O/PUS® Update Archives

Here, you will find archives of the quarterly O/PUS news and events for the past year, and old issues of the FYI² Notes newsletter back to 2003.

On this page: 4th Q 2011 | 3rd Q 2011 | 2nd Q 2011 | 1st Q 2011 | FYI² Notes Archives

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4th Quarter 2011
(Pricing Effective October 1)

9/29/2011: O/PUS Ready to Load

We sent O/PUS Update Notes: 4Q2011 Installer, Data Ready to Load to all O/PUS customers.

9/29/2011: Download OPUSInstall Software Update

O/PUS released software updates in OPUSInstall — for download now via the ECI Customer Support Portal's Software Downloads section.

This software update is ready for you to download NOW.

Each quarter, you need to download and run OPUSInstall. The quarterly release of OPUSInstall includes any enhancements, vendor parameters (described as needed in FYI² Notes) or other software changes that may be necessary to update your Item database with this quarter's data:

Updated! PSNControl Version 1.1.215 or higher.

Updated! O/PUS SIMPLE Version 1.1.582 or higher.

Updated! UpdateSPR.exe Multiloader v10915 or higher.

Updated! UpdateUNI.exe Multiloader v10915 or higher.

Contract Wizard 2.0.36 or higher (no change).

The members-only ECI Customer Support Portal's page of Software Downloads is the primary method of delivery for all DDMS software. Just log in, click Software Downloads, scroll down to the OPUSInstall, and follow the on-screen instructions.

If you do not have portal access, see the alternative method.

9/29/2011: FYI² Notes Published With News For This Quarter

O/PUS has published the new quarterly newsletter "For Your Immediate Information - OPdb MultiVendor Update", also known as FYI² Notes (pdf). In it, you will find vendor notes, the names of the vendor price files available on the O/PUS OPdb update, and other news for this quarter:

ECi Offers Complimentary Saturday Support Via Portal or Email Oct. 1

Free Remaining O/PUS Refresher Training 1-3 pm CT Oct. 4

O/PUS Vendor Multiloader Makes Supplemental Price Files a Breeze

SIMPLE Adds References for Changed MAC Codes This Quarter

S.P. Richards, United Stationers Monthly Files Included in Q4 Load

Pre-Load: New Inventory File Compression Steps Using ;SPCCMPJR

Download O/PUS Software Updates now via ECi Support Portal

Updated DDMS EBS SQL Steps for Quarter-End

Let ECi DDMS Professional Services Load O/PUS for You

9/29/2011 — Anticipated Dates for 4th Quarter 2011

As shown in the chart at the top of this page, ECi DDMS Technical Support anticipates the following release dates for 4th Quarter O/PUS® Multi-Vendor Catalog Updates and related events:

OPUSInstall.exe, OPUS, OPUSTPA, and the FYI² Notes newsletter are all slated for release the week of September 26.
Period-End Support Saturday, October 1: ECi DDMS offers complimentary support for period-end and O/PUS procedures on the weekend nearest quarter-end. Your support teams will be available Saturday, October 1, from 9 am – 4 pm Central Daylight Time. No Phone Calls during Saturday Support. For assistance at no charge on day-end, month-end and quarter-end O/PUS procedures, please send your question via portal or email.
We expect to receive the monthly update files from S.P. Richards and United Stationers in time for inclusion within the OPUS file. Pending receipt and testing, there should be no need to download or process UNI-OCT or SPR-OCT separately at this time. We will notify you via email and on the portal if these circumstances change.
ECi Content Services and Operations will update Web Storefront servers (Ecinteractive, is.D-Force 2, Dealer Station, is.D-Force, and Dealer Station Xtended) on the weekend of October 7-9 from Friday at 11 pm through Sunday at 8 pm Central Time.
OPUSCAN is slated to be released October 1.
UNI-NOV and SPR-NOV are slated for November 1.
UNI-DEC and SPR-DEC are slated for December 1.
Super Store Data (SSDitems and SSDPricing) is discontinued. For details on and access to Trade Service's new Chain Store Data, please contact Trade Service Tech Support at 1-800-701-6999 or e-mail to technicalsupport@tradeservice.com.

