When a customer calls requesting a bid for a project or job, you can enter a lot item in Sales Order Entry in Bid mode, and attach the requested materials. You will then contact vendors who carry the requested materials and obtain quotes from each of them, enter the best quoted price on the bid, and calculate your estimated price from that amount. When you enter materials on a lot item, the system assigns all of them to the same ship date. If the customer accepts your bid, you can then convert the bid to a direct sales order and assign an appropriate ship date to each material.
Before you begin, ensure that the lot item is set up as a product in Product Maintenance.
Entering lot items on bids includes three processes:
From the Orders menu, select Sales Order Entry to display the Sales Order Entry window.
In the Branch field, enter the branch, branches, or territories for which you want to add a lot item.
In the Customer/Order # field, enter the customer's name.
When the order selection list displays, click NEW to return the customer's information to the Sales Order Entry window.
From the Edit Order menu, select Change Order Mode, and then select Bid.
The system adds Bid to the bottom of the status bar.
In the Quantity/Unit field, enter 1.
Note: You cannot enter multiple quantities for lot item products.
In the Product Description field, enter Lot Item to display a list of lot item products.
Note: If your lot item product does not display, you did not add Lot Item as a keyword in the product record. While doing this is not required to complete the transaction, it does make finding your lot item easier. To use another method for finding the product, see Searching for Products.
Select the lot item that most closely resembles the type of products to order and press Enter to display the Lot Item Status window..
On the Lot Item Status window, in the Description field, change the product description to include the name of the customer's job. For example, if your lot item description is GE Distribution Switchgear, you might change it to GE Distribution Switchgear for Johnson High School Project.
From the File menu, select Material Detail to display the Lot Item Material Detail window.
To add materials to the lot item:
On the Lot Item Material Detail window, in the Order Qty column, enter the total amount of the requested item needed.
In the Description field, enter a brief description of the requested item.
You can enter either a user-defined text description, or, if you maintain the product as a nonstock product in Product Maintenance, a slash (/), followed by the product description.
Note: If the customer requests an item you maintain in inventory, you can enter it on a separate order generation.
To complete other fields, see Editing Lot Item Materials.
From the File menu, select Exit. At the Reason for Change prompt, enter a reason for change and click Yes to return to the Lot Item Status window.
From the File menu, click Save to return to the Sales Order Entry window.
The system changes the quantity in the Quantity/Unit field to *LOT*.
The system assigns a status of Bid in the Order Status For <order #> field.
Note: The designation of HOLD or REL included with the status is irrelevant for bids.
See Also: