Reference-only items are items that you do not sell; instead,
you always sell an alternate item in place of the original item.
When creating your inventory database, you will need to
link your reference items to the alternate items.
For example, when you receive customer requests for an
item you do not sell that is similar to an item you do sell, add an item record
for the item you do not sell with an alternate code of R in the (LE) Inventory
Parameters screen. Then set up an alternate item for the reference-only item.
When you do this, the original cannot be placed on an order. If an order-writer
attempts to order the original, the system displays the specified alternate.
Automatically Loading Reference Items
You can also load reference items when you install O/PUS. There are two instances
when the O/PUS load creates reference-only items. They include the following:
Create a Reference of Other Vendors Items to My Primary Item Number: Select
this option in the Global Inventory Parameters window to assign alternate
code for reference-only items. This code is set in the Reference Only Item
field in the (LE) Inventory Parameters screen. The assigned stock class
is + (plus).
Item Key Changes: If you select either the Create a Reference of Other
Vendors Items to my Primary Item Number or Update Item Numbers with Changes
from Vendor option in the Global Inventory Parameters window, a reference-only
item is created when the existing number changes. If the first four characters
of the item number change, a reference-only item is created, as long as
you have a code set in the Reference Only Item field in the (LE) screen.
When this occurs, the original item changes to the new stock number. A new
I-MASTER record is created with the old stock number, using the alternate
code for the reference-only item, and the stock class of the original record.
After the load is complete, you can also manually create reference-only items
using the (+I-X) feature in the O/PUS ToolBox, if necessary.
