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.