Control has added the ability to set a Due Date on the Line Item level. This page contains information explaining this new feature.

Control originally supported Order level Due Dates. For many users, this is sufficiently granular since the entire order is normally due at the same time. However, this approach has some limitations for the following types of customer:

• Those using a composition approach to building their products
• Those using separate products or child products for pricing that really represent a part of the production process.

For both of these customers, the Order level Due Date is insufficient. As an example, imagine the following scenario:

Order 1234 is for a single digital print (to keep things simple) and must be shipped to the customer location for arrival within 7 days. The price the customer is given is $100, which represents $70 for the printing and $30 for the design. The order is entered as one line item for $70 (digital print) and one line item for $30 (design). The order is being shipped (at no additional charge) via 2 day shipping.

In this case, the order due date (at the customer location) is 7 days. Clearly, starting the design or even the print 6 days from now is too late, even if it only takes an hour to print. These modifications would allow Order 1234 to be set up as follows:

• An order due date in 7 days (or 5 to indicate the production ready date if desired).
• A shipped due date in 5 days.
• A line item due date in 4 or 5 days for the digital print.
• A line item due date in 3 days for the design.

Of course, the exact dates chosen in any given business might vary, but hopefully the point is still conveyed.

No known cautions at this time

• To set the Due Date on a Line Item, open it up and go to the Advanced Tab on the pricing form; there is a Due Date field that can be set to the desired date for that Line Item. Unless overridden, this will be the same date as the Order Due Date.
• On the Shipping Tab, a new field has been added to each Shipment named Shipped Due Date. This field will default to the Order Due Date, and can be overridden. If the Order Due Date is changed, this field will automatically change.
• In the Line Item Explorer, the Due Date column will display the Line Item Due Date, and this column is sortable.

In Production Terminal, the filter for the Due Date range now filters on the Line Item Due Date instead of the Order Due Date.

• Work Order - this report now shows how much of each line item is due on each Shipment and the Shipment's Due Date.
• Pending Shipments
  • Shipped Due Date was added as an option to the grouping.
  • Shipped Due Date was added as a sort field.
  • A column was added to display the Line Item's Due Date.
• WIP report - now displays each Line Item's Due Date.

Contributor: Tisha White, Cyrious Software

Date: 9/2/2011

Version: Control 4.5.1108.3101