Substituting Products on Transfers

When products in your warehouse need to be replenished, sometimes the product is not readily available. If you are procuring directly for a customer, you can substitute an item and fill the need for the order more quickly and at times you can find those items in another branch of your warehouse.

For example, you have a 40-gallon State water heater that you can use as a substitute for a 40-gallon AO Smith water heater, or you can use the 40-gallon AO Smith water heater as a substitute for the 40-gallon State water heater. You must indicate this reciprocal relationship in both product records.

To substitute products through a transfer:

1. Display the order which requires a product substitution.

2. In the Qty/Unit field and Product Description field, enter the product information for the parent product you want to add to the order.

3. Do one the following:

• If a product reminder message displays indicating that the product has substitute items, then press Enter to close the reminder message. Then use the Subs hot key to display the Substitute Items screen.

• If no message displays, but the Subs hot key highlights to indicate that the product has substitute items, then use the Subs hot key to display the Substitute Items screen.

• If an item already listed on the order has become unavailable and you want to substitute that product, then place the cursor on the parent product's line and use the Subs hot key. Select Substitute Items to display the Substitute Items screen.

4. On the Substitute Items screen, select the substitute which the customer would like to use to replace the product which is unavailable.

5. Use the Substitute Item hot key to add the item to the order.

6. If prompted, indicate if you want to keep the original description on the order or use the one from the substitute product.

7. Yes –  The system uses the description from the parent product even though it is substituting a different product for it. This is the default.

8. No – The system uses the description from the substitute product and adds a note that reads "* Sub for <original product>" beneath the description.

If the item already on the order has related or required items on the order, you must delete the parent product and start the substitution process again.

Note: Use the Prompt For Original Description On Substitutes control maintenance record to make this selection automatic.

7. Use the Inquiry hot key to investigate product history or product file details, if needed.

8. Use the Notes hot key to check for details from the product file, as needed.

9. Press Esc to exit this screen.

If there are related or required items on this order, then the Related Products screen displays.

10. Add related or required items, as needed, and press Esc to exit the screen.

11. Complete and exit the order.