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CERTIFIED COURSE CURRICULUMSAGE UNIVERSITY

EST151: Maintain Parts

IMPORTANT NOTICEThis document and the Sage 100 Contractor software may be used only in accordance with the Sage 100 Contractor End User License Agreement applicable to the Sage 100 Contractor software. You may not use, copy, modify, or transfer the Sage 100 Contractor software or this documentation except as expressly provided in the license agreement.

Visit Sage's training services Web site at www.SageU.com, call 1-877-724-3285, or e-mail us at [email protected] to learn about training classes that Sage adds throughout the year. Contact your business partner to learn about local training options.

Information in this document is intended solely as general information with respect to common business issues and is not to be construed as professional advice. Consult a tax or accounting professional for all tax and account related questions. THE INFORMATION HEREIN IS PROVIDED“AS IS” AND ALL WARRANTIES ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY: OF MERCHANTABILITY; OF FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE; OF NON-INFRINGEMENT OF ANY PROPRIETARY RIGHT OF ANY THIRD PARTY IN ANY COUNTRY; OTHERWISE ARISING OUT OF ANY PRODUCT, PROPOSAL, SPECIFICATION OR SAMPLE; AND ANY WARRANTY THAT THE DOCUMENT IS ERROR FREE. No license, express, implied, by estoppel or otherwise, to any intellectual property right is granted by this document. Sage Software may make changes to the information in this document at any time, without notice. Recipient is solely responsible for assessing the suitability of the information and assumes all risk of use.

© 2013 Sage Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Sage, the Sage logos, and the Sage product and service names mentioned herein are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sage Software, Inc., or its affiliated entities. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

01/2013

Estimating Contents

© 2013 Sage Software, Inc. Online Training at www.SageU.com 3

Contents

Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Course Pre-Requisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Training Data for Lecture and Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Conventions Used in This Workbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Maintain Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Learning Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Benefits of Importing Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Part File Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Comma Delimited Text Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Steps to Importing Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Activity 1—Add New Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Update Parts and Pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Activity 2—Update Prices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Update Vendor’s Prices on Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Add New Parts and Update Prices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Maintain Parts Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Activity 3—Update Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Summary: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Contents Sage 100 Contractor

4 Local Training From Business Partners © 2013 Sage Software, Inc.

Estimating Welcome


Welcome

This handout has been designed for use in an instructor-led class for Sage 100 Contractor. Detailed instructions help you recall the procedures introduced by your instructor. Depending on how your training class is conducted, some sections may not be addressed. Refer to these sections in the future as you continue to work with the software.

Course Pre-RequisitesThis course assumes that you have installed Sage 100 Contractor and opened the Sample Company. You should also have participated in the NCT102 course.

Training Data for Lecture and ActivitiesAs your instructor demonstrates procedures in the software, he or she will access the training data set that has been used to capture application screens in this workbook. You will also use the training data set to complete the activities.

You can download the training data sets on the Sage University Web site (www.sageu.com) using the procedure explained on the next page.

Transactions in the Training Data Set

In certain cases, transactions in the data set that you use may show a different year than the illustrations in this book, or than the instructor shows in class. If your data set transactions show a different year, but all other details such as the account setup, vendor names, and jobs are identical, your data set will correspond to the materials in all respects but the date.

When you complete the activities that involve dates, you may see a different year in the instructions or screen shot than in your data. Use the appropriate year based on the data you are using for activities.

For example, if 2012 is the current year in your data and the activity prompts you to enter prior year information, enter a date in 2011. If the activity prompts you to enter current year information, enter a date in 2012.

Welcome Sage 100 Contractor


If you already have an older version of the training data installed, you can upgrade it using the directions below to download the latest training data set.

If you prefer to use another data set for the activities, you may do so, but your results may not resemble the images you see in the workbook.

