Revision: Parts Already Ordered?

[ARS]

We are using the Mitchell Manager Plus SU 6.4.521 version. While in revision, we order parts from our parts warehouses. The next time we go into that particular revision & try to order different or more parts, the system does not recognize if the other parts were ordered or not. When we bring up the box for parts ordering there is a box to check for - show parts needed to complete this order. It shows all parts whether they have been ordered previously or not. It get confusing when we are not sure what parts have been ordered or which one still need to be to complete this job. This happens with all parts suppliers. Please help.

[Pauls Automotive]

The reason for this is its a revision, not a repair order. The PO's that are generated after ordering can only be linked to a repair order. So even though you can order straight from the revision the PO has nothing to link itself to so everything remains as if no order has taken place. Out of curiuosity why would you want to order from a revision as opposed to transferring it to the order then ordering the parts. You would have to anyway. I once had a service writer i caught stealing from me doing this same thing. He thought I wouldnt catch on......Wrong! Have a good weekend.

[Honest Engine]

I have always had this problem with 6.4, whether from revisions or repair orders: I can order parts repeatedly with no indicator that they have already been ordered, and as you've noted, checking the box in that window makes no difference.

The fact that I don't use PO's has been cited as the reason for this. However, when I was using 5.9, I didn't use PO's, and I didn't have that problem. There is still a flaw in this system, despite the insistence that I need to upgrade to the inventory module to gain that feature back.

I'm not really satisfied with that answer, but nobody is offering up an actual solution to that problem, so my service advisor and I just need to make sure we have constant communication about what's ordered and what's not. Sometimes a note added to the RO works: "PARTS ORDERED -JFN" or something like that.

[timbre4]

Please recap what you think 5.9 did for you in this regard.

[Honest Engine]

My version 5.9 used to only show parts that had not been ordered, if I had checked the appropriate box.

My version 6.4 now always shows all of the parts on an RO in the parts ordering box, even if the "show only parts necessary to complete order" box is checked. I did not use PO's in 5.9, and I do not use them now, so the argument that I must use PO's to accomplish that feat doesn't wash with me, because I know that the "older, dumber" software managed to do it just fine.

Somewhere, hidden that all of that code, is a way to "flag" a part if it has been ordered by using online ordering. 5.9 used to watch that and would remove it from your parts list if you wanted it to; 6.4 does not, and though I am not a software writer, I can't believe that the only fix to this is a completely new add-on module that adds dozens of features that I don't use, and at an additional cost to what I already pay.

From my perspective, this is one of those obvious, intuitive things that shop management software should be able to do: I should be able to look at a repair order, and there should be some indicator that someone has clicked "order parts." In my world, the parts line would change color to indicate that it had been ordered, but I don't want to put the cart in front of the horse. Just having some way to determine that the front counter ordered those parts before they went home last night would be sufficient for me.

This might seem like a small, insignificant thing to a software developer. But if you put yourself in the position of a shop owner or manager, and I'm standing at my PC and looking at, for example, the shop supplies repair order for the month, and I need to know whether the things on that RO have been ordered, or if all of them actually got ordered except for one thing...... I'm looking at 40 lines of parts, and there is NO WAY to determine whether those things were ordered. It seems so obviously counterproductive, and I keep telling myself that I must be missing a really simple step here, but nobody has offered a solution except to buy more software and start using PO's for everything, when more confusion and expense isn't really what I need.

What I need, and the reason I purchase and use Mitchell software, is an easy user interface, and intuitive controls and features. Having the ability to "know" if something has been ordered is as basic a feature to me as having the software remember the owner's address and phone number..... these are simply things that the most basic software package "should" be able to do.

Respectfully,


Jerry Newton

[timbre4]

Thanks for your clarifications, now we're on the same wavelength.

I just placed a WorldPAC order and the item was subtracted from the list of parts as you would expect.

To expedite some comparisons, which catalogs are you ordering from? [not all of the catalog integrations behave exactly the same]

[Honest Engine]

I order through five different catalog systems all the time, and it makes no difference which one I use in this regard.

By way of example, I can look up an oil filter at Napa. Drop it on the RO. Click the Parts Ordering button, and follow it through to place the order. I can close the RO and open right back up again, click Parts Ordering, and that oil filter is still on there ready to be ordered.

This causes some confusion in the shop, as I am typically in one end of the shop, the service advisor is at the front counter, and the technician is working in the shop (with a PC on his toolbox), and any of us could have ordered that oil filter, and we make the mistake of assuming that the other guy did it, or perhaps I did it, but then stepped out to run an errand...... gosh, they'd say to themselves, did Jerry order that thing before he stepped out? There's no way to know, except to call Napa and say, "Hey, did you get an order for an oil filter?"

And, if we're going to go to that trouble, we might as well just pick up the phone and order the oil filter.

I have 6.4 on five machines in the shop, and they all do it. It doesn't matter which catalog (I use MORE, Napa, Fisher, Activant, Turboparts, and Nexpart). And they've all only done this since the upgrade to 6.4.

I truly do appreciate your taking an interest in this, I had come to accept that I was just going to have to live with this.

