If you do any light manufacturing, it may be helpful to use priceline maintenance to exclude some items from check availability or cycle count. In this short video overview, Tony King will show you how to do that.
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Posted tagged ‘activant eclipse tip’
Eclipse Tip: Re-Order Pad
July 27, 2011
Using the re-order pad in Epicor Eclipse can help you save time by accessing your customers’ recently purchased products. In this short video overview, Tony King will show you how to use it.
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Eclipse Tip: Warehouse Location Maintenance
April 28, 2011
Many users don’t realize that you can view product locations in Eclipse in multiple ways. With the Warehouse Location Maintenance feature, unlike product location maintenance, you don’t have to enter a product first. You just enter in the Warehouse Location, which allows you to see all of the items in that location. This comes in handy for locations that contain multiple products.
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Eclipse Tip: Cycle Count for Changed Ship Quantities
February 25, 2011
By default, cycle counts are only generated from sales orders. Therefore, when you issue a transfer and your warehouse staff changes the ship quantities, that item doesn’t go to the cycle count queue. With the Generate Cycle Count When Transfer Ship Quantities Change control file, you can include them in the queue to be counted. Change the setting to YES and you’ll be on your way to a more accurate warehouse! GET MORE free Eclipse help …
The Top 7 Things that Eclipse Users Get Wrong
January 25, 2011
Our recent survey is providing insightful and useful information that will help mold the future of this newsletter. One affirmed suspicion is that our Eclipse tips are a hot item each month. While we wait for the final survey results to be tallied, we thought we’d treat you to some reverse tips … in other words, what NOT to do. Spending over five hundred hours per month in Eclipse-run distributors gives us unique perspective into some of the most common operational mistakes.
- Mass loads don’t fix everything. Without fail, when an Eclipse user runs into a problem, whether slight or serious, the first question out of their mouths is, “Can we write a mass load to fix that?” While mass loads can be helpful in certain situations, they are not a universal band-aid. In most cases, it takes just as long to write the mass load as it would to fix the issue manually. Whenever you come across a challenge, or need to repair a problem, you should first analyze your data set to determine if a mass load is truly warranted.
- Status code, what? We love salespeople. Their role is invaluable. But, they can be some of the worst offenders when it comes to working in Eclipse. One of the most common scenarios we come across is hearing them declare their individuality – “I’m different, you don’t understand what I do.” – whilst generalizing their orders and trying to make every customer situation the same. Let us explain. Every order with every single customer can potentially be different. Eclipse has useful functionality that allows you to customize each sales order by choosing the appropriate status code. Yet, most distributors we visit don’t use them, or don’t use them properly. These codes are intended to provide personalization, allowing you to treat the order exactly as the customer specified and making your customer service even better. So, why not use them?
- Prices schmices. Properly pricing products is a more important success factor than most realize; and, a lack of emphasis in this area can run your business ragged. We continue to be amazed by the number of distributors that don’t take advantage of Eclipse’s price matrix. In these cases, each time a salesperson enters an order, they fix the Gross Profit to be whatever works for the situation. In effect, this creates multiple pricing czars in the organization. And, unfortunately, not everybody can be an expert at product pricing. When you set up a pricing matrix, customers get consistent pricing, the sales staff gets to focus on what they do best, and you can effectively and predictably manage your margins.
- I don’t need no stinkin’ queue. Earlier we mentioned the shipping status and how it’s sadly ignored. But, the customer calling queue is an even greater misfit. It’s purpose is pretty straightforward: it’s turned on when a salesperson needs to be prompted to call a customer. As simple and potentially unnecessary as that sounds, it can really come in handy and improve overall service. For instance, if a customer wants material that you don’t have, you could just send it to them as soon as it gets in …. Or, when the product arrives, you could use it as an opportunity to call the customer. This allows you to have an additional customer touch, which could potentially become an up sell.
- Everyone’s a math whiz. Ahh, you thought we were just picking on salespeople, did you? Not so. We can take a moment to harp on purchasing, too. Why? Because Eclipse can add 2+2 in the Suggested PO’s just as good as a buyer can. Many times, they think they’re smarter than the system, letting us know that the Suggested PO queue can’t come up with the correct buy. So, they consistently change the buy. However, this is undoubtedly resulting in unnecessary fluctuations in inventory that could be avoided if Eclipse were allowed to do its thing. If the buys aren’t right, you should instead look at the data and the maintenance so that the queue can work as designed.