To Download the Training Data Set

1. In an Internet browser, go to http://sageu.com/sage100contractor.

2. In the right-hand area under QuickLinks, click Training Data.

3. Select the ReadMe File file for instructions on load the sample data.

4. Click the Download the Sample Company Training Data link.

5. Click Run to install the training data. If you see a security warning about the publisher, click Run.

6. Browse to your MB7 folder, then click Unzip, and then click OK.

Menu PathsIn this workbook, menu paths show you the steps required to start a task. This is a sample menu path:

4-Accounts Payable > 3-Vendor Payments > 2-Pay Vendors

Many modules and tasks are also available through Sage 100 Contractor Desktop. The Desktop has a tree structure that reflects the same logical progression as the steps of a menu path.

Where to Get Additional Information

Application Help Files

Each application contains an extensive Help system. The Help is your primary resource for reference and how-to information for all tasks. Help includes Contents, Index, and Search features that help you locate information quickly.

You can start Help in two easy ways:

Select About this Window from the Help menu in any application.

Press the F1 key on the window in any application.

Technical Support Knowledgebase

The Technical Support Knowledgebase contains the latest information about application features. You must have a current service plan to access the knowledgebase.

Estimating Welcome


InfoCenter

Be sure to check the InfoCenter for product news, announcements, support, and training. Access the InfoCenter from Home & Resources tab > Customer Resources.

Submit Enhancement RequestsDo you have a suggestion for how we can improve our software? We want to hear your ideas! Open the Product Enhancement Request option from Home & Resources tab > Customer Resources. Ideas you enter will be submitted to our Product Management team.

Conventions Used in This WorkbookThis workbook uses the following conventions:

The names of screens, windows, fields, buttons, and other features displayed by the software are shown in bold type.

Information you enter into the software is in bold type, as in the example below:Type Miscellaneous in the Amount Type field.

Names of keys are shown in capitals; for example, ENTER, TAB. A plus sign (+) between two key names indicates that you should press both keys at the same time; for example, SHIFT + TAB.

NOTE: This symbol draws your attention to information of particular interest.

TIP: This symbol draws your attention to tips about using a helpful feature of the software.

WARNING: This symbol draws your attention to information that is important because it can help you avoid a costly or time-consuming error.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: This symbol draws your attention to a reference to another document or to another section in this document.

Welcome Sage 100 Contractor


Estimating Maintain Parts


Maintain Parts

The purpose of this course is to teach you how to import an estimating parts database from a vendor and then maintain it, adding your company’s information such as cost codes and cost types and updating prices from your vendor.

Learning ObjectivesIn this course you will learn how to incorporate and manipulate existing vendors’ parts databases for use in Sage 100 Contractor. At the completion, you will be able to:

Identify what types of files may be imported.

Check a file for problems and consistency prior to importing.

Use 9-6 Add Parts/Update Prices to import and update vendors’ files into your parts database.

Add more part information after importing from a vendor's file using 9-7 Update Database.

Delete unneeded parts.

Maintain Parts Sage 100 Contractor


Benefits of Importing Parts

The 9-2 Parts window allows you to track and manage a database of parts your company uses. There are many benefits to importing existing vendors’ parts lists to your database.

Timesaving: The ability to bring in a large number of parts at one time means you won’t have to key in each one separately.

Clear communication: You will be using the vendor’s part description and unit of measure. This keeps it easy to estimate and export purchase orders from your estimate in your vendors’ “language.”

Easy to update: Using the alpha part number field (we’ll look at this field shortly), you can update prices and add new parts from new vendor files. We’ll learn more about this later in the class.

Part File TypesWe can import parts lists from text files and database files. Text files must have separations between the fields, and these separations can be either commas or commas and quotes. Thus, there are three types of files that can be imported:

Comma delimited text files

Comma/quote delimited text files

Tab delimited text files

Excel files (.xls)

Xbase files (.dbf)



Comma Delimited Text Files

First, lets look at a comma-delimited file called Comma.txt. This is a comma-delimited file, ready for import into Sage 100 Contractor. You can see that commas separate the various fields. Later, we will import this file and map these fields into Sage 100 Contractor through the 9-6 Add Parts/Update Prices window.

