Inventory FAQs
This page contains Frequently Asked Questions and technical notes about the Inventory, Item, Stock, Catalog, Contracts, and Cost and Pricing applications of DDMS and DDMS software.
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On this page: General Inventory | Warehouse Management | Inventory Period End
General Inventory
See Also the O/PUS Documentation and FAQs, O/PUS Update Notes, and O/PUS BPIR™ Vendor-Specific Flyer Loading Instructions for information regarding quarterly OPdb® multi-vendor catalog item and pricing updates.
New! Building Item Usage Tutorial In Order Entry History, the Item Usage tab lists detail about specific items on an order, including what and how much your customers have bought. Before viewing this Item usage information, you must build the P-USAGE file. We recommend that you build this file monthly, using the DDMS Utilities program on your system server. It is a dedicated procedure, which means no other processes or users should be running DDMS while this utility is running. See also the online help.
New! Converting Item Lists to Laundry Lists Tutorial Laundry Lists are a useful tool for selling commonly purchased items — especially with Web storefronts like ECinteractive. One of the best ways to create a laundry list is by converting from an existing customer contract, quote, or sales history. In this video, watch how it is done.
New! Creating a Laundry List This brief video demonstrates how to set up and use laundry lists. Laundry Lists can automatically display in Order Entry, to allow your salespeople to view each customer's frequently purchased items. It makes it easier to provide upselling and cross-selling opportunities, and better customer service when your staff is on the phone with your customers.
New! Correcting Item List Price Variances Every quarter, you update the pricing in your Item database using the O/PUS® multi-vendor database update. However, if the list price for the selling unit of measure in your Item record varies too much from the expected list price in the O/PUS database, the SIMPLE wizard cannot update the item automatically, and logs the item in a report. This brief video demonstrates how to correct these list price variance exceptions manually every quarter, so that O/PUS can update your database properly. It's easier than you think. See also Correcting List Price Variances after Loading O/PUS (pdf).
Specifying Stock Classes for Groups of Items Tutorial Use the (+W) screen to make mass changes to stock classes.
Price Modeling (pdf) Like its predecessor (SG) [J], you can use the new Price Modeling application to measure the profitability of past sales as compared to initial pricing. But now you have amazing spreadsheet ability for modeling pricing and profitability. Using actual sales statistics, you can create new pricing models and directly compare the results against initial and historical pricing models. You can apply numerous filters to past sales journals, contracts, and inventory files to target a very specific item or customer sales history. Flexible on-screen display lets you choose fields and types of totals to display. Once a satisfactory price model is created, the on-screen end results can be saved as a new contract or exported to an Excel® file.
Updated! Purchasing (pdf) This handout introduces you to the graphical purchasing application. Learn basic procedures such as creating and receiving P/Os and basic short-buy purchasing. Additional topics include screen navigation, changing or deleting existing P/Os, and transferring unfilled items to another P/O. New features, such as the P/O Positions dialog box, will also be discussed. It is the information you need to ’s more advanced features: Low-Stock Purchasing, Vendor Credit Returns, and Price and Stock Checks. See also Auto Short-Buy (pdf).
Customer Specific Item Substitutions (pdf) Released in Version 5, Item substitution lists let you set up a list of items to substitute with another item for specific customers. Learn to create item substitution lists, and assign these lists to individual customers or groups of customers.
Printing Customer Contracts in (R) Custom Inventory Reports On the (R) Custom Inventory Reports screen, selectors #16 “Contract Report” and #17 “Contract Report for Customers” allow you to print an contracts either for internal analysis, or for providing to a customer. These options also display the gross profit and discount percentages.
Refiguring Contract Gross Profit and Discount Percentages Based on New Cost/List Pricing Many dealers create custom contracts in the (ET) Inventory Contract Price screen. You can adjust the gross profit and discount percentages based on updated cost and list pricing in your inventory database, after loading the quarterly OPdb® Multi-Vendor Catalog Update.
Lot Pricing Feature Learn how to make it much easier to sell items in large quantities, and take advantage of a more accurate audit trail. Released in Version 6, lot pricing can help you do any of the following: sell print jobs; sell office furniture with custom fabrics; sell items in bulk such as paper, fabric, chemicals, and so on; invoice part of an item’s price before you complete the entire transaction; add or change costs after delivering the item; sell items with fractional quantities; and sell items in very large quantities.
Updated! Loading & Purchasing is.group Items Instructions for loading the is.ezTrade® edition of the OPdb catalog update and using low-stock reports to automate purchasing from is.group Distribution Centers. Released in Version 7, special is.ezTrade parameters let you load Stocked, Non-stocked, and Direct items, or you can elect not to add or change any items per designation, or you can add all items. You can also specify an item department and stock class for new items being added. You can exclude or include specific classes and departments of existing items. As of the Version 7 General Release, new fields in the I-MFG file let you create purchase orders limited by vendor stocking information. You can create P/Os using the Low-Stock file, so you can view is.group P/O totals and line item detail on-screen. The documentation also lists selector names for several new reports.
