When products in your warehouse are unavailable, you have different options when ordering or purchasing to replenish that product. You must indicate in the Product Maintenance product record which items are suitable as substitutes for products. You can assist the salesperson by setting up substitutes, and then the system displays a list of substitute options for the salesperson to select from and replace the parent product on the order after consulting the customer.
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.
You can also enter notes for the products. For example, you can indicate that a color may be slightly darker than the original product's color. Enter any details that the customer should be notified about before ordering the substitute item.
Use the
To setup a product as a substitute for another product:
Display the primary product for which you want to define a substitute product.
From the Additional Data menu, select Product Relationship to display the Product Relationship Maintenance window.
From the Relationship Types area, click Substitutes.
In the Substitute Product Description field, enter the product which you would like sales personnel to use in the event that the primary product is not available.
Use the
The Status field populates based on the status of the substitute product.
In the Allowed Branches field, list which branches in your company that you want to permit this substitution. You can enter more than one branch separated by commas. For example, enter 1,2,3, NE to assign branches one, two and three and also the NE territory.
In the Notes field, click the field to display the Notes entry window. Enter any information to describe the substitute product up to 30 characters.
Note: These notes display on the order with the product description on the order, but do not print with tickets, invoices, or physical orders.
Click OK to save your note and return to the Product Relationship Maintenance window.
Repeat steps 4-6 to add other substitute product options.
If you define more than one substitute for a product, use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to put the substitute products in a preferred order.
Click the x to close the window and at the prompt, click Yes to save the changes.
Close the window to save the settings and exit this window.
See Also:
Setup Requirements for Substitutions
Substituting Products on Sales Orders