In the comma.txt file, the first row consists of a header with descriptions of each column. Note that the Vendor and Vendor Part# columns refer to your vendor’s vendor. In this class we will assume that your vendor’s vendor is the manufacturer of the parts.

Now let’s look at how these fields relate to our 9-2 Parts screen.

Manufacturer

UnitAlpha Part #

Description

Manufacturer Part Number

Default Cost and Billing Amount



Comma/quote Delimited Text File

The second file is named Quote.txt. This is a comma/quote-delimited file, with each field surrounded by quotes, and separated by commas. This file type allows commas in the part description.

Tab Delimited Text File

The third text file is delimited with a tab character. This is the standard delimited used when saving a file in Excel as a text file.

Excel File (.xls)

The next file type is Microsoft Excel’s default format. This is a proprietary format that can only be read by Excel and by programs designed to open this file format

Xbase File (.dbf)

The final type is the database file type. This file type can only be viewed in an outside program such as Excel or FoxPro. I will show you a database file by using Excel.

Steps to Importing PartsThis is a good time to remind you to backup your data twice before you start the import process. Since it is potentially possible to damage the parts file by importing bad data, you want to be sure you can get things back to where they were before you started.

First, make sure that the file is one of the above-listed types. Preview the file in Word, Wordpad, Notepad or some other text editor if it is a text file. Preview the file in Excel if it is a .dbf or .xls file. Look to see what type of information is included, what format that information is in, and whether the first line is an actual part or a description of the type of information contained.

Second, select option 9-6 “Add Parts / Update Prices”. Then select “Update Part Prices.”

Next select the vendor’s file:

We will use the Comma.txt file to import the rebar parts.

1. Select the Source File using the Browse button. The Comma.txt file is in your Sample company folder. Note: if the file isn’t in your company directory, you can navigate through your hard drive to get to the file. You may need to change the Type of File so your desired file appears.

2. If the file has a “header record”, check the “First Line is Header” box. Our Comma.txt file has a header record. If the left column of the Field Mapping



section contains field names then we want to ignore it. If it contains the information for an actual part then we want to import it. Check First Line is Header to prevent this header from being imported as a part.

3. Identify how the fields match to the parts screen (we did this in our discussion above). Each vendor may have a different name for different fields, so you have to tell Sage 100 Contractor what these fields are. We do this by matching or mapping the vendor’s Source File Fields with MB7 fields.

Map fields:

1. In the Field Mapping area, click in the “Destination” column of the first row of the MB7 Fields. Note that all the cells in this column are initially empty.

2. Now double-click the field in the Destination Fields box that relates to this Source File Field. This will place it in the MB7 Fields column and remove it from the Destination Fields list.

3. As you double-click on the MB7 Fields, they are entered into the mapping grid.

Last, determine what part numbering you will use. For this exercise, we’ll assign our own sequential Part numbers. You can map the MB7 Part# field from one of the fields in the import file. However, you will need to verify that the chosen field contains only whole numbers (No punctuation, no letters, no decimals) and there are no duplicate numbers and none of the numbers are duplicates of the numbers of your existing parts.

To assign your own numbers to vendor’s parts, click Assign Part Numbers, select a starting number, and then match the Part# field in the imported file’s Source File Field column to the Alpha Part # field in the MB7 Fields database. This allows you to map your database to your vendor’s part numbers for use in updating vendor prices from an update file we’ll use later. If you are importing a large database, you may want to assign part numbers past the end of your existing parts list, not in the middle of it.

Import data:

You are now ready to import the data.

1. Click the Add/Update button. You should receive a message that states 5 Records were imported.

2. Click OK.

Save your file:

Before we check to see if the files have been imported, let’s save the file format so it’s available to use it again when parts or prices need updating. Another reason to



save the file is so you can test the new database by importing it to a sample company before using it in your actual company.

1. On the File menu, click Save.

2. Type Comma as the file name. Sage 100 Contractor will assign the Import_format extension

Check file:

Still in 9-6 Add Parts/Update Prices, on the File menu, click Open to view the new Comma.Import_format file.

