The School Food Service Director

Purchasing Section

General Product Setup Concepts and Strategies...... 2

Step By Step Guide For Screen Definitions and Data Entry

Placing Products On Order

Place Orders (Catalog Ordering)...... 3

Special Orders...... 5

Quick Order Entry...... 9

Approving Items On Order

Order Approval...... 11

Approved Orders...... 13

Receiving Items On Orders...... 15

Vendor Credits...... 17

Purchasing Utilities / Preferences

Delivery Schedules...... 19

Order Priority Descriptions...... 21

Discrepancy Types...... 22

Change Order Status...... 24

Print Purchase Order / Approval Code On PO...... 25

Calculate Order Quantities...... 25

Sample Purchasing Reports

General Purchasing Concepts and Strategies

As with each of The School Food Service Director software products, the Purchasing software component is modular in design. It primarily used to order and receive products from distributors. Major functions of the Purchasing module include:

  • User defined delivery schedule.

Users can group delivery orders by a week, bi-weekly, or monthly delivery schedule. Or users can setup delivery dates as the actual date products are delivered by the distributor.

  • Order procedures for bid and non-bid products.

Bid administrators make the decision to allow or not allow orders off-bid for product substitutions by distributors. If products are substituted used will issue “Special Orders” to obtain the brand specific product. Users can order products that were not on a bid list by placing “Special Orders” as well.

  • Product Catalog order placement method.

Users can place items on order by viewing a “catalog” of bid products available for ordering. Products are grouped so that users can move between easily recognized category product names to find the product to be ordered.

  • Orders are required to be issued a purchase order or approval code number before they can be sent to the distributor. This process ensures product orders are reviewed. Orders can be generated at the school level and reviewed by School Food Authority personnel.
  • Orders are received by using a bar code scanner to automatically verify any variations. If a bar code scanner isn’t used, personnel can verify manually. Either way, the Purchasing software automatically handles exceptions through the credit report component.

Placing Products On Orders

The Purchasing module of The School Food Service Director software program allow users to place items on order though a catalog order entry method where users view available items on the screen; a quick order entry method where users will be working from a paper grocery order form; and also allows users create special orders for items not currently approved for order placement.

Place Orders - Catalog Order Placements

Step 1: From the Orders module, click the Place Orders menu option.

Step 2: Using the combo boxes that are on the bottom of the form, the user can

filter the form. The choice of a product type will adjust the delivery dates

for that particular product type.

Step 3: Right Click Events.

Place the cell pointer on the cell containing the information to be matched,

click the right mouse button, and click an option.

  1. The user can filter by item number, description, shelf, unit price or vendor.
  2. Filter by selection – This option selects records matching the selected criteria.
  3. Filter Excluding Selection – This option selects records not matching the selected criteria.
  4. Custom Filter – This option allows the user to create custom information for filtering records.
  5. Sort by Selection – This option sorts records Ascending or Descending by the selection of the user.
  6. Release Sort/Filter – This option releases all sort or record selection criteria applied by the user.

Step 4: Enter in the number of cases (or other type of delivery container) to be

ordered in the Bulk Amount cell.

Or

Enter in the number of shelf units to be ordered in the Shelf Units cell.

Shelf Units: Shelf Units are defined by the user in the Inventory Module. A shelf unit is a conversion from the bulk products received. It normally is a conversion to correlate to how products are used from inventory. The shelf unit conversion can be extensively utilized for menu planning. An example of utilizing shelf units for inventory usage and menu planning is: A case of chicken nuggets contains 480 .5 ounce pieces where the yield for chicken nuggets are 5 nuggets equal 1 meat / meat alternative for a student meal. Thus one case of chicken nuggets yields 96 serving. The shelf unit conversion will be 96 Shelf Units, 1 Shelf Size, EACH Shelf Description. If the user calculates that based on the number of students enrolled, 1200 students will be eating chicken nuggets she/he can enter 1200 as the shelf units for the ordering process. The bulk quantity conversion will be automatically calculated to the nearest bulk unit. In this example that would equal 13 cases and the shelf unit is automatically recalculated to 1248 units since partial bulk units may not be ordered.

Step 5: Button Clicks

  1. Cancel: Closes the form without saving any changes
  2. Help: Brings up the online help information for this form
  3. Release Sort: Releases all sort or record selection criteria applied by the user..
  4. Print: Allows the user to send data to the printer after previewing it on the screen.
  5. Order: Updates the database and the grid with the new information. The form remains open to allow for further filtering and orders for the chosen site.

Placing Products On Orders

Special Order Placement

Step 1: Click the Special Orders image from the Purchasing module.