9/23/2011 — Free O/PUS Refresher Training September 28 and October 4

ECi offers free Web-Based refresher training Wednesday, September 28, 10 AM – Noon CDT — or — Tuesday, October 4, 1 – 3 PM CDT to review parameters and procedures and learn what's new for this quarter. For details and to register, see the announcement, Join Us for Your Free O/PUS Refresher.

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3rd Quarter 2011
(Pricing Effective July 1)

7/28/2011: O/PUS Update Notes: Get Monthly Price Files for August

August Monthly Price Files Available Via PSN

We are happy to announce that all standard monthly files are available now for download via PSNControl from S.P. Richards and United Stationers.

See steps in Load Multiple United Stationers Price Files At Once (pdf).

See steps in Load Multiple S.P. Richards Price Files At Once (pdf).

Some dealer-specific plans may be provided later. When you use PSNControl to download the files, the Transfer List date display will indicate when any vendor pricing file was last updated.

ProductPro™ and FurnitureAdvantage™ programs are usually ready to download on the first Monday of the month — in this case, August 1. See Special Order with S.P. Richards ProductPro and FurnitureAdvantage (pdf) and the video tutorial Using ProductPro and FurnitureAdvantage Programs.

See additional O/PUS documentation on our Web site.

6/28/2011: O/PUS Ready to Load

We sent O/PUS Update Notes: 3Q2011 Ready to Load to all O/PUS customers.

6/28/2011: Download OPUSInstall Software Update

O/PUS released software updates in OPUSInstall — for download now via the ECI Customer Support Portal's Software Downloads section.

This software update is ready for you to download NOW.

Updated! PSNControl Version 1.1.212 or higher.

Updated! O/PUS SIMPLE Version 1.1.556 or higher.

Updated! UpdateSPR.exe Multiloader v10615 or higher.

Updated! UpdateUNI.exe Multiloader v10615 or higher.

Contract Wizard 2.0.36 or higher (no change).

If you do not have portal access, see the alternative method.

6/28/2011: FYI² Notes Published With News For This Quarter

ECi Offers Complimentary Saturday Support Via Portal or Email July 2

Free Remaining O/PUS Refresher Training 10-noon CT July 6

O/PUS Enhances Multiloader Software for United Stationers

Pre-Load: New Inventory File Compression Steps Using ;SPCCMPJR

Compare 20 More Price Plans in (+I-T) Dealer Enhanced Cost Tool

S.P. Richards, United Stationers Monthly Files Included in Q2 Load

Download O/PUS Software Updates now via ECi Support Portal

Updated DDMS EBS SQL Steps for Quarter-End

Let ECi DDMS Professional Services Load O/PUS for You

6/23/2011 — Anticipated Dates for 3rd Quarter 2011

As shown in the chart at the top of this page, ECi DDMS Technical Support anticipates the following release dates for 3rd Quarter O/PUS® Multi-Vendor Catalog Updates and related events:

OPUSInstall.exe, OPUS, OPUSTPA, and the FYI² Notes newsletter are all slated for release the week of June 27.
Period-End Support Saturday, July 2: ECi DDMS offers complimentary support for period-end and O/PUS procedures on the weekend nearest quarter-end. Your support teams will be available Saturday, July 2, from 9 am – 4 pm Central Daylight Time. No Phone Calls during Saturday Support. For assistance at no charge on day-end, month-end and quarter-end O/PUS procedures, please send your question via portal or email.
We expect to receive the monthly update files from S.P. Richards and United Stationers in time for inclusion within the OPUS file. Pending receipt and testing, there should be no need to download or process UNI-APR or SPR-APR separately at this time. We will notify you via email and on the portal if these circumstances change.
ECi Content Services and Operations will update Web Storefront servers (Ecinteractive, is.D-Force 2, Dealer Station, is.D-Force, and Dealer Station Xtended) on the weekend of July 8-10 from Friday at 11 pm through Sunday at 8 pm Central Time.
OPUSCAN is slated to be released July 9.
UNI-AUG and SPR-AUG are slated for August 1.
UNI-SEP and SPR-SEP are slated for September 1.
Super Store Data (SSDitems and SSDPricing) is discontinued. For details on and access to Trade Service's new Chain Store Data, please contact Trade Service Tech Support at 1-800-701-6999 or e-mail to technicalsupport@tradeservice.com.

