GP ERROR ON PN CODE REPORT

Talk to Exploris on this and they say it is the wrong calculation. And here I thought I was getting rich. No scheduled release to fix the problem.

OH WHERE, OH WHERE HAS MY 8.18 GONE

Just can't believe Im walking blind to all of my weblink customers. In J-con we had a report called 8.18 that you could access anytime to see what your customers were doing/hits/Po's etc. Exploris does not have this function and from what I hear there is no future release with it. Now I have to depend on CQ to get me the reports from data warehouse, which is very slow. Well I just got a report yesturday showing that some people have been abusing it for four months, this is unacceptable!!!!! CAULK ONE UP FOR J-CON!!!!!!!!

SOME IMAGES FOR INV MASS UPDATE

If anybody as done forecasting that was not aware of the DNR bug, then I would do this for all lines. It takes about 10 minutes and it may seem that your computer is locking up but just let it run and go grab a coffee. But beware this tool can be very Dangerous and you can never go back SO BE CAREFUL!!!!

A MUST KNOW ABOUT EXPLORIS FORECASTING

If anybody uses Exploris forecasting you need to know that any of these non-sku part numbers highlighted in red are added to your system through forecasting it will NOT take the DNR flag of the part. There is a way to remove all the flags to a line or multiple lines all at once by using INV MASS UPDATE which Ian as mentioned on Dec 15th. Makesure if any AE's are doing your forcasting that they are aware of this because I would bet many are not.

WHY WAREHOUSE SALES DATA IS IMPORTANT

Well about a month ago I might of put these number into my inventory, but as you can see it is bad data because the warehouse hasn't sold any. This raises another question, Why is the part number data wrong? I find any part in exploris that has a PN code .0 is like this. And they say why do we need warehouse sales data?

======= note -- updated by Greg ========
Hi It is 1-8-09 and Bob is on his way to London (yeh - that London ) for 10 days - I do not know if he had a chance to figure out the reply from Mike Deal ... but here is Mike's reply ..... I don't understand it ...it does seem to say that we will TRY to get the caliper but the warehouse won't have it -- so we just make a bit more work for everyone ...

--reply follows ---
I can "sort of" help with this. These 2 caliper numbers were marked for deletion in our Adis system, which means they were discontinued by our
supplier and our Product Manager placed an X in our status field. The X means delete this part number from our system on the next purge. The
problem is a part is NOT supposed to be marked for deletion before the movement code is changed to 0 because the Progress Database stops updating
all numbers marked for deletion. The movement code was 4 when these numbers were marked for deletion, but changed to movement code 0 later. Since
Progress stopped updating these numbers, Exploris still thinks that they are movement code 4.

Mike Deal
Director - Classification
General Parts International / CARQUEST

====== note -- updated by Greg -- after talking with Mike Deal ========

Ok --think I have it now -- there are steps and if a step get done out of order we get the above problem
1) part is identified as 'going to be obsolete'
2) part mvt code must be set to ZERO first
3) then the column can be set to X for delete part (probably after all stock gone)

Here the X was marked before the mvt code was set to zero - and this will cause problems for EXPLORIS users -- as the new data base .. called the Progress Data Base is==will not update ... this is NOT a problem for J-Con users as J-Con is updated from ADIS -- not this new data base ( Progress Data Base).

It does hi-light the complexity of the issues and reinforce the need for GROUP meetings to solve problems

I run into many examples in Canada of the part NOT having a ZERO movement code -- when it is a obsolete part .... For example since we in our 3 stores dump all data into excel --we don't use the product recall sheets --we just sort all parts to see what matches -- this is how we know some parts are NOT moved to mvt code 0. This will; have to be solved ... or annoy BOTH the Exploris users and the WAREHOUSE as these parts will try to order and the warehouse won't have them...

I was just told how to fix a setting problem like the one we had for ecc. I had in several part numbers the display item flagged ( this then produces price stickers for that part number) , many of which should not have been flagged. You can do a mass update to remove that flag. You need to be careful as this tool could create some havoc in your system if used incorrectly. To remove the flag go to invoice, then to part utility, to inventory mass update. This goes to a new screen, enter your line code, click on the first number bean ( then choose the top number, as this is the first number in the file), click on the last number bean ( choose the top number it is the last part number in the file). On the right hand side there is a bean that says update or if you click on it changes to " clear mode". Click on clear mode, check off the do not display box, then click on the update button. The system will ask if you want to update this file, click OK, spacebar and you are done

the BET is on

there is a $10 ( US funds too boot ) bet on with Normand (head of IT in Canada ) and Greg H --that the J-Con f-9 type warehouse sales will NOT be in Exploris by Dec 31,2008

Greg thought this was a pretty safe bet when made at the London Owners Meeting recently --any side bets ?