Step 2: Choose the Region that the products are associated with from the Region drop

down box.

Region: In consortium groups pricing, brand, and distributor information may differ for a regional area depending on the geographic size of the consortium group. Consortium groups may choose to divide into regional areas to ensure that distributors can deliver timely and that enough distributors can bid on the consortium bid to ensure competition.

Step 3: Choose the Session that the products are associated with from the session drop

down box.

Sessions or Bid Evaluation Sessions : Sessions are setup and maintained in the Bid Evaluation module. If users of the School Food Service Director software do not maintain bid evaluations using the software default sessions are included with the software, and correlate to the Product Types. Sessions define the time periods in which products may be purchased at the approved product price and by the approved product distributor.

Step 4: Choose the Vendor that the approved products are associated with from the vendor

drop down box.

Vendors: The distributor or manufacturer from which the approved product will be obtained. (See Vendors in Product Setup Section if new vendors are to be added.)

Step 5: Choose the Product Group that the products are associated with from the Product

Group drop down box. This will automatically load the first product information

into the description and bid specifications text boxes.

Product Groups: Product Groups are the secondary group for products. Products are placed in a Product group so that they may easily be located throughout the School Food Service Director software modules. Generally, a product group will have numerous Category Groups and Categories underlying this defined Product Group.

Step 6: Choose the Production Type from the drop down box that will be associated with

this product.

Production Types: Production Types are used to identify how products are used throughout software modules within the School Food Service Director. Production types are used primarily in the Menu Production module. Users can define an unlimited number of Production Types. See Production Type entry for more information.

Step 7: Choose the Storage Type from the drop down box that will be associated with

this product.

Storage Types: Storage Types are used to identify where products are stored or located within the facility receiving shipments of products. Users can define an unlimited number of Storage Types. Generally, products are dry, refrigerated, or frozen storage. Storage Types may be a specific BIN location for warehouse storage, if desired. Storage Types are used extensively in the School Food Service Director Warehouse Management module.

Step 8: Enter the Brand Specific Information

The brand information is normally entered is Product Specifications but can also be entered under this screen. If the Brand information has been entered in Product Specifications than clicking the appropriate brand will populate the remainder of item information. Please verify that this information is correct. If there are any changes then make the changes and click the Update Specs button so that the next time the information will be accurate.

Enter all information for all approved brands that are associated with this product.

The example sited is Breaded Chicken Nuggets by Tyson Foods. The Breaded Chicken nuggets are packaged as 480 .5 oz Breaded Chicken Nuggets per case from which 5 nuggets will yield 1 meat / meat alternative

Brand Name: The manufacturer brand name that have been identified to meet the specification description. Example: Tyson

Delivery Quantities: The number of delivery containers per total price, usually one. (Example: 1case delivered for total price)

Delivery Container: The delivery container type, usually Case. (Example: 1 case delivered for total price)

Quantity: The quantity of units in the delivery container. (Example: 1 Case of Quantity 480units)

Pack Size: The Package size of the Quantity units (Example: 1 Case of Quantity 480.5 ounce units)

Pack Type: The Package type of the Quantity units (Example: 1 Case of Quantity 480.5 Ounce units)

Yield Quantity: The Yield Quantity of units within the delivery container. (Example: 1 Case of Quantity 480.5 Ounce units will yield 480 / 5 nuggets per serving so Yield Quantity = 96)

Yield Pack Size: The Yield Package Size of the Yield Quantity units. (Example: 1 Case of Quantity 480.5 Ounce units will yield 480 / 5 nuggets per serving so Yield Quantity = 96 1 Count servings.)

Yield Pack Type: The Yield Package type of the Yield Quantity units. (Example: 1 Case of Quantity 480.5 Ounce units will yield 480 / 5 nuggets per serving so Yield Quantity = 96 1Count servings.)

Manufacturer Number: The manufacturer id number that will uniquely identify the brand specific product.

UPC Code: Universal Product Code is a unique product identification number found on most product labels, represented by bar and number codes.

SCC Code: Standard Container Code is a unique product identification number found on most product labels, represented by bar and number codes.

Vendor Shelf Number: The number that identifies the product from the distributor inventory.

Step 9: Specifications Followed: Specifications followed is a toggle switch that is by

default set on so that as Products Submitted by Vendor records are added they are

automatically evaluated during the Bid Evaluation process. Deselecting the

switch will cause the product to not considered in the bid evaluation process.

Step 10: Enter in the total purchasing price for the item. The unit price (total price /

(Quantity * size)), modified unit price ((total price + drayage – rebate) / (Quantity

size)), and modified total (total price + drayage – rebate) are automatically

calculated.

