Using Features & Options in Sales Orders

 

Upon completing entry of a line item for which the product's Has Options? field is set to Y in FO-A  Enter Features and Options, the program will call FO-G Configure item for completion of the Option selection process.

Features within Features

Features can be set up within features, allowing you to set up a chain of choices.  For example, the first feature selected could be FABRIC.   After fabric is chosen the next feature choices could be PATTERNS or SOLIDS.  Only after one of those features is selected would actual fabric options be displayed for selection.  Each feature within a feature is considered a level.  The configurator can accommodate an unlimited number of levels of features and/or options.

Features within Options

A selected option can have its own bill of material which contains Features (inventory Type O's).  For example, you could select a particular desktop size, but then you need to know if it is to have a rounded or square edge.  Within the desktop's bill of material you would add a feature for edge detail.  In order entry the desktop size option, once selected, will have its Features displayed in a window as if a new parent product is being entered, thus allowing a second level of options.  In the same manner, any of the second level options can also contain features, thus providing a third level of options.  The configurator can accommodate an unlimited number of levels of features and/or options.

2nd Description/Specifications/Customer Cross-Reference/Comments

If an option has a second line of description, inventory specifications, or customer-cross reference item numbers or descriptions, these will automatically come into the sale order following the option.  They will be indented (without being preceded by dots) the same number of characters as the option.

Once line item entry is completed for an option structure, you can edit the option lines or comment lines (or insert comment lines) or type over the standard Description with a customized description.  When the sales order is converted to a work order, all comments and customized descriptions are passed to the work order fully intact.

Converting Sales Orders to Work Orders

When sales orders are converted to work orders through SO-N  Convert Sales Orders to Work Orders, the program will automatically pass all options coded M in the sales order Lin column over to the newly created work order's bill of materials.

If an option is a phantom assembly (inventory type B), work order bill of material records are created for each component in the phantom's bill of material, thus pulling in a set of components by means of one item number.

When a shop traveler is printed for the work order, option components passed over from sales orders are listed in a separate section of the bill of materials entitled OPTIONS SELECTED.  Any phantom assemblies are labeled and listed separately.  Any standard bill of material remarks attached to any component or option and any comments attached to any option within the sales order are printed.

The work order bill of material is a marriage of the standard components found in the manufactured item's bill of material, plus the options and phantom components selected during sales order entry.

Once a work order bill of materials is created, inventory is then allocated (for production planning purposes) for each of its components.