6/16/2011 — Free O/PUS Refresher Training June 28 and July 6

ECi offers free Web-Based refresher training Tuesday, June 28, 1 – 3 PM CDT — or — Wednesday, July 6, 10 AM – Noon CDT to review parameters and procedures and learn what's new for this quarter. For details and to register, see the announcement, Join Us for Your Free O/PUS Refresher.

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2nd Quarter 2011
(Pricing Effective April 1)

5/26/2011: OPUSInstall Required to Get Monthly Pricing for June

We are happy to announce that all standard monthly files are available now for download via PSNControl from S.P. Richards and United Stationers.

Action Required: Download and Run OPUSInstall Now

To accommodate recent changes to wholesalers' monthly pricing update data files, O/PUS has enhanced the software in several places.

Your multiloader program's main screen has a starburst badge that you can click to learn about enhancements related to monthly updates for your wholesaler, once your software is completely updated. Related changes were required throughout O/PUS software.

To load your monthly pricing updates properly, you must:

	From your DDMS Server, log into the ECI Customer Support Portal (https://support.ecisolutions.com).
	Click Software Downloads from the top menu.
	Scroll down to click OPUSInstall and follow the on-screen instructions to complete installation.
	Load your wholesalers' monthly update files. All files can be processed using the U_SPR and U_UNI loading programs via graphical multiloaders (UpdateSPR.exe and UpdateUNI.exe) or text-based (+IFP).

Additional Details

See steps in Load Multiple United Stationers Price Files At Once (pdf).

See steps in Load Multiple S.P. Richards Price Files At Once (pdf).

Some dealer-specific plans may be provided later. When you use PSNControl to download the files, the Transfer List date display will indicate when any vendor pricing file was last updated.

ProductPro™ and FurnitureAdvantage™ programs are usually ready to download on the first Monday of the month — in this case, June 6. See Special Order with S.P. Richards ProductPro and FurnitureAdvantage (pdf) and the video tutorial Using ProductPro and FurnitureAdvantage Programs.

See additional O/PUS documentation on our Web site.

4/28/2011: Get Monthly Price Files for May Via O/PUS PSN

We are happy to announce that all standard monthly files are available now for download via PSNControl from S.P. Richards and United Stationers.

Some dealer-specific plans may be provided later. When you use PSNControl to download the files, the Transfer List date display will indicate when any vendor pricing file was last updated.

ProductPro™ and FurnitureAdvantage™ programs are usually ready to download on the first Monday of the month — in this case, May 2.

All files can be processed using the U_SPR and U_UNI loading programs via graphical multiloaders (UpdateSPR.exe and UpdateUNI.exe) or text-based (+IFP).

For additional details, see:

3/25/2011: O/PUS Ready to Load

We sent O/PUS Update Notes: 2Q2011 Ready to Load to all O/PUS customers.

3/25/2011: Download OPUSInstall Software Update

O/PUS released software updates in OPUSInstall — for download now via the ECI Customer Support Portal's Software Downloads section.

This software update is ready for you to download NOW.

Updated! PSNControl Version 1.1.205 or higher.

Updated! O/PUS SIMPLE Version 1.1.555 or higher.

Updated! UpdateSPR.exe Multiloader v10317a or higher.

Updated! UpdateUNI.exe Multiloader v10317a or higher.

Updated! Contract Wizard 2.0.36 or higher (no change).

Discontinued! Super Store Data Update Version 1.0.0.122 or higher.

If you do not have portal access, see the alternative method.