- Picking Déjà vu. Have you ever experienced this? Your warehouse picker shorted a ticket, so the ticket reprinted. Then, a second warehouse picker looks for the material. He can’t find it either, so the saga continues. If you’ve been here, it’s probably because your default control file for backorders is set to “A.” That means “ship when available;”and, it does just that, even if you’re on-hand is wrong. The system keeps thinking you have it, and your pickers will continue to look for it. If you instead change your default back order status to a calling status, this lack of efficiency can be eliminated.
- No love for the labels. It’s no surprise when we walk into a warehouse and see a perfectly good label printer that’s being used only for shelf labels. For truck deliveries, the workers are still using a giant permanent marker to list the route on all of the pretty boxes. Eclipse can print labels for shelves, for products, for shipping purposes, and for just about anything else that needs a label in the Eclipse environment. Put those label printers to use and you’ll instantly step up your efficiency and professionalism.
Turkey Gets a Little Help from its Friends: The Year in Eclipse Tips
November 29, 2010
After 10 consecutive weeks at customer sites, last week was my first concentrated period of time in our local office in a long while. My fingers were gliding effortlessly across the keyboard; and, I was swiftly, yet coolly, processing through each thing on the to-do list, while a mix of tunes was wafting from the desktop speakers. Just about the time that the classic Beatles song “Get By with a Little Help from my Friends” started playing, my mouse happened to lead me onto Facebook. That was where I noticed a poll one of my “friends” had started. It went something like this… “Thanksgiving. It’s all about the turkey, or the sides?”.
I didn’t vote; but, if I had, it would’ve been for turkey. Or better yet, ham. Of the Honeybaked variety. Or both. What can I say? I’m a guy who likes his protein. Nonetheless, the votes were overwhelmingly weighted toward the side dishes. Ah yes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberries, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and more. Who doesn’t love a tasty side? I can see how they provide some much-needed oomph to a meal … a nice bonus to balance out the meal’s staple food. Plus, they’re welcome flavors that likely haven’t been tasted in a whole year. In essence, the turkey becomes complete with a little help from its side dish friends.
While the Beatles continued to fill my ears and the thought of Thanksgiving made my mouth water, my mind drifted back to Zerion, and to what I was going to write about in this month’s newsletter. The collision of senses and thoughts resulted in this (possibly far-fetched, yet seasonally appropriate) analogy: We (Zerion) like to think of ourselves as being a partner to our clients, an extension of their business; and, as a resource for everything Eclipse. We provide unparalleled system and distribution knowledge. We offer solutions to problems, both common and obscure. We answer questions. We manage installations. And we offer system consulting, coaching and training. Zerion is the turkey, so to speak. Our core services are the main course. But, we make that turkey better with some savory sides … Things like this newsletter with our monthly Eclipse tips, consistent efforts to help you save money or time, in-depth articles about important Eclipse topics, and our Ask an Expert feature.
We believe in paying it forward, and we try to be a source of knowledge in the Eclipse community, as well as a thought leader and industry expert (even for those who don’t buy the whole 25-lb. bird). We truly enjoy giving a little help to our friends. We sleep better at night when we know we’ve made someone’s day-to-day work life even the slightest bit easier, or more efficient (especially if we’ve just eaten two servings of tryptophan and a few thousand calories in sides).
Since my Facebook friends so greatly appreciated the sides of the meal – in spite of my belief in the turkey – my wacky thought process landed me here: maybe you appreciate the sides more than anything too! As such, I thought I’d give a little ode to the sides. More specifically, to Zerion’s Tip of the Month. It’s always been the most read part of our newsletter, and from our perspective, one of the most important things we can do to give a little help to our friends.
So, here’s a recap of our helpful recipes from the last ten months, plus a nice little bonus dessert: our all-time favorite tip from years past. (Just click on any of the tip names to see the complete text for that tip.)
