VENDOR COMMUNICATION USING YOUR BMS SYSTEM

The BBS Manual Page 1 of 64

Last Updated 08/18/08

WHO CAN YOU COMMUNICATE WITH? Using your BMS computer, you can communicate with many vendors through their BBS, the Internet, or special programs, depending on the vendor. Currently, BMS communicates with the following vendors:

Ace Hardware Amarillo Hardware Blish Mize Bostwick Braun California Hardware Do It Best Emery Waterhouse Handy Hardware

House Hasson Jensen Distribution John Deere Moore Handley Orgill True Value Wallace

With most vendors, you communicate with them via your BMS system directly to their BBS. With two vendors, Ace Hardware and True Value, you communicate with them via special programs. And with one vendor, Bostwick Braun, communication is done through the Internet only. While each vendor is slightly different than the next, communication with these vendors usually consists of 5 types:

1. Uploading Purchase Orders - you can send purchase orders directly to your vendor, instead of mailing or faxing a printed copy.

2. Downloading Invoice Files – in many ways the opposite of

transmitting a purchase order, this function allows you download a copy of an invoice, place it into your BMS system as if it was a purchase order you created using your BMS system and then receive the purchase order. This option is especially useful for customers who do not use the Suggested Order system on their BMS computer and customers who create purchase orders using a scanning device provided by their vendor.



3. Downloading New Items / Item Maintenance files – this option allows

you to download a file from your vendor’s BBS that contains new items you do not have on file already and also updated price and cost information for items you already carry.

4. Download Price Update files – this option is similar to downloading

new items / item maintenance files, except it ONLY updates items that are ALREADY ON FILE, and only changes their cost and retail price.

5. Download Circulars / Promotion files – these are promotions or sale

prices that are pre-set by your vendor with certain items, the sale prices, and a starting and ending date of the sale. (Only a few vendors offer this type of file.)

Each specific vendor can offer some, or in many cases, all of the items mentioned above. In the next section, each of these functions will be discussed in detail. Further on in this manual, a page or two will be dedicated to the particulars of each vendor.

Keep in mind that sometimes a vendor will change what they offer. If you have a specific question concerning a vendor, please contact BMS tech support so they can give you an “up to date” list of what your vendor(s) offer.



USING THE BBS For a majority of vendors, using the BBS function is very easy and straightforward. The login for the BBS menu is: Login: bbs Password: bbs The BBS menu has four options: Your initial step of communication will usually be to download or upload a file using this menu. Choose #1 to open another menu with the vendor names to choose from. Choose the vendor that you will communicate with. With most of the vendors, communication is done directly from your BMS system, so you will be brought to another menu allowing you to choose from the available functions for each vendor. Choose that function and the computer will perform the “dialing up and logging in” at the vendor’s BBS and in the case of most download request, it will download the file, log you off the BBS and then return you to the menu of vendors.

*** BULLETIN BOARD ***

1. Download / Upload Files 2. Process Price Updates 3. Process Downloaded Invoices 4. Process New Items File 5. Process Circulars / Promotions

Remember to always login in lower case. NOTE: Your store may have a special login for the BBS.



Often the menu will look similar to this: Simply choose the function you want and follow any additional prompts. Some functions and some vendors require you to make other choices. For instances, when transmitting a purchase order you must indicate the purchase order number that you want to transmit. In some cases, there are other options and functions available. For instance, when downloading item maintenance files from Orgill you can choose to download the last week, last two weeks, last three weeks, last four weeks or a customized file that Orgill has created for you.

BMS Bulletin Board System Transmit Purchase Orders Receive Price Updates Receive Invoice Files Receive New Item File Receive Circular / Promotion File End Session

Some vendors have special instruction sheets. Those are listed towards the end of this manual.



TRANSMITTING PURCHASE ORDERS First of all, you must have the vendor set up in your BMS system. Go into Suggested Order, File Maintenance, and select Vendor File Maintenance. Be sure to fill in your store’s account number assigned to you by your vendor in the acount number field on the vendor file maintenance screen Wallace customers: place both your salesperson number and your account number with Wallace in the account number field. You can now create your order in suggested order. You will do this through the normal “main” menu. (For complete instructions on how to create orders, consult the Suggested Order Manual.) Once you create a purchase order, you will Process the Order. This step changes each stocking record for each item so that it shows how much you have “On Order.” During this step, you will be asked: Will you be transmitting this file to your vendor’s BBS? Answering Y (YES) to this question will bring you to the next question: PLEASE SELECT WHICH VENDOR…: This is a VERY important question. You see each vendor has their own “format” for receiving purchase order files. Your BMS system will create a file that is compatible with the chosen vendor’s format. Choose from the list which vendor you will be transmitting the purchase order to. After the processing is complete, you will then need to transmit the file that you just created to your vendor. Note: Orgill customers: please see the section on Orgill PO transmission. Log off your current session and return yourself to the login screen. Log into the BBS menu using your BBS menu login. (In most cases this is simply a login of “bbs” and a password of “bbs”)



Choose #1, Download / Upload files Then, choose from the menu the vendor you wish to send your purchase order to. Follow the prompts and enter your purchase order number when asked for it. It’s that easy! And you can do this as many times as you need to and to multiple vendors. Once the merchandise arrives the next step will be to receive the purchase order. There are actually several ways to do this. The most common method is using the same purchase order that you transmitted as a “base” and using the tools in the “Receive purchase order” area, “mark” any items that did not come in as ordered as well as items that have a cost change. The “Receipt exceptions” area is very easy to use to make these changes and print reports of ONLY these changes. Once the changes (if they are needed) are made, you simply receive the purchase order. All of this without “re-communicating” with your vendor’s BBS! As with many things on the BMS system, there are other options to receiving merchandise. Some customers use the “Download Invoice File” option to create a purchase order that was not previously created on their BMS system and then receive that invoice as the purchase order. While this option is available to customers that transmit their purchase orders, these functions are not fully compatible with each other. You cannot download an invoice / purchase order that uses the same purchase order number as one that is already on file. And because some vendors do not send the original purchase order number with the invoice file, you could end up with a confusing mess of multiple purchase orders.

BMS recommends that you select to either transmit your purchase order for a vendor OR download the invoice file up receipt, but not both for the same vendor. If you must do both, then you should always delete the created purchase order FIRST, after transmitting it, and then allow the downloaded invoice/purchase order to be your receipt PO.



INVOICE DOWNLOADING

Processing an electronic invoice consists of 8 steps: 1. Download the invoice file from your distributors’ BBS.

This step actually dials into your distributors BBS system and downloads a text file from their Bulletin Board onto your BMS system.

2. Create orders from the invoice file. This step takes the text file you received from your distributor and translates it into data that your BMS computer can understand. Depending on the distributor, it may create one or several purchase orders in your BMS system.

3. Process the Purchase Orders This step takes the new purchase order(s) and validates them on the BMS system. This step has a print option, but you do not have to print this report. (The cost and price figures from this report DO NOT represent the downloaded invoice.)

4. Print Receipt Exceptions (this step is optional) This step prints a report of all the items and quantities that were on the electronic invoice that have either a retail price or cost change. It will also include any items where the quantity received is not the quantity ordered. This report also includes any changes you made to the quantities as well as price and cost figures for each item.

5. Print the Cost / Price Change report (this step is optional) This step will print a report that lists the new costs and retail prices transmitted with the electronic invoice, as well as the current costs and prices from your inventory file.