************* L A T E B R E A K I N G ****************

damm -I lost the bet -- money has been paid ...knew I should bet on the billing schedule "gross profit' program -that was delayed until 1st qtr of 2009 .... so if you see busy Jobbers -it is because they have to do SO MUCH work to adjust pricing plans in Exploris ( and it still is so easy in J-Con )

I have just created a new line item and found that updating prices by the gp, to be very easy, and quick. It is not necessary to workout all your prices. Just make sure that you are consitent in the price that you are going to use as your base. Go to menu, then to invoice/ part utility/ price%. The screen will come up , you choose whether you want to adjust by % or GP. Choose the price levels you wish to adjust, next column put in the price field you wish to create you prices from ( ie: field 6), next column choose your gp % that you want. Check the preview button to see what it looks like. If everything looks ok, check the write to database box, update and your prices are set. You can check preview to make sure you like it. If not, do the process again

error on 47

Bob Miller is telling me that trying to do a X line PO creates an error on 'des not meet criteria'

How many more errors are there ( hint - other guys )

does it hurt when you post ?

You might think it costs money to post - we have a handful of jobbers et to post here - but they find it easier to exchange e-mails with a smaller group,

Some times these issues need to be said for all to see,...

Come on Bob & Ian -- post these issues

missing Warehouse sales =-- is a BIG THING

Just wrote yet another e-mail to Rick Young & Joe Zucchero pointing out their stubborn refusal to show warehouse sales in EXPLORIS hurts jobbers.

Background --in J-Con you can see warehouse sales in F-9 screen from point of sale -it is handy to make single product decisions on to stock or not ( and could be useful in other ways if data was to be included on reports - but save that for another day)

The image here ( click to enlarge ) is a part that Bob Miller brought to my attention -- Bob writes some things for the blog and has been on Exploris for some time. Bob was promised that v46 would have warehouse sales ... there must be someone with a growing nose with all these lies aka Pinocchio

The part is shown as being a mvt code 2 - clearly it is wrong -- but we ONLY KNOW this since as an OLDER J-CON user we have access to the warehouse data that is part of Activant's Parts Source monthly CD. We have spotted similar mistakes and the class guys at Ralieghh get them corrected quickly ... but is we can;t correct-then stores will add the WRONG PARTS --and 6 or 9 or 12 months latter want to return them ... who wins then ...?

Give us the warehouse sales in Exploris ( and on Eagle, too )

Double Post stock order

Who has exact details on the day in Aug where the stock orders DOUBLE POSTED. The resulting chaos in your inventory counts has to be EXTREME

Why was there so poor feedback on what caused this HUGE mistake and how it will never happen again ( one would hope )

How good is your on hand count?

Source - Roger - Timmins ON

Multi-store address book ??

While we wait for the Multi-Store parts of Exploris one question asked today from Mike is 'how do you share contact info for suppliers with all staff in all stores??"

IF you have a good solution - and would like to see it posted here -- drop a line to info 'at' dtauto dot ca (written this way to avoid spammers.

One way we have used with moderate success is to get a FREE account in Plaxo ( www.plaxo.com ). Pick a user name and a password that you will have to SHARE with all stores.

Click on the attached image to see a sample layout

Hints - we try to use WORK and not Home for the address and phone #'s
- we do NOT use a personal name - just the company it seems to sort better - if you need the rep's name -- add it to the address and in the NOTES tag - where we add other info like prepaid levels and any other special details

One downside is that Plaxo keeps changing and adding features - we don't use these features. If you add personal names it will try to have to LINK to a buddy list ( that is too personal - just need the facts )

The J-Con had NOTHING to help multi-stores prepare list of vendors ... in fact you can't even standardize the vendor number in J-Con as they use a 'first in' for vendor numbers. We would expect Exploris to allow multi-store to set VENDOR NUMBERS to make it easier for those re-order PO's to be run and reviewed.

What do you use for multi-store supplier data ??? care to share ... ??