3/25/2011: FYI² Notes Published With News For This Quarter

ECi Offers Complimentary Saturday Support Via Portal or Email April 2

Free Remaining O/PUS Refresher Training April 5

Trade Service Launches Chain Store Data to Replace SSDpricing

Pre-Load: New Inventory File Compression Steps

Compare 20 More Price Plans in (+I-T) Dealer Enhanced Cost Tool

S.P. Richards, United Stationers Monthly Files Included in Q2 Load

Download O/PUS Software Updates now via ECi Support Portal

Updated DDMS EBS SQL Steps for Quarter-End

Let ECi DDMS Professional Services Load O/PUS for You

3/22/2010 — (Updated!) Anticipated Dates for 2nd Quarter 2011

As shown in the chart at the top of this page, ECi DDMS Technical Support anticipates the following release dates for 2nd Quarter O/PUS® Multi-Vendor Catalog Updates and related events:

OPUSInstall.exe, OPUS, OPUSTPA, and the FYI² Notes newsletter are all slated for release the week of March 28. Updated: March 25.
Period-End Support Saturday, April 2: ECi DDMS offers complimentary support for period-end and O/PUS procedures on the weekend nearest quarter-end. Your support teams will be available Saturday, April 2, from 9 am – 4 pm Central Daylight Time. No Phone Calls during Saturday Support. For assistance at no charge on day-end, month-end and quarter-end O/PUS procedures, please send your question via portal or email.
We expect to receive the monthly update files from S.P. Richards and United Stationers in time for inclusion within the OPUS file. Pending receipt and testing, there should be no need to download or process UNI-APR or SPR-APR separately at this time. We will notify you via email and on the portal if these circumstances change.
Super Store Data (SSDitems and SSDPricing) is discontinued. For details on and access to Trade Service's new Chain Store Data, please contact Trade Service Tech Support at 1-800-701-6999 or e-mail to technicalsupport@tradeservice.com.
ECi Content Services and Operations will update Web Storefront servers (Ecinteractive, is.D-Force 2, Dealer Station, is.D-Force, and Dealer Station Xtended) on the weekend of April 1-3 from Friday at 11 pm through Sunday at 8 pm Central Time.
OPUSCAN is slated to be released April 8.
UNI-MAY and SPR-MAY are slated for May 1.
UNI-JUN and SPR-JUN are slated for June 1.

3/11/2011 — Free O/PUS Refresher Training March 29 (Full) and April 5

ECi offers free Web-Based refresher training Tuesday, March 29, 10 AM – Noon CDT — or — Tuesday, April 5, 1 – 3 PM CDT to review parameters and procedures and learn what's new for this quarter. For details and to register, see the announcement, Join Us for Your Free O/PUS Refresher.

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1st Quarter 2011
(Pricing Effective January 1)

2/23/2011: Get Monthly Price Files for March Via O/PUS PSN

We are happy to announce that all standard monthly files are available now for download via PSNControl from S.P. Richards and United Stationers.

Some dealer-specific plans may be provided later. When you use PSNControl to download the files, the Transfer List date display will indicate when any vendor pricing file was last updated.

ProductPro™ and FurnitureAdvantage™ programs are usually ready to download on the first Monday of the month — in this case, March 7.

All files can be processed using the U_SPR and U_UNI loading programs via graphical multiloaders (UpdateSPR.exe and UpdateUNI.exe) or text-based (+IFP).

For additional details, see:

1/14/2011: SP Richards Price Corrections Ready to Load

Friday, Jan. 14, 2011 — Updated files are available to load S.P. Richards' price corrections on several hundred items that you may have loaded for Q1 2011.

OPUS, OPUSTPA — Dealers who have not yet run SIMPLE can download the new OPUS and price plan files that include the changes. For instructions, see your O/PUS Quick Reference Checklist (pdf).

SPR-JAN and individual price files — Dealers who have already run SIMPLE need only use the U_SPR loading program via graphical multiloader (UpdateSPR.exe) or text-based (+IFP). For instructions, see S.P. Richards Monthly Price Plan Update.

S.P. Richards Reduces Prices, Removes a Contract

Downloading and processing the updated files resolves four issues that S.P. Richards discovered last week in their Q1 2011 price file after it was already released to us:

Acco's decision to rescind a previously announced price increase

A reduction in pricing on Basyx by HON seating

Changes to S.P. Richards' Business Source pricing, resulting in lower costs on this product line

S.P. Richards' decision to remove the DCC contract from the Q1 contract offering

Changes Result in Lower Product Costs For You

According to S.P. Richards' recent Note About Q1 2011 Price Files,

"We recognize this represents an abnormal number of changes to our Q1 price files and this is not, and will not become our standard practice.

