Inventory Setup

Product Setup Guidelines

The Products section contains all the components you need for building your product catalog. Exercising logic and consistency when establishing product ID conventions will ensure that your product catalog is well organized, contains no duplicates, and can accommodate enough unique product IDs for a large, diverse inventory.

Each unique product ID is a string containing the plant code plus at least one secondary code: size, type, grade.

Usually, the breadth and depth of your inventory determines which codes to use and in which order to use them:

• Nurseries with few product sizes may find that a combination of plant and size codes is sufficient.

• Nurseries with several sizes may find that a combination of plant and grade codes is sufficient. In this case, "grade" would refer to the bottom and/or top size.

• Nurseries with numerous sizes would benefit from using plant plus all three secondary codes. To create the greatest number of permutations, switch the order of the codes on the product catalog entry form so that "grade" comes before type. Our Technical Support team may do this for you upon request.

Plant Traits

Create a database of common plant traits that you can use to describe plants when building the product catalog. Associate each trait with an alpha-numeric code.

Trait	Description and/or Code Requirements
Colors	8 characters
Bloom Times	6 characters
Plant Types	used for characterizing plants; examples can be trees, deciduous trees, flowering shrubs, etc. (16 characters)
Zones	2 characters
Sun-Shade	single character
Spread	the plant's width at maturity; 5 characters
Height	the plant's height at maturity; 5 characters
Soil Type	5 characters

Product Setup

Plants

In this section, assign plant codes by botanical taxonomy. We recommend a 4-character code for every plant, though the application permits up to 7 characters.

After entering a code and plant name, modify plant traits as desired, along with other optional fields. See the table below for an explanation of less obvious fields.

Field	Description
Class 1	"Class 1" and "Class 2" fields give you added flexibility for grouping products under user-selected categories; often used for product reports.
Class 2	See above.
Picture	Indicates that a picture is on file.
Photo Name	If you're linking a photo to this plant, enter the file name here.

Plant & Product Notes
The Notes icon activates a rich-text editor where you can add detailed plant notes and photos. These notes are not stored in a searchable format, but they are saved by username and could prove very useful for logging important plant information, such as propagation history.

If you'd like to add product-specific notes, you may do so in the "Comments" column on the product catalog grid.

Sizes

"Size" refers to the size of the container in which the plant is grown, or the bottom size. The code may be 2 characters and contain letters, numbers, and/or special characters, such as a decimal. We recommend using a 2-character code for all size categories, using 0 as a placeholder where necessary (the code for a 1 gallon container size, for example, would be "01").

Field	Description
Size	2-character code.
Name	A description of the size (7 characters).
Net Contents	For weights and measures; prints on customer labels.

Types

Type refers to the form in which the plant is sold, such as grafted or espaliered. Like size, it may contain 2 characters with letters, numbers, and/or special characters.

Field	Description
Type	2-character code.
Name	A description of the size (7 characters).

Grades

Grade typically refers to the height (top size) at which you plan to sell a plant (as opposed to the height of a plant at its maturity). This code can be 4 characters and use a combination of numbers, letters, and special characters. We recommend that you use minimally a consistent 3-character code with zeros as placeholders where necessary. For example, the code for "2-3 feet" would be "023". If using a 4-character code, it would be "0023". This not only allows data to sort correctly, but also gives you the greatest possible permutations for product IDs.

Product Catalog

With plant, size, type, and grade codes set up, you're ready to build a product catalog.

1. Select a plant code (required).
2. Select one or more secondary codes: Size, Type, Grade (required). See our guidelines for choosing a Product ID convention.
3. Check the "Plant" flag if the item is a plant (non-plant items could include flats, load locks, racks, etc.).
4. Check the "Active" flag if you want to be able to place this item on an order.
5. (Optional) Enter additional information. See the table below for a description of each field.
6. Click "Save." The application will assign the product a unique ID based on the plant, size, type, and/or grade codes.

Product Catalog Fields

Field	Description
Shipping Unit	Used for calculating freight volume; should be based on the number provided in Setup > Orders > Shipping Units.
Catalog Price	The product price, excluding or including royalties. If price excludes the royalty, check "Exclude Royalty" under Setup > Inventory > Inventory Setup Options to ensure accurate totals on invoices. Tip: Use the Price & Product Quick-change Grid to update prices for many products at once.
Future Price	Next year's price. If entered, set an end date for the current price with the admin option "oestopcatprice".
Date Price	Usually for promotional pricing; enter a price then apply a date range. The shipping order will automatically use this price for any orders with a "want date" in the specified range.
Royalty Amount	The amount to be paid to the licensing organization.
Discountable	Default setting that determines whether or not a product may be discounted in order entry.
Taxable	Default setting that determines whether or not a product may be taxed.
Assessable	Informational only.
UPC	The program automatically assigns this number to a product using the information provided in Setup > Inventory > UPC #s.
AR Product Account	Associate the product with an AR product for sales reporting.

Price & Product Quick-change Grid

This grid can be found under the Products section. Apply price changes directly to the grid and save. Or, export the grid to Excel and save to your computer. Apply and save changes, then re-import under Imports > Import Begin Inventory.