Avoiding the obvious - letting users help users ....

Senior management at GPI have steadfastly ignored the obvious - the POWER of message boards ( sometime called discussion boards or forum ).

A token attempt had 20 users from Exploris user advisory council try ... 20 is not large enough. That was dismal

Take World Pac ... the single lonely ( and almost totally un-noticed board for the next gen e-cat ) is available at the bottom of speedDIAL main page. Then compare that to the message boards at the 'garage' user for Worldpac - truly a dynamic board with TONS of activity ( you need a non-CARQUEST account to see these message boards )

Click on images to see difference

Message boards allow users to ask questions and help one another ...oh ...yeh ...there is some bitching that goes on ...but once you have a healthy environment the bitching simmers down and the work gets underway. If you don't try any message boards --you owe it to yourself to pick a passion or hobby and seek out a message board on the topic -( hint -- try travel or cars ). Just google it.

Once better --if you have computer problems - lots of great message boards. Note --there is an etiquette for new users to follow - first you 'lurk' --or just look and pick up on the tone of the group. One big 'faux pas' is to TYPE WITH ALL CAPITALS ... users will think you are SHOUTING.

Imagine a forum for power users to really get good - or a separate forum for new users to learn faster?

OK Bloggers --how do you do this ?

See the J-CON blog --links on the side to see how you can get the defective ratio for all customers ...so how do you do this in EXPLORIS ??

More data is at CQ Change article on defect ratio's Our regular staff blog

missing Blue Ceramic pads

see cqchange.blogspot.com for post on missing blue ceramic pads -- mntioned by Bob from Walker RD

FORCASTING BUG

For everybody that uses forcasting, if you add any non-sku parts via forcasting it will put a order point to the part and bring it into your store and system. But once you sell the part it will not come back in because the DNR flag is check!!!!!!. You will have to use inventory mass update utility to clear the DNR flag for the parts, but be careful you have to know what your doing to use this utility. Any question call me!!!!!

Next Gen e-cat ?

Any feedback on the recent improvements on Worldpac's Next Gen e-cat would be appreciated.

click here -- and give your user name and password to gain access to the thread on new e-cat

This is part of the sparsely read Jobber Message Board by Worldpac .... why poorly read -- no one promotes it -and it is on an extremely narrow focus

What do you think of the next gen e-cat .. ?

the wrong thing at the right time

this BLOG is the WRONG THING --- but something is needed ---for this is the RIGHT TIME for feedback.

What's wrong with the BLOG -- we have a hard time getting the verbal complaints into words - jobbers on the list are busy ( and in some cases very busy in part to staff shortages) --so a BLOG with limited what's new -- isn't much of a BLOG ... and for that we apologize to our ever growing list of readers. IF you would like to be an author and write articles on your experience with Exploris - drop me a line at info at dtauto dot ca (you know what to change and I avoid 100 more spam e-mails on money won in Nigeria if I avoid showing my e-mail address. Please drop a note on what and why, how & when ....tell us something about yourself

SO -- if a BLOG is the wrong thing - what could be better.

WIKI -- we urged Joe Z and the band of advisors that a WIKI is a great way to have the users make a users guide and a 'tips and tricks' documents. If you have not used a wiki before -- try www.wikipedia.org for a start and google the term WIKI. It allows users to add (or delete ) data on a variety of subjects. Imagine who a Exploris manual would look written by USERS! for USERS! If you are still a disbeliever you must NOT be impressed with wikipedia --an encyclopedia written by USERS for USERS.

Another item strongly pushed as a MESSAGE BOARD ( somethings called a discussion board or forum ). Worldpac has a disabled forum you can access on a lower left link in speedDial. A truly great message board is the worldpac one for their REGULAR repair garages - unfortunately we don;t have access - but anyone with the garage account can see what users say to other users. Message boards are available for any number of topics from bird watching to .....well ...everything .... you can soon tell what message boards have enough users to make them work -- each message boards needs NEW data daily to make it work and to get you back a timely manner.

Both of these suggestions fell upon deaf ears (repeatedly) .... time will be the judge of their actions. It does seem a shame that GPI ignored technology options that so many others use.

So -- we are stuck with BLOGS .... calling additional people who would like to post timely tips and tricks to make Exploris better ... e-mail me at info at dtauto dot ca.