6. Enter Receipt Exceptions (this step is optional) This step allows you to change the quantity of items from the electronic purchase order. (If you were double-shipped or short-shipped an item, use this step to correct the purchase order.) It also allows you to make cost and price changes to items.



7. Preliminary receipt report (this step is optional) This report will show you exactly what you are about to receive.

8. Receive a purchase order

This final step actually receives the items into your inventory creating new quantities on hand. It also will update the retail price and cost figure.

If you print price labels or bin tags using your BMS system, you should print them after receiving the purchase order.



Step 1: Download the Invoice NOTE: ACE and True Value / True Serv customers; please refer to your specific distributor’s download instructions. This page does not apply to you. The first step, downloading the invoice file, is accomplished from the 1st option on your BBS menu and will usually look something like this one. Simply choose #1, Download/Upload files, and then choose your distributor from the list. Then choose to download invoice files from the menu.

Your menu may vary. Please choose your distributor from the list.

*** BULLETIN BOARD *** 1 DOWNLOAD/UPLOAD FILES 2 PROCESS PRICE UPDATES 3 PROCESS DOWNLOADED INVOICES 4 PROCESS NEW ITEMS FILE 5 PROCESS CICULARS/PROMTIONS E END CURRENT MENU X EXIT (LOGOFF)

*** CHOOSE A DISTRIBUTOR ***

1 ORGILL 2 MOOREHANDLEY

3 HOUSE HASSON 4 WALLACE

5 ACE HARDWARE – FROM A PC

6 HWI – DO IT BEST 7 COTTER – CIS

8 HANDY HARDWARE

9 BLISH MIZE 10 AMARILLO HARDWARE

11 JENSEN DISTRIBUTION SERVICES

12 CALIFORNIA HARDWARE

E END CURRENT MENU

X EXIT (LOGOFF) R RETURN TO FIRST MENU



Step 2: Create Orders from the Invoice

The 2nd step can be found under the 3rd option on your BBS menu, Process Downloaded Invoices. It is Option #1 on this menu. This step takes the invoice file that your downloaded from your distributor’s BBS and adds the lines of the invoices in to the BMS purchase order system. Run this option on the menu, and you will be prompted with several questions. ORDER UPDATE FROM BULLETIN BOARD PLEASE CHOOSE DISTRIBUTOR TO PROCESS


*** CREATE ORDERS FROM INVOICE ***

1 CREATE ORDERS FROM INVOICE 2 PURCHASE ORDER PROCESSING

E END CURRENT MENU




From the list on the screen, choose the distributor you are processing and hit <ENTER>. You will then be asked: USE DEFAULT FILE NAME OF: INVORG.TX ? Answer Y to this question (unless your invoice file is under a different name. Most of the time, the answer will be Y.) The next question will be if you wish to View the invoice numbers from the file, Process the file or Exit: DO YOU WISH TO (V)IEW OR (P)ROCESS THE FILE? OR ‘E’ TO EXIT You can choose to view the invoices numbers from the file or process the file as is.

BMS recommends that you run the view option once and then run the program again in the “Process” mode, for two reasons.

First of all, it will verify that you are about to process the

correct invoice number(s). Secondly, the view option will print a report of any items numbers that are on the invoice, but that are not found in your inventory master file. This report allows you to enter in new items from your distributor, and then receive them for the first time. Because the invoice file does not contain enough information to add the item to your inventory, this gives you the chance to stop and add these items in before you try to receive them.

This name will be different depending on the distributor



When you choose to Process the file from the above question, it will create orders in the BMS reflecting the invoice you received from your vendor. After it is done, it will show you how many purchase orders it added. It will also print a report of any items that could not be found in your BMS Inventory file. Those items could not be added to the purchase orders, since they are not on file in your BMS system. To receive the items, you must first add the item to your Inventory and then receive them manually in Suggested order or in the Inventory Transaction screen from the main menu on your BMS system. The next question is: WHAT IS YOUR VENDOR NUMBER FOR ORGILL? Enter the vendor number that YOU have set up for this particular vendor. (Refer to the Vendor File maintenance program, located off the menu Suggested Order, File Maintenance, if you are not sure.) And finally, if you are downloading an invoice from ACE, you will be asked: Do you wish to use actual cost or cost plus handling?

* This feature is only available from ACE.

This question will reflect the name of the vendor you have chosen.



Steps 3 through 8 Receiving the Purchase Order (S)

Steps 3 through 7 are accomplished through the 3rd option on your BBS menu, and 8 then the 2nd Option on the Invoice Download menu.

See the example menu below:

For the most part, you will do step 1, and then step 2. Steps 3 though 8 are done once for each purchase order created in step 2.

A 7th option on the purchase order-processing menu allows you to

list the purchase orders to the screen or to the printer. BMS recommends choosing this option before step 3 and using the list by crossing off purchase order numbers as you completely process them. We also recommend processing one purchase order at a time. It is easy to get confused between steps 3 and 8. For that reason, those steps have been placed on a separate menu. *** BULLETIN BOARD *** 1 DOWNLOAD/UPLOAD FILES 2 PROCESS PRICE UPDATES 3 PROCESS DOWNLOADED INVOICES 4 PROCESS NEW ITEMS FILE 5 PROCESS CICULARS/PROMTIONS E END CURRENT MENU X EXIT (LOGOFF)

*** CREATE ORDERS FROM INVOICE ***

1 CREATE ORDERS FROM INVOICE 2 PURCHASE ORDER PROCESSING

E END CURRENT MENU


** PURCHASE ORDER PROCESSING **

1 PROCESS A PURCHASE ORDER 2 PRINT RECEIPT EXCEPTION REPORT

3 COST / PRICE CHANGE REPORT 4 ENTER ANY RECEIPT EXCEPTIONS

5 PRELIMINARY RECEIPT REPORT

6 RECEIVE PURCHASE ORDERS 7 LIST PURCHASE ORDERS

8 DELETE A PURHCASE ORDER

E END CURRENT MENU


Repeat for each purchase order



ITEM MAINTENACE / NEW ITEMS FILES

Many distributors offer item update files. The files will add new items to your BMS system as well as change items that are already on file. Downloading and processing these files consists of 4 steps:

STEP 1: Downloading the file. This step varies, depending on distributor. Refer to your specific vendor’s instruction sheet for further information. STEP 2: Placing the file on your BMS system Again, this step can vary, depending on distributor. Refer to your specific vendor’s instruction sheet for further information.

STEP 3: Viewing the file This step allows you to “spot check” some of the items, making sure that costs and prices match up.

STEP 4: Processing the file This final step actually makes the changes to your inventory.

Steps 1 and 2 follow the instructions in the section “USING THE BBS” Instructions here proceed from Step 3 of the process.



STEP 3: Viewing the File Now that you have downloaded the file, you will need to process it. Select #4 to View the item file: You will then be brought to a screen such as the following: Enter the number corresponding to the vendor number you have received the file from. You will then be prompted to: ENTER FILE NAME: NEWITEMS Enter the name “newitems” and press <enter> (U)PDATE ITEMS, OR (V)IEW ONLY ? (U/V) V You will then see the first page of items from the file, such as the following:


CATLOAD INVENTORY UPDATE FROM A CATALOG LOAD PLEASE CHOOSE VENDOR TO LOAD, OR '0' TO EXIT: _________

ITEM DESCRIPTION COST RETAIL UPC CODE--- DEPT 6012967 6343DWAE 18V 1/2" CORDLESS DRL 259.250 319.690 3 6012975 5620DWA 18V 6 1/2" CORDLESS SW 267.070 329.350 3 6013007 DC1801 MULTI-VOLT CHARGER 48.310 65.850 3 PRESS <ENTER> TO CONTINUE, ENTER 'C' TO COUNT RECORDS, OR 'E' TO EXIT



At this time, spot check the items displayed on the screen against items you already have or from previous catalog

loads. Verify that they appear correct, and that the cost and retail price are appropriate.