Tech Note #258: Creating a Text-Based Low-Stock Purchase Order It is nearly as easy to create a Low-Stock P/O in text-based software as it is in the graphical Purchasing application. You must first catalog the is.group Low-Stock report selectors in the (LR) Inventory Standard Reports screen. Then you can run one of the custom low-stock reports from the (R) Inventory Selectors report screen, just as you would the original Min/Max and Cycle Count low-stock reports. Once the report selector creates the low-stock file, you can build a low-stock P/O using the short-buy process.
File # 239: Removing a Vendor If you wish to remove a vendor from your inventory database for any reason, some of the procedures are best done when loading O/PUS. (file: RemovingVendor.pdf)
Maintaining your I-AUX file delete invalid information, including: duplicate records, invalid location keys, I-AUX records without master records, and blank I-AUX records (file: fix-iaux.pdf)
Deleting invalid inventory locations (;SPCKILLOC) delete invalid location records from I-WHL, I-HISTORY, I-COLUMNS, I-AUX, and I-PRICE (file: killoc.pdf)
Understanding Order Entry Cost Flow See how cost flows through the DDMS system in these flowcharts on average/actual cost and pricing cost (file: costflow.pdf)
Setting stock classes or departments by purchasing vendor Learn to set up a stock class or department for a particular purchasing vendor. You can also set them for individual purchasing vendor programs. (file:purvend.pdf)
Changing contract prices Learn how to raise or lower contract prices. The method described here uses a percentage to change prices, and gives you the option of changing particular items or an entire contract. (file: contractprices.pdf)
Limiting the Items Customers Can Order Limit the items that certain customers can buy, using limit contracts and restrictive contracts. (file: limit_items.pdf)
Warehouse Management
New! Special Order with S.P. Richards ProductPro™ and FurnitureAdvantage™ Programs (pdf) Traditionally, office products wholesalers have offered only in-stock items to meet the need of speedy delivery. But the market demands more custom items, even those with longer delivery timeframes. S.P. Richards dealers can offer customers a more extensive variety of special-order products, with the ProductPro™ and FurnitureAdvantage™ programs. S.P. Richards releases these special order item price files monthly, for download via O/PUS PSNControl on the first Monday of the month. Learn how to update your DDMS inventory database and contracts, and use special order features. See how easily your ECinteractive and is.D-Force 2 shoppers can identify how long special order merchandise will take to ship. Certain items will be flagged as non-returnable, whether they are stocked foodstuffs or special-order custom work.
New! Delivery Manifests (pdf) The new graphical Delivery Manifest application is designed to help you streamline the delivery manifest. In line with our other EBS SQL products, including Price Modeling, Price Plans, SQL Report Preview, and Executive Dashboard, the Delivery Manifest application replaces a text-based screen with a graphical interface that has added functionality. The Delivery Manifest application replaces the text-based (TS) Shipping Manifest screen. The on-screen display is very flexible, allowing you to choose the display order of tables and determine what displays in each table. Using the Delivery Manifest applicaiton, you can scan tickets, add tickets based on limit criteria, or use manual entry. You can create a new manifest or append to an existing manifest.
Processing Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN): S.P. Richards (pdf) It's now easier than ever to process S.P. Richards short ships, carton counts and tracking information via PSN. When you receive the new Advance Shipping Notice data from SPR via PSN, DDMS can process short ships, carton counts, carton IDs, and carrier tracking IDs. The system automatically adjusts the quantities and special lines in your orders and your purchase order. You can use Report Writer to add the vendor carton counts to your printed shipping manifest. It allows more proactive handling of shorted orders, and simplifies package tracking.
Warehouse Efficiencies (pdf) When laying out your warehouse, you can be more efficient and increase the number of lines pulled
per person, per hour. Tickets and reports print in bin
order so even new employees can pull orders with few mistakes.
In addition, you can improve picking efficiency by printing and using a picking manifest to pull your
orders. This enables you to pick more than one order at a time. You can organize your staging area according to delivery truck
and stop sequence, making it easier to load your trucks.
Finally, use shipping labels — they save time and look more professional. Take a peek at examples of efficient warehouse layouts.
Warehouse to the Max! (pdf) DDMS offers more features than ever to make your warehouse as efficient as possible. Use DDMS to streamline picking, packing, and other warehousing operations. Learn how to use the new Auto Final-receive and Auto Flush and how to set up and use picking manifests to automate the complete fulfillment process. The discussion also covers the various options available for printing pick tickets and the additional capabilities offered by the optional Advanced Manifests. Learn about bin management using various bin types: bulk bins, I-AUX bins, multiple bins, which may be floating bins or staging bins. Also learn about using mixed bin types, Auto Receive, Auto Flush, pulling options, and shipping manifests.
Updated! Third Party Carrier (3PC™) Manifests (pdf) 3PC™ is the interface between your shipping manifest program and a third party shipping service, designed to help you streamline your shipping and billing processes, and better track your customers’ packages. You can charge the customer for freight charges. You can determine the method by which to ship the order: overnight, ground, and so forth. You can set separate default shipping methods and freight settings for each customer in the Customer window. Using pick ticket information exported from your (TS) Shipping Manifest or your (TR) Order Entry Reports, 3PC automatically determines the package’s weight, the method by which to ship the package, insurance information, and freight charges. It also also automatically prints your shipping labels. When you then import third party carrier data back into DDMS, the 3PC software attaches delivery information to the invoice, and it can be viewed in Order Entry.