Greg

cash sales on accounts

I too have mentioned that cash sales taxes should not appear on the charge account statements. I was then given a list of suggestions to correct different problem areas. This list included the suggestion that we should not process cash invoices on a charge account and should only bill them on a cash account with similar billing schedules. I am not going to start replicating account to correct this. I think this is an example of carquest not wanting us to bill on cash on a charge account so that we don't hit the pl4 trigger!
Ian

missing Left or Right in e-cat

Wayne says that e-cat setup in Exploris - can have missed setting so the LEFT or RIGHT in things like tie rod ends will be missing -- be sure your setup is right ---ask Wayne Baldwin at Simcoe for details (519-428-0860)

Charge account bug ?

This is from Jim ( who is short staffed and TOO busy -I can understand - but thought this was too good to ignore )

In J-Con you can have a customer come in and buy something on his charge account and for whatever reason he has --he wants to pay cash .... fine -- done easily in J-Con

Not so in Exploris --the GST ( a cdn federal sales tax ) shows up on the statement ... hmmm ... sure sounds like a bug to me

Quick tip for sorting FRI to save $

Spent some time on this and it is well worth it. Save alot of inventory $, alot easier in exploris then J-CON. First thing change sort code to BODY-PREFIX-SUFFIX. Then just forcast as per your profile you have set, once in the forcasting data select to view ALL PARTS. This will give you everything, but you will find alot of parts you don't need to stock that are movement codes one EG BMD52 is a 1.2 sold only 6, BCD52 sold 24. Very easy to do and all the data is right there on one page. Hope this is useful???

Forcasting

I have done alot of testing on forcasting. I find this works best for me, I set the days of inventory like this :

1.1-1.9 30 days

2.1-2.9 40 days

3.1-3.9 50 days

4.1-4.9 60 days
5.1-5.9 70 days

6.1-6.9 80 days

7.1-7.9 90 days

8.1-8.8 100 days

I set my store template like that, see images above. Also don't forget to set your days of inventory to ZERO of any movement code outside your stock depth, only way for it to pull sales outside your stock depth. EG if stock depth is 5.9, leave 6.1 and up blank or ZERO and set SALES OVERRIDE field to how many sales you need before you trigger order point outside your stock depth EG set it to 3 and anything you sell 3 or more over movement code 6 it will trigger an order point.

Forcasting

Samsung ML3051n Printer cartridges.

We have a place to buy these cartridges for $90. versus $180. from Staples
The Cartridge Centre. 1 905 970 9351. This is the place Carquest HO uses to get theirs.
They are reman units and seem to be lasting longer than the Samsung Units new.

XLine Importing

We now import Xlines with not too much difficulty. I import the data; part number, line code, cost information and core cost if needed into the template and forward to Normand for input. We then input the upcharges in the pricing menu. This sets the pricing for the customers. I use the GROUP setup for the accounts and modify any individual accounts where necessary. The process is painless after you have done a couple. The template is intimitating but if you enter only the fields I discussed it becomes much more manageable.

XLine Importing

Capture images - anything better than this

So - you have a customer who wants to see an image of a part that you have up on your screen ( actually happened just now with Ken at D&T Auto Parts using Speedial ) and he wanted to know how to capture the image and e-mail

On the Mac's it is built in and is an EXTREMELY handy feature -- but as far as I know on Windows there is nothing that allows you to select a specific part of the screen you wnat to GET ...a part from this ...... gadwin print screen - free utility

If any EXPLORIS users get a chance to see if they can add this ( or are you blocked from adding small utility programs ?? ) and let us know as a comment ....thanks

Update ---don't forget to set your preference to rectangle ( and not full screen ) -so you can select the size of the image you will grab and ignore the rest .... you draw this rectangle by clicking and dragging your mouse - see the size of the file you get ... you can also down size with a zoom option when saving --it takes some time to play and understand the option.

when is a problem NOT a problem ??

One of the BIGGEST ISSUES we have is -- in Exploris -- some things are problems to some but not others. If all you need from a computer is the ability to be a type writer and an adding machine - you requirements are a whole lot less than the few who want detailed info on to how to maximize their profits.

A saying that was coined early on -- 'is is a CHEVETTE or a BMW" was aimed at how feature rich is the system. It is a well known fact that the majority of users os ANY computer system are NOT what is classed as POWER USERS. Do you make a system that is a base system ( CHEVETTE) or do you make a full feature system with power windows and am-fm-xm radio ?? ( a BMW).