Note: with ACE, the UPC codes will not be shown. If you are satisfied that the file is correct, you may press “E” to exit. If you with to see more items, press <enter>. Also, you may with to see how many items are in the update file, in that case enter “C” to count the records. A final count will be displayed once the file is read.

STEP 4: Processing the file If you are ready to load the item file into your system, run option 4 again from the BBS menu. Again, enter the number corresponding to the vendor number you have received the file from. You will then be prompted to: ENTER FILE NAME: NEWITEMS Enter the name “newitems” and press <enter> (U)PDATE ITEMS, OR (V)IEW ONLY ? (U/V) U This time, select “U” to update your system with the data from the file. You will then be asked: USE THE VENDOR'S DEPARTMENT NUMBER OR 'N' TO CHOOSE A SINGLE DEPARTMENT #, OR 'O' TO OFFSET VENDOR DEPTS (Y/N/O)? Y



This allows you to use the vendor’s pre-set department numbers, or place all the items in one department. You can also choose to “offset” the vendor’s departments by a specific number. (Most customers will choose Y here.) The next question is: WHAT IS THE VENDOR NUMBER? 1 Enter the vendor number that YOU have set up for this particular vendor. (Refer to the Suggested Order, File Maintenance, Vendor File maintenance if you are not sure.) The next question is: IF I FIND THE ITEM IS ON FILE ALREADY FOR THIS VENDOR SHOULD I: (U)PDATE THE ITEM'S MASTER RECORD COMPLETELY (P)RICE AND COST UPDATE THIS ITEM ONLY (N)EW ITEMS ONLY. DO NOT TOUCH ITEMS ALREADY ON FILE. WHAT IS YOUR CHOICE (U/P/N): P This question is VERY important. It specifies what to do should the item already be on file. We recommend that you choose either “P” for Price /Cost update or “N” for New Items Only. Choosing P will allow the file to update your price and costs on items that you already have on file. Choosing “N” will add only item you do not have on file already. This is a very important question, as the pricing and cost structure you have set up for items already on file will be affected. (Choosing U will re-write any items already on file, removing any customized pricing, costs and UPC codes. This option is not recommended for most customers.) The next question is: DO YOU WISH TO PREFIX THE VENDOR ITEM NUMBER ? N For most BMS customers, the answer will be N.



Finally, you will be prompted with the last question: ON NEW ITEMS, LOAD THEM AS STOCKED OR NON-STOCKED? This question allows you to set any NEW items as non-stocked. This will cause them not to automatically start ordering themselves. Instead, you can decide when they become stocked, and therefore orderable.

BMS suggests you add new items as NON-STOCKED. You can always make them stocked later on, and most of the inventory

reports allow you to print lists of non-stocked items. After answering this question, the loading will proceed. (ACE customers press <enter> past the prompts for the UPC file and the mfg. number file) After it is complete, it will report how many items have been added and updated. This report tells you of any problems that occurred during the loading of items. Follow the instructions and you can print the warnings and / or list of items changed. Congratulations! You have successfully added new items to your system! This procedure can be repeated weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly depending on your preference.

Should you encounter any problems or difficulties, please contact us. We are here to help you!

The program BMS uses for loading new items and item maintenance files is called “Catload”, which is short for catalog load program. A more detailed look at each and every option in catload is included at the end of this manual.



PRICE UPDATES Processing a price update file consists of 5 steps:

1. Download the price update file from your distributors BBS. This step actually dials into your distributors BBS system and downloads a text file from their BBS into your BMS system.

2. Process the price update file on the BMS system.

This step takes the text file you received from your distributor and translates it into data that your BMS computer can understand.

3. Print the Pre-Audit Report

This report will outline the items that have been selected for price updates. It will list the item number, the description of the item, the bin location, stock on hand, the current cost, the new cost, the percent change between the current and new cost, the current retail price, the new retail price, the percent change between the current and new retail price, and the unit of measure for the item.

This report can be sorted either by Item number or Bin location. You may print all items that have a price change, or only items that are “active” (items with either a bin location or stock on hand or both.)

4. Price Update Edit

This option allows you to change an items pre-selected update price and cost. You can also remove it completely from the price update file.

5. Update Inventory Prices This final step actually changes the prices in your system to the prices indicated by the file you downloaded from your distributor (taking into account any changes you made through the Price Update Edit.)

If you print price labels or bin tags using your BMS system, you should print them after updating inventory prices.



The first step, downloading the price update file, is accomplished either from the 1st option on your BBS menu. You can find further instructions on this part of the procedure in the section entitled “USING THE BBS.” The 2nd through 5th step is accomplished through the 2nd option on your BBS menu, #2 Inventory Price Update. For instance, step 2 is option #1 on the Inventory Price updates menu.

PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE AUDIT REPORT!

Notice the percentage change in the cost and retail price areas. These can indicate problems with the purchase factor your have listed and the purchase factor your distributor lists. You may wish to audit all percentages above 50% change manually by pulling the inventory master file up on the item and checking the retail price, cost and purchase factor of the item.



PROMOTIONS AND CIRCULARS Some vendors allow you to download pre-set sale price files or circulars. These represent a sale or promotion that your store might participate in. The BMS system can download this file as part of the BBS, if the vendor offers this file. The file can then be used to create a sale. It will automatically enter item numbers, sale prices, beginning and ending dates for the sale and assign it a sale number that you have chosen. Then, all you have to do is add it to your store control file and when sale begins, the items will be at the special price indicated. The first step is to download the file from the BBS. Follow the normal procedures for signing into the BBS system. Usually you will use the login of BBS, password of BBS. Then choose option #1, Download/Upload Files. Then choose the vendor that you wish and choose “Receive promotion file.” The BBS program will automatically download the file for you. After the file is downloaded, return to the main BBS menu. Then choose #5, Process Circulars / Promotions. You will need to choose a sale number. This number will represent the sale in the BMS system. It is always a good idea to choose a number that has not been used yet! (You can list all the existing sales using Option #2 and Option #3.) Now, choose #1, Create Sale Prices from file. Then, choose the distributor number you received the file from. Then, enter the sale number you have chosen to place this sale under. If a conflict of information arises (such as an existing sale price vs. a new sale price for the same item, with the same sale number) you will be notified and asked to choose either the new or the old information. Once the sale is finished loading, you will be told how many records were added. To list the sale prices you have created, go into #2, Sale Prices by Item Number, and then choose L for List and then enter the contract number.



