Appointment..waiting on parts

[promauto]

Is there a way to make an appointment that I have ordered parts for, that i'm not sure when i will get them and not send a conformation email for the appointment to the customer. Wow what a cluster of a question. Here is my problem. I ordered a part from the dealer and I don't know when I will get it. I set an appointment 3 days out so I wouldn't forget it and the customer came in today to confirm the appointment because it had sent him an email about the appointment. I still don't have the part. Is there a way to delay the email.

[ricmorin]

The only way to delay the email is to place an appointment like this either on today or in the past. If you need a reminder, you can create one with something outside of Manager, OR.......

You can use a Special Order and Purchase Orders to track it all right in Manager. Your reminder will be the still-open purchase order. Once the part arrives and you process it, you can schedule the job and the email will be sent out accordingly.

Special Orders, yeah!

[ricmorin]

Another way would be to create an appointment that does not directly link to that customer. No link= no email. Not that I advocate that. Special Order, yeah/

[timsince]

We have a customer named Test Customer. We have many appointments with that name to act as reminders. Set an appointment for Test Customer on Friday to remind us to check on Mr Smith's part. It seems to work well for us. I haven't tried special orders yet, but I hear they are good also.
Tim

[timsince]

I have often thought that a checkbox within the appointment might be nice. "No Reminder" or something like that, when checked it won't send an appointment reminder for just that one appointment.

[Rich]

We don't use Mitchell for appointments (old school shop). I put a note on the RO "Call customer when part arrives". And then when i post the PO and enter the invoice number, i see the note and call them.

hmmmm.......now that I post invoice number right in the PO, that system may not work any more. I have heard suttle hints about Special Orders. May have to look into those

[ricmorin]

I have often thought that a checkbox within the appointment might be nice. "No Reminder" or something like that, when checked it won't send an appointment reminder for just that one appointment.

This!

[GUTHTIRE]

Another way would be to create an appointment that does not directly link to that customer. No link= no email. Not that I advocate that. Special Order, yeah/

Any chance you can point me to additional documentation on Special Orders or provide a few "real world" examples/scenarios of where they are helpful. FYI I searched the Knowledge Base but there's just info on how to create a Special Order.

[Silky7]

Another way would be to create an appointment that does not directly link to that customer. No link= no email. Not that I advocate that. Special Order, yeah/

Any chance you can point me to additional documentation on Special Orders or provide a few "real world" examples/scenarios of where they are helpful. FYI I searched the Knowledge Base but there's just info on how to create a Special Order.

Dan, I think you just asked a geologist "What kind of rock is this?"

[ricmorin]

Any chance you can point me to additional documentation on Special Orders or provide a few "real world" examples/scenarios of where they are helpful. FYI I searched the Knowledge Base but there's just info on how to create a Special Order.

Well, since you asked.......

The core of Special Orders seems to have been designed (they explain it this way at the seminars) for a situation where a car is in for several jobs and one of them is missing a part; hasn't arrived yet. You want to deliver the car today and need to get paid for the completed work. In this case you simply highlight the lines(parts and labor) that cannot be completed, then click on Special Order. This moves those lines over to the SO, leaving the rest of the original order untouched so you can finish it.

Another way we use them is when you need to order parts for a job before it comes in. Create an SO from scratch, add your parts and labor as needed. An SO acts like a printed RO, giving you all the parts ordering features programmed into Manager you expect. When the job arrives, convert to an RO and continue as usual.

Having SO's is convenient because you know all these records have parts either here already or on the way, whereas Estimates do not. I like organization. Can you accomplish this without SO's? Probably. But why would you want to when they are sitting right there begging to be used.

[GUTHTIRE]

Any chance you can point me to additional documentation on Special Orders or provide a few "real world" examples/scenarios of where they are helpful. FYI I searched the Knowledge Base but there's just info on how to create a Special Order.

Well, since you asked.......

The core of Special Orders seems to have been designed (they explain it this way at the seminars) for a situation where a car is in for several jobs and one of them is missing a part; hasn't arrived yet. You want to deliver the car today and need to get paid for the completed work. In this case you simply highlight the lines(parts and labor) that cannot be completed, then click on Special Order. This moves those lines over to the SO, leaving the rest of the original order untouched so you can finish it.

Another way we use them is when you need to order parts for a job before it comes in. Create an SO from scratch, add your parts and labor as needed. An SO acts like a printed RO, giving you all the parts ordering features programmed into Manager you expect. When the job arrives, convert to an RO and continue as usual.

Having SO's is convenient because you know all these records have parts either here already or on the way, whereas Estimates do not. I like organization. Can you accomplish this without SO's? Probably. But why would you want to when they are sitting right there begging to be used.

Ahhh, nice...
I've been using Revisions for creating pre-RO's (before the job gets here) for when parts arrive however Revisions have limitations and some unwanted items: no discounts, can't create a pick list for parts, after "selling" the revision all of the revision info is printed on the Invoice to name a few. I suppose we weren't using Revisions correctly to begin with...

I'll give SO's a shot and see how we make out.
Thanks!!!

[ricmorin]

SO's are way under utilized IMO. It's part of the program we're already paying for......use as much as you can!!!

[Rich]

Can't say I have ever had a "SO" beg to be used!