Activity 1—Add New Parts

Please go to your desktop and follow the previous demonstration to import the Comma.txt file into a new company.

Import Parts database

1. Open 9-2. Go to the last record and make a note of what the highest part number is.

2. Open 9-6 Add Parts/Update Prices.

3. Select Add New Parts.

4. Click on the Select Source File button. The Open File dialog box will appear. Change the file type at the bottom to Text files (“*.txt)”.

5. Double-click the Comma.txt file.

6. Select Assign Part# and enter a number greater than the highest part number which you noted in step #1.

7. Look at the Field Mapping section of the 9-6 window. Click in the first cell of the Destination Fields column, then use the left arrow button to link the fields as shown in the next screen image, one-by-one.

8. Select First line is header record check box so the header won’t be imported as a part.

9. Click the Add/Update Parts button at the bottom of the screen. A dialog box will appear that says 5 Records were imported.

10. Click OK.

11. On File, select Save Template. Name the file Comma.Import_format.

12. Go to 9-2 Parts and check for your new parts



13. Please return to conference when you have completed this exercise.

You have now successfully imported a vendor’s parts file. The parts now displays in 9-2 Parts. We will add information such as Part Class, Cost Code and Cost Type, and will learn about this shortly. Now let’s look at some bad data file types that will not import properly.



Bad File Types

Sometimes you will get a file that doesn’t work as an import file. Let’s look at some of these file types. Note that these are also in your sample data, along with some additional files you can review.

The first file type we’ll look at is the Commabad.txt file. This is supposed to be a comma delimited file, but look:

You can see how a comma is making the description field impossible to import. The import program will view that comma as separating two fields. If you map column two to the parts description, the description you’ll get is “#3 Rebar”, etc.

Now let’s look at the Quotebad.txt file:

This comma quote file doesn’t have the quotes defining the beginning of the import fields. It will not import properly because the format isn’t complete.

And finally, let’s look at a bad data field in the Badamt.txt file:

The percent sign in the Default Cost field means that the amount is no longer a decimal number and won’t fit the Sage 100 Contractor field’s format. (The Billing Amount field is also wrong.) It is important to review your files to be sure the data is in the proper format.

A comma splits the description in two.

No quote at beginning of import fields.

% in Default Cost field.



Update Parts and Pricing

Periodically you will want to add parts or update prices from your vendor. Although it may not be practical to update as often as parts or prices change, you want to keep them close to reality. That way you can use your parts database to do preliminary bids with a fair degree of accuracy. To update parts and part pricing, follow these steps:

First, obtain the update file from your vendor and review its format. The file we’ll use is the Update.txt file in your Sample company folder. Note that this is a comma/quote-delimited file, and that it does not have a header. The file lists a new part (129827 #7 Rebar) and a price increase for an existing part (129828 #8 rebar)

1. Go to menu option 9-6 Add Parts/Update Prices.

2. Click the Update Part Prices box.

3. Click on Select Source File button.

4. Change the file type at the bottom to Text files (“*.txt)”.

5. Select the Update.txt file.

6. Select Update Parts.

7. Click to deselect the First Line is Header check box, since the first record is a part, and not a header.

8. Click the Update button.

Activity 2—Update Prices

Please go to your desktop and update using the Update.txt file.

1. Go to the 9-2 Parts screen and examine the last part. Write down the default cost: ________________.

2. Open 9-6 Add Parts/Update Prices.

3. Click on the Update Part Prices box.

4. Click the Select Source File button. The Open File dialog box will appear.

5. Select File Type:” Text Files (*.txt)”

6. Go up one level and open the MB7 folder. In the Sample company folder, double-click the vendor’s file, Update.txt.



7. This file does not contain a header. Make sure First Line is Header is not selected.

8. Click Add/Update Parts. A dialog box displays stating 1 Record was updated. Click OK.

9. View the log. Notice that the new part wasn’t found in the Parts database.

10. Go to the 9-2 Parts and examine the last part. What is its default cost now?



Update Vendor’s Prices on PartsInstead of changing the default cost field on the Part you can alter the price in the vendor price section of the part.