However, in almost every case noted above, the changes will ultimately result in lower product cost to our dealers.

That lower cost is currently being passed along to our dealers upon invoicing as our system has been updated to reflect correct pricing, however most dealers want the cost in their system to match the cost in the SPR system. It is with that in mind that we are taking this course. ...

We apologize for any inconvenience and additional work this action causes and wanted to make sure to communicate this as soon as possible.

Please contact our Helpdesk at 888-763-2615 or helpdesk@sprich.com as soon as possible with any questions or concerns."

1/7/2011: ECi Loads Quarterly Web Content THIS WEEKEND

Dear ECi Customers:

Friday, Jan. 7, 2011 — ECi Content Services and Operations will update your Web storefront servers with new quarterly catalog images and content THIS WEEKEND:

Starting at 11 pm CST Friday, Jan. 7
Ending by 8 pm CST Sunday, Jan. 9

This maintenance affects the following sites:

ECinteractive®
is.D-Force® 2
Original is.D-Force®
Dealer Station®
Dealer Station® Xtended

The content load is in addition to ECi's standard data center maintenance tasks (www.ddms.com/support/massfax/dcMtceWindow.htm). As a result, this weekend requires an extended maintenance window.

You may wish to set up or adjust your site's Automatic Scheduled Maintenance and site text, if applicable. For details, see your online help.

While the Web server is offline, you and your customers will be unable to connect to your storefront site. We will notify you via email with any updates on Sunday.

Sincerely,

ECi Technical Support

12/28/2010: Corrected Link to FYI² Notes

Updated FYI² Link

The correct link for 1st Quarter 2011 newsletter is FYI² Notes (pdf).

Yesterday's announcement, O/PUS 1Q2011 Ready to Load, linked to last quarter's copy of the newsletter. Our apologies for the oversight.

12/28/2010: O/PUS Super Store Data Update Files Ready to Load

O/PUS has completed processing and testing the Super Store item and pricing update files from Trade Service, and made them available to download via PSNControl.

Using your PSNControl software, you can download either of two super store data files:

The standard edition (filename SSDitems) includes super store name and SKU -- FREE as part of your O/PUS subscription.
The premium edition (filename SSDpricing) includes everything in the standard edition, but also includes pricing, units of measure, and packaging information. When you download the SSDpricing file in PSNControl each quarter, the software will prompt for a new authorization code.

PRICING AUTHORIZATION NOTE: The premium SSDpricing update is offered by Trade Service for an additional fee and requires a new authorization code each quarter(*); last quarter's authorization code has expired. To authorize the pricing update for this quarter, you must give Trade Service the "request" code that you may obtain while downloading the file in PSNControl, or when you attempt to begin the SSD Update.

Dealers who signed up for an annual subscription to SSDpricing updates should have received their authorization codes for four quarters if you have called Trade Service at least one time. If you haven't called them or have misplaced your codes please contact Trade Service at 866-561-5940, Monday through Friday 8 am to 5 pm PST.

The SSD Update is a completely optional post-load procedure. We recommend that you run the SSD Update only after you have completed all your other O/PUS quarter-end and post-load procedures. Although your SSD Update settings take only a few seconds, data processing may take an estimated 90 minutes.

Trade Service recommends using the Super Store pricing data as a "benchmark" position from which to develop your own customer-specific pricing. The Office Depot and Office Max pricing represent a single national price, while the Staples pricing has been broken down into three broad U.S. regions (Western, Mid-Western, and Eastern). Please be aware that the pricing data may not reflect your exact geographic location nor any variance that may be due to special or temporary promotional pricing.

Note: Quill and Corporate Express only provide item cross-reference data; they do NOT provide pricing data. In addition to item cross-references, Trade Service obtains "Single National Pricing" data for Office Depot and Office Max, and "Regional Pricing" (West, Midwest, and East) for Staples.

For detailed instructions on using the Super Store Data, see Super Store Data Update (pdf).

12/28/2010: Closed December 31 Except for Period-End Support

Closed December 31 Except for Period-End Support

ECi offices are closed Friday, December 31, to observe the New Year's Holiday.

However, 24/7 Support will be available during the holiday when calling our standard Technical Support number, 800-366-4778.

