Creating Product Records

Use Product Maintenance to create records for products. The product record includes all information needed to sell, purchase, and maintain products.

In addition, you can use Product Maintenance to create records for nonstock product templates or miscellaneous charge placeholders, such service charges and lot billing items.

Edit individual product records through Product Maintenance. Use Mass Load to update multiple product records simultaneously when those records share the parameters needing updated.

To create a product record:

1. From the Maintenance menu, select Product to display the Product Maintenance window.

2. Click New Productto create a new product record.

The system populates the Product field with New and assigns an internal product ID number, which displays in the lower left corner of the window.

Note: If you have the Product Image Viewer Propertiescontrol maintenance record set to Yes and an image is associated with this product, the image displays automatically. You must have Document Imaging or PDW Imaging companion products to attach images to product files. For more information, see Attaching Images to Product Files.

3. Complete the fields, as required.

   Note: The red asterisks (*) in the window identify system-required fields.

   Field	Description
   Description	Product name, along with details that help users differentiate it from similar products. The product description can be up to 99 lines of 35 characters each. You can use any information entered here for product searches. Important:  We do not recommend using special characters, such as carets (^) or tildes (~) in your product descriptions. Special characters can cause your reports to run incorrectly. For example, the system considers the tilde character a delimiter. Using a tilde in your descriptions eliminates the product from inventory value report calculations. To prevent customers from using the detailed product description on a bid or other printed form for comparison shopping, do the following: Click the Notes menu, and select Alternate Description to display the Alternate Description dialog box. Assign a generic description to the product. Note: This function works only if your printing program is set up to print alternate product descriptions.
   Additional Key Words	Additional product information to use for product searches that does not display in the description. When searching for a product, the system looks at data in both the Description and Additional Key Words fields in the Product Maintenance window. By including additional key words, you increase the ways by which you can access a product record. For example, use the Additional Key Words field to enter the following identifiers for the product: Common nicknames or abbreviations. Vendor catalog numbers. Competitor catalog numbers.
   Weight (lbs)	Product's weight in pounds. If you assign the product to a buy line with a vendor target based on a weight limit, you must enter the product's weight. After you enter a price line, the system attaches the purchase order unit of measure to the weight, for example, ea. If left blank, the system assigns a value of 0.0000.
   Load	Product's load factor. If you assign the product to a buy line with a vendor target based on the load factor, enter how much of the item can fit on a truck. After you enter a price line, the system attaches the purchase order unit of measure to the factor, for example, ea. If left blank, the system assigns a value of 0.0000.
   Price Line	Price line to assign to the product. Note: The system assigns the product to a sell group with the same identifier as the price line, unless you override it in the Price Group Maintenance window.
   Budget Group	Budget group to assign to the product.
   Buy Line	Buy line to assign to the product. Assign secondary buy lines to the product, as needed. Note: The system assigns the product to a buy group with the same identifier as the buy line, unless you override it in the Price Group Maintenance window.
   Procure Group	Procurement group to assign to the product.
   Status	Current inventory/receiving status of the product. Stock is the default value.
   Cut Product	Cut label for product to identify if the product is allowed to be cut. The default is Use Price Line. The system uses standard hierarchy for parameters. For example, you may allow cuts for wire, piping, or plastic sheeting, but require copper tubing or metal grates to be purchased in set lengths. However, the system uses standard hierarchy rules to determine the status of a line and settings at the product level override settings set at the price line level. Because these rules still apply, you can have a price line set to allow cuts, but tag individual products on that line to not allow cuts. To define how cut products should further be handled, see Maintaining Cut Products by Branch.

4. In the UM Defaults area, assign the units of measure (UOM) in which you distribute the product for the associated quantity and transaction. For more information, see Setting Units of Measure for Product Records.

Note: Default UOMs are defined at the price line level. If you add any units of measure to the product, remember to update the price line.

5. Complete the remaining fields, as required.

   Note: The red asterisks (*) in the window identify system-required fields.

   Field	Description
   Product Select Code	Product select code used to group products assigned to different price lines or buy lines for reporting purposes. Authorized users can define these codes using the Valid Product Select Codes control maintenance record.
   GL Account / Product Type	GL product type code used to group products for sales analysis and reporting purposes. Authorized users can define G/L product types in the G/L Product Types window.  When creating a product record for a miscellaneous charge, assign the G/L account instead of a G/L Product Type. Note: Some companies do not assign G/L product types to nonstock products. If you are creating a nonstock product, ask your supervisor if this field is required.
   Commodity Code	Standard industry code used to group products in different price lines or buy lines for selection, sorting, and reporting purposes. Authorized users can define these codes using the Valid Product Commodity Codescontrol maintenance record. Note: If this field is left blank, the system uses a generic code.
   License	To specify an item as a licensed product in the Product Maintenance window, set the License field to Yes. When you do this, the “License Fields Requested in SOE” box opens automatically. In the “License Fields Requested in SOE” box, select the “Apply” check box for the license fields you want to use for gathering information on the sales order. You can use the “Mandatory” check box for required information. The list of available fields are based on the "License Items Fields" Control Record. The Expiration Date is a default field for all licensed products, but you still need to mark Apply to make use of the field. If you need to make changes to the license fields you can do so by navigating to Additional Data > License Fields.
   Index Type	Whether the product is indexed in the primary product file or in a secondary catalog. The default value for stock items is Primary.
   Sort Code	Sort code for the product. When products are resequenced in a price line or buy line, the system populates this field with the sort code for the product. Authorized users can define these codes using the Valid Product Sort Codescontrol maintenance record. Note: You can enter a user-defined sort code, but if anyone renumbers the price line or buy line, the system-assigned sort code overrides your entry.

6. Save the record and exit the window.

More Options From the Product Maintenance Window

The Product Maintenance window also offers these options:

See Also:

Buy Line Maintenance Overview

Price Line Overview

Pricing Overview

Creating and Maintaining Product Records Overview