Don’t forget that the sale will NOT take effect until added to your store control file or files if you have multiple stores. One more thing to keep in mind: most vendors allow purchasing a quantity of sale items before the sale at a special cost. Please check with your vendor regarding the possibility of this offer. There are a variety of tools on this menu provided to you to help you work with the new sales: OPTION #2 Sale Price by Item Number: this program will help you list, add, edit and even remove select items from the sale. OPTION #3 Sale Price by Department Number: although this procedure does not create this type of sale, this program is provided to help you locate duplications and conflicts within sales. OPTION #4 Delete Sale Prices: This program is useful in deleting an entire contract or just deleting any that have expired! OPTION #5 Change Contract Dates: This program allows you to “extend” the ending date of a contract or even make the sale contract end at an earlier date! OPTION #6 Change Contract Numbers: This program allows you to change the contract number from one number to another. OPTION #7 Copy One Sale to Another: This program allows you to make a complete copy of a sale to another number. This is an especially useful tool for making sale contracts specific to certain customers. You can copy the entire sale and then alter the copy to suit the customer, all while retaining the old sale! OPTION #8 Sale Price Descriptions: This program allows you to add a description to a sale price number. This description shows up on the Store Control File Sale Price Listing screen and can help to identify a sale.



Here are some helpful hints when setting up sale prices:

• ALWAYS use a sale price description for each sale. • Remove expired sales, but be careful that you don’t delete a sale that

is still being used! And don’t forget to remove them from the store control file sale area and/or the customer master files they are on.

• You can use up to a four digit sale number for “store-wide” sales. Five

and six digit sales numbers are reserved for customer based sales (that are placed on the customer master file for an A/R customer and apply only to a few select customers or a certain type of customer.)

• If you need to change the sale number, use OPTION #6 Change

Contract Numbers.

• After downloading a sale price, always list the sale and review it. You may want to add, delete or adjust certain items from the sale.

• If you forget which customers have a certain sale price number,

simply go into the customer master file program, choose L to list the customers and then choose to list only that sale number.

• There is a discount priority, an order of discounts, should an item

qualify for more than one discount. Here is the order, in the order of importance. Once it qualifies for one of these, further discounts are not researched by the program:

o Sales specific to the customer (set on the customer master file) o Sales specific to the store (set on the store control file) o Trade Discounts

• Sales by Item Number take precedent over Sales by Department. • Sales listed in the store control file follow the entry order starting with

#1 and moving through each sale. So, if an item qualified for a sale price on both #3 and #5, the #3 would take precedent.



USING THE TRUE VALUE REMOTEWARE SOFTWARE Once remoteware has been installed on your BMS system, you will see an additional menu on the BBS distributor menu. Login as “bbs”, password “bbs” From the BBS menu, choose DOWNLOAD/UPLOAD FILES. Then choose TRUE VALUE REMOTEWARE. The remoteware menu will be displayed: First you MUST setup your remoteware control file. Choose REMOTEWARE CONTROL FILE from the menu. The control file will be displayed:

* * REMOTEWARE MENU * * 1 REMOTEWARE CONTROL FILE 2 DOWNLOAD VIA REMOTEWARE 3 UPLOAD PURCHASE ORDER E END CURRENT MENU X EXIT (LOGOFF) R RETURN TO FIRST MENU

DEVELOPEMENT SYSTEM DISFM35 REMOTEWARE - SETUP FILE 1. MEMBER NUMBER FOR REMOTEWARE: 97188 2. DOWNLOAD ITEM MAINTENANCE FILE ? Y 3. DOWNLOAD ELECTRONIC RECEIPT FILE ? N 4. NEXT SEQUENCE FOR ITEM MAINTENANCE FILES: 1 5. NEXT SEQUENCE FOR ELECTRONIC RECEIPT FILES: 1 6. NEXT SEQUENCE FOR PURCHASE ORDER FILES: 1 DATE OF LAST ITEM MAINTENANCE DOWNLOAD: NEVER DATE OF LAST ELECTRONIC RECEIPT DOWNLOAD: NEVER OPTIONS: CHANGE RECORD EXIT



Press <ENTER> to change the record on the screen. You must enter your member number for remoteware. This is slightly different than your member number for True Value. If you have a 6 digit member number (for example: 12345-6), this must be converted to a 5 character member number for remoteware. To convert a 6-digit member number to a 5-digit character number, simply take the first two digits of the 6-digit member number and us the chart below to determine the alphabet letter that should be used in their place. Example: The 6-digit TruServ member number is 12345-6. The first two numbers are “12”. Based on chart below, “12” corresponds with the letter “A”. The 5 character TruServ member number is A345-6.

A3456 must be used in remoteware for the TruServ member number (the dash is not used).

IF THE FIRST TWO DIGITS ARE: REPLACE WITH THE LETTER:

10 M 11 H 12 A 13 B 14 C 15 D 16 E 17 F 18 G 19 I 20 J 21 K 22 L 23 N 24 O 25 P 26 Q 27 R 28 S 29 T 30 U 31 V



32 W 33 X 34 Y 35 Z

Place the converted member number in field #1. Here is an explanation of each field: FIELD NUMBER AND NAME DESCRIPTION OF FIELD 1. MEMBER NUMBER FOR REMOTEWARE

This is your member number in 5 character form. If you have a six digit member number with True value, please refer to the chart on the previous page to change it to a 5 character code. This member number MUST be correct for remoteware to function properly.

2. DOWNLOAD ITEM MAINTENANCE FILE?

This question indicates if you wish to download item maintenance files when remoteware is activated.

3. DOWNLOAD ELECTRONIC RECEIPT FILE?

This question indicates if you wish to download receipt files when remoteware is activated.

4. NEXT SEQUENCE FOR ITEM MAINTEANNCE FILES:

This field indicates the next sequence number for item maintenance files. You will usually only change this number once, during your initial setup. After that, with each new download of files, the number will be automatically updated for you. (When it reaches 999, it will then return automatically to 1.)



5. NEXT SEQUENCE FOR ELECTRONIC RECEIPT FILES:

This field indicates the next sequence number for electronic receipt files. You will usually only change this number once, during your initial setup. After that, with each new download of files, the number will be automatically updated for you. (When it reaches 999, it will then return automatically to 1.)

6. NEXT SEQUENCE FOR PURCHASE ORDER FILES:

This field indicates the next sequence number for sending purchase orders. You will usually only change this number once, during your initial setup. After that, with each upload of purchase order files, the number will be automatically updated for you. (When it reaches 999, it will then return automatically to 1.)



Downloading Files via Remoteware Once you have your remoteware control file setup, you can then begin to download files. You must have at least one type of download file selected. Choose DOWNLOAD VIA REMOTEWARE to being the download procedure. The program then activates the remoteware software. Remoteware is completely automated. Once the remoteware software is done, you will be return to the BMS system and informed of the status of the download. If ITEM MAINTENANCE FILES are downloaded, they are automatically transferred to the file NEWITEMS on the BMS system. We strongly suggestion you use the CATLOAD program to only add new items. Use the price update menu and programs to process the same file but updating items already on file. The price update system gives you better reports when it comes to item price and cost updates. Refer to the instructions regarding ITEM MAINTENANCE FILES and PRICE UPDATES in your BBS manual for more help on these processes.) If ELECTRONIC RECIEPT FILES are downloaded, they are automatically transferred to the file INVTV.TX on the BMS system. You will then need to use the PROCESS DOWNLOADED INVOICES menu to process the file. Please refer to the instructions on PROCESSING DOWNLOADED INVOICES in your BBS manual for more information. Once you download a file or files, you MUST process them accordingly before downloading new files. Each new download will override the previous downloads files. Each type of file available from remoteware will have a frequency that it is updated.



You will want to download each file according to its own frequency.

• Item maintenance files are updated once a week, on Monday mornings.

• Electronic receipt files are available daily, Sunday through Friday.



