MBS ARC Training Manual

Transcription

1 Want Lists MBS ARC Training Manual This chapter focuses on ordering textbooks for wholesalers and includes creating want lists, receiving responses to want lists, and creating purchase orders from the responses. How to electronically transmit want lists to vendors also is explained. Contents Two Types of Textbook Orders in ARC... 2 Review Buying Decisions on the Open-to-Buy Report... 3 Create Want Lists... 5 Automatically Create Want List... 8 Manually Create Want List Want List Options Transmit Want Lists and Receive Responses Prepare Transmission\Transmit Want list Electronically Receive Want List Responses Display Responses Troubleshoot Electronic Transmissions Edit an Exiting MBS Want List Manual Want List Response Working with electronic Non-MBS Want Lists Translate Want list Responses via Other Vendors Retrieve Want List Responses Define Translation and Create Purchase Order ARC Ordering Checklist... 45

2 Two Types of Textbook Orders in ARC 1. Wholesale orders These are placed to wholesale companies such as MBS. The goal is to acquire used and discounted textbooks prior to publisher orders. These use an option called Want Lists to create. 2. Publisher orders Orders placed directly to publishers or distributors for new textbooks. The orders are created from the regular purchase order menu. Orders may be created for all publishers, select publishers or groups. Increasing costs of textbooks often result in wholesale ordering to be viewed as an initial step in the ordering process. Acquiring textbooks for discounts allow stores to save money on the purchases and pass that savings on to their students. Prices for used books are around 50% off and 30% off for new books. In addition to wholesale orders, acquiring books from students during buyback provides the option to acquire the book directly without receiving or shipping costs. Other considerations include increasing your customer retention by allowing students to be the sellers. Another benefit is the likelihood of customer retention by allowing students to be the sellers. Publisher orders are one of the most convenient ways to acquire customized titles, books with access codes, and other new inventory items. Publishers occasionally offer discounts, but these discounts are often less than that of a wholesaler. Typically, new book costs lead to publisher orders being created after wholesale orders. This helps ensure the best savings on the purchase cost of textbooks. This section will focus on wholesale Want List orders and Publisher/Manual purchase orders will be covered in the Publisher Orders chapter. Accurate Buying Decisions increase order efficiency, especially when setting estimated buyback quantities. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 2 OF 45

3 Review Buying Decisions on the Open-to-Buy Report Creating accurate Open-to-Buy (OTB) amounts relies on reviewing buying decisions. To make more accurate decisions, print an Open-to-Buy Report and verify order quantities before beginning the ordering process. Processes for setting Open-to-Buy are explained in the Buying Decisions Chapter. The Open-to-Buy Report displays all titles about to be purchased for the bookstore. Print the report and verify quantities before continuing the ordering process. Reports Menu > Enter Report Requests. 1. Highlight Buyer Reports. Click Select Individual Reports. Select Group option allows for the printing of more than one report at a time. 2. Highlight the Open-to-Buy report, and click Select. Chose the desired store and term. Click Save. Click Confirm Request. The OTB report also shows vendor return policies by vendor code. Note recommend codes. 3. More options are shown. Select the report options. Click Save to print. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 3 OF 45

4 This is a listing of textbooks with an Open to Buy quantity. Also shown is a summary of the vendors return policies to help determine the precision needed in ordering. Calculations of Open to Buy quantities are shown on the Order Quantity Screen. This is accessed by going to a book through Adoptions> Maintain Adoptions or Maintain Book Information. 4. Click on Order Quantity Edit. The Open to Buy calculation is shown. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 4 OF 45

5 In this case, estimated sales is 85 textbooks. There are five reserved books along with 20 Buyback titles. When the estimated units are subtracted, the Open to Buy quantity is 60. It should be noted that the Buyback Estimated provides the system with the best estimate for the amount of titles students will sell. This amount does impact Open-to-Buy. Budgeted and Speculative units equal the number of books that the system can buy. The estimate can amount to more than Buyback Estimated. However, the combined amount of Budgeted and Speculative should never be less than the amount estimated. Create Want Lists Ordering > Maintain Want Lists A Want List is a listing of all textbooks with current Open-to-Buy quantities. This is the list submitted to wholesalers. Purchase Orders are submitted to publishers. Want lists to wholesalers are ultimately transmitted as purchase orders. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 5 OF 45

6 ARC Want Lists are created automatically or manually. Automatic creation is best for large orders with many titles. Manual creation is better suited for those times when there are just a few titles to order. Want list creation does not affect the Open-to-Buy quantity of the title until it is transmitted and received. Thus, it is possible to have multiple want lists being worked by multiple wholesalers. Update Work with a current want list. Delete Deletes a want list (can t delete if a vendor response is pending). Print Creates a PDF of the want list in My Documents. Notes Creates a note. The note will appear on a printout of the want list, but it does not carry over to the wholesaler if using electronic transmission. Book List Shows on-screen books ordered with quantities. Responses Shows want list responses, the dates of their receipt, and if they have been processed. Error Recovery Shows transmissions that are in error recovery. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 6 OF 45

