Substitutions/Interchangeable Items

This chapter describes how to set up and use substitutions and interchangeable items. You can offer substitutions or interchangeable items if the requested item is not in stock. Configuring substitutions or interchangeable items allows you to connect similar products. If the system informs you about the unavailability of an item requested by a customer, you can look up substitutions or interchangeable items and select an alternative item in stock. This chapter is divided into the following sections:

Setting Up Substitutions/Interchangeable Items Function
Adding Substitutions/Interchangeable Items to Items
Using Substitutions/Interchangeable Items in Standard Service Codes
Using Substitutions/Interchangeable Items in Documents
Item Replacement Wizard

Setting Up Substitutions/Interchangeable Items Function

Before you can use substitutions/interchangeable items for items and documents, you must first complete the basic setup of the function. To do so, proceed as follows:

Use the quick search (ALT+Q) to find the Sales & Receivables Setup page.
Navigate to the Item Substitution FastTab.
Make the following settings:

Field	Description
Show Substitution Page Automatically	Activate the toggle switch if you want the Substitutions page to open automatically once a user enters an item line with a substitution/interchangeable item or a previously replaced item in a sales or service document. Regardless of the status of the toggle switch, this page does not open automatically if lines are inserted via a shopping basket or Excel import, or if the Enforce Substitution checkbox is selected for the assigned substitution/interchangeable item. Instead, a notification is displayed at the top of the screen. More information on the Enforce Substitution checkbox can be found in the Adding Substitutions/Interchangeable Items to Items section.
Default Substitution Preference	In this field, select the global setting for how to handle substitutions if several different substitutions are available. You can manually set the Substitution Preference for each item. The following options are available: Empty – With this option, no global setting is defined. You must select the substitution manually if no Substitution Preference has been set for the associated item. Current Location – With this option, the availability of substitutions at the current location is checked. This takes stockkeeping data into account, i.e., if an item is usually transferred from another location, the system also checks availability at that location. Old stock is automatically given preference. All Locations – With this option, the availability of substitutions is checked at all locations.

Field

Description

Show Substitution Page Automatically

Activate the toggle switch if you want the Substitutions page to open automatically once a user enters an item line with a substitution/interchangeable item or a previously replaced item in a sales or service document. Regardless of the status of the toggle switch, this page does not open automatically if lines are inserted via a shopping basket or Excel import, or if the Enforce Substitution checkbox is selected for the assigned substitution/interchangeable item. Instead, a notification is displayed at the top of the screen. More information on the Enforce Substitution checkbox can be found in the Adding Substitutions/Interchangeable Items to Items section.

Default Substitution Preference

In this field, select the global setting for how to handle substitutions if several different substitutions are available. You can manually set the Substitution Preference for each item. The following options are available:

Empty – With this option, no global setting is defined. You must select the substitution manually if no Substitution Preference has been set for the associated item.

Current Location – With this option, the availability of substitutions at the current location is checked. This takes stockkeeping data into account, i.e., if an item is usually transferred from another location, the system also checks availability at that location. Old stock is automatically given preference.

All Locations – With this option, the availability of substitutions is checked at all locations.

You have successfully set up the substitution/interchangeable items function and can now add substitutions/interchangeable items to an item as well as use them in standard service codes or in documents.

Adding Substitutions/Interchangeable Items to Items

You can add substitutions/interchangeable items to the item card. Proceed as follows to set up a substitution or interchangeable item:

Use the quick search (ALT+Q) to find the Items page.
Select the item to which you want to add a substitution or interchangeable item.
Click Related > Item > Substitutions in the menu bar.
Fill in the columns according to the following table:

Column	Description
Catalog Code	This column is filled in automatically during the catalog import and shows the catalog code of the substitution/interchangeable item. The column can then be edited manually if the user assigns a substitution/interchangeable item to this item.
Manufacturer	This column shows the manufacturer code from the corresponding item or catalog item record.
Vendor Name	This column shows the vendor name of the corresponding stockkeeping unit for the location of the source record. If no stockkeeping unit exists, the vendor name of the item or catalog item record is shown.
Variant Code	Select a variant code here.
Substitute Type	Use this column to select the type of substitution.
Substitute No.	Choose the number of the substitution.
Vendor Substitute No.	This column is filled automatically if a vendor substitute number has been added to this substitution.
Description	This column is filled in automatically with the description of the substitution.
Substitute Amount	This column displays the defined quantity for this substitution. You can use this information to select the correct quantity in the document line. The initial value is 1.
Unit Price	This column shows the unit price of the corresponding item or catalog item record.
Interchangeable	Select this checkbox if the item and the selected substitution can be used interchangeably.
Condition	Select this checkbox if the substitution should be connected to a condition. This column is for information purposes only.
Enforce Substitution	Select this checkbox if the specified substitution should always be selected when available, even if other substitutions/interchangeable items are also available. If this checkbox is selected, the associated item is deleted from the document lines and the substitution/interchangeable item is inserted instead.
Substitution Preference	In this column, specify how to handle substitutions if several different substitutions are available. The following options are available: Empty – With this option, the global setting from the Sales & Receivables Setup page is used. More information on this can be found in the Setting Up Substitutions/Interchangeable Items Function section. Current Location – With this option, the availability of substitutions at the current location is checked. This takes stockkeeping data into account, i.e., if an item is usually transferred from another location, the system also checks availability at that location. Old stock is automatically given preference. All Locations – With this option, the availability of substitutions is checked at all locations.

