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Using Features & Options in Sales Orders

Upon completing entry of a line item for which the product's Has Options? field is set to Y in FO-A  Enter Features and Options, a window will appear which lists all the first level Features (inventory Type O's) defined in the product¡¦s bill of materials.  Mandatory features will be identified with a check mark.  You can move the highlight bar to any non-mandatory feature and click on it (or press <Enter>) to mark it for selection.  You can click (or press <Enter>) on any check-marked feature to remove the check mark.  When you are satisfied that all features you want are checked, click on the Save button (or press F10).  The program will then begin presenting options for each feature selected.

The Options available within the first feature selected are displayed in a window.  Highlight the option desired and click on it (or press <Enter>).  The option will come into the order as a line item.  The description for the item is indented one character and contains a dot (period) in the first position.  This serves to give the options an indented structure when printed out on sales order documents.  You can change the description if you wish.  (NOTE: if you wish to suppress the use of these dotted indentations, you can set the Suppress Headers/Footers/Indents? field in SD-L  Features and Options Defaults to N).

You can accept the Ship Qty or change it.  If you override the quantity with a smaller amount, the program will return you to this option window once all sub-options (if any) in the option structure are completed for the first option/quantity entered.  Only when the original expected quantity is equaled or exceeded will the program move on to the next feature's options.

If the option has a price, it will either be entered on the line or it will be added to the price of the parent product, depending on how each option's pricing was defined in FO-A, Enter Features and Options.  If the price is to be added to the parent, you will not see the parent price change until the sales order is saved and redisplayed.

Options that are to be passed over to work order bills of material are marked with an M in the Lin field.  Options that are to remain as sales order line items only are marked with a K.

When the sales order is saved, inventory is allocated for K type items. Inventory is not allocated for M type items, for they will be passed over to the work order bill of material, at which point inventory will be allocated for all the work order bill of material components.

When all level one features for the sales order line item (parent product) have been fully selected through all levels, entry is completed and the line item entry area will be cleared and ready for entry of a new line item.

Skipping Options

If you are in the middle of entering a series of options for an item and you wish to skip over a particular option, click on the Exit button (or press <Esc>).  You will be asked Exit without choosing any of these options?  If you click Yes or press <Enter>, you are then asked Cancel the rest of the feature/option selection process?  Click No or press <Enter> and you can move on to the next choice.

Canceling the Features/Options Process

If at any point during entry of a series of features and options you wish to cancel the process (rather than finish all the remaining features and options), click on the Exit button (or press <Esc>) while in the features or options selection window.  First you will be asked if you want to exit without choosing any of the features or options.  Click Yes or press <Enter>.  Then you will be asked Cancel the rest of the feature/option selection process?  Click Yes (or press Y) and you will be returned to the line item entry area, which is now cleared for entry of a new line item.  The parent product and options entered up to this point remain in the sales order, however, and will have to be deleted manually.

Features within Features

Features can be set up within features, allowing you to set up a chain of choices.  For example, the first feature selected could be FABRIC.   After fabric is chosen the next feature choices could be PATTERNS or SOLIDS.  Only after one of those features is selected would actual fabric options be displayed for selection.  Each feature within a feature is considered a level.  The order entry program can accommodate up to nine levels of features and/or options.

Features within Options

A selected option can have its own bill of material which contains Features (inventory Type O's).  For example, you could select a particular desktop size, but then you need to know if it is to have a rounded or square edge.  Within the desktop's bill of material you would add a feature for edge detail.  In order entry the desktop size option, once selected, will have its Features displayed in a window as if a new parent product is being entered, thus allowing a second level of options.  In the same manner, any of the second level options can also contain features, thus providing a third level of options.  Up to nine levels of sub-options can be processed within the sales order.

2nd Description/Specifications/Customer Cross-Reference/Comments

If an option has a second line of description, inventory specifications, or customer-cross reference item numbers or descriptions, these will automatically come into the sale order following the option.  They will be indented (without being preceded by dots) the same number of characters as the option.

Once line item entry is completed for an option structure, you can edit the option lines or comment lines (or insert comment lines) or type over the standard Description with a customized description.  When the sales order is converted to a work order, all comments and customized descriptions are passed to the work order fully intact.

Converting Sales Orders to Work Orders

When sales orders are converted to work orders through SO-N  Convert Sales Orders to Work Orders, the program will automatically pass all options coded M in the sales order Lin column over to the newly created work order's bill of materials.

If an option is a phantom assembly (inventory type B), work order bill of material records are created for each component in the phantom's bill of material, thus pulling in a set of components by means of one item number.

When a shop traveler is printed for the work order, option components passed over from sales orders are listed in a separate section of the bill of materials entitled PTIONS SELECTED.? Any phantom assemblies are labeled and listed separately.  Any standard bill of material remarks attached to any component or option and any comments attached to any option within the sales order are printed.

The work order bill of material is a marriage of the standard components found in the manufactured item's bill of material, plus the options and phantom components selected during sales order entry.

Once a work order bill of materials is created, inventory is then allocated (for production planning purposes) for each of its components.