[timbre4]

Here are my test results using SE 6.4.521version today:

ORDER screen 6.4
1. Napa = Order part; leaves Parts Ordering Display until Show All Parts is selected
2. Activant = Order part; leaves Parts Ordering Display until Show All Parts is selected
3. Fisher = Order part; leaves Parts Ordering Display until Show All Parts is selected
4. MORE = Order part; leaves Parts Ordering Display until Show All Parts is selected
5. Turboparts - my test account not working at the moment...

It is working for me here as it did in 5.9; the ordered part attains a flag that keeps them out of the 'parts needed' display.

REVISION screen 6.4
1. Napa = Order part; stays on Parts Ordering Display, only changes '+' or not
2. Activant = Order part; stays on Parts Ordering Display, only changes '+' or not
3. Fisher = Order part; stays on Parts Ordering Display, only changes '+' or not
4. MORE = Order part; stays on Parts Ordering Display, only changes '+' or not

REVISION screen 5.9

It works and updates parts need as you described. Since 5.9 never had MORE, Turboparts or Fisher, we're talking NAPA and Activant only.

I'll reference this with support and product mgmt.

[ARS]

To add more information:
We start customer orders when they call in, we put problems on a ticket & then check out the problems when the car comes in. After diagnoses, we go to revision & price out parts & labor for the repair and use that to call the customer. After approval for the repair, we click on the parts order button & order the parts we need from the vendor. In 5.9, if multiple vendors or the same vendor, were supplying different parts on the ticket, the parts order line would remove the part from the parts order ticket when the part was ordered. Made it easy to go in at different times to recheck that you had ordered the parts. We have always used revision to order parts. Basically the parts needed to complete order button is not usable or correct in 6.4. it shows all the parts all the time need to be ordered. We have to pull up P.O.'s & sort to find out if parts have been ordered. We usually do not sell the revision because we have developed canned jobs that say things better than the estimator does. Same goes for the parts, which has extra stuff we don't want on the ticket. Thanks for looking into this

[Honest Engine]

I'm glad it's not just me that's having trouble with this. I was starting to get a complex.


Seriously, though.... any word on this from powers-that-be?

[ARS]

Not yet... still waiting

[timbre4]

Update: The difference appears to be in the way SE coded the Parts Ordering screen functions.

Whereas 5.9 parts are "removed" (made not visible in Show Parts Needed to Order view) once parts are ordered electronically, SE "removes" them later, at the Confirm stage.

I have inquired as to when this difference can be addressed.

[Honest Engine]

This might give me a workaround until the issue is resolved: is there a way that I can selectively "confirm" parts on a repair order?

For example, today's frustration is the shop ticket, on which I order oil filters each week. Last week I ordered 20 or so filters, and today I need to order 20 or so more, so I add them to the RO, click parts ordering...... and there are all of the filters combined, I can't separate out the ones that were ordered last week, or even change the quantities, as Mitchell is combining the same part numbers from last week into this week's order and giving me a combined total.

I just want to drop ten part numbers on the RO and order them, without having to reorder last week's filters or otherwise "fooling" the software into realizing that I don't want last week's filters ordered again. If I could select last week's parts and "confirm" them in some way, according to you, that would drop them off the parts ordering list?

And if that's the case, how can I do that?

[timbre4]

You can doubleclick on any Order screen Part item in the RO stage and check the Confirm box to confirm it early.

It sounds like you're using a dummy RO to order filters in lieu of a Purchase Order; there are limitations. Manager doesn't know what you have on hand or what you ordered last week. If you have to do it this way, why not make make a new RO weekly?

[Honest Engine]

That box is greyed out for me.

[timbre4]

Then it's either at the Estimate stage or the RO is not marked as printed.

Go to Setup - Shop Data - Screenview tab and check the box for Mark All ROs as Printed and Approved and Done to save it. Then you won't have to go throught the "printing RO" process to commit the parts.

[Honest Engine]

lol


We are chipping away at this.

I did that, and now I am able to flag those previously ordered parts as confirmed, and they do not show up on the parts ordering screen.

Well, almost.

Some of the parts I'm ordering today are the same part numbers from last week, and Manager is still combining the numbers and trying to force me to order 3 (2+1) instead of the 1 that I need for this week.

Like I said, though, we are making progress, though this is still a "workaround" and not an actual fix.




*edit* I'm sorry, I spoke too soon. I was looking at the column labeled "this RO", the parts ordering process did only order the quantities I needed.

-J

[timbre4]

When you add any part number that already exists on an Order or Revision, the program will display a box like this:

exists.png (10.05 KiB) Viewed 8537 times

If you answer Yes, the quantity will be increased on a single line. If you answer No, it will create another (duplicate) line for that part number.

[Honest Engine]

I had clicked that correctly, and the lines did come up separately on the RO.

I thought at first that they were combined in the parts ordering window, but I was looking at the wrong column.

So, at this point, at least I now know how to individually confirm parts, and hopefully that will help us to keep track of what's ordered and what is not. However, the automated process still doesn't work for me, if I don't go in and manually manipulate that, it will allow me to order the same oil filter indefinitely, without ever coming off my parts ordering list.

Thank you.

[ARS]

We do not order parts out of RO's. We order parts out of estimates. Does the work around that is mentioned, work in estimates? We write the parts in orders & invoices how we want them to read, & the labor is mostly from canned jobs. So we do not sell the estimate.