Step 11: Enter the drayage amount, if any.

Drayage Amount: Drayage fees can include a cost for distribution or storage that must be added to the cost of a product. When the products are ordered the Drayage fees are calculated separately and are displayed on the purchase as cost for drayage. Drayage fees are also tracked as a cost to Purchased Foods in NFSMI FUNDamentals in a separate detail expense category.

Step 12: Enter the rebate amount, if any.

Rebates Amount: Rebates can be negotiated from manufactures and distributors so that schools may earn money back by purchasing a sufficient quantity of a particular product. If rebate amounts are entered in this data entry field the School Food Service Director software automatically tracks rebates in both the Purchasing module and update rebate revenue as an offset to the Purchased Food expense category in NFSMI FUNDamentals.

Step 13: Click Update to go to the next item that belongs to the group.

Step 14: After you have entered in all of the approved products, click the cancel button to leave the form.

Step 15: Button Clicks

a. Cancel: Closes the form without saving any changes

b. Help: Brings up the online help information for this form

c. Next: Takes you to the next item that is in the group without saving existing information on the form.

d. Update Specs: Updates the specification information in the database.

e.Update: Saves changes to the database and goes to the next item in the group.

Placing Products On Orders

Quick Order Placement

The Quick Order Placement procedure is a rapid method of placing many products on order. Users will enter Item Numbers and quantity of product requested by posting products to this screen from the “Grocery Order” report. If School Food Authority personnel enters orders for school, this is an ideal method of order placement.

Step 1: From the Orders module click the Quick Order menu option.

Step 2: The user will be prompted to enter the number of items to be ordered. Enter a

numeric amount and click the OK button. The Cancel Button will cancel the

action and close the request.

Step 3: Enter the item number from the “Grocery Order” report into the grid. If that item

number is an Approved Product and may be ordered the description appears in

the description cell. If the item is not approved then a message will appear and

that item cannot be ordered from this form.

Step 4: Enter in the quantity of product to be ordered.

Step 5: Choose a delivery date for these items.

Step 6: Button Clicks

  1. Cancel: Closes the form without saving any changes
  2. Help: Brings up the online help information for this form
  3. Print: Allows the user to send data to the printer after previewing it on the screen.
  4. Order: Places the order request and closes the form.

Approving Products On Orders

The School Food Service Director software products are designed so that orders may be placed on request but must be approved before orders can be released to distributors for delivery. The School Food Authority personnel can approve or deny the order requests placed by schools. Any obvious mistakes can be clarified during this process. The approval code may be an actual purchase order number.

Step 1: From the Orders module click the Order Approval menu option.

Step 2: The form will come up with all of the requested orders that have not had an

approval code attached to them.

Step 3: Use the drop down boxes on the bottom of the form or the right mouse button to

filter the information on the form.

*** Approval codes must have a unique vendor. It is highly recommended that

separate approval codes be issued for each delivery site and delivery date.

Step 4: Right Click Events. Place the cell pointer on the cell containing the information to

be matched, click the right mouse button, and click an option.

  1. The user can filter by item number, or description.
  2. Filter by selection – This option selects records matching the selected criteria.
  3. Filter Excluding Selection – This option selects records not matching the selected criteria.
  4. Custom Filter – This option allows the user to create custom information for filtering records.
  5. Sort by Selection – This option sorts records Ascending or Descending by the selection of the user.
  6. Release Sort/Filter – This option releases all sort or record selection criteria applied by the user.

Step 5: Verify the information. Adjustments can be made to the quantity that is being

ordered.

Step 6: Enter in an approval code.

Step 7: Button Clicks

  1. a.Cancel: Closes the form without saving any changes
  2. Help: Brings up the online help information for this form
  3. Delete: Allows the user to delete any order request.
  4. Print: Allows the user to send data to the printer after previewing it on the screen.
  5. Approved: Updates the database with the approval code and reloads the form with items that have not been approved.

Approving Products On Orders

The School Food Service Director software products are designed so that orders may be placed on request but must be approved before orders can be released to distributors for delivery. The School Food Authority personnel can approve or deny the order requests placed by schools. Any obvious mistakes can be clarified during this process. The approval code may be an actual purchase order number.

Step 1: Users will need to set a preference so that the word “Approval” or words

“Purchase Order” is printed on the order list sent to the distributor.

  1. Click the Utilities menu
  2. Click the Preference option
  3. Click the Approval Preference Option
  4. Click either Purchase Order or Approval

Step 2: From the Orders module click the Approved Orders menu option.