Location Setup

Menu Item	Description
Divisions	A division is equivalent to a farm or ranch. It represents a large, usually separate, geographical location with its own manager. If your nursery operates on a single farm or ranch, you would have a single division. Assign a one- or two-character code.
Locations	Divisions can be broken down into sections. The section code can contain up to six characters. CompuPlants combines this with the division code to form a unique location ID.
Location Segments	Use location segments to break down locations into lots (or another term that your nursery uses).
Categories	This user-defined attribute serves as another way to qualify a location, such as how close the plants are to one another ("can tight" v. "spaced"). Apply categories when importing your beginning inventory and recording inventory changes.
Areas	An area is a way to group locations that typically grow the same kind of plant. Note: CompuPlants has an internal area code, "p", that's used in order entry for offsetting purchase orders.
Reason Codes	Supply reasons for transaction types. You may save multiple reason codes per transaction type.

Inventory Transactions

Record Inventory Changes by Plant

1. Within the Gold Menu, go to Inventory > Inventory > Inventory Changes by Plant.
2. Select the desired plant from the drop down grid.
3. Click "Find." A detailed report appears (upper grid).
4. In the middle portion of the screen, select the appropriate transaction type tab:
   • Loss: always a reduction to inventory (must enter a reason code)
   • Adjustment: can be an addition or reduction, in which case the user would enter a negative number (must enter a reason code)
   • Move: a transfer of some of a plant product from one location to another (*note that a move automatically updates both the "to" and "from" locations)
   • Move All: a transfer of a plant's total quantity from one location to another (again, the system automatically updates both the "from" and "to" locations)
   • Shift: a change in the grade (or size) designation of a plant
   • New Inventory: propagated or acquired inventory
5. Enter required information and any additional information.
6. Click "Commit." A record of the transaction will appear at the bottom of the form, under "Pending Transactions."
   * Use the minus sign (-) in the bottom left corner to delete a committed transaction.
7. Post transactions to inventory:
   a. Highlight the transaction record under "Pending."
   b. Click "Post" in the toolbar.
   
8. (Optional) Look up a detailed history of transactions by product with the Inventory History grid.

Inventory Edit Grid

The Inventory Edit grid provides real-time on hand, reserve, and unsalable quantities, which you can also edit directly on the grid, along with sell-date, location, pick order, and more. Easily export to Excel (right-click anywhere on the grid, then select "Export to Excel") for periodic analysis.

Pick Order

When you have the same product grown in multiple locations, you may assign each location a pick order number and the program will organize locations on pull reports accordingly. It excludes all records where pick order equals "9".

Imports

Import Catalog Prices

1. Double-click the import form to open it.
2. In Excel, format a spreadsheet according to the sample header row that is provided for you on the import form.
   * Make sure the file is saved as .xls.
3. On the import form, click "Open."
4. Select the appropriate file.
5. Delete row 1 by clicking in any cell within the row, then click the minus ( - ) sign in the bottom left corner. Confirm that you wish to delete the row.
6. Click "Validate." The program will scan the data for any errors, such as duplicate records.
7. If necessary, fix errors. If the only errors are duplicate records, you can simply delete those rows from the import form. If other errors exist, you may need to open the spreadsheet, save changes, then re-upload the spreadsheet to the import form.
8. Once all data is correct, click "Process." The data will import.
9. (Optional) Navigate to the Price & Product Quick-change Grid, to view and/or update records.

Import Beginning Inventory

You can import beginning inventory at any time; the import will not clear your existing data. However, if you are a new user importing inventory for the first time, you must first navigate to the Setup module and delete any demo data (Setup > Deletes).

1. Double-click the import form to open it.
2. In Excel, format a spreadsheet according to the sample header row that is provided for you on the import form.
   * Make sure the file is saved as .xls.
   * Pick order refers to the order in which you want to pick from multiple locations containing the same product (where sell dates are also equal). The program will NOT pick from any location with a pick order of "9".
3. On the import form, click "Open."
4. Select the appropriate file.
5. Delete row 1 by clicking in any cell within the row, then click the minus ( - ) sign in the bottom left corner. Confirm that you wish to delete the row.
6. Click "Validate." The program will scan the data for any errors, such as duplicate records.
7. If necessary, fix errors. If the only errors are duplicate records, you can simply delete those rows from the import form. If other errors exist, you may need to open the spreadsheet, save changes, then re-upload the spreadsheet to the import form.
8. Once all data is correct, click "Process." The data will import.
9. (Optional) Navigate to the Inventory Edit Grid or Price & Product Quick-change Grid to view and/or update records.

Reports & Grids

Product Catalog Information

Product Committed

Quickly find out how many plants are committed to open orders. Amounts are cumulative. To view product commitments by customer, run the Product Committed by Customer report.

Single-date Availability

Product Inventory - Landscape / Product Availability - Portrait: These reports search your product sell dates and shipping order sell dates. Enter a begin date (optional) and end date (required). If you wish, narrow the search results by size, type, and/or grade. Set the minimum to "1" to exclude products where on hand equals zero. Lastly, choose how you wish to filter the report: On Hand, Available for Sale (salable), Left to Sell, Oversold, Production Reserve, or Unsalable. You may also use the Available by Product for up-to-date availability data.

Multiple-date Availability

Breaks down availability by the product sell date:

Available by Product Grid

Similar to the Single-date Availability Reports, but available in grid form so that you can delete columns and sort information according to your needs.

Inventory History Grid

This grid displays details about each transaction that occurred after the specified date, including transaction type (beginning inventory, adjustment, loss, move from/to, and sales), transaction ID#, transaction date, and product ID and quantities.