Kits
Contents
2-D from the main menu
Kits are set up to streamline order entry. Kits are not required, but if you consistently rent identical or similar "sets" of items from your rental or sales inventory, setting up kits for these "sets" of items can save you and your customer valuable time. Kits are also useful to help you remember to send items along that, if forgotten, will hinder the customers rental experience. Setting up kits to include gas cans with two cycle engine items, keys with skid steer loaders, and chairs with tables all ensure that you will be building consistent rental contracts for your customers, and also offer you recourse should you customer forget to return items that were rented.
Kit interfaces are found within the order entry process as well as the item lookup/order creation process. While there are differences between these two areas as to how the kits are presented to you, the overall principles remain the same. Kit items are set up as either required or not required, chargeable or not chargeable, and printed or not printed. For every kit there is a PRIMARY ITEM and one or more KIT ITEMS. For both primary and kit items, the kits are controlled by Rate Table, not by individual item. This means that when you are setting up a kit, you are prompted for rental rate tables, not individual items, and as such, any item associated with the rate tables you select will be subject to the rules of the kit. Please refer to the rate table section for a reminder on the relationship between kits and rate tables.
What if the primary item doesn’t exist? Examples of these “intangible items” are maybe tents or sections of scaffold. Of course they exist, but they may not exist as a whole item, and they would not exist if you didn’t have all of the parts and pieces to create them, AND the same parts and pieces may be used to create several different intangible items. Tents and scaffold sections are the combination of many different parts and pieces. Your customer may rent a 20 x 20 tent from you, but really what you are sending the customer is parts and pieces that will end up being a 20 x 20 tent, and those parts and pieces are what you truly have in your inventory. Further, those same parts and pieces that are used to assemble a 20 x 20 tent may also be used to assemble a 20 x 40 tent.
If you created items in your inventory like 20 x 20 tent, and said you had 6 of them, you’d be overstating your inventory. You really don’t have 6 20 x 20 tents, you simply have in your inventory all of the parts and pieces to create a 20 x 20 tent. And even that may not be true, because some of those parts and pieces may be out on rent for a 20 x 40 tent.
So, for examples like this, you would need to set up a rate table for the “tent” or “scaffold section”, then set up a rental item for the “tent” or “scaffold section”. When you’re setting up the RENTAL ITEM, change the type to a “Kit”. Doing so allows you to rent it, but these items are not considered a part of your valuated rental for reporting purposes.
Next question "How will I know if I have a 20 x 20 tent available.” If you use the item search screen to search for Kits, then FocalPoint will search by kit description, not rental item description. The results that are returned will show you potentially how many of each kit could be assembled (based on the number of parts and pieces available), and how many kits would be available (again, based on the number of parts and pieces available)
There is a great webinar on Kits that illustrate this concept quite well. Click here to view the kits webinar (best viewed with Internet Explorer, not compatible with Google Chrome).
When setting up your first kit, it is always a good idea to test the results of your labor. Set up a simple kit, the begin testing the kit to make sure that it is set up the way you intended. Using the Item Lookup / Order Creation function in FocalPoint is a good test arena for kits, and most of the selection processes are done BEFORE a contract is created.
Upon accessing the kit file maintenance program, you will be presented with a list of kits already established.
Double click or Right Click --> Open to open a kit record. You can also Right Click -->Copy to copy an existing kit as a head start to creating a new one.
Buttons across the top of the screen
Add Rate Table Kit
Use to add a kit where the primary item is a rental item.
Add Merchandise Kit
Use to add a kit where the primary item is a merchandise item.
Export
Use to export a list of kits to Excel
Use to print a list of kits to a printer
Print Preview
Use to preview a list of kits. From the preview screen, you can also print or save to PDF.
Close
Use to close the Kit File List.
The Search Bar
To search for a specific kit by kit description, enter the first few characters of the kit description in the "Enter Description to Search" field. The search field also has embedded search capabilities. After double clicking on an existing kit from the list screen, or clicking on the "Add New Kit" button, you will be directed to a secondary "Kits Screen".
Type Will either display Rate Table or Merchandise, depending on whether or not you clicked on Add Rate Table Kit or Add Merchandise Kit when you created the kit.Display only field.
Item Select the rate table or merchandist item for the primary kit item by either using the drop down list and searching. Once the kit is complete, any item selected during while creating a rental associated with this rate table or sales order will force FocalPoint to ask you if you would like to rent this item as a kit or as an individual item.
Description This field is used to describe the kit. For example, the primary item may be a skid steer loader, but perhaps you are setting up a kit that includes the skid steer loader (the primary item), a choice of trailers, and a choice of attachments for the item. You may wish to "describe" the kit something like "Skid Steer w/ Trailer & One Attachment". The field in the Store Manager File on the Hours Tab named "Use KIT description In Order Detail? (Else Use Item DSCR)" will determine if the kit description or the primary item's original description prints on the rental or sales order if the item is being rented or sold as a kit.
Quantity Enter the quantity that should default when renting or selling this item as a kit. Under normal circumstances, the quantity will be one. however, if you always rent these kits "five at a time", then the quantity can certainly be set to five.
Use Kit Pricing With a 'Y' in this field, the rate charges fields or retail price will over-ride existing rates or sales prices for each of the items in the kit as well as the primary item.
Display in KIT Availability List In Item Search screen, there is a "SEARCH FOR" section in the upper left hand corner of the screen. If you choose to "search for" KITS, should this item appear? If so, check this box.
Display in Rental Availability List In Item Search screen, there is a "SEARCH FOR" section in the upper left hand corner of the screen. If you choose to "search for" Rental Items, should this item appear? If so, check this box.
Rate Fields / Retail Price If the primary item is a rental item, you will have the opportunity to establish rental rates for the entire kit. If the primary item is a merchandise item you will have the opportunity to establish a selling price for the entire kit. These fields are only valid if the "Use Kit Pricing" field (above) is set to 'Y'.
Active If this field is enabled, then the kit logic will be active for the item during the rental or sales process. |
To associate kit items with the primary item, select a Type (Rate Table or Merchandise), then an item based on the type. Then click on Add Item.
Once an item is added, you can double click on it to change the characteristics of the kit detail item.
Quantity Enter the quantity that should default when renting or selling this item as a kit item associated with the primary item. For example, if your primary item is a table that requires 6 chairs, you would be setting up chairs in this kit items section, and the default quantity you enter in this field would no doubt be 6.
Include in Kit Availability Calculation Enable this check box if you want FocalPoint to take this item into consideration when calculating kit availability. See availability explanation at the top of this screen.
Charge for Item? If you wish to charge for this kit item, enter a 'Y' in this field, otherwise enter a 'N'.
Item Required? If this item is mandatory when renting or selling the primary item as a kit (for example, a skid steer loader would certainly need a key, so perhaps one of the kit items for a skid steer loader would be a key, and it would be "required"), then enter a 'Y' in this field. If the kit item is optional, enter a 'N'.
Print This Item on Order If this kit item should print on the order, enter a 'Y' in this field, otherwise enter a 'N'. While it is more likely that you would want kit items, at times and especially with kits that have a high number of associated kit items, it may make more sense to not print the kit items.
Active If this field is enabled, then this kit item will be available to rent along with the primary item during the kit selection process.
Upon completion of this screen, click Close to save the kit item, or Cancel to abort the changes you made. You will be returned to the Kits Screen, where you can again Save or Cancel, or continue modifying additional kit items by double clicking on them. |