With my new part time passion - wine --- will we have a 2 BUCK CHUCK or a Chateauneuf de Pape.

Well--with the announcement of additional reports as an optional cost - we seem to have a Chevette with an add-on for power windows -- but maybe still not heated seats or air conditioning.

A recent conversation with a member of this group whp CAN post but is too disappointed to write --shows just a sampling of issues that effect him but may not trouble a less sophisticated user:
-only 3 part invoices - which jam more often -- no 2 part option ?
-the laser print option is almost here - after 4 years -and it took an extra 1000 man hours to do -1000?? really
-the inability to have a 2-20 (universal report generator) without going with 'store services' to make sure someone doesn't JAM the system with a request that is a CPU hog ( what --no limits ?? )

most of these a( and there are 72 more ) do not impact the low level user --too bad the system limits the power user...

The ONE option that could have worked is an absolute forbidden --to have a 2nd system for the power user. This is much like the unwritten 2nd system offered to power users in NAPA only after the reject the base system. Too bad - it would have been a workable option -- if only CARQUEST had more multi-store owners ... oh well ...

Fail Safe Phone jacks

This is NOT part of Exploris - but worthwhile never the less. Talking with another CARQUEST jobber and I mention I called him and no one answered ... it turns out the store was without power and as such the phone system doesn't work ... hmm ... so I told him about what we did our our three stores --

Our lines come in to the building to the phone equipment area --at this point you should have a FAIL SAFE PHONE JACK for EACH LINE ... you can plug a cheap analogue phone into this jack ( $12 at wal-mart ) - this allows you to know if any problem is between your store and the street - in which case the phone company is responsible - any problem after this point is usually your responsibility.

SO -- have someone extend these fail safe jacks DOWN TO THE COUNTER AREA and buy a cheapy phone - plug in on the first power outage.

NOTE -- these jacks bypass all the features of the in-house system. BUT --they let you keep answering your phone when the power is out .... drop by to see it in action for the past 20 years ...a tip that should be shared.

contract prices

I just have finished creating a contract price on fast moving ac plugs for my commercial customers. The outline to follow, is on the exploris help file on counter-link ( same as setting a sale price). It works very well and is pretty easy to use. We could also use this feature to create a short term sales special of our own. Check it out.
Ian

Printers approved for Exploris ... hmm ... any good ones ?

Al Haines ( 800-227-5077 ext 5077 ) writes that these printers are EXPLORIS approved ....

==============================
Here is the current list of GPI supported LaserJet printers ( 3/08 )
Samsung:
ML3051N w/Nic Card
SCX5530fn Multifunction w/Nic Card

HP
HP2300n LaserJet w/Nic Card
HP2420n LaserJet w/Nic Card
HP2430n LaserJet w/Nic Card
HP2840 Multifunction w/ Nic Card
HP3005n w/Nic Card
===============================

We asked which ones were MULTI-FUNCTIONAL .... Al writes back that these are ...
The HP2840
Color printing, color copying, color scanning, color direct digital photo
printing, black-and-white printing, black-and-white copying, black-and-white
scanning, black-and-white faxing, black-and-white direct digital photo
printing

The SCX5530fn Samsung
Samsung SCX-5530FN Network Laser Printer, fax, Copier and Color Scanner,

===============================

Do you have any comments on what printer you seem to like ??

customer reviews for HP2840 - click here


no customer reviews for this Samsung model

I enjoy reading customer reviews in Amazon.com -I think they have done the BEST of anyone in allowing customer feedback. I also see they are adding a Wiki type feedback -- good -- like Wiki's as well.

So -- who has anything to say ??

NFG Part #'s showing up in Forcasting

Hello guys

Just forcasted FRI and coming up with a bunch of bad part numbers, maybe US? Some ex. are
DE31 to DE658, DM31 to DM679, ES9 to ES703. Called the help desk, they have no clue, waiting for response from tier 2. Anybody else have them problems?

sorting inventory report

I have always preferred sorting my FRI line by number/prefix/suffix. When printing inventory count sheets, you can't choose how you want a line sorted. I discovered today the answer, go to vendor>line>line entry. Enter your line code and you can edit the sortbutton on the top right hand side.

Reports to Excel - when good data goes BAD

Working on temp solution to consolidate two line code reports - Jobber 1 and jobber 1 .... but the forst try we found how bad the data is when you get it formatted ( see post from a while back) --so we have data on non-formatted format.

