Advice on modeling for services

[Bob Morley]

I am looking for some advice on how to properly model services requests for our brick and mortar stores.  What we have now is as follows:

Customer comes in and asks to purchase a watch and wants some engraving on the back.  Let's assume this is a high-end product so the work is actually sent out of the shop.  In this case the sales rep creates a quote for the customer that includes quote items for the product being purchased and the service being added.  The customer approves and work proceeds.  When the work is completed, the sales rep contacts the customer who comes in to make payment.  At this time a sales order is created from the quote, customer makes payment, and away we go ...

Questions:
We have requirement to allow a customer to come in and want to take two products, break them into parts, and re-assemble into another product (which they would purchase).  I am a little lost here in how this would work ... would this be a Customer Requirement with Work Effort attach?  Would there be a Quote involved (perhaps before the Requirement is created)?  I would assume this disassembly/assembly would involve creating / increase inventory of products of type "Raw Material" - is this correct?  Where is the bill of materials stored?

Any points in the right direction or information on how others have handled these type of use cases would be much appreciated.

[BJ Freeman]

there are many ways to accomplish this.
here is my effort
the products first have to be broken down into their parts in ofbiz
a production run would be made for the disassembly of each.
then a production run to assemble the parts into what the customer wants.
you create BOM
https://trunkdemo.businessesnetwork.com/manufacturing/control/FindBom
you can go one step further and make a configurable product that the
customer or  customer rep can create. you can then turn this into a quote.
when the customer pays for it,then based on the configuration the
production run will create this.



=========================
BJ Freeman
http://bjfreeman.elance.com
Strategic Power Office with Supplier Automation <http://www.businessesnetwork.com/automation/viewforum.php?f=93>
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Bob Morley sent the following on 4/7/2010 7:09 PM:

> I am looking for some advice on how to properly model services requests for
> our brick and mortar stores.  What we have now is as follows:
>
> Customer comes in and asks to purchase a watch and wants some engraving on
> the back.  Let's assume this is a high-end product so the work is actually
> sent out of the shop.  In this case the sales rep creates a quote for the
> customer that includes quote items for the product being purchased and the
> service being added.  The customer approves and work proceeds.  When the
> work is completed, the sales rep contacts the customer who comes in to make
> payment.  At this time a sales order is created from the quote, customer
> makes payment, and away we go ...
>
> Questions:
> We have requirement to allow a customer to come in and want to take two
> products, break them into parts, and re-assemble into another product (which
> they would purchase).  I am a little lost here in how this would work ...
> would this be a Customer Requirement with Work Effort attach?  Would there
> be a Quote involved (perhaps before the Requirement is created)?  I would
> assume this disassembly/assembly would involve creating / increase inventory
> of products of type "Raw Material" - is this correct?  Where is the bill of
> materials stored?
>
> Any points in the right direction or information on how others have handled
> these type of use cases would be much appreciated.

[Bob Morley]

BJ Freeman wrote

the products first have to be broken down into their parts in ofbiz
a production run would be made for the disassembly of each.
then a production run to assemble the parts into what the customer wants.
you create BOM
https://trunkdemo.businessesnetwork.com/manufacturing/control/FindBom
you can go one step further and make a configurable product that the
customer or  customer rep can create. you can then turn this into a quote.
when the customer pays for it,then based on the configuration the
production run will create this.

Thanks that is very helpful!

question 1 - can you tie two production runs together to run in series?
question 2 - clarification; the configurable product would be created first, added to quote, quote creates sales order (deposit / payment), and then the production runs would be triggered?

[BJ Freeman]

1) i use a third production run to tie multiple ones together so there
is sequence.
2) you need the costing from the production run (like labor or extra
parts) before you can quote.

========================
BJ Freeman
http://bjfreeman.elance.com
Strategic Power Office with Supplier Automation <http://www.businessesnetwork.com/automation/viewforum.php?f=93>
Specialtymarket.com <http://www.specialtymarket.com/>

Systems Integrator-- Glad to Assist

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Bob Morley sent the following on 4/7/2010 7:34 PM:

>
> BJ Freeman wrote:
>> the products first have to be broken down into their parts in ofbiz
>> a production run would be made for the disassembly of each.
>> then a production run to assemble the parts into what the customer wants.
>> you create BOM
>> https://trunkdemo.businessesnetwork.com/manufacturing/control/FindBom
>> you can go one step further and make a configurable product that the
>> customer or  customer rep can create. you can then turn this into a quote.
>> when the customer pays for it,then based on the configuration the
>> production run will create this.
>>
>
> Thanks that is very helpful!
>
> question 1 - can you tie two production runs together to run in series?
> question 2 - clarification; the configurable product would be created first,
> added to quote, quote creates sales order (deposit / payment), and then the
> production runs would be triggered?