Uploading Purchase Orders via Remoteware First, you must have the remoteware control file setup correctly. And you MUST have the same remoteware customer number set as the account number on the vendor file for True Value on your BMS system. Create the purchase order as you normally would (please refer to the Suggested Order manual for more instructions.) When you are ready to process the purchase order, when asked if you will be transmitting the file to a BBS, choose YES: WILL YOU BE TRANSMITTING THIS FILE TO A BBS ?

YES NO From the list of distributors, choose TRUE VALUE (VIA REMOTEWARE) You will then be asked what type of order this is. A WAREHOUSE order is the default. If this is NOT a warehouse order, choose the type of order this will be. NOTE: If you choose PROMOTION ORDER or RELAY OR MARKET RELAY, you will be asked to enter a promotion number or relay number. You will then be asked if you want to send retail prices with the file. SEND YOUR RETAIL PRICES WITH THE FILE ?

YES NO The default is NO. If you are getting price stickers and / or bin stickers with your order, choose YES. Your retail prices will be included with the file. Once the purchase order has been processed, log off and log back into the BBS menu.



Login as “bbs”, password “bbs” From the BBS menu, choose DOWNLOAD/UPLOAD FILES. Then choose TRUE VALUE REMOTEWARE. The remoteware menu will be displayed. Choose UPLOAD PURCHASE ORDERS. The program will ask you the purchase order number that you want to send. Enter the purchase order number and the program will copy the file to remoteware and send the file to True Value automatically.



USING THE TRUE VALUE TruStart2 WITH YOUR BMS SYSTEM

DOWLOADING FILES via Trustart2

To download invoice and item update files to your BMS system:

1. You must use a Windows PC connected to the BMS system and the PC must be running both UGI to connect to the BMS system as well as the TruStart2 software.

2. Download those files using the TruStart2 programs (refer to your TruStart2 instructions)

3. Start your UGI interface to the BMS system.

4. Login into the BBS menu (usually the login and password are “bbs” but may be different on your system.)

5. Choose DOWNLOAD/UPLOAD files from the menu.

6. Choose True Value from the menu.

7. Choose VIA TRUSTART2 from the menu

8. The program will then connect to your Windows PC and download the files from your PC into the BMS system.

9. When it is done it will report how many invoices and how many item maintenance files have been found. No matter how many individual files came over from TruStart2, it creates only one new item and one invoice file at the most.



10. Press the <enter> key to return to the menu. Then choose R to return to the initial BBS menu.

11. To process downloaded invoices choose PROCESS DOWNLOADED INVOICES.

a. When asked where the file came from, be sure to choose TruStart2 / Remoteware

12. To process an item update file, choose PROCESS NEW ITEMS

FILE. a. Be sure to choose YES when asked by the program if this is an

item maintenance file. b. Be sure to choose REMOTEWARE/TRUSTART2 when asked

where the file came from.

Refer to the sections in this manual for instructions on how to use the invoice and item update programs.



Uploading Purchase Orders to Trustart2 NOTE: you must have your member number setup in the vendor’s field ACCOUNT NUMBER. This can be your 4 digit member number or the 5 digit version; which is member number and check digit. If this number is not correct, this process will not work. Create the purchase order as you normally would (please refer to the Suggested Order manual for more instructions.) When you are ready to process the purchase order, when asked if you will be transmitting the file to a BBS, choose YES: WILL YOU BE TRANSMITTING THIS FILE TO A BBS ?

YES NO From the list of distributors, choose TRUE VALUE (VIA REMOTEWARE) You will then be asked what type of order this is. A WAREHOUSE order is the default. If this is NOT a warehouse order, choose the type of order this will be. NOTE: If you choose PROMOTION ORDER or RELAY OR MARKET RELAY, you will be asked to enter a promotion number or relay number. You will then be asked if you want to send retail prices with the file. SEND YOUR RETAIL PRICES WITH THE FILE ?

YES NO The default is NO. If you are getting price stickers and / or bin stickers with your order, choose YES. Your retail prices will be included with the file. Once the purchase order has been processed, log off and log back into the BBS menu.



The following MUST be done from a PC running both UGI and the TruStart2 software. Start your BMS UGI session. Login as “bbs”, password “bbs” From the BBS menu, choose DOWNLOAD/UPLOAD FILES.

Choose DOWNLOAD/UPLOAD files from the menu.

Choose True Value from the menu.

Choose VIA TRUSTART2 from the menu

Choose “SEND PURCHASE ORDER TO TS2” Enter the purchase order number you want to send. The file will be transferred to the trustart2 import directory. Start TruStart2 and choose ORDER ENTRY to open the order entry system. Click OK or close any reminders that open. From the top menu, choose MISC. Then choose Import/Export Center and then choose Import Center. Click the “Order(s) file” icon. It should preselect your order file. Click the process icon. Click OK and then close the import window. You can now use TruStart2 to view and transmit your order. Please refer to your TruStart2 documentation on this procedure.



COMMUNICATION WITH ACE HARDWARE For this you will need the following:

• A windows PC with an internet connection or modem connected to a phone line that it can access

• The electronic communication diskette or CD from ACE with the

XROADS software (customized for your store; contact ACE for this software)

Please follow the instructions provided with the XROADS software to install this software. Contact Ace Retail Technology Support at [email protected] for this software and with any questions you have regarding it.



Differences with Ace Hardware Although ACE offers all of the features of any other distributor, the procedure for doing some of them can be slightly different. This page will address those differences.

• Communication is done via XROADS Windows software, instead of your BMS modem

• Files are transferred via UGI directly from your Windows PC to the

BMS server.

• ACE offers HOT SHEETS, which are a combination file of different types of records. They can, but do not always contain, all of the following:

o New Item records o Price Changes for existing items o UPC code changes for existing items o Promotional Records (sale prices)

• Downloaded invoices offer the choice of Cost or Cost plus

shipping/handling charges per item • Transmitting purchase orders have the option of sending ACE your

retail prices within the order (useful if you are ordering your price / bin labels directly from ACE)



Downloading and Processing Hot Sheets

The ACE BBS offers “hotsheet” records that contain many types of records. Chief among them are New Items / Item changes and UPC code changes. This section covers item maintenance type records. For Promotional records you will still download the hot sheet (step 1 and 2), but then use the section of this manual entitled “Promotions / Circulars” to process the file. Note: a single file may contain both Item Maintenance and Promotion records. Downloading and processing the hot sheet file consists of 4 steps:

STEP 1: Download the file from ACE This step simply downloads the file from ACE and places it on your Windows® PC STEP 2: Move the file from the Windows® PC to the BMS system

The step moves the file from your Windows® PC to the BMS system via UGI

STEP 3: Viewing the file This step allows you to “spot check” some of the items, making sure that costs and prices match up. STEP 4: Processing the file

This final step makes the changes to your inventory.



STEP 1: Download the file from ACE

ACE Hardware will provide you with instructions on using their XROADS software.

STEP 2:

Move the file from the Windows® PC to the BMS system Start by logging into the BMS system using the login and password: bbs Choose option #1, DOWNLOAD/UPLOAD FILES. Then from the list, choose ACE HARDWARE And then choose RETREIVE FILES FROM THIS PC.





