Manufacturer Catalog management

Introduction #

Silicon ioi allows you to manage lists of product references with their descriptions, features, purchase and sale prices, without registering them in stock management. These references remain available for stock item creation only if needed.

Strategic Advantage #

This setup limits the registration of stock items to cases where it is truly necessary. This makes it possible to offer hundreds of thousands of product references for sale without overloading the stock database. Only the actually stocked items are coded as such; the others remain within the manufacturer catalog management. Over the medium and long term, this prevents polluting the stock master with items that were never sold or never needed to be stocked.

Imported Manufacturer Catalogs Management #

The system is designed to facilitate the massive import of manufacturer references.

Limitations #

→ The pricing policy is intentionally simplified, based on the assumption that price data is imported and processed automatically:

• A single sales price is considered (per currency and unit of measure), with the possibility of applying discounts, including quantity-based discounts. FTG grids can be applied.
• No specific customer prices can be defined.
• The purchase price is based on a discount off the sales price (often referred to as the public price).

Manufacturer Module #

In this module, you define as many manufacturers as needed, along with the reference and differentiation settings specific to each catalog.

→ The following elements must be defined:

• A unique identifier
• A description
• A supplier (by default, the one from whom the reference is purchased)

Automatic Item Creation #

It is also necessary to select a method for creating an item when stock management becomes necessary. The item can then be automatically generated during processing. Several rules are available:

• Forbidden: no item creation is allowed from these references.
• Use the manufacturer reference as the item reference

• Generate an item reference using a prefix + the manufacturer reference

• Use a predefined item reference from the manufacturer catalog

→ Additional criteria may condition whether an item can be created:

• The item family must be specified (essential if a discount policy by family is in place; see FTG grid).
• A shop category must be defined (required for publication).
• Multilingual descriptions must be available (from 1 to 4 languages).
• If prices are expressed in foreign currencies, a conversion to the system currency must be handled

Image, Thumbnail & Datasheet Update #

It is possible to define update rules for these elements during item creation.

Import Settings #

Import settings are defined for each manufacturer. They allow importing data from Excel or CSV files.

They ensure correct formatting of essential catalog fields. Depending on the configuration, the import can proceed even in case of errors, avoiding interruptions. Errors can be manually corrected afterwards.

For images and datasheets, a naming convention allows automated integration: Manufacturer Reference + Suffix

→ The suffix identifies the document type:

• Thumbnail
• Image
• Datasheet

Field Mapping #

This step defines the correspondence between the columns of the import file and the fields in the manufacturer catalog.

Manufacturer Catalog #

Manufacturer Catalogs #

This section displays all imported manufacturer references, usable in commercial flows and publishable on the e-shop.

Catalog Architecture #

The architecture has been designed to be extremely simple, facilitating large-scale imports and high-volume data management.

→ Each row corresponds to a unique manufacturer reference, including:

• Product definition
• Purchase and sales prices
• Classification and search tags

Creation of Specific Fields: Prefer Using Tags #

→ Recommendation: use tags.\nTags allow you to add product-specific characteristics without creating new fields. They are fully flexible and can vary from one item to another.

Example:

• For an electric appliance: power=2KW, voltage=220V
• For a shirt: color=blue, size=M

Thanks to this system, different characteristics can coexist without structural rigidity and remain easily searchable.

Strategic Fields Related to Manufacturer References #

• Item created from catalog: indicates that a stock item has been created from this manufacturer reference. The stock item then overrides the catalog reference.
• My reference: item reference generated from the catalog.
• Item ID Live Creation: contains the item reference to generate automatically if creation is allowed.
• To be deleted: used to mark references for deletion. This flag is set automatically via the deletion tool (see Manufacturer Catalog Deletion procedure).

Supplier Stock Availability #

→ These data may include:

• Available quantity in stock
• Estimated shipping lead time

Strategic E-shop Parameters #

• Shop category: defines the main category under which the reference will be listed.
• Not available: if enabled, the item remains visible (if published) but cannot be added to the cart.
• Max Qty: limits the maximum quantity a customer can order in a single purchase.p.