New! RoutePerfect™ (pdf) RoutePerfect’s dynamic route optimization gives you the flexibility to make route changes — even after you build a manifest. Learn how to use RoutePerfect to analyze the day’s deliveries and create the most efficient sequence within a given route, re-route deliveries with the click of a mouse, or quickly make changes to a route to accommodate an emergency delivery to an important customer, or an absent driver.
Updated! Setting Up & Using RouteTrak Pro™ Proof of Delivery for DDMS (pdf) Learn how to automate your delivery process and verify receipt, eliminating missed and misrouted shipments and the resulting billing disputes. RouteTrak Pro’s Digital Signature Handheld Unit synchronizes your shipping manifests. Drivers can identify errors, shortages and overages at the point of delivery. RouteTrak Pro synchronizes with your customer order data, so drivers no longer need to file multipart forms.
New! Inventory - Count Less, Sell More (pdf) Learn how to set up and manage inventory through DDMS. The discussion will include setting up stocking classes, clearing on-hand quantities, taking and entering physical counts, G/L adjustments, and using critical inventory reports such as the On-Hand Catalog Report and the Inventory Extended Dollars Report. This session will also look at ways to maintain accurate inventory, including the optional Cycle Counts program.
Inventory Cycle Count Overview (pdf) Cycle counts are smaller, more manageable inventory counts that are performed more frequently than once or twice a year. You divide the area to be counted into smaller sections, and count one section at a time, eventually working through all of the sections to be counted. You could divide your inventory by physical aisle or gondola, or even divide merchandise by hits (the top 100 items twice a month, the next 1500 items monthly, and the remainder quarterly). Once you count each of the sections, you begin a new cycle, recounting the first section. Cycle counting helps eliminate problems such as theft or inaccurate record keeping that otherwisemay go unnoticed for months .
Bulk Bin Items (pdf) To help you manage your warehouse items more effectively, the (EK) Bulk Item Update screen lets you assign bulk (or larger) items to a specific bin. When you do, you can use the picking manifest program to run a separate manifest — one that contains only bulk items.
Line Item Drop Ship (pdf) Learn how to use the enhanced drop ship feature, which now allows you to drop ship only specific line items on the order.
The Route to Efficiency and Profit (pdf) This white paper discusses the best practices for integrating RouteTrak™ Pro with your DDMS® Business Systems. A recommended work flow summarizes procedures for bar coded invoices and shipping labels, building and exporting delivery manifests, docking the handheld unit, capturing electronic signatures, uploading and importing delivery manifests using third-party carrier manifest features, viewing reports in Accounting and Order Entry, and transferring undelivered items to a new manifest. The white paper also discusses optimizing delivery routes.
How do I Make my Laser Printer Print Bar Codes? (pdf) Many dealers are implementing bar coding on forms, such as tickets, invoices and manifests. Not all laser printers support this function; this article discusses a few that do, and explains what to look for.
Using the New ASN Feature (pdf) Kodak requires a unique ASN (Advanced Ship Notice) number for United's Wrap N Label. The ASN is a fourteen digit character code that is comprised of the four character vendor ID and the ten digit purchase order number. The ASN number is barcoded for scanning purposes. Each order must have a unique ASN number therefore, each order must be on its own purchase order. Note: This is an authorized feature. For more information, contact ECi sales.
Inventory Period End
See Also the O/PUS Documentation and FAQs, O/PUS Update Notes, and O/PUS BPIR™ Vendor-Specific Flyer Loading Instructions for information regarding quarterly OPdb® multi-vendor catalog item and pricing updates.
Updated! Inventory housekeeping (pdf) Mass delete item records that O/PUS marks as deleted
New! WhlMapper documentation (pdf) ECi Content Services presents WhlMapper, a Windows program that lets you quickly convert item files from wholesalers into a format that can be read by the program U_WHL. This means that you can now maintain current prices from vendors who are not included in the O/PUS OPdb MultiVendor Update. For more information and pricing, contact ECi Sales at 866-374-3221, or email info@ecisolutions.com.
Printing the Inventory Hits Report This report, which shows how many times an item has been placed on invoices this year, is an optional part of your year-end procedures (file: invhits.pdf)
Updating sales journals after loading O/PUS learn to update sales journals not listed in the (LGA) screen. You do this after each O/PUS load. (file: spcchgit.pdf)
Reporting Item Data Issues To ECi Technical Support Learn which screens in Microsoft Windows® to email or fax to DDMS Support for help in resolving issues with cost or price. (file:costpric-win.pdf)
Making corrections if you perform inventory month-end twice Learn to correct your inventory if you perform month-end twice, or if you perform month-end and year-end when you should only do month-end (file: dubltrub.pdf)
Troubleshooting inventory month-end Learn what to do if your month-end procedures fail while processing inventory (file:inv-not.pdf)
Making inventory counts for Windows systems (file:nt-invct.pdf)