5 ACE HARDWARE


8 HANDY HARDWARE

9 BLISH MIZE 10 AMARILLO HARDWARE

11 JENSEN DISTRIBUTION SERVICES

12 CALIFORNIA HARDWARE

*** ACE COMMUNICATION MENU ***

1 RETREIVE FILES FROM THIS PC 2 PROCESS ACE FILE

3 SEND PURCHASE ORDER FILE TO PC

END CURRENT MENU

EXIT (LOGOFF)



You will see a OPEN dialog box like the one below:

Use it to find the file(s) downloaded by the XROADS software. Consult the paperwork that came with the XROADS software to determine what directory it is in. Select the file and click the OPEN button. You will then see a message similar to the following:

Choose YES to process the file. A list of file types found within the ACE file will be displayed.



Because ACE Hot Sheets offer several types of records within a single file, a procedure has been developed to help you work with each type, one by one. If you follow this procedure in order, you will find the process will run much smoother. First you must download a hot sheet file from Ace and place the file on the BMS system. This one file is used for each of the processes below:

• Process the file through the price change system first. This will

separate the price changes for existing items from all other changes. It also offers you greater control over the price changes.

• Process the file for NEW ITEMS ONLY. This will give you a list of

new items from the CATLOAD log file, which you can then examine and make any necessary changes to. This will also update any UPC codes that ACE is indicating a change to. If ANY UPC code is changed, the program will prompt you to rebuild the UPC indexes. This must be done for the UPC code changes to take effect. This rebuild MUST be done while everyone is out of Inventory, Point of Sale, Suggested Order and some part of Accounts Receivable (open item and history lookup programs in particular.)

• Process the file for Circulars / Promotions. If you participate in this

program, you should do this procedure last.



Transmitting Purchase Orders to Ace Hardware Transmitting purchase orders to ACE is very simple, and follows most of the same procedures that you would use to create a purchase order for any other vendor. But instead of transmitting the purchase order through your BMS modem, you will actually send the file to a Windows PC and use the ACE XROADS software to send the purchase order(s) to ACE. Create, edit and finalize your purchase order as you would normally, through the Suggested Order menu. When the purchase order is ready to be transmitted, run the menu option “Process Purchase Orders.” When the question is asked “Do you want to transmit this purchase order to your vendor ?”, you will of course answer Yes to it. Then, it will ask you to choose a vendor format. Choose the one labeled for ACE. ACE allows you to transmit your retail prices through the ACE BBS as well as the actual order. This can be especially useful if you are receiving price stickers directly from ACE (after all, you want them to show your retail price, not necessary the ACE suggested retail price.) If you choose to transmit your PRICES to ACE, you must choose your price mode. This is setup by ACE Hardware and must be entered correctly in order to receive the correct prices on your price stickers. They are:

• Price Mode 1 • Price Mode 2 • Price Mode 3

If you do not know what price mode to use, please contact ACE Hardware. BMS does not know this information. Once you process the purchase order, a file is created that needs to be sent to ACE. You will need to switch to the BBS menu to send this file to a




Windows PC. So first, make sure you are using the Windows PC that you loaded the ACE XROADS software onto. You must also use UGI to send the file. Log off the menu you are currently in and log into the BBS menu. This should bring you to a menu similar to the following:




5 ACE HARDWARE


8 HANDY HARDWARE *** ACE COMMUNICATION MENU ***

1 RETREIVE FILES FROM THIS PC 2 PROCESS ACE FILE

3 SEND PURCHASE ORDER FILE TO PC

END CURRENT MENU

EXIT (LOGOFF)



You will see a screen similar to the following:

Enter the purchase order number or enter a question mark to select from available purchase order files on your BMS system. Then the file will be moved to your Windows PC and placed in the BMS directory. From this point, follow the instructions for the XROADS software regarding sending a purchase order file to ACE.



COMMUNICATING WITH BOSTWICK BRAUN HARDWARE

To communicate with Bostwick Braun you MUST have a Windows® PC connected to the Internet. Also, BMS recommends this PC be connected to the BMS server and using UGI. The UGI interface allows you to easily move files back and forth from the Windows® PC and the BMS server.

Transmitting a Purchase Order: To transmit purchase orders, first create the purchase order on the BMS server. Process the purchase order and choose BOSTWICK BRAUN as the vendor you wish to send the purchase order to. Log out of the main system and log into the BBS menu. Then, from the BBS menu, choose DOWNLOAD/UPLOAD FILES. Choose LOAD A FILE from the menu. If you are using UGI you can transmit the file to the Windows® PC. If you are not using UGI, you must put the file on diskette and load it on the Windows® PC yourself. Assuming you are using UGI, choose TO THIS WINDOWS® PC from the question WHERE DO YOU WANT THIS FILE TO GO? At the ENTER THE FILE NAME: question, enter the purchase order number followed by a .po or enter a question mark to look-up your purchase order files. Once the file name is entered, the file will be transferred and sent to your c:\bms directory. You can then log out of UGI and the BMS system if you like. Or minimize the UGI screen.



Start Internet Explorer® and go the address:

https://www.bostwick-braun.com/custsec/upload

NOTE: Be sure to use https, not http. At the user name, enter your user name for Bostwick Braun. At the password prompt, enter the password from Bostwick Braun. Check the box “REMEMBER MY PASSWORD” to have Windows® remember your login and password information. (Please contact Bostwick Braun for this information. BMS will not have your login information.) The screen will load with two links:

Choose UPLOAD AN ORDER by clicking the link. This will change the screen to the upload file prompt. Click the BROWSE button to find the file on your Windows® PC. And then click the SUBMIT button to send the file to Bostwick Braun.

The file will be transferred to Bostwick Braun.

You can then exit Internet Explorer®.

Upload Facility Welcome to The Bostwick-Braun Company's Upload Facility. Please click on the appropriate link to upload a file:

Click here to upload an order.

Click here to upload any other file.



Receiving an Invoice File

Start Internet Explorer® and go the address:

https://www.bostwick-braun.com/custsec/yourlogin

Be sure to use https, not just http.

NOTE: Replace yourlogin with your customer login ID for Bostwick Braun. At the user name, enter your user name for Bostwick Braun. At the password prompt, enter the password from Bostwick Braun. Check the box “REMEMBER MY PASSWORD” to have Windows® remember your login and password information. (Please contact Bostwick Braun for this information. BMS will no have your login information.) Right-click the file you wish to download, and choose SAVE TARGET AS. Save the file in the c:\bms directory on your Windows® PC. You can then close Internet Explorer®. If you are using a Windows® PC with UGI:

Start UGI and login to the BBS menu.

From the BBS menu, choose DOWNLOAD/UPLOAD FILES. Choose LOAD A FILE from the menu.

At the prompt “WHERE WILL THE FILE COME FROM ?” choose FROM THIS WINDOWS PC.

At the question “WHAT TYPE OF FILE WILL THIS BE ?” choose INVOICE / PO FILE.



From the prompt “PLEASE CHOOSE A DISTRIBUTOR” choose Bostwick Braun.

At the question “ENTER THE FILE NAME THIS IS ON YOUR WINDOWS PC”, enter the file name of the file. (Check the c:\bms directory if you are unsure of the file name.)

If you are NOT using UGI, you must put the file on a diskette or CD.

Then take that diskette or CD to the BMS server. Put it in the diskette or CD drive, depending on which type of medium it is. From a BMS workstation, login to the BBS menu.

From the BBS menu, choose DOWNLOAD/UPLOAD FILES. Choose LOAD A FILE from the menu.

At the prompt “WHERE WILL THE FILE COME FROM ?” choose either FROM A DISKETTE or FROM A CDROM, depending on which one you have.