January: !NOBO
February: Get a Second Ticket for Your Wire Room or Yard
March: Log Off Faster from the Eclipse Banner Screen
April: Fix Those Darn Decimals, Would Ya?
May: Tracking Inventory Adjustments
June: Using Auto Apply Mode in SOE
July: B/O Days in Vendor Maintenance
August: Ignore Cash Required
September: Review PO Backorders
October: Secondary Buy Lines
And, our favorite time-saving tip from June 2008:
Make your life easier by scheduling routine accounting functions. Eclipse has several features that are designed to handle frequent accounting functions for you. In Accounts Payable, you have the ability to enter a payable once and then schedule it for recurring postings at regular intervals. This works great for items such as lease payments on vehicles or equipment, or bills such as cell phones and monthly rent. You can set it up once and then let Eclipse handle the rest for you!
Finally, to celebrate the season just a little bit more, we’re also offering an unheard of special this month. Get some monthly Zerion Turkey (or more aptly named, our E.Z. Support plan) for free. See the special at the bottom of the email for more details. Happy Belated Thanksgiving!
Four Steps to Greater Profitability
November 29, 2010
I was reading the most recent issue of The Wholesaler and came across a great article by Jason Bader, an inventory management specialist. He essentially laid out four steps to improving your profitability, with a focus on inventory. We liked his suggestions, which you can read in detail; but, here’s our take on the basics and how you can master his tips with Eclipse and Zerion:
1. Understand your cost to serve and the profitability of each customer. Then, group your customers by profitability and make necessary changes to each group.
Zerion: This is a fantastic exercise, which can be done in the simple way he describes; or, it can be done in a more complex fashion using the Activity Based Costing function in Eclipse. While we agree that you can probably get by without doing the complete ABC analysis for the purposes he describes, having consistent access to how much a customer costs you is a good idea and can be worth the hassle … if you plan to make use of it. ABC involves assigning costs to the things you don’t bill for but cost you money, ultimately accounting for every dollar that your business spends. The functionality is not difficult to set up; however, determining all of your transaction costs can take some time. The information gained should be used to determine pricing for each of your customers.
2. Utilize varied compensation for the warehouse.
Zerion: Jason outlines some solid reasons to consider changing the way you pay your warehouse staff; and, we think it’s long overdue. We’ve seen distributors pay warehouse personnel based on performance; and, generally speaking, it seems to result in smoother, faster operations with fewer people. Eclipse doesn’t necessarily handle this kind of compensation program perfectly. It can be done with reporting, but requires some strategy and leg work.
3. Make use of your software!
Zerion: We put an exclamation point after this one because it completely encompasses what we preach everyday. If you’re not maximizing your technology investment, you might as well be standing on the corner handing out dollar bills to strangers. Eclipse is a powerful package for distribution; and, while we know it often seems easier to do it “your way,” or to leave things as they are, we can usually guarantee it isn’t the most efficient. We know it’s a vast system with lots of nuances; but, we make our living helping companies leverage Eclipse to do more, do it easier, do it faster or do it better. We can help. And, if you don’t want us to, we just ask that you find some way to make optimum use of the technology that is at your fingertips. It will serve you, if you let it.
4. Know what’s in your warehouse.
Zerion: This is another opportunity for Eclipse. Inventory management is the cornerstone of a profitable distribution business; and, as Jason said, think of your product as stacks of money and treat it as such. Know exactly what’s there, where it is and how profitable it is. Make sure your processes reflect a regular, solid analysis of your most important asset. Cycle counting, random and scheduled counts are essential and can all be done with Eclipse.
To get more in-depth help in any of these areas, contact us. Also, be sure to check out Jason’s full article in the November issue of The Wholesaler. You can learn more about him on his web site.
Eclipse Tip: Secondary Buy Lines
October 28, 2010When you buy a part from two different vendors, wouldn’t it be helpful if the Suggested Purchasing Queue would give you two different options for a purchase order? If you use secondary buy lines within the product file, you can do just that. Create the second buy line in buy line maintenance, and populate the necessary products. This will allow multiple suggestions to display in the Suggested Purchasing Queue. GET MORE free Eclipse help …
Zerion's The Link 