Equipment Exchange Tunable Parameters
Many of the features and the functionality of the Exchange By Contract and the Exchanges By Customer utilities can be customized
to suit your firm's business practices.
The parameter tunings include Date Range Control, Product
Availability, Product Status Codes, Print Product Check List,
Generate Work Orders, Divisional Restriction by Operator, Name
Check List, Exchanges within Product Class, Revenue Distribution,
Customer Credit Flags, Meter Reading, Power Kits, and Product
Sequencing.
Some of the tunable parameters can be set to apply to your
entire company, and some of the parameters can be controlled at the
division or store level.
Customizable settings and features include:
-
- Exchange History:
- Click the HISTORY button in the bottom of the
screen to access the Exchange
Inquiry/Report.
Date Range Control:
- The exchange date will be checked to make sure the date is
valid against the date ranges set as acceptable in Date Range Control for Contract module RSCH.
Product Availability:
- When a product on a contract is exchanged the original product
can be considered returned and given a status of immediately
available.
However some firms prefer that the equipment remain NOT available
as the exchanged product may need to be picked up from the site or
it may be damaged and require servicing.
The Prompt for Product Returned in Exchanges flag in the
Company Security Parameters allows the
operator to control the return/available status of each exchanged
product.
If this control is not activated, the exchanged product is
always considered returned and automatically becomes available to
rent after the exchange is accepted.
If the control is activated the operator is prompted whether the
returned product is now available, and if it is NOT then the
exchanged product remains unavailable until the status is updated
in Confirm Exchange Pickup.
Update Status Code:
- The Product Status code can be used to identify non-bulk
rental equipment that is in the rental fleet but is NOT ready to be
rented (e.g. it is being exchanged because of malfunction), and a
warning message of your choice can be generated when an operator
does attempt to rent it. Refer to Product Status
Codes Overview for a detailed explanation.
A flag in the Divisional Return Parameters
activates this processing for Exchange by
Contract, Exchanges By Customer, and
Confirm Exchange Pickup for the division
on the contract.
The Status Code can be updated automatically or a prompt can be
triggered for the operator to verify the new code, according to the
product control record setup in Auto Status
Code Update By Product or in Auto Status
Code Update By Group.
If no Work Order was automatically generated by the updated
Status Code from the product exchange, a Time Delay can be setup by
product Group in Status Code Actions By
Group, so that after the elapsed time has passed the product
Status Code automatically reverts back to make the product
available for rent again.
This would be useful if equipment needs a set time for service or
cleaning after each rental before becoming available
again.
Print Check List per Updated Status Code:
- A second flag in the Divisional Return
Parameters can be set to cause a service Check List to
automatically be printed for equipment, according to the updated
Status Code for the product in Exchange by
Contract, Exchanges By Customer, or
Confirm Exchange Pickup.
The service Check List can be setup in Product
Check Lists with the appropriate service instructions, and
specific product Groups can be flagged to trigger the Check List by
Status Code in Status Code Actions By
Group.
Check List Printers can be used to specify
which printer the Check List should be printed on. (i.e. Shop
Printer, Wash Bay Printer)
Auto Generate Customer W.O. from Rental Return or Product
Exchange:
- There are two methods of generating a blank service Work Order when a non-bulk rental product is
returned on a Rental Return or exchanged
on Exchange by Contract, Exchanges By Customer, or Confirm Exchange Pickup:
- When the product Status Code of a non-bulk rental
product is updated at the time of rental return or exchange, a Work
Order can be generated automatically if service is always required
on return or the customer has damaged the unit.
Settings in the Divisional Return
Parameters activate the Update Status Code processing
for returns and for exchanges per the division on the contract.
The appropriate Status Codes that should generate W.O.s can then be
defined in Status Code Actions By
Group.
-
A Work Order can also be generated for
non-bulk rental products that belong to a Group that is flagged to generate a W.O. at return
or exchange, as outlined in Create Work Orders
For Returned Equipment.
Divisional Control of Exchanges:
- A flag can be set by operator in Operators to control whether an operator should be
able to return or edit existing contracts from a division other
than his own default division. When activated, this setting
prevents operators from exchanging products on contracts from
other
Name Check List:
- A flag in the Required Document Information in the
Company Contract Parameters, can be set to
require the operator to select a Name defined with a Status code
allowing the named person to rent, as setup in the Name Check List
for the customer in Customer
Information.
Product Exchange by Class:
- The Allow Exchange Across Classes flag in the Company Contract Parameters can be used to control
product exchanges by class.
It can be set so that the new product must be in the same Product
Class as the exchanged product, or it can be set to allow product
exchanges between Product Classes. The classes must still have the
same Billing Type (e.g. Bill 28 Days or Monthly), and must have the
same O/T Meter Charge Method.
This is to ensure that any cycle billing and rental return charges
are maintained consistently.
Revenue Distribution:
- The exchange history will be tracked, so that any subsequent
billing will split the revenue fairly between the new product and
the original product in the monthly product history, according to
the actual time used. However G/L revenue posting is done all to
the Revenue Account for the current part# on the invoice.
Note: If a contract is billed in advance because of Smart
Billing, and then a rental product is exchanged later in that
billed month, the revenue posting and revenue history will not be
recognized on the replacement rental product, as the billing has
already been processed for the period.
Customer Credit Rating:
- When an exchange is entered, the credit rating for the customer
on the contract is checked, and a warning is issued according to
the credit rating status setup in Credit
Ratings. However the exchange will NOT be prevented. It is the
responsibility of the Operator to make the decision to proceed or
not.
Meter Reading:
- Any Meter units used are also tracked for Non-Bulk Items
exchanged.
Cylinder Contracts:
- Product exchanges are not permitted on contracts generated from
Cylinder Entry specifically to track
cylinders, bottles, or containers as they are delivered and
returned.
Power Kits:
- When a Primary Non-Bulk Rental product is exchanged, any Power
Kit components accompanying that primary product are removed from
the contract and are replaced by any components on the Power Kit
for the new product.
Note that individual components of a Power Kit can only be
exchanged using Power Kit Components.
For information on the Power Kit feature refer to Power Kits.
Topic Keyword: EXTUNE