At the question “WHAT TYPE OF FILE WILL THIS BE ?” choose INVOICE / PO FILE.

From the prompt “PLEASE CHOOSE A DISTRIBUTOR” choose Bostwick Braun.

Once the file is transferred, you can then choose to process the invoice file by answering YES to the prompt “DO YOU WANT TO PROCESS THE FILE NOW ?” To create purchase orders from this file, follow the instructions from the page topic “CREATE ORDERS FROM THE INVOICE” in the INVOICE DOWNLOADING section.



TRANSMITTING PURCHASE ORDERS TO ORGILL

Orgill has a special feature when it comes to transmitting purchase orders. You can transmit more than one purchase order to them with the same purchase order transmission file. This feature is accomplished the creation of a special purchase order file that can contain more than one purchase order. This changes a few of the basic procedures that you use when creating and transmitting purchase orders to Orgill: While processing the purchase order, after you select Orgill as the vendor that you are transmitting to, the computer will ask you for your account number with Orgill. Please enter the correct account number for your store. This is VERY important.

A file will be created that has the file name starting with your customer number. This file is what will be transmitted to Orgill.

If you have previously transmitted to Orgill, the file, of course, will exist. You have two options:

• Add more purchase orders to the existing file

• Delete the existing file and start over with a new file, adding only the

new purchase order to it

Using this method, you can “build” a transmission file for Orgill.

You can then go back and add more purchase orders to the file by processing those purchase orders and choosing “A” to add to the file. Once you have all the purchase orders in the file that you wish to transmit, follow the standard BBS directions for transmitting the file to Orgill. There is one difference here; you do not have to enter a purchase order number to transmit, since it always transmits the purchase order file you created.



COMMUNICATION WITH EMERY WATERHOUSE

For the transmission of purchase orders to Emery Waterhouse, follow the regular instructions for sending electronic purchase orders to your vendor. For other functions, specifically receiving files from the Emery Waterhouse BBS, the following is offered as an addendum to the standard instructions for each function. The Emery Waterhouse BBS is like a “mail box.” As an Emery Waterhouse customer you will routinely receive “mail” from Emery Waterhouse in the form of files representing your invoices, price updates and new items. Please consult Emery Waterhouse directly for the exact schedule and pricing of each type of file you can receive. When you dial into the Emery Waterhouse BBS through your BMS computer system, any files in your Emery Waterhouse “mailbox” are downloaded into your BMS system. You many have one or more files in your mailbox and each will need to be downloaded and processed. DOWNLOADING FILES: Log into the BBS menu. Select # 1, Download / Upload Files Select #6, Emery Waterhouse On the Emery Waterhouse menu, select #1 Dial into Emery Waterhouse. You will be presented with two options:

1. Receive files 2. Transmit PO

Choose #1 to receive any files that might be on the Emery Waterhouse BBS.



From this point, the BMS system will dial into the Emery Waterhouse BBS and download the files automatically. (If you do not have any files on the BBS, it will tell the BMS software this and it just log off the BBS.) Once the download is complete, you will need to process the files so they are identified and readied for the BMS system. Select #2 from the Emery Waterhouse menu, “Process Downloaded Files” From this program you may “view” a list of the files you have downloaded or you can process them. Select V to view and it will tell you how many files of each type you have downloaded. Select C to create “working files” that can be processed on the BMS system. (Do not do this step until you have finished working with any previously downloaded files! The new files will override the old files.) After selecting C to create working files, the program will report how many files of each type you have. From this point, follow the regular instructions for processing price updates, new items and invoice files; depending on which file or files you have received.



CATLOAD – A DETAILED EXPLAINATION

Presented below is an explanation of what happens depending on what options you choose:

Please choose which vendor format to use, or E to exit: Each vendor provides information to BMS in a different format. Some vendors, including Wallace, have more than one format. This question, though obvious, should be answered carefully. Also, some vendor’s, including Orgill, have follow-up questions. Before each load, use the view option at least once to verify that the correct vendor and format has been chosen. Choosing the wrong vendor format will add garbage to your inventory and may result in errors within the program. Update or View only: You can use this option to view the file BEFORE any changes are made. BMS recommends that you view at least a few pages of items (they are presented in pages of 20 items) to verify the format and information is correct. Without viewing first, you run the risk of adding garbage to your inventory that will be very difficult to remove later. If you have more than one warehouse listed in your inventory control file, you will then be prompted for starting and ending warehouse numbers. You may choose to only add stocking records for certain warehouses using this question.



Use the vendor’s department number, or choose a single department or offset the vendor’s department number: This option is provided to help resolve department number conflicts among multiple vendor catalog loads. Most vendors provide a list of their department numbers. We can provide you with a list of departments for most major vendors. Setting up departments and the numbers you use are purely your choice. However, BMS recommends that you setup your departments corresponding to your PRIMARY vendor. When loading information other than your primary vendor’s catalog, we recommend that you choose to either place those items in a single department or offset their numbers. Choose Y to accept the vendor’s departments on new items. Choose N to place NEW items in a single department Or choose O to offset the department numbers on new items.

If you choose offset, you will be prompted for the “offset number.” This number is added to the vendor’s department number. For example, choose an offset of 100, and then vendor department number 5 will be set to 105.

What is the vendor number? This question is very important and should be answered carefully. If in doubt, press <escape> to exit the program and use the Vendor File Maintenance program (found under the Suggested Order menu, File maintenance section.) to verify the vendor number. Entering in a wrong vendor number can have unexpected results. If I find the item already on file for this vendor….. As it states, this question ONLY has do to with ITEMS ALREADY ON FILE and does not affect adding NEW items. (No matter what option you choose, you always add new items.)



Choose U to update the item’s master record completely (use with caution!) Choose P to update retail price and cost only Choose C to update cost only Choose UPC to update UPC codes only Or choose N to skip items already on file. Note: a complete list of each of these options is provided below this outline. Enter Y to pre-fix the vendor’s item number or just hit <enter>…. Most people will just hit <enter> here, but this option is provided to help with vendor item number conflicts. When the BMS system creates a new record, the vendor’s item number is used as the BMS item number. However, these two numbers DO NOT have to be the same. By prefixing the vendor’s item number, you place a letter or number or combination of in the front of the vendor’s item number. Most major vendors do not conflict, as they use either a set length of 5, 6, 7 or 8-digit item number exclusively. However, some vendors use item numbers of a varied length. For this reason, you may choose to prefix the item number on minor vendor’s, as not to conflict with other items already on file. Note: some vendors are already prefixed. Those include:

• Hillman – prefixed with H • National – prefixed with N • Danco – prefixed with D

On new items, load them as stocked or non-stocked… This question affects if the item is considered stocked or non-stocked. The default answer is Y for stocked. Items loaded as NON-STOCKED cannot be sold in point of sale unless you have a positive stock on hand. Stock on hand of zero or a negative is not available for sale at POS.



When The Item Number Is On File Already, This Is What Each Option Does:

New items only:

• If item number is already on file, it completely skips changing the item.

• Will NOT create any missing stocking records. • It will create secondary vendors, if the item is on file with another

vendor (based on upc code match) Cost update only:

• If UPC is on file already for another vendor number, secondary item is created. (Only secondary vendor fields are added. Main part of master record and stocking record do not change.)

