialogue.
Figure 3 9 Add/Remove Parts Dialogue
Parts Grid Displays all of the parts linked directly to this product. To add a part, select the modifier and click on the Add button. To remove a part, select the part to remove on the right and click the Remove button.
| You can add a part to a product multiple times. This is especially useful for labor that is in several parts of the production process. | Variation Grid Tab | Main Menu | Setup | Pricing Setup | Product Setup | Variation Grid Tab | Often you will want to easily compare multiple configurations of your product to determine the incremental price, best machine, or other information. The variation grid allows you to set up multiple configurations that can be calculated and compared. Figure 3 10 Variation Grid Tab The Variation Grid tab allows you to customize the columns that will show up on the various grids shown throughout Control. Use Variation Grid Check this box to enable variation grids for this product. | Variation Grids are only applicable to Estimates. For Orders, Control assumes the configuration is known and does not enable variation grid calculations. | Column Variable Select the first variable in the variation grid. Most commonly this is Quantity but you can choose any variable assigned to the product. Row Variable For two dimensional variation grids, select the variable to fill in the rows with. For one-dimensional variation grids, choose (none). Add Column/Row Click here to add a new column or row value to the variation. Enter the appropriate column/row heading. | Creating a large number of rows and columns in the variation grid may dramatically slow order entry down, since each cell in a variation grid requires a complete recalculation of the line item (and possibly the order). | Delete Column/Row To delete a column or row, click in the appropriate Column/Row and click this button. Modify Column/Row To modify a column or row heading, click in the appropriate Column/Row and click this button. Enter the new value and click OK. Move Row Up/Down To reorder the rows, select a cell and click one of these buttons. Move Column Up/Down To reorder the columns, select a cell and click one of these buttons. Calendar Tab For products entered into a line item, you may want to include a work assignment on the Activity Manager calendar. This is helpful for products that correspond to an event or action, or simply for scheduling the work involved. To enable scheduling a work assignment when entering an order for this product, check the Schedule work assignment for this product box. | Main Menu | Setup | Pricing Setup | Product Setup | Calendar Tab | Figure 3 11 Calendar Tab The remaining fields will not be displayed unless scheduling is enabled. Required for orders Check this box to make scheduling a work assignment mandatory when entering an order containing this product. If this box is not checked, the use of work assignments for this product will be optional for Orders. Required for service tickets Check this box to make it mandatory to schedule a work assignment when entering a service ticket for this product. Schedule for estimates using this product Check this box to allow work assignments to be scheduled for estimates. If this box is not checked, work assignments are only allowed for orders and service tickets. Required for estimates This box is enabled when Schedule for estimates using this product is checked. Check this box to make scheduling a work assignment mandatory when entering an estimate using this product. Default to [ ] days from order/estimate date To schedule a work assignment a few days ahead of the order or estimate, enter the default number of days into the edit box that the work assignment should be scheduled. Use a work assignment template The information entered in this template will appear as a default in the actual work assignment when it is created during order or estimate entry. If you enter a work assignment template, the information entered will be used as the basis for any work assignments created. Advanced Tab Because different companies have diverse needs, you may indicate which section in the product setup to display as tabs. The Advanced Tab allows you to select tabs. Tabs not displaying across the top are still accessible from the Advanced Tab. | Main Menu | Setup | Pricing Setup | Product Setup | Advanced Tab | Figure 3 12 Advanced Tab Each tab is listed as a button. If the box View as tab is checked, that tab will be displayed across the top of the window. If the box is not checked, you can still access the screen by clicking on the button with the tab name on it in this screen. This will open the selected screen in a separate pop-up window. To save the tabs you are displaying as your default configuration, click on the Save Tabs button. Effective Use Control's flexibility gives the User unprecedented power. The ability to define products in your own vision and processes allows you to mold Control to your business. With all of this flexibility comes choice. Effectively defining your products and using this flexibility wisely is an important part of creating a robust product. Tips for Deciding Between Variables and Modifiers Both variables and modifiers are properties of a product that store information. Initially, the choice to use either variables or modifiers may cause a bit of uncertainty for new Control Users. Variables permit greater flexibility, but must be set up for each product individually. Variables can be used in pricing, but variables themselves do not hold pricing or costing information . Modifiers are self-contained options that can be easily added to a product or group of products. Unlike variables, modifiers can contain both pricing and costing information. This makes modifiers ideal for kits, add-ons, and up-selling options that are separate from the core product. Variables are used in the base price. Modifiers are added to the base price. * Use variables for properties used by other properties. Area uses both height and width. This interaction means that height and width will probably work best as variables and not as modifiers. * Properties that are dependent on another property should also be used as variables. For example, if the paper stock is dependent upon the paper category, the paper category must be a variable. * Use variables for properties that are conceptually not options. Properties like quantity, size, and description are intrinsic aspects of a product and so are better implemented as variables. As a variable, a core property is more flexible to price. In addition, the dependency of other properties on the core variables usually makes variables a better choice for these core properties. * Use modifiers for kits, add-ons, and up-selling options. * Use modifiers for options that can be priced or valued independently. Even if the property does not represent a separate kit, it is easier to set up a separately priced or valued option as a modifier. * Use modifiers to add new properties to different existing products. From one screen, you can apply a single modifier to every product you have, or just certain products. If you want to add properties quickly to a large number of products, modifiers make this easier. * Use modifiers if you want to account for the cost separately. Some businesses like to split optional up-selling revenue apart from the core sale for commission or incentive tracking. If this applies to you, you might consider using modifiers to separate these sales. | If you are not sure, use a variable. The last rule is that variables are safer than modifiers. If you choose to make a property a modifier, and later other properties are linked to it, you will have a problem. Variables may require more work to use, but their greater flexibility eliminates potential problems in the future. | |||||||||||||||||||
- Use Product Warnings and Product Errors messages to help enforce rules. Warnings and Errors are powerful ways to make sure that the data entered is valid and/or provide cautionary flags when it might not be. Even a simple formula in Product Warnings like the following may prevent numerous errors:
IF Height > 48 inches THEN
"Material over 48 inches must be specially ordered"
ELSE
""
ENDIF
+
IF CustomColor THEN
"Notify Customer that exact PMS matches are not Guaranteed"
ELSE
""
ENDIF
Figure 3 13 Example of Formula
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