As always, calling Technical Support during a holiday or outside of business hours (7 AM to 8:30 PM Central Time, Monday through Friday) is billable unless you subscribe to 24/7 Support services.

When Do You Offer Complimentary Period-End Support?

This year, we offer complimentary Period-End Support via fax and e-mail on FRIDAY the 31st of December:

Friday, December 31, 2010
9 AM - 4 PM Central Time

Why Friday? (What Happened to Saturday Support?) At the end of every quarter, we typically offer complimentary support on a Saturday. It is part of our effort to better serve DDMS customers with quarter-end catalog updates and day-end, month-end, and year-end reporting.

The two Saturdays that we would normally consider this year fall on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The ECi family understands that the time we all spend during this holiday season with friends and family is priceless.

On Friday, December 31st, ECi offices will be closed along with many businesses and wholesalers to observe New Year's Eve. However, we have heard from many dealers that this is the day they planned to work on year-end.

We left the choice up to you, our customers. In an online poll Oct. 8-15, we gave all DDMS customers a voice in choosing which day would be most helpful to you. An overwhelming majority ruled in selecting Friday, December 31st over Saturday, January 1.

Contact Methods. During this time, you can send questions relating to day-end, month-end, year-end, and quarter-end O/PUS procedures three ways:

Email: ddmssupport@ecisolutions.com
Fax: 682-831-9909
Online: https://support.ECiSolutions.com

There is no charge for period-end support requests submitted via fax or email during the scheduled hours.

Limited Topics for Free Support. However, this support is available only for questions about your period-end procedures, including day-end, month-end, year-end, and quarter-end O/PUS procedures. All other issues must be referred to our standard Saturday or 24/7 support services, which may be billable.

All phone calls during the special Period-End Support period will be routed to the 24/7 service and are billable if you do not subscribe to the 24/7 service.

Meanwhile, we wish you a safe and happy holiday!

12/27/2010: O/PUS Ready to Load

We sent O/PUS Update Notes: 1Q2011 Ready to Load to all O/PUS customers.

12/27/2010: Download OPUSInstall Software Update

O/PUS released software updates in OPUSInstall — for download now via the ECI Customer Support Portal's Software Downloads section.

This software update is ready for you to download NOW.

Updated! PSNControl Version 1.1.203 or higher.

Updated! O/PUS SIMPLE Version 1.1.5530 or higher.

Updated! UpdateSPR.exe Multiloader v01215a or higher.

Updated! UpdateUNI.exe Multiloader v01215a or higher.

Super Store Data Update Version 1.0.0.122 or higher (no change).

Instant Contract Eraser 1.0.0.0 or higher (no change).

If you do not have portal access, see the alternative method.

12/27/2010: FYI² Notes Published With News For This Quarter

ECi Offers Complimentary Support Via Portal or Email FRIDAY Dec. 31

Free O/PUS Refresher Training December 29 or January 4

Pre-Load: New Inventory File Compression Steps

Catalog Page Numbers Automatically Updating

West Point Products Joins O/PUS Supplemental Vendors

S.P. Richards, United Stationers Monthly Files Included in Q1 Load

Download O/PUS Software Updates now via ECi Support Portal

Review Key Parameters for First Quarter Load

Updated DDMS EBS SQL Steps for Quarter-End

12/17/2010 — Parameters to Review for 1st Quarter Load

Friday, Dec. 17, 2010 — With the release of the vendors' 2011 printed catalogs, vendors typically make significant changes to units of measures, unit of measure names, as well as addition or deletion of items. Because of the amount of changes the vendors will make this quarter, we would like to highlight a few parameters that are especially helpful for your 1st quarter load. As in all other quarter loads, we recommend that you always review all your SIMPLE parameters to ensure they are set to best fit your business's needs.

Anticipated O/PUS Release Dates

OPUSInstall.exe, OPUS, OPUSTPA, and the FYI² Notes newsletter are all slated for release the week of December 27.