• If UPC is not on file already, or is on file, but for the same vendor, update of exiting record proceeds:

o Suggested retail is updated with new retail o Standard cost is updated (Average and last are left as is) o Missing stocking records are created, but no existing stocking

records are changed. Price / Cost update:



o Retail price 1 is updated o Suggested retail is updated o Standard cost is updated (Average and last are left as is) o Missing stocking records are created, but no existing stocking

records are changed.



UPC update:



o UPC is updated o Missing stocking records are created, but no existing stocking

records are changed. Update (Complete update):



o Alpha code updated ONLY if no alpha code existed before o Description is updated o Department number is updated o Retail price is updated o Retail price 2 is updated, if it exists o Purchase unit of measure is updated o Purchase factor is updated o Suggested retail is updated with new retail o Weight o Stocking and purchasing units of measure o Break Y/N question o Case amount o Standard cost is updated (Average and last are left as is) o Vendor item number o Lead time is reset to default of 5 o Label is set to S (default) o Taxable is set to Yes o Catalog page



o Better and Best levels are updated o UPC code is updated o Manufacturer number is updated, if it is given o Missing stocking records are created, but no existing stocking

records are changed.

Notations:

• No secondary vendor information is EVER changed if item was already on file with same vendor number. This includes 2nd and 3rd vendor number, 2nd and 3rd vendor item number, 2nd and 3rd vendor UPC code, and 2nd and 3rd vendor’s catalog page.

• Last and average costs are NEVER changed • Stocking records are NEVER changed, but are always added if

missing. • If the item number is on file for ANOTHER VENDOR NUMBER,

the update is skipped and logged as a vendor number / item number conflict on the warning log. This is true of ALL options.



Viewing and Understanding “Catload” Statistics After each catalog is loaded or updated a list of statistics on what occurred is presented. This information includes:

• Number of new items added • Number of items already on file that were updated • Number of secondary vendor items created • Number of price/cost updates preformed • Number of cost only updates preformed • Number of UPC updates preformed • Number of BAD UPC codes (Blank UPC codes) • Number of items numbers that did not conform to the BMS item

number format and were skipped (usually because of special characters within the item number, such as #, !, @, %, etc.)

• Number of items whose cost was GREATER than their retail • Number of items with no cost at all

Once these statistics are presented to you, you may choose from the following options:

• View the report on the screen (See note below) • Print only the warnings to the report printer • Print the entire report to the report printer • Print a list of new items to the report printer • Print a list of secondary items created to the report printer

Note: When viewing the report to the screen, you may choose either all entries or just the warnings.



These lists are meant to help you identify items and correct potent ional problems. They are audit reports and do not contain all the information you would normally find on a BMS inventory report. Some options, in particular printing the entire report, have the possibility of printing several hundred pages of items. For this reason, we do not recommend using this option. An on screen “view” option has been created if you wish to view more information. Also, you can print only warnings, which should be a much smaller list. Two special lists, new items and secondary items, have been designed as not to waste as much paper, should you wish to have a list of these particular items.



What Are Warnings? (And What Should I Do About Them?)

Within each catalog file, there can be a 3% - 8% inaccuracy rate in the data given. Some vendors provide between 45,000 and 70,000 items in their catalog. For these reasons, human intervention is needed by you to correct these problems; the computer simply can’t make the decisions necessary to correct these inaccuracies. To assist you, a list of warnings can be viewed and printed to your report printer. Each item in the warning list should be viewed and corrected, in particular the warnings regarding zero cost and when cost is greater than retail. Warnings include the following:

• Item cost was greater than retail price • Item cost was ZERO • Vendor item number conflict (when the item number was found on

file, but the vendor number you chose was not the vendor number on file; this excludes secondary vendors)

• Items numbers that did not conform to the BMS item number format and were skipped

• Attempts to add item to secondary vendor and both 2nd and 3rd vendor slots were already in use.



Understanding Secondary Vendors When an item is added as a secondary vendor, several things happen to the master record of the item that it is being added to. Those are detailed here.

• First of all, vendor slot #2 vendor item number field is checked. If something is already in place, it then checks vendor slot #3 vendor item number field.

• If vendor slot #3 is also used, no changes are made. When the program decides which vendor slot to use, it inserts the follow information into the follow places: • The vendor number for the “new” item is placed in the

secondary/third vendor number slot • The item number for the “new” item is places in the secondary/third

vendor item number slot • The item number for the “new” item is ALSO places in the secondary

/ third UPC slot • The catalog page for the “new” item is placed in the secondary / third

catalog page slot The secondary and third vendor slots can then be used for suggested ordering. By placing the item number in the UPC slot, it also makes the secondary / third vendor’s item number usable as a “search” field, should that item number be typed into Point of Sale, inventory control or even suggested order. KEEP IN MIND, secondary vendors are NOT created if the option for items on file is chosen as N for new items only. Only when the options of price / cost updated or update complete are chosen are secondary vendors created.



VENDOR LIST – WHAT EACH VENDOR OFFERS: Please contact your vendor and verify you are signed up to receive or perform the functions below that you are interested in. Some functions are only available at an additional cost; please consult your vendor regarding this. ACE HARDWARE

Invoice Downloading New Items Promotion / Sale Price Files Transmitting Purchase Orders Price Updates

• All ACE communication is done through a Windows PC using the X-Roads

scripts provided by ACE.

• Price updates and new items / EFM files are the same file. No separate price update is available. However, price updates from the EFM file can be done separately through the price update menu, if you wish.

AMARILLO HARDWARE (Dial-up BBS only)

Invoice Downloading Transmitting Purchase Orders

BLISH MIZE (Dial-up and Internet available)

Invoice Downloading New Items Promotion / Sale Price Files Transmitting Purchase Orders Price Updates • Please contact Blish Mize to sign up for New Items and/or Promotion files. These

files are not automatically available. BOSTWICK BRAUN (Dial-up BBS only)

Invoice Downloading Transmitting Purchase Orders • Communication with this vendor is ONLY done through a Windows® PC

connected to the Internet. No BBS is available.



CALIFORNIA HARDWARE (Dial-up BBS only)

Invoice Downloading Transmitting Purchase Orders

DO IT BEST (Dial-up and Internet available)


EMERY WATERHOUSE (Dial-up BBS only)


HANDY HARDWARE (Dial-up and Internet available)

Invoice Downloading New Items Transmitting Purchase Orders Price Updates • Price updates and new items files are the same file. No separate price update file

is available. HOUSE HASSON (Dial-up and Internet available)


JENSEN DISTRIBUTION (Dial-up and Internet available)


Note: only invoice, price update downloading and transmitting of purchase orders are available via the internet for Jensen.



JOHN DEERE (Internet only)

Invoice Downloading Promotion / Sale Price Files Transmitting Purchase Orders

• Communication with John Deere is done through a computer provided by JDIS

MOORE HANDLEY (Dial-up and Internet available)

Invoice Downloading New Items Transmitting Purchase Orders Price Updates

ORGILL (Dial-up and Internet available)


• Orgill offers new item / EFM files weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly • Price Updates are a duplication of the same information contained in the New

Items EFM file, if you use that file as a price / cost update as well as adding new items

• Orgill allows you to send multiple purchase orders in one transmission. Please see the page entitled “TRANSMITTING PURCHASE ORDERS TO ORGILL” for more information

TRUE VALUE (Dial-up and Internet available)


• All communication with True Value is done through the TruStart 2 / remoteware

software running on a Windows® PC WALLACE (Dial-up and Internet available)


Documents

VENDOR COMMUNICATION USING YOUR BMS SYSTEM