Inventory Search (Product Select)


Search window -> Product # field -> Inventory Search

When looking for the right rental or sales product number to add to a rental document such as Contracts, Reservations, Invoices or Quotes, this equipment search utility provides a broad choice of selection criteria and filters.

Customizing the Search:

Following is an outline of the product search prompts and the default settings available with the inventory search feature.
These default selection filters can always be over-typed.

PRODUCT TYPE
The selection defaults to Rental, Sales, or Both, as defined for the document location in the Divisional Inventory Parameters.

When Both is selected, the resulting product list for Rentals is displayed first.

  • In the resulting paging screen, press <F5> or click the VIEW SALES button on the Rentals product list to view the Sales product list.
  • Then on the Sales list, press <F5> or click the VIEW RENTALS button to switch back to Rentals.

LOCATION, "ALL" OR "SEL"
When the search window is triggered from a counter document the location always defaults to a specific search Location, "ALL", or "SEL" as defined in Divisional Inventory Parameters and can be over-typed as required.
When the search window is triggered from other tables, inquiries, and utilities many firms want the Location default to be ALL to generate a company wide search, so the Use Location In Inventory Search flag in the Divisional Inventory Parameters controls whether the Location, "ALL", or "SEL" is respected for this division.

Select one of the following:

  • Type ALL to include all locations in the search.
  • To search in a single location, leave this field blank for the Head Office Division, or enter a specific location, or select one from the drop-down list.
  • Type SEL to select multiple locations, or locations by inventory region as outlined in Division Select By Region.

Note: If response time for this search appears to be slow because there is a very large volume of inventory data, filtering the search by a single location or by a selection of locations will use an optimization feature and will speed up the return of the search results.
A divisional default can be setup for inventory searches on documents in the Divisional Inventory Parameters.

The Allow Selection Of Products For Documents From Other Locations flag in the Company Security Parameters controls whether operators can select products to put on a document from locations other than the location defined on the document header.
When this restriction is set and the user does an equipment search, the locations where the products are available will be displayed but the product cannot be selected from any location other than the contract location.
A warning will be triggered when searching from Counter Worksheet, Reservations, Quotes, Contracts, and Invoices, and products available at locations other than the document location must be transferred first.


CUSTOMER#
In the product file, this defaults to "ALL", but can be over-typed with a specific customer number so that the equipment search displays special rates and pricing setup for that customer.

For an inventory search on a document this defaults to the Customer to Clone as defined in the "Customer Settings" of the operator's Divisional Contract Parameters.
The Customer # can be over-typed and a Accounting Customer Search window is provided.

Note: If this Inventory Search tool is used on a Counter Worksheet Details before the customer has been defined in the Worksheet header, then the Customer selected for the first search becomes the default customer for the document. Pricing taxes, discounts, etc are then also based on this customer in the worksheet drill down inquiries.

The Apply Discounts To Search Results flag in the Company Inventory Parameters controls whether the customer's rental and sales discounts are also reflected in the inventory list results from the Inventory Search.


DATE OUT / TIME OUT AND DATE IN / TIME IN
These dates are used to calculate product availability that is displayed in the search.

Note: If this Inventory Search tool is used on a Counter Worksheet Details before the document dates have been defined either in the Worksheet header or in the Rental Period window, then the dates selected for the first search becomes the default dates for the document.


AVAILABLE ONLY
This status filter defaults as determined by the document location in the Divisional Inventory Parameters.

Check this box to return only available products.
This search respects the Product Status Code "Rent" and "Avail" flags, as well as committed quantities in the resulting calculations.

Uncheck this box to return available products and also products that are not currently available.
Rental Inventory can be further filtered in the search based on Tag information in the following prompt.


INCLUDE INACTIVE
Sales Inventory that you no longer stock and Rental Inventory that is no longer in your fleet can be flagged as inactive.

Leave this box unchecked to exclude "Inactive" products in this Inventory Search.
Check this box to include "Inactive" products in this Inventory Search.


INCLUDE BASED ON TAG INFO
This filter applies to rental products and is only enabled on "Product Type" searches for 'Rental' or 'Both' and when the "Available Only" filter is unchecked.
Select one of the following search filters:
  • Select DISPOSED to include rental products that have been disposed or scrapped.
    Rental items are identified as Disposed when the "Status" on the Asset Tag is 'D' or Scrapped when "Status" is 'S' on the tag.
    Tags with an M for Missing status are not considered Disposed because the product could still be recovered.
  • Select NO TAGS to include rental products that have no Asset Tags assigned.

  • Select NEITHER to exclude Rental Inventory that have no Asset Tags or have all tags Disposed.
    This becomes the selection and the other options are disabled when the search is just for 'Sales' or is for "Available Only" (box above is checked).

  • Select BOTH to include rental products that have been disposed or that have no tags.

Note: In product searches on the documents the quantity is also considered and so Rental Inventory with no quantity is not returned on a search from the Counter Documents regardless of this Tag information filter.
However Rental Inventory with zero quantity does respect the "Include Based on Tag Info" when the search is initiated from Inquiries, Reports, Purchase Orders or Rental Inventory.


INCLUDE DISPOSED
This filter applies to rental products and is only enabled when the Available Only filter is unchecked.

Uncheck this box to exclude rental products with no quantity and with all tags disposed.
Check this box to include rental products that have been disposed.


REPORTING SET, "ALL" OR "SEL"
This option defaults to blank to ignore reporting sets, but can be over-typed with a preferred set type or a selection of set types.
For further information on reporting sets, refer to Reporting Sets.