This example shows a could of errors - if you compare the original to the FIXED version-- we have changed some titles and shifted the TOTAL line so it matches the sub/line data -- try to work with this in excel will drive you NUTS. These reports have to be cleaned up and de-bugged - then working in excel will be MUCH EASIER

Click to expand the samples

customer price plan

Just got a great tip from the help desk( at least something I was not shown how to do). If you are wondering what discounts you are selling a customer at, enter the part number into the sell line and click on the jelly bean to the right ,called, price lookup. A table will pop up showing you the discounts you have him set at, wether velocty pricing is included etc. Very slick, as it save you from bopping back and forth between billing schedules.

Merge data - part #2

Things that go 'bump' in the night --things that go wrong

One thing that has happened to us -- is that we have the formula right -- it just won;t work ... after repeated attempts ...ahh ... what is wrong ... the data may have INVISIBLE characters - especially if you are pulling data from IBM AS400 or similar computers.

Here is how to clean your data .... in a NEW column use this formula -- =TRIM(CLEAN( your data cell here ))
Then PASTE SPECIAL ... using VALUES ONLY and paste the cleaned data back ONTO the original data ... and delete the new column you used to clean the data in.

Another problem --if you are working WITHIN the same work book --- sheet 1 and sheet 2 .... the formula will not automatically ADD the dollar sign to FIX the points of data you are starting and ending with in the comparison. You will need to add this manually. This is NOT a problem if you use two different work books

work around for MERGING two sets of data

Until we get a better multi-store reporting system --you early adopters might have to do a work around to MERGE several stores data onto one report. I will also mention this on the sister blog J-Con Tips -- click here to see it as they have a similar need

So you have two (lets keep it simple to start ) stores -- and you want to see the line code sales for each line -- by store -- on ONE LINE ...see the picture examples - you can click on the images to make them larger.

Excel has some functions built in like VLOOKUP or HLOOKUP ( yep--click to see more--or google the term )

But if you have the time -a more complex byt accurate method is this excel formula
=INDEX( range of 2nd data , MATCH( part # on first data, range of part numbers on second data, 0 ), x where x is the column number in the 2nd data you want to bring back )

We will post examples of how this works in the future

update - Excel & X Lines

Quick note

Ian ( aka DAD ) is working on downloading --- www.openoffice.org --- and using the FREE version of the Excel type program so you can export data to excel ( or equiv ). You have to set your computer to tell it that .xls files open with ..... and select the program that does it. Just curious to know how locked down the current Exploris terminal is for downloading and adding a new program

Jim ( aka Jim ) is working on getting X line data to add & UPDATE within his Exploris

stay tuned --things are getting better

Exporting data to Excel

Want some fun - LEARN EXCEL --then you will be amazed how you could operate without such a powerful tool.

Exporting from EXPLORIS you have two options - WITH FORMATTING and DATA ONLY. here are examples of what the data looks like

The first is DATA ONLY - it is taken on a Windows version of Excel and you can see everything is fairly clean and straightforward. Once you get into Excel you can shrink some columns and expand others and all the 'other' things

The second image was taken from a Mac version of Excel to help show you HOW UGLY the formatted data is. I set the border for every cell -to showcase the merged cells ..... Why do I say this is UGLY? --well- if you are going to do any extra work in Excel - say you want to SORT -- you have to remove MERGED CELLS ..and believe me - there are a lot of merged cells here ... and once you do that the report is unreadable. So - the short story - if you want to use the power of Excel - get data only from Exploris

Next example we will post - is how you can take stores and line in the data ...stay tuned

X Line Data part 3 - adding new parts

Late flash - I have been told that the same template is used for adding new part #'s as well.

Hmm - lets think now -- say you have the line FRAM - they send you a list of approx 4,000 parts - you clean up and send in - you will automatically get all the NEW parts that Fram has added into their system - good ... how will you identify the parts that FRAM has dropped and perhaps they no longer send in the data -- we may need a report of parts that did NOT GET updated in your X line.

On the other hand - there is still some question as to how you can DELETE parts from your data base ( and how you might do it in multi-store ?? )

General Points
- should you remove the dashes and slashes from parts in your X line? There is a bigger question --what did you do when you did the original IMPORT? Why does the system make such an issue for dashes and slashes??? Other systems treat them as transparent - but not Exploris. If any reader has more info - appreciate feedback. This will be a HUGE issue I think.