To do this select Vendor Price below the Update Part Prices check box. Then select the vendor that is supplying the price file. Then you can map the vendor discount and vendor price fields to the data supplied by the vendor.



Add New Parts and Update PricesWhile updating prices you can add the parts that are in the vendor’s file but don’t match any of the parts in your parts database. Simply check both the Add Parts and the Update Part Prices check boxes.

WARNING: This means that if your vendor sends out a file of all their parts, or all their parts with price changes (as opposed to a file with only the parts that you want or that you use) you will continually need to do something about these unwanted parts. One solution is to create a part class at the end of your part class list for ‘unneeded parts’. Then you can either leave them there where they are out of the way (but they will still appear under “All Classes” and will still appear when using F4 searches), or you can use the 9-7 Maintain Parts Database option to delete all parts assigned to that class. Parts that you wish to keep should be assigned to an appropriate part class prior to deleting the parts in the “Unneeded” class



Maintain Parts Database

You’ve successfully imported a vendor’s parts list, but it doesn’t contain all of the fields a company might need. For instance, you might want to add information into these fields:

Parts Class

Cost Code and Cost Type

Task

Minimum Order Quantity and Package Quantity

When you update parts information, you want to update the most global information, and then work our way down to the more specific information in sections. For instance, the Cost Type on almost all import files is 1-Material. We can update all of the imported parts with this information. Likewise, the Last Updated field will be the date of the vendor’s file for all parts imported. Nearly all parts should have the Minimum and Package fields set to 1. It is easy to do all these at one time for all the parts we just imported.

Let’s look at the first example of updating:

Selection Criteria Box: The parts you are going to change.

The range of part numbers we just imported

Click on arrow to choose Operator “Between”

Date must be in mm/dd/yyyy format.

Fields to Change: the changes you are going to make



Once you have made the changes, click Update. The program asks if you’d like to view the log file. You will always want to click Yes and print the log file for your records and in case you need to undo your work.

The file we imported only contains rebar, so the Cost Code and Parts Class will be the same for all of the parts in this file. With a more complex import file, you would be updating these fields by part number ranges. The second pass at updating would include Parts Class, Cost Code, and Task. Your second update screen would look like this:

Note: Since there is no Lookup window you’ll need to look up the Part Class, Cost Code and Task numbers before you start.



As you can see, we’ve successfully updated the Part Class, Cost Code and Task fields. Had we done this in the Sample Company then these three fields would have their description included immediately after the assigned number.

Some additional things you can do in the 9-7 window are:

Use multiple selection criteria for a more specific search.

Use the Operator field selections such as Between, Greater, etc.

Use the Type field selection “Factor by” when there are global price increases (for instance, the price for all copper wire parts increases by 3%).

Use the selection criteria to identify parts you wish to delete, using the “Delete” button to remove them.

NOTES:

• Delete is a DESTRUCTIVE process and your backups are very important here!

• Delete will delete the specified parts even if they are used in assemblies.

Once you are done deleting, you must reindex your parts at menu option 7-4 Rebuild Indexes.



Activity 3—Update Database

1. Please go to your desktop and open 9-7 Update Database.

2. In the Selection Criteria section for Field select Part#, for Operator select Between, and for Value enter 50001 – 50010 (or use the first number of the part you added previously as the low number and that number plus 10 for the high number.)

3. In the Fields to Change section, update Cost Type, Last Updated, Part Class, Cost Code and Task following the screenshot above.

4. Click Update.

5. Go to 9-2 Parts and view the lowest part number you selected to see your changes.

6. Please return to conference when you have completed this exercise.



Summary:We have covered Importing and Updating Parts within Sage 100 Contractor. At this point you should feel comfortable with:

Verifying that a vendor’s database file is in the correct format to import.

Importing and updating parts from a vendor’s file.

Adding your specific information to the parts.

Thank you for participating in this online class.

est151: maintain partsftp.sagesoftwareuniversity.com/lms/cre/smb23/est151-maintainpart… · the...

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