Use of Tags #

Tags finely describe a manufacturer reference and facilitate product searches. They are composed of two parts, separated by an equal sign =:

• Subject
• Value

Example: color=red, Size=L, power=3KW

The Shop Tag Subject and Shop Tag Value modules list all available subjects and values, with translations in all active languages. Tags can also be used in the advanced search tools in the back office (Desk mode) via the Advanced Search module.

Use in the E-shop #

Minimum Requirements for Display #

→ To make a manufacturer reference visible on the e-shop, the following fields must be filled:

• A shop category
• A unit price
• A currency
• The Web published price option checked

Recommendations for Optimal Presentation #

→ To maximize the commercial impact of the product sheet, it is strongly recommended to also complete:

• A set of tags to facilitate product search
• One or more thumbnails/images
• Descriptions in the supported languages
• One or more technical datasheets (if the product is technical)
• Memos to better inform the user about the product’s features

Pricing Policy #

→ It is highly recommended to refer to the dedicated documentation on:

• Displaying discounts
• Calculating sales prices

Use in the Purchase/Sales Chain #

At any time, a product can be searched using its manufacturer reference.

Adding to Business Documents #

In any sales or purchase document, just display the Manufacturer Catalog field to select a reference.

Once selected via the dialog box:

• The detail line is automatically filled (reference, description, price, discount)
• If the reference is linked to an item, the item_id field is populated

Full Workflow of a Transaction Using Manufacturer References #

These are the typical steps of a sales transaction using only manufacturer references, without creating stock items.

Preconfiguration of Sales Journals #

In the relevant sales journal, enable reservation in the Deliveries section.

Preconfiguration of Purchase Journals #

In the Receipt section, activate the option to redirect item receptions to a reservation note linked to the customer order.

Creating a Customer Quote #

Create a quotation containing manufacturer references.

Convert the quotation into a sales order #

Convert the quotation into a sales order, or directly create an order with manufacturer references.

Direct Procurement #

→ From:

• The customer order
• Or the Sales open orders module

Perform direct procurement via Action > Direct Purchase.

Sending the Supplier Order #

Send the corresponding purchase order to the supplier.

Receipt the Order #

→ Upon reception:

• The “Create item” box is unchecked
• The system understands that the item should not be created since the reference is fully allocated to a customer order

A yellow box in the document header indicates this behavior.

Customer Order Check #

→ Return to the customer order:

• Status changes to Reserved or Partially Reserved
• Display the Allocated Qty and Delivered Qty columns

You’ll see that the quantities for manufacturer references are correctly registered.

Accessing the Reservation Note #

→ To quickly access the created reservation note:

• Go to the Document Flow tab
• Enable the Down View
• Select the displayed reservation note

The Allocated Qty column is also populated.

Delivery to the Customer #

• Change the document status to In Preparation.
• Then switch the status to Delivered.

Switching to Stock Item Mode #

During supplier reception, the system can automatically convert a manufacturer reference into a stocked item, provided the Create item checkbox is ticked.

Case where the “Create item” box is automatically checked #

• Excess quantity to be stocked

  If the quantity received exceeds what was expected in the customer order, the system assumes the surplus must be stored. In this case, an item is automatically created.

• Purchase journal settings

  The checkbox can also be ticked by default if configured in the purchase journal parameters, under the Reception section.

Special Case: Minimum Quantities Imposed by the Supplier #

Some suppliers require minimum or multiple quantities per order. Even if the customer order is below this threshold, the system may create an item to store the surplus.

Deleting Manufacturer References #

Silicon ioi’s manufacturer reference management system is designed to handle large volumes of data, often imported in bulk.

Deletion Process #

Filtering #

Use search filters to identify candidate manufacturer references for deletion.

Marking #

From the Action menu, mark the selected references as to be deleted.

Automatic Backend Processing #

A backend process then handles the actual deletion. It follows the steps below:

1. Usage Check in Active Documents

   If a reference is still used in active documents (open orders, reservations, etc.), the deletion is cancelled for that reference.

2. Archiving in Inactive Documents

   • If the reference is only used in inactive documents, it is moved to an archive field in the corresponding detail line.
   • This breaks the link with the original reference while keeping a trace in the document’s history.

1. Final Deletion
   • Once all dependencies are cleared, the manufacturer reference is permanently removed from the database.