X Line Data part 2 - submit the data

At this point ( 2/08 ) you send your data to Normand Delisle for Canada and to Mark Atkinson for USA jobbers data.

Click here for the sample template in excel ..... ----PriceUpdate - Unsupport.xls---

Questions we asked --
Q-do you have to list every part in the line
A-no -only the parts that are changing
Q-do you have to fill in every column
A-no -only the data that needs to be updated.
Q-do we have to send in any sorted order
A-no

Now - lets hear some feedback from users who try this and see how it works in the real world.... feedback please

X Line Data part 2 - submit the data

At this point ( 2/08 ) you send your data to Normand Delisle for Canada and to Mark Atkinson for USA jobbers data.

Click here for the sample template in excel ..... ----PriceUpdate - Unsupport.xls---

Questions we asked --
Q-do you have to list every part in the line
A-no -only the parts that are changing
Q-do you have to fill in every column
A-no -only the data that needs to be updated.
Q-do we have to send in any sorted order
A-no

Now - lets hear some feedback from users who try this and see how it works in the real world.... feedback please

X line data part 1 - basics

The info for X lines is NOT finished ( i has to assume ) so remember to check back and ask the help desk periodically.

There are TWO input forms - one for adding NEW PARTS - we will NOT deal with this in this article. We will deal with how to UPDATE data you already have in your system for X lines ( purchases from other than CARQUEST )

Important - if you don't know Excel ( or equiv. ) you are limited from using the full potential and you will do things slower. Excel is NOT an easy program to learn quickly - it takes time - start now.

To have an effective stable of X lines you are going to consider how you are going to document what you are doing. If you just want one or two lines - then you can stay less methodical. Consider having a word doc. file to write down what you do for each line. What is you discount from jobber. What formula will you use for pricing ( much like your own competitive position sheet for each X line). Will you use a VARIABLE MARKUP? What is that? The more something costs typically the less margin/markup you can make on the line. In Excel you can sort the data by cost and set markup formulas to decrease as the cost increases - for example is you have a broad line with many different misc items you can BAND the parts into cost groups. here is just a sample of what you could do:
Cost from-to Base Price
$0 to $5 cost * 250%
$5 to 20 cost * 200%
$20 to $100 cost * 175%
$100 and up cost * 166%

Since you have SLIGHT variations for different customer groups - you can add or subtract their discount. For this example lets assume you set walk in retail price as your base price and for each additional customer group you deduct 5% which is very easy to do in excel.

Do you want your retail pricing to end in a 9? Then you use the Excel function of CEILING and set to .10 and deduct one penny ( eg. =ceiling( A1*2.5, .1 ) -.01 ) where you are taking what is in cell A1 and 250% - and set the value to round to .10 then deduct one cent -- like I said --if you know Excel basics - this is SO MUCH easier ).

If you set your prices up first with better logic - you don't have to do as many dumb things for exceptions latter on.

Most companies you deal with will e-mail you the price updated for their lines. Most have had 5 to 10 years of doing this so they have their process down pretty good. When the writer started doing this in 1996 it was very uneven in company procedure and logic. Still remember battles with Draw Tite hitches who would send excel data that looked like their price list ( dumb ) with data for part numbers on TWO LINES. Norton Abrasives was similar - but time and pressure have gotten then to smarten up and provide clean data.

You may want to keep the original ( virgin ) data and keep your work in progress as a separate file name just in case you goof up and have to do it again. Again we urge you to get organized as this becomes very difficult as you add more X lines to your stable of data to maintain.

So- what have we got --
-suppliers to send you updated price files as they change
-you have a spot to save date in such a fashion you know what it is?
-you have a quick list for what you do on each X line for markup logic and any other additional work you need to do to the line

Now - lets go to part # 2 - and send clean data for updating

how to make a list of Important people

Key people who can make things happen? Are you tired of asking the wrong guy on a question for Exploris only to be given some pat answer that seems to be a 'canned response'

Here are two new guys I have been told about

1) Dan Kellly ( BTM Ohio ) comes highly recommended by some else in Ohio ( come on - with a hint like that - you should know who I mean ) Dan has a good parts knowledge ( not just computers ) and has key knowledge on security setting for associates ( since they LOCK DOWN the system so severely for JV stores ) but we all know that associate jobbers won;t stand for that kind of draconian measures.