7 New Smart List Creates a want list that can be sent to multiple wholesalers in succession with little or no intervention. Prepare Transmit Data Used when the want list is prepared. Work With Responses Shows want list responses. Want List Summary Displays a summary of copies awaiting transmission and copies transmitted as well as a pie chart of copies transmitted. Work with Open MBS Bins Allows for the addition to open MBS bins. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 7 OF 45

8 Automatically Create Want List Ordering > Maintain Want Lists 1. Select Add Want List. 2. Select Automatic and then click Save. Select desired vendor from the list and click Save. All vendors defined as wholesalers appear in the vendor table. 3. Want List creation options are displayed. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 8 OF 45

9 Quote To create a quote only. This option is only available for non- MBS wholesalers. Quote hold list To create a quote but also instruct the wholesaler to hold the quote for approval. This option is only available for non-mbs wholesalers. ASAP Order To create a firm order as soon as possible. Bin and Hold Order Select this option to create a firm order with a specific, future shipping date. o Bin and Hold means that the order is placed far in advance of the ship date. Each time the order is reworked additional available quantities the wholesaler stocks will go towards the total items needed on the order. o Bin and Hold orders can reduce shipping costs and provide more wholesale units than an ASAP order because additional quantities are added over time. The entire order is shipped at once. Bin and Hold orders are usually the best choice early in the ordering process because stores can specify the combination of new and used books. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 9 OF 45

10 An example of a Bin and Hold would be an order for 100 units of a title placed in early May. The ship date is the end of July. The wholesaler only can fill 20 units from the Want Lists original submission. However, as it is reworked leading up to the ship date, the wholesaler receives additional inventory prior to the July ship date so all 100 units can be filled. Transmission Method Easy Link is used to order electronically from non-mbs wholesalers. Easy Link is a 3 rd party service, and stores do subscribe to this service outside of the MBS system. With Easy Link, a PO is not automatically made. MBS Direct Link is to order electronically from MBS. Even stores with Easy Link should always use MBS Direct Link for MBS orders. Ship Date Select a date when the vendor should have the books shipped. Be sure to select a ship date that allows adequate time for receiving prior to rush. Ship Via Code If left blank, vendors may ship by whichever method they want. Otherwise, select a shipping method. Most vendors have special shipping rates with their primary shippers, leaving this field blank or entering Best Method is typically the most economical method. Open to buy% Certain circumstances with non-mbs wholesalers might call for an order to be filled less than 100%. If this is the case, enter the percentage here. Allocate next available PO number Yes is the better option because the system can determine the next available PO number. If No is chosen, the PO number will not be reserved until the order is created while receiving a response. 4. Once the information is entered click Save. If a PO number was not allocated, the system will ask for confirmation that the field should be empty. Click Save to continue. 5. If MBS was chosen as the wholesaler for a Bin-and-Hold order, a screen with additional options appears. Any other wholesaler/want list type combination will skip this screen. The information on this screen is not relevant to want listing other wholesalers. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 10 OF 45

11 This screen allows for setting up automatic reworks with MBS. The rework will be conducted each day that is selected. MBS will use the list originally submitted and check inventory on those days to continue filling additional units until the total order is filled. Manual reworks also can be sent regardless of setting up automatic reworks. A manual send will provide options for regenerating the booklist or changing Want List options so MBS is current on the updates. Add to MBS Order Number If an MBS order is open and new orders need to be added, select Yes. Enter the existing order number. The number will display automatically once a MBS order has been sent and a response received. Rework Select Yes to rework an order. If MBS does not immediately have the requested quantity and type of textbooks desired (new or used), MBS will re-check the want list daily and add more quantities as inventory arrives at MBS. Rework is one of the main benefits of a bin and hold order. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 11 OF 45

12 Cutoff Date The default cutoff date is one week before the date selected as Ship Date on the previous screen. Rework Options Rework Every Day is the usual selection here. If a store orders simultaneously from several wholesalers, a certain day of the week might be chosen to avoid over ordering. 6. Click Save to save this information. Verify the data on this screen and click Generate to automatically create the want list. 7. This generates the want list header and populates it with the book information. Click Save. The newly created want lists appear in the table as shown in the screenshot on the next page. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 12 OF 45

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14 Manually Create Want List The process for manually creating want lists is the same as for automatic want lists, except for the last step. In creating a manual want list, you cannot use Generate to populate the want list with desired books. Ordering > Maintain Want Lists 1. Click Add Want List, select Manual, and click Save. As want lists are used to order from wholesalers, only vendors marked as wholesalers (Maintenance > Maintain Vendor Information) are listed. 2. Select the vendor, complete want list options (as detailed in the instructions for automatic want list creation), and click Save. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 14 OF 45

15 Populate the Booklist When automatic want lists are generated, the Book List is automatically populated according to want list defaults and open-to-buy quantities for this term. When Manual Want Lists are created, the Book List is keyed-in rather than the automatic population. The book list can manually be edited for an automatic want list through this method. However, once a want list has been transmitted additional considerations are needed. The section on editing an existing want lists is discussed later in this chapter. Ordering > Maintain Want Lists 1. Highlight a Want List, select Book List. 2. Click Add Book, and search for the book using the ATKey, ISBN, Barcode, Title, or Keyword. Click Save. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 15 OF 45