[GUTHTIRE]

After limited testing the only downside to using a SO vs. Revision is clutter in the WIP. Too bad there's not a WIP toggle on/off for SO's. While technically it is "Work in Progress", it's not action-able and the vehicle is not here. Is there another way to hide SO's from the WIP or possibly a way to change the line color for SO's...didn't see anything for SO's in Grid Line Colors.

[ricmorin]

After limited testing the only downside to using a SO vs. Revision is clutter in the WIP. Too bad there's not a WIP toggle on/off for SO's. While technically it is "Work in Progress", it's not action-able and the vehicle is not here. Is there another way to hide SO's from the WIP or possibly a way to change the line color for SO's...didn't see anything for SO's in Grid Line Colors.

You can turn SO's off so they are not visible on the WIP.

record_types.JPG (22.26 KiB) Viewed 19959 times

When I'm working in the shop I don't need to see SO's, so they are off. I only need to see RO's since that (for us at least) is work actually here. When I work in the office, depending on the task I need to see more. The WIP is surprising flexible.

[ricmorin]

One downside I've encountered is Bolt-On Mobile Manager cannot distinguish between RO's and SO's. Very frustrating.

[GUTHTIRE]

Guess I was hoping for some special magic with Special Orders. I had hoped that I could fully prep RO's (order parts, receive parts, add discounts, etc.) for vehicles not yet here using SO's without having the clutter of an open RO for a vehicle not yet here. SO's seem to cover most of this activity whereas Revisions cover some of it.

Using SO's:
Pluses
- parts ordering, receiving, pick lists, etc.
- discounts

Minuses
- can't create a SO per customer/vehicle like creating a RO...all customer/vehicle info is entered manually

Using Revisions:
- no support for discounts
- no parts receiving, pick list, etc.

Would be nice to have the functionality of creating an RO with a button to hide/show on WIP. When the customer arrives you could just unhide the RO.

[i86truck]

Is there a way to enter an apt for carryover work (waiting on parts) that does not send the customer an apt communication? It seems like there should just be a box to uncheck like mentioned above but we have not been able to find it. I see the work arounds posted on the carryover forum about creating phony "customers" but why can't we just use the customer's name and vehicle, which is the way it should be? Are we missing something? I called software support and that was a waste of time. They said if we are looking to use it for shop flow planning it won't work. Huh? If Scheduler is not intended for that, why do they allow us to set up resources? I'm stumped.

We do a ton of large jobs that start and stop while waiting for parts and are sometimes on the schedule on and off for 2 weeks. In order to map out our work flow the Scheduler should be the tool to use. If it can't do that then it's is not a valuable tool, right? We've been using an awesome paper apt/dispatch pad for years but it's been discontinued and we are transitioning to Scheduler now. I'm trying to keep service advisors excited about going digital, so any help you have would be appreciated!!

Thanks,
Ronda

[ricmorin]

Is there a way to enter an apt for carryover work (waiting on parts) that does not send the customer an apt communication? It seems like there should just be a box to uncheck like mentioned above but we have not been able to find it. I see the work arounds posted on the carryover forum about creating phony "customers" but why can't we just use the customer's name and vehicle, which is the way it should be? Are we missing something? I called software support and that was a waste of time. They said if we are looking to use it for shop flow planning it won't work. Huh? If Scheduler is not intended for that, why do they allow us to set up resources? I'm stumped.

We do a ton of large jobs that start and stop while waiting for parts and are sometimes on the schedule on and off for 2 weeks. In order to map out our work flow the Scheduler should be the tool to use. If it can't do that then it's is not a valuable tool, right? We've been using an awesome paper apt/dispatch pad for years but it's been discontinued and we are transitioning to Scheduler now. I'm trying to keep service advisors excited about going digital, so any help you have would be appreciated!!

Thanks,
Ronda

Short answer, no.

We've created a 'customer' called Leftover Work and use this for overflow. Works great; no reminders. Easy.

The Scheduler does a good job at making appointments; it's weak in actual workflow/labor asset management. You can't drop a wait appointment in the middle of a longer job. Overflow is handled poorly.

[Silky7]

Is there a way to enter an apt for carryover work (waiting on parts) that does not send the customer an apt communication? It seems like there should just be a box to uncheck like mentioned above but we have not been able to find it. I see the work arounds posted on the carryover forum about creating phony "customers" but why can't we just use the customer's name and vehicle, which is the way it should be? Are we missing something? I called software support and that was a waste of time. They said if we are looking to use it for shop flow planning it won't work. Huh? If Scheduler is not intended for that, why do they allow us to set up resources? I'm stumped.

We do a ton of large jobs that start and stop while waiting for parts and are sometimes on the schedule on and off for 2 weeks. In order to map out our work flow the Scheduler should be the tool to use. If it can't do that then it's is not a valuable tool, right? We've been using an awesome paper apt/dispatch pad for years but it's been discontinued and we are transitioning to Scheduler now. I'm trying to keep service advisors excited about going digital, so any help you have would be appreciated!!

Thanks,
Ronda

Hi Ronda,

A support specialist should be reaching out to you soon. In the interim — in regards to reminders though — if you are referring to the ones sent by our CRM service, setting certain statuses should stop a reminder from being sent. For example:

o States with * {asterisk} in the Code or Name Field
o ARRIVED, CANCELLED, CLOSED, FINISHED, WAITING

None of those should be sent reminders. So if an overflow appointment was setup with an Arrived or custom state, no reminder should be sent.