2) Mike Buss ( Sales Manager Salt Lake DC ) again impressed by someone from Ohio - key person on what associate jobbers need in Exploris system, Wow --that is also a person we need more of.

Greg

e-cat problem - follow up

A quick note -- Mike W mentions the underlying problem to the example of superseded parts on e-cat is this ...
IF Exploris does NOT have the NEW part in the system -- it doesn't pick up the proper super-cession.

So in the case a few entries below the Exploris system has the EC TW-20 in the system --the older replaced by part of DS1121 would point to the newer ( and btw - cheaper ) part.

We look forward to this error to be corrected. But - one does have to wonder how such a simple error has lasted for so long - who is not trouble shooting the problems in the beginning? Where is Marc Beasley when you REALLY REALLY need him...

Popularity Ranking in Exploris

Do you guys only have 4 periods of sales in 1st prior year field? Mine goes from aug to dec? Help desk doesn't know why? Do you have the same problem?

New Member

Hello Guys

Have been doing some follow up on that e-cat errors in exploris. I have been on for a week and already found four numbers that do not sup properly. They sub if you go to source it but not at point of sale or in ecat. Called the JV store manager in town and asked him if he found that a problem? He said yes he runs in to that all the time (having to go to sourcing screen to get the sup) Hes been on for 2 yrs and they still have got it fixed. Called everybody that I could on this one because it is really important, Doug sent me an email tonight that the Blue Streak number was a result of a manufacter error (ds1121 not going to tw20) but still doesnt solve the problem, hope they figure it soon.

e-cat problem

Exploris uses Activant e-cat

J-Con uses Activant e-cat

so --why does 92 Jeep Wranger turn signal supercession show up for J-con and NOT for Exploris ...

Especially for the large price difference ... ouch ... some times our web-link customers give up on us when we look that bad. If you call up the EC DS1121 in POS ( not e-cat ) it shows as being replaced by TW20 ....anyone know what causes this problem??

Forcasting Looks Like it will work on 46.5

I tested the new forecasting function in 46.5 and it works very well. Couple of things we need: The field of when the part had a sq/op put on it. That way we do not send back new items. They need to get the DC sales feed going. That is the YTD/LYR sales for your servicing DC loaded that will be nice. They need to work on getting lost parts out of the system ie NWP 1121 is the old part number and with forecasting and the wrong MC on the part it wants to forecast it back into your inventory. I did not use the Jcon forecasting. I felt it was to cumbersome for the results you got. But this is much better.

trouble selling sourced items

I run a daily pickup run to the dc everyday and pick up specials for commercial and retail customers. For the retail customers we have been using the suggested method of finishing the invoice and placing it on hold by putting a zero deposit on the item. If your customer wants to pick up the part the same day you cannot use the reference number and just release the held invoice. The computer will not release a sourced invoice because it has not received the asn yet,( which will come down tomorrow morning). This needs to be corrected, why can we not have an option such as sell anyway button for these types of situations. There are far too many controls on this damn thing. Carquest is obviously worried than an employee may take them for five cents!

items not taken out of inventory

Like jim I have had items received, sold , returned for credit and returned to the dc. My system still shows the product in stock. Exploris help desk thinks that it has something to do with items not sourced on the system. Ie; if I buy something from montreal and return it before receiving my e-invoice, the system does not go into a negative on hand , so that when it is received on asn , it would bring the on hands back to 0. They say they are aware of this, but who knows when they will fix it. Makes inventory control interesting!

Miising information

My wife was looking at day end sheets and trying to balance a file. We found the entries on the statement but fund one half of the entry did not appear on the day end paperwork. When questioned Exploris did not know where the entry was. They assumed we entered it during day end and it went to the Black Hole. I assured them this was not the case and I want to know where it is the paperwork. It has to balance and it doesn't. To this point I have no respnse from Exploris. Great customer service.

Missing information

XCODE pricing schedules

In Exploris when you enter and Xcode they have been telling us to set up a dummy account and then do your copy procedure. Time consuming but not too bad. I discovered a button called Group that enables you to set up the price plan for everyone in a particular billing schedule group with one key stroke. If you want to narrow it down to a more finite number of customers you still have to use the copy function. The group key adds this to the billing schedule and Angela has varified that the Xcode will not be ereased when they do an update. Questions on this call me 5198533410 Jim