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Invoice PDF importing
Updated 18-Jan
Seen first sample of a tax invoice. C9 should be able to read them in but the invoice design is very complex so I am expecting it will take a few goes to get it right. As always flick invoices that do not work to us to get working.
Price file and price change impacts on inventory holding
Updated 16-Jan & 17-Jan
New price files are in c9 repo. The supplied price files at this this time contain some significant omissions and issues. Hoping to receive revised files from factory in a few days. Specifics:
- No supercession data was provided. Pre-existing supers as previously supplied last (in September) have been reapplied for now
- Part categorization, which is critical for stock ordering and stock buy pricing analysis is absent.
- Lack of part categorization means discounting regime for stock orders cannot be determined. In meantime stock disc % is set to daily disc %
Part pricing is expected to drop significantly with switch to SAP. For dealers with large stock holdings this can be quite impactful on costs and parts margins on already purchased goods.
Next version of c9 will modify two key reports : full stock and full summary. A new column is being introduced called 'stock buy variation'. It will show variation on costings from last in cost vs stock buy price. Ideally it should be zero. But +ve values will indicate loss of stock valuation when stock buy is lower than your last in. These reports will provide an estimate on impacts of any pricing changes on current holdings.
Uploading orders
Order file format is changed. C9 will release a new version of c9 that will update the generated file for KTM / Husky.
Alternatively you can switch to using generic file export method. Click on change export method and select Generic (CSV or XLSX)
In Generic settings
- goto advanced tab
- set mask to PQR (this is a format string. It means part number, then quantity then order reference)
- Make sure header is empty
- Make sure separator is a semi colon (;)
- Make sure never escape option is selected
Note that there may be a problem with using generic. It might not work for piston kit parts like 79030207000 II because of the need to transmit space in part number maybe. Need to wait and see how SAP platform actually behaves. If problematic then KTM / Husky method with an updated c9 will be only reliable option.
Stock order handling
SAP system will require that stock orders are uploaded on particular weeks in a calendar month and only certain parts can be included in that upload.
To support this some changes have been made to c9. The basic process will be as follows:
- Generate a active stock order
- NEW Bulk Move eligible parts on stock order to a new sent order during week stock order is open for those part types
- export the newly created sent order as per normal
- cleanup / ignore stock order with non eligible parts as needed
Bulk move function is accessed via a new function in orderbook under modify. There is a new button called bulk move parts.
To bulk move parts. Highlight the order in order book. Click on modify and click on bulk move.
Next screen Select move to stock order with new sent order. Drop the list down to pick new sent order. Make sure you move cust stock order parts too.
Once finished, c9 will drop relevant parts on a new sent order, leaving anything not relevant behind. Export the newly created order. It will show status of 'sent(?') because its send status is unknown. Goto send -> Export to export as a order file and load into dealer.net
Bulk move triggers off a new price file attribute : stkordcat. Values being power or apparel or parts. At this time the attribute is not set in c9 repo. Waiting for a new price file from KTM that captures the underlying required raw data.
Magician availability checks
Updated 18-Jan : Magician working with dealernet
Miscellaneous minor details
Another important change for pricefiles, for c9 : to date c9 has tried to retain formatting spaces etc in price files under circumstances where suppliers inadvertently strip this information as part of some sort of internal IT system migration. c9 will no longer do this and this new price file will substantially remove spaces and dashes. I get that this is an annoyance as raw part numbers are not nearly as ergonomic to work with, but strictly this is a problem that suppliers need to contend with not DMS systems like c9. One of the reasons why I feel compelled to abandon this is because I have no idea how relaxed KTM's SAP system is with regards to part number formatting and there is no time to try and figure that out. So c9 will publish price files exactly as we get them, instead of trying to reconstruct how part nos looked during gentler times. Possibly down the track c9 may includes some facilities to overlay your own part number formatting scheme to make part numbers easier to look at, but such a change will need to wait for v5 to be fully completed first.