Your changes are saved automatically. You have successfully added a substitution or interchangeable item to an item and can now select it in documents. More information on this can be found in the Using Substitutions/Interchangeable Items in Documents section.

Tip

For a better overview of substitutions/interchangeable items, you can also open the extended substitutions/interchangeable items list via the item card by clicking Related > Item > Other > Show ext. Substitutions/Interchangeables in the menu bar. On this page, the starting item is shown in black, the substitutions in green and the interchangeable items in turquoise. Furthermore, you get an overview of the relations between the starting item and the substitutions and/or the interchangeable items.

Using Substitutions/Interchangeable Items in Standard Service Codes

You can use items with added substitutions or interchangeable items in Standard Service Codes as well as use these within the service process in Worksheets. You can also use the substitution/interchangeable item feature in the service process. The following describes this process using a service order. Proceed as follows to use substitutions/interchangeable items from standard service codes:

Note

You must first add a substitution/interchangeable item to an item card before you can select it in a standard service code.

Use the quick search (ALT+Q) to find the Standard Service Codes page.
Open an existing standard service code.
or
Create a new standard service code.
Navigate to the Lines FastTab.
In the Lines FastTab, add one or several items with substitutions or interchangeable items previously assigned via the item card, if none are listed yet.
Optional Add additional information as needed. Your changes are saved automatically.

You can now use the standard service code, e.g., in the worksheet of a service order. To do so, proceed as follows:

Use the quick search (ALT+Q) to find the Service Orders page.
Open an existing service order.
or
Create a new service order.
Navigate to the Lines FastTab.
Click Line > Worksheet in the menu bar of the FastTab.
Click Actions > Open standard service codes... in the menu bar of the worksheet.
Select the previously set up standard service code.
Click OK. The information added to the standard service code, e.g., added items, is now shown on the worksheet in the Lines FastTab.
Navigate to the P/S/I column.
Click the value in the item line to open an overview of all substitutions and interchangeable items.
In the Assigned Quantity field of the desired substitution or interchangeable item, enter the quantity, e.g., if the original item is not available.
Click Close to return to the worksheet.
The item of the respective line is now replaced by the substitution or interchangeable item.

You have successfully used a substitution or interchangeable item in a standard service code. You can now resume the service process.

Using Substitutions/Interchangeable Items in Documents

Note

The process described here only works for new documents. For documents from which further documents, e.g., purchase orders or transfer orders, have already been created, use the Item Replacement Wizard.

You can use substitutions or interchangeable items in several sales, purchase or service documents. The process is described using a sales order, but works analogously in the following documents:

Sales Quote
Sales Order
Purchase Request
Purchase Order
Requisition Worksheet
Service Worksheet
Service Lines

To use substitutions and interchangeable items in a sales order, proceed as follows:

Note

This example illustrates the use of substitutions/interchangeable items using a sales order. The process works analogously for all documents listed above. Substitutions/interchangeable items must first be added to the item card of the item before they are displayed in documents. More information on this can be found in the Adding Substitutions/Interchangeable Items to Items section.

Use the quick search (ALT+Q) to find the Sales Orders page.
Create a new sales order.
or
Select an already existing sales order.
Navigate to the Lines FastTab.
In the Lines FastTab, add one or several items with substitutions or interchangeable items previously assigned via the item card, if none are listed yet.
Navigate to the P/S/I column.
Click the value in the item line to open an overview of all substitutions and interchangeable items.
In the Assigned Quantity field of the desired substitution or interchangeable item, enter the quantity, e.g., if the original item is not available.
Click OK to return to the document.
The item of the respective line is now replaced by the substitution or interchangeable item.

You have successfully used a substitution or interchangeable item in a document. You can now resume the sales process.

Tip

To automatically create a comment line in sales and service lines when the original item is replaced by a substitution or interchangeable item, activate the Show Replacement Comment toggle switch on the user card. More information on this can be found under User Setup Card.

Item Replacement Wizard

Note

Substitutions/interchangeable items must first be added to the item card of the item before they are displayed in the item replacement wizard. More information on this can be found in the Adding Substitutions/Interchangeable Items to Items section.

For documents from which a purchase order or transfer order has already been created, the process described in Using Substitutions/Interchangeable Items in Documents is no longer sufficient for using substitutions/interchangeable items. To avoid the manual corrections this would otherwise require, you can use the Item Replacement Wizard. Based on the existing reservations, it automatically identifies all linked documents and updates them accordingly. The wizard is available for the following documents under the following conditions:

Document	Condition
Purchase Orders	The line has the type Item.
Warehouse Receipts	The source document of the warehouse receipt is a purchase order or a transfer order.
Transfer Orders	The transfer order is neither posted nor archived and the line has the type Item.
Warehouse Shipments	The source document of the warehouse shipment is a transfer order.

To open the wizard, proceed as follows:

Open one of the documents listed above.
Navigate to the Lines FastTab.
Select the item line with the item you want to replace.
Click Line > Replace Item in the menu bar of the FastTab.
In the Item Replacement Wizard, navigate to the Replacement Item FastTab.
Click the selection field in the Replacement Item No. field.
Select the desired item.
Click OK.
The wizard displays all identified linked documents in the Affected Documents FastTab.
Check the affected documents.
Click Replace Item in the menu bar of the wizard.
Confirm the dialog window with Yes.

You have successfully replaced an item in all linked documents. Once posting is complete, the wizard is closed and a posting overview is displayed. During posting, all reservations between the original item and the identified documents are first removed. The line of the source document, the associated warehouse document line, and all identified demand lines from the documents are then switched to the replacement item, and the reservations are restored.