First Page of SIMPLE Global Parameters

ADD NEW ITEMS TO MY INVENTORY
With the release of a new year's printed catalog, vendors take the opportunity to add new product lines and additional SKUs. Selecting this parameter allows new items, carried by your selected vendors, to be added to your DDMS Inventory database.
RETAIL, LIST, BUY — UNIT OF MEASURE SHOULD BE USED FOR NEW ITEMS
This parameter is used in conjunction with the previous "add items" parameter to determine which unit of measure is used when new items are added to your inventory database (this does not change your existing items' unit of measure).
- RETAIL is the smallest unit of measure possible — many times the RETAIL unit is an EACH, which can be much smaller than the unit of measure carried by the wholesaler.
- LIST is based on the manufacturers' packaging unit and sometimes will be larger than the unit of measure carried by the wholesaler.
- BUY is equal to the unit of measure in which your wholesaler sells the item to their dealers. Most dealers prefer to add new items using the BUY unit as the master selling unit, because they want to sell the new items in the same unit in which they must purchase them from their wholesaler.
[ ] IS THE STOCK CLASS FOR NEW ITEMS ADDED TO MY INVENTORY
This parameter is used to determine which item stock class is used when new items are created in your inventory database (this does not change your existing items' stock classes). Some dealers prefer to use a unique stock class, which they are not currently utilizing to classify items in their DDMS system, to make it easier to identify the new items added to their inventory. Or, you may choose to specify the same stock class you are currently using to identify the items that are fulfilled by your wholesaler.
UPDATE ITEM NUMBER CHANGES FROM VENDORS

This prompt allows SIMPLE to change old stock numbers in your files to the new stock numbers the vendor is now using. The simple load will automatically convert the keys of related files, (such as on-hand quantities, history, contracts etc) from the old number to the new number.

NOTE: The third page of the Global parameters gives you the option to exclude certain items, based on their stock class, from being changed by OPUS. You may enter stock classes that you DO NOT want OPUS to update specific fields or you can choose for specified stock classes to not be updated at all.

Second Page of SIMPLE Global Parameters

UPDATE CONSUMER CATALOG PAGE NUMBERS

With the release of the new 2011 catalogs, most dealers will want to update their Primary Wholesaler’s page numbers in their DDMS database. The SIMPLE Wizard will prompt you, “This Update Contains NEW CATALOG Page Numbers. The UPDATE CONSUMER CATALOG PAGE NUMBERS prompt has been set to [Y]. Do you want Your Page Numbers to be UPDATED? Yes/No.” Choosing this prompt will allow you to reset the catalog page numbers to match those provided by the vendors for their 2011 catalog.

NOTE: By default, SIMPLE loads the page numbers from the vendor's General Line List Price Catalog. The page numbers field in the item's Primary Wholesaler's record will be updated with this information. For dealers that do not use the General Line List Price Catalog at all, may choose to use the +IU after SIMPLE to replace the General Line List Price catalog page numbers with an alternative catalog's page numbers. See details on using the +IU in Viewing Page Numbers from Special Catalogs
www.ddms.com/resources/support/faq/opus/OECatPgNum.pdf
RESET MY SELLING UNIT WHEN UPDATING LIST PRICE

Selecting this option will allow changes to be made to the name of the unit to match its pricing category. For example, a vendor might change a unit of measure name for a package of 2 batteries from card [CD] to pack [PK]. The unit in which they sell it has not changed (2 batteries), only the name of the unit.

NOTE: This parameter does not change your selling Unit of Measure — only the name.
RUN MAKE-BUYS AFTER THE UPDATE

Selecting this parameter will allow the SIMPLE program to convert your DDMS Master selling UOM to match your primary wholesaler's buy unit. By default, this option will convert your selling unit of measure when the wholesaler's BUY UOM is larger than your DDMS master selling UOM. You also have control over which items are converted by listing the item stock classes you DO want to convert.

