Catalogue Imports
This module looks at the use of Catalogues within Workbench.
Catalogues are set up to meet the demands of purchasing in Workbench and to provide different pricing structures dependant on the Supplier who is linked to the particular Catalogue. The reference to a Stock Item in purchasing is through the catalogue.
The option is there to have a Catalogue per Supplier. This means that you can receive from the Supplier an electronic file that you can import into Workbench.
Workbench allows Catalogue Part Numbers and Supplier Part Numbers and it is these that form the validation when importing. The Catalogue Part Number is the number that you know the part as (which is also the Item Number) but this may be different to the Supplier Part number. The Catalogue Part Number must be the same as the Item number if you are using Stock Management as this is the only practical link.
The first time that you import a file there would be an expectation that the file would contain a Supplier Part number but not a Catalogue Part Number. The import process allows you to accept the Supplier Part number as the Catalogue Part Number or you have a screen that allows manual entry of the appropriate Catalogue Part Number (Item Number). This can be time consuming the first time but with every import from then on the Catalogue already exists with the two references and it is just a matter of updating the details.
You would normally validate the import by Supplier Part numbers when you do the import as it is logical to assume that any import from a Supplier would only contain their Part Number. This checks that the Supplier Part number exists for that SupplierID and updates the Description (You have the option of not updating the Description), Cost Rate, unit, Negotiated Date, Category, Sub Category and Group accordingly.
If you require an audit of the catalogue before update there is a copy Catalogue function. Copy the catalogue to an inactive catalogue and then update.