[BJ Freeman]

oh and the configurable product is tied to the production runs as well.
see pc001 in the demo data.
http://trunkdemo.businessesnetwork.com/ecommerce/products/PROMOTIONS/p_PC001

=========================
BJ Freeman
http://bjfreeman.elance.com
Strategic Power Office with Supplier Automation <http://www.businessesnetwork.com/automation/viewforum.php?f=93>
Specialtymarket.com <http://www.specialtymarket.com/>

Systems Integrator-- Glad to Assist

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BJ Freeman sent the following on 4/7/2010 7:40 PM:

> 1) i use a third production run to tie multiple ones together so there
> is sequence.
> 2) you need the costing from the production run (like labor or extra
> parts) before you can quote.
>
> ========================
> BJ Freeman
> http://bjfreeman.elance.com
> Strategic Power Office with Supplier Automation <http://www.businessesnetwork.com/automation/viewforum.php?f=93>
> Specialtymarket.com <http://www.specialtymarket.com/>
>
> Systems Integrator-- Glad to Assist
>
> Chat  Y! messenger: bjfr33man
> Linkedin
> <http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=1237480&locale=en_US&trk=tab_pro>
>
>
> Bob Morley sent the following on 4/7/2010 7:34 PM:
>> BJ Freeman wrote:
>>> the products first have to be broken down into their parts in ofbiz
>>> a production run would be made for the disassembly of each.
>>> then a production run to assemble the parts into what the customer wants.
>>> you create BOM
>>> https://trunkdemo.businessesnetwork.com/manufacturing/control/FindBom
>>> you can go one step further and make a configurable product that the
>>> customer or  customer rep can create. you can then turn this into a quote.
>>> when the customer pays for it,then based on the configuration the
>>> production run will create this.
>>>
>> Thanks that is very helpful!
>>
>> question 1 - can you tie two production runs together to run in series?
>> question 2 - clarification; the configurable product would be created first,
>> added to quote, quote creates sales order (deposit / payment), and then the
>> production runs would be triggered?
>
>
>

[Bob Morley]

BJ Freeman wrote

>>> the products first have to be broken down into their parts in ofbiz

In our application I have allowed end-users to create products that represent "RAW_MATERIALS".  The one thing I did notice that Ofbiz does not allow these type of products to be returned (due to missing return related data seeding).  Is there a reason why Raw Materials are not setup to be returnable?

We are going to have this requirement and I would imagine that for a manufacturing implementation it is possible that they PO a bunch of parts and then turn around and return them if they are defective or what not.

[BJ Freeman]

A raw material is something that is acted upon or used by or by human
labor or industry, for use as a building material to create some product
so a product would not be defined as RAW_MATERIAL

I am not clear as to how you have an enduser create a product unless
they are using the standard manufacturing processes.
if they do make a product based on a product run, then the end produce
would be a Product type in
https://demo-trunk.ofbiz.apache.org/catalog/control/EditProduct?productId=PC001

=========================
BJ Freeman
http://bjfreeman.elance.com
Strategic Power Office with Supplier Automation <http://www.businessesnetwork.com/automation/viewforum.php?f=93>
Specialtymarket.com <http://www.specialtymarket.com/>

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Bob Morley sent the following on 4/9/2010 7:11 AM:

>
> BJ Freeman wrote:
>>>>> the products first have to be broken down into their parts in ofbiz
>
> In our application I have allowed end-users to create products that
> represent "RAW_MATERIALS".  The one thing I did notice that Ofbiz does not
> allow these type of products to be returned (due to missing return related
> data seeding).  Is there a reason why Raw Materials are not setup to be
> returnable?
>
> We are going to have this requirement and I would imagine that for a
> manufacturing implementation it is possible that they PO a bunch of parts
> and then turn around and return them if they are defective or what not.