The Make-Buy function does more than just convert your selling units to buy units. It also:
- Adjusts your costs and prices to reflect the new selling units
- Adjusts the relevant inventory quantities: on-hand, backorders, on-order, allocated, month-to-date sold, and so forth
- Recalculates the weight for the new selling unit
- Recalculates your contracts in the [ET] screen, or Customer Price Plans Program, based on the new selling units
NOTE: A separate parameter gives you the option to also convert your selling UOM when it is larger than the wholesaler's BUY UOM. See parameter below - "Convert your items with Larger Sell UOM to Match the Whlsrs Smaller Buy UOM"
Make-Buys - ENTER UP TO 10 STOCK CLASSES YOU DO WANT TO CHANGE THE SELLING UNIT OF MEASURE
This parameter allows you to control which items are converted. Only the items that match the stock classes you enter in these spaces will have their selling unit converted by the Make-Buys program. You may enter individual stock classes, or using the first three spaces, enter a range of stock classes. To enter a range, use the first space as the stock class to specify the "From" portion of the range, place a dash in the second space, and use the third space for the stock class specifying the "To" portion of the range. When using the first three spaces for a range, stock classes entered in the fourth through tenth spaces will be in addition to those within the range specified. Examples:
[2] [Y] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] = updates the 2 and Y stock class
[Ø] [-] [Z] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] = updates ALL classes
[A] [-] [L] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] = updates classes A thru L
[A] [-] [L] [O] [P] [U] [S] [ ] [ ] = updates classes A thru L, and classes O, P, U, S
Note: You must specify at least ONE stock class if using the Make-Buys program. Leaving the stock ranges blank will NOT convert any items.
CONVERT YOUR ITEMS WITH LARGER SELL UOM TO MATCH THE WHLSRS SMALLER BUY UOM
By default, the Make-Buys program adjusts your selling UOM to match your primary wholesaler's buy unit when the buy UOM is larger than your DDMS master selling UOM. By selecting this parameter, you may choose for the Make-Buys program to also adjust your selling UOM when it is larger than the wholesaler's BUY UOM.
For more details on running the Make Buys program, see Handling Vendor UOM Changes with Make-Buys
http://www.ddms.com/resources/support/faq/opus/uomchanges.pdf

Parameters in the Vendor Specific Screens

ADD ITEMS SHOWN IN THE [VENDOR] CONSUMER CATALOG ONLY
Some of the vendor specific parameter screens in SIMPLE give you the option to only add the new items if they are included in the vendor's General Line List Price catalog. If you select this parameter, there will be some items that are carried by the vendor that will not be added to your database.

For documentation covering all of the basic quarterly catalog update concepts and procedures for DDMS, see Loading O/PUS
www.ddms.com/Resources/Support/faq/opus/OPUSload.pdf

12/16/2010 — Anticipated Dates for 1st Quarter 2011

As shown in the chart at the top of this page, ECi DDMS Technical Support anticipates the following release dates for 2nd Quarter O/PUS® Multi-Vendor Catalog Updates and related events:

Updated! OPUSInstall.exe, OPUS, OPUSTPA, and the FYI² Notes newsletter are all slated for release the week of December 27.
Period-End Support FRIday December 31: ECi DDMS offers complimentary support for period-end and O/PUS procedures on the weekend nearest quarter-end. While this is typically offered on a Saturday, by popular demand your support teams will be available Friday, December 31, from 9 am – 4 pm Central Daylight Time. No Phone Calls during Saturday Support. For assistance at no charge on day-end, month-end and quarter-end O/PUS procedures, please send your question via portal or email.
We expect to receive the monthly update files from S.P. Richards and United Stationers in time for inclusion within the OPUS file. Pending receipt and testing, there should be no need to download or process UNI-JAN or SPR-JAN separately at this time. We will notify you via email and on the portal if these circumstances change.
Super Store Data (SSDitems and SSDPricing) is slated for January 1.
ECi Content Services and Operations will update Web Storefront servers (Ecinteractive, is.D-Force 2, Dealer Station, is.D-Force, and Dealer Station Xtended) on the weekend of January 7-9 from Friday at 11 pm through Sunday at 8 pm Central Time.
OPUSCAN is slated to be released January 8.
UNI-FEB and SPR-FEB are slated for February 1.
UNI-MAR and SPR-MAR are slated for March 1.

12/1/2010 — Free O/PUS Refresher Training December 29 and January 4

ECi offers free Web-Based refresher training Wednesday, Dec. 29, 10 AM – Noon CST — or — Tuesday, Jan. 4, 1 – 3 PM CST to review parameters and procedures and learn what's new for this quarter. For details and to register, see the announcement, What You Need to Know For Year End.