CLASS
This defaults to "ALL" but can be over-typed with a single Product Class to restrict the search.
A Product Class Search window is provided to search for the class.

Note: When the Class filter is used for the product search, inventory items that do not have a location record will not be included in the results for the Class.


GROUP
This defaults to "ALL" but can be over-typed with a single Product Group to restrict the search.
A Product Group Search window is provided to search for the group.

Using the Group search on Purchase Orders or Reservations, will put the Group itself on the document, where as using the Group search on Contracts or Invoices requires a product in the group to be selected.

Note: When the Group filter is used for the product search, inventory items that do not have a location record will not be included in the results for the Group.


DISPLAY GROUPS
This defaults as determined by the document location in the Divisional Inventory Parameters.
The option to Display Groups applies only when the equipment search type is for Rentals.
When the Groups are listed, window on the "Avail" field to view and select from products in that Group.

A field in Groups controls whether a Group that is selected with a quantity greater than one, is listed on the worksheet as a single product detail line with a multiple quantity, or as multiple line items each with quantity one.

Products flagged with a Product Status Code defined as not available to rent, are not included in the count available.

Note: Sometimes when the available Group quantity does not match the sum of the products available within that Group, it is because a Group has been committed on a Worksheet or Reservation, but the specific product has not yet been selected.


FUEL TYPE OR 'ALL'
This defaults to "ALL" but a specific fuel type can be selected from the drop-down list as setup in the Fuel Types table, to restrict the search to only rental or sales products assigned this Fuel Type in the "Make/Model Information" window.

SEARCH BY
Select one of the following search filters:
  • Select Description:
    DESCRIPTION
    Enter the first few characters of the product description, alternate product description, product number, Vendor product number, alternate Vendor product number, serial number for a serialized sales part, or the serial number from a rental product fixed asset.
    Products matching this sequence in any of these fields are returned in the Search results. The matching number is displayed as a prefix in the Description field in the Search results list.

    To search for a product using a few characters within the description, preface the characters with %
    e.g. %OO would find DRYWALL TOOLS, PLASTIC SPOONS, FLOOR SANDER, STEEL DOOR, SAFETY BOOTS, COARSE STEEL WOOL


    ADD NEW PRODUCTS ON-THE-FLY
    If the operator has Security Role Permission to add new products, a button is provided in on the Description field to add a new Sale or Rental product if it is NOT already included in the product file.

    Refer to Add Sales Parts or Add Rental Products for detailed instructions on adding new products.

    Note: This functionality is only available when the search window is generated from controlled menu options, and the ability to add new inventory, classes, or groups on-the-fly is controlled by role permission assigned to the operator.

  • Select Model Number to search for the Sales or Rental product using the "Model Number" assigned in one of the Rental Equipment Make/Model and Re-Order Information or Sales Product Re-Order Information windows.
    This search option is not available with the Display Groups option.

    Enter all or a partial character sequence to search for all products having those characters in the Model Number.

    MODEL NUMBER KEYWORD
    A search button is provided to view and optionally select from the standard 'Models' in the Make & Model Search window.
  • Select Licence/VIN to search for a non-bulk Rental product using the first or second "Licence Plate" number or by the "VIN" number assigned in the Make/Model and Re-Order Information.
    This search option is not available with the Display Groups option or for Sales parts.

    LICENCE PLATE/VIN#
    Enter all or a partial character sequence to search for all non-bulk products having those characters in either of the "Licence Plate" fields or in the "VIN" number.

Search Results:
Products can have and be searched for using multiple descriptions but only one product record per location is listed in the resulting paging screen, displaying the first description that meets the selection criteria.
However the description returned to the document will always be the primary product description for the customer language.

Optional Inventory Search features based on search location include:

Non-Bulk Rental Equipment Sorting:
The resulting Inventory Search list can be setup to sort non-bulk rental equipment in the resulting product list, first using a 'Primary Sort', then a 'Secondary Sort' within the primary, and then the within the secondary sort.
The Primary & Secondary sort options can be defined in the Divisional Inventory Parameters and can be based on "Last Moved Date" or on the "Hours Rented in the last 3 Months".

Colour Coded Availability on Sales and Rentals:
The resulting Inventory Search list can be setup to utilize colours defined in the Divisional Inventory Parameters, to identify the different product availability status conditions for both rental and sales inventory, including:
  • Available
  • Available but Booked in the Future
  • Overdue (applies to non-bulk only when Use Requirements when Calculating Availability is activated for the division and "Show Off-Rent as Available" or "Show Stale-Dated Contracts as Available" are also activated)
  • Not Available, including products not available because of a "No Rent" Product Status Code.

The details on the resulting Inventory Search list include:

Errors:
If nothing was returned as a match in the search, check the following:

Unique Equipment Search Features on Worksheet:

These search options apply only to the Counter Worksheet.
Multiple products with various quantities can be selected from the lookup selection window in Counter Worksheet, by entering the desired quantity in each of the appropriate Select fields.
When the selection is completed press <F3> to close the selection window and return the selected items to the detail screen of the document.

Alternatives to pressing <F3> or ACCEPT to close the selection window include:

When the selection is complete on the worksheet, the product detail lines are added automatically with quantities to the document without requiring the cursor to stop at each field. If adjustments are required, the operator can always change from Add to Change mode and arrow back up to the relevant field to make changes to quantities, prices or rates.


Topic Keyword: RSEQ01
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