[Bob Morley]

BJ Freeman wrote

A raw material is something that is acted upon or used by or by human
labor or industry, for use as a building material to create some product
so a product would not be defined as RAW_MATERIAL

I am not clear as to how you have an enduser create a product unless
they are using the standard manufacturing processes.
if they do make a product based on a product run, then the end produce
would be a Product type in
https://demo-trunk.ofbiz.apache.org/catalog/control/EditProduct?productId=PC001

If I am in the jewelry business and create fancy rings I may PO from suppliers a bag of gold and a bag of diamonds.  My thinking was that these are Raw Materials.  My customer would come in and custom order a ring of which I would create an "AGGREGATED" product that would include some of the gold and some of the diamonds.  (Since it is just made of Raw Materials I suppose it could be creating a "FINISHED_GOOD" instead -- would you consider this more correct)?

At any rate, my line of thinking was that my business may buy that bag of gold via a Purchase Order and upon receiving it we may decide to return it if say I got 10kt and I wanted 18kt gold.  The way Ofbiz was setup, it was not possible to return a Raw Material.

Am I using Raw Materials incorrectly here?  I would have thought that they had to be supplied in some manner and as a result should be returnable.

[BJ Freeman]

If you want to let your customer to create rings then you would use
something similar to pc001.  once they have order it then a production
run would create the Configured good.
now if they return it, then they are returning a product.
if  on returning it you break it back down that would be a production
run to return it to raw material and inventory.

what you receive from a supplier could be Raw material or Finished
goods, into inventory.
the return inventory, to a supplier, is not currently supported.

=========================
BJ Freeman
http://bjfreeman.elance.com
Strategic Power Office with Supplier Automation <http://www.businessesnetwork.com/automation/viewforum.php?f=93>
Specialtymarket.com <http://www.specialtymarket.com/>

Systems Integrator-- Glad to Assist

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Bob Morley sent the following on 4/9/2010 8:04 AM:

>
> BJ Freeman wrote:
>> A raw material is something that is acted upon or used by or by human
>> labor or industry, for use as a building material to create some product
>> so a product would not be defined as RAW_MATERIAL
>>
>> I am not clear as to how you have an enduser create a product unless
>> they are using the standard manufacturing processes.
>> if they do make a product based on a product run, then the end produce
>> would be a Product type in
>> https://demo-trunk.ofbiz.apache.org/catalog/control/EditProduct?productId=PC001
>>
>
> If I am in the jewelry business and create fancy rings I may PO from
> suppliers a bag of gold and a bag of diamonds.  My thinking was that these
> are Raw Materials.  My customer would come in and custom order a ring of
> which I would create an "AGGREGATED" product that would include some of the
> gold and some of the diamonds.  (Since it is just made of Raw Materials I
> suppose it could be creating a "FINISHED_GOOD" instead -- would you consider
> this more correct)?
>
> At any rate, my line of thinking was that my business may buy that bag of
> gold via a Purchase Order and upon receiving it we may decide to return it
> if say I got 10kt and I wanted 18kt gold.  The way Ofbiz was setup, it was
> not possible to return a Raw Material.
>
> Am I using Raw Materials incorrectly here?  I would have thought that they
> had to be supplied in some manner and as a result should be returnable.

[Bob Morley]

BJ Freeman wrote

what you receive from a supplier could be Raw material or Finished
goods, into inventory.
the return inventory, to a supplier, is not currently supported.

Ok, I have data seeding code that will allow these raw material products to be returned.  We also have the scenario where a customer may come in and buy 3 oz of 18kt gold (for example) so we need to be able to handle a return of these products on a sales order side as well.

[BJ Freeman]

=========================
BJ Freeman
http://bjfreeman.elance.com
Strategic Power Office with Supplier Automation <http://www.businessesnetwork.com/automation/viewforum.php?f=93>
Specialtymarket.com <http://www.specialtymarket.com/>

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the 18Kt gold would be a product.
so that should not be a problem.

=========================
BJ Freeman
http://bjfreeman.elance.com
Strategic Power Office with Supplier Automation <http://www.businessesnetwork.com/automation/viewforum.php?f=93>
Specialtymarket.com <http://www.specialtymarket.com/>

Systems Integrator-- Glad to Assist

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Bob Morley sent the following on 4/9/2010 9:06 AM:

>
> BJ Freeman wrote:
>> what you receive from a supplier could be Raw material or Finished
>> goods, into inventory.
>> the return inventory, to a supplier, is not currently supported.
>>
>
> Ok, I have data seeding code that will allow these raw material products to
> be returned.  We also have the scenario where a customer may come in and buy
> 3 oz of 18kt gold (for example) so we need to be able to handle a return of
> these products on a sales order side as well.