16 3. Enter the quantity to put on the want list and click Save. NOTE: Edit Order Quantity opens the order quantity edit information for the selected book. Quantities can be changed here, including buyback estimations and withhold from order quantities. 4. Continue searching for and selecting books until all are added. Return to the want list and all added titles now appear in the Book List table. 5. Click Go Back to return to work with want lists. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 16 OF 45

17 Want List Options Prior to transmitting a want list, certain options can be reviewed from the update want list screen. Updates may be entered before or after book list generation. These can also be edited when modifying an open MBS Bin. Click Options to choose how to set up the want list. Since some options refer to book type, be sure to Generate the book list again. If this step was already completed, update the list as needed. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 17 OF 45

18 Preferred Condition? Select one of four inventory conditions preferred by the wholesaler: Used Only, Used over New, New Only and New Over Used. For example, condition options are needed for a title with 100 units. The option Used over New is selected and the want list is transmitted to the wholesaler. The wholesaler has 20 used units and 80 new units in stock. They fill the 20 used first, then the 80 new. If additional used units are later in stock then the above example would not remove the already filled new to add the used units. Used Only will sometimes be set as the initial preferred condition and later changed to Used Over New closer to the ship date. Alternatively, stores that prefer new condition to used can select the New Only or New Over Used options. Include titles previously sent? Select Yes if books on current want lists should be included on this list too. Include non-text titles? Select Yes to include books that are considered study guides, access codes, workbooks, and other items not necessarily considered a textbook. If the item is only usable as a new item, the Used Only preferred condition will keep these items from filling on the order. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 18 OF 45

19 Include titles specified as new copies only? If a book is set to New Only in the Store/Book options, select Yes to also include this book on the want list. Note that the Used Only preferred condition will keep these titles from filling on the order. Add Withhold from Order quantities to Open to Buy figures Yes will automatically add all withhold units to the order quantity on the want list. This option is usually set to No since withhold is often used for expected rental returns or other reasons requiring units to not be ordered. Separate totals for new/used on the invoice? Yes will show the total value for used, total value for new, and grand total value for the order on the invoice once the books are shipped. Separate invoices for new/used for this order? Yes will split the shipment between new and used books and will create two separate invoices number for each shipment. This method would require two keyrecs during receiving: one for used titles and one for new titles. Accept damaged titles? This option is no longer used. Again, these options can be edited at any point prior to when the order begins to fill. The other Additional Options available when updating the want list: Select Pubs/Groups Only generates books to the book list if they are published by a selected publisher or publisher group. This is more common for publisher order generation than want lists. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 19 OF 45

20 Notes - Creates a note. The note will appear on a printout of the want list, but it does not carry over to the wholesaler if using electronic transmission. Book List Displays the list of titles on the want list after generation/manual addition. Books can be modified prior to transmission or by opening the want list for edits after transmission. MBS Information Allows edits to the MBS Rework automation options and days for reworks. Shipping/Billing Address Displays the addresses set up for the store in the control files. Manual edits can be made here, but permanent edits should be made through your MBS client representative. Generate Builds the want list book list. Can be used when editing the want list to rebuild the list of books. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 20 OF 45

21 Transmit Want Lists and Receive Responses Electronically transmit want list information to MBS via DirectLink communication function. Using Direct Link to electronically transmit want lists creates an electronic response for the want list within a few minutes. Want lists can also be transmitted to other wholesalers via the EasyLink communication service. If stores use the electronic transmission functions, they can also receive responses electronically within ARC. MBS DirectLink responses can automatically be placed on purchase orders. In addition, electronic responses from other vendors can be translated and placed on purchase orders in ARC. To electronically transmit a want list, perform the following four steps: Prepare Transmission. Transmit Want List. Electronically Receive Want List Responses. Display Responses. The steps to submit a want list electronically: 1. Add want list, 2. Generate, 3. Prepare transmit, 4. Transmit (wait a few minutes), 5. Work with responses, 6. Receive responses, 7. Receive responses (select the network by which to receive; wait a few minutes), 8. Display response data, 9. Process Response to create new PO. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 21 OF 45

22 Ordering > Maintain Want Lists Prepare Transmission\Transmit Want list 1. Highlight the want list to transmit electronically and click Prepare Transmit Data from the Options list. 2. Select the transmission type of MBS DirectLink or EasyLink, and click Save. 3. The field Want lists to transmit should display 1 or more and the Want lists with Errors field should display 0. Otherwise, look in the Errors field for a message detailing why the want list will not transmit. Fix the error before continuing. This screen must display without errors before transmission. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 22 OF 45

23 4. In the next screenshot, note the Transmit button placement by Save, Go Back, and Home. 5. To continue transmitting, highlight the want list and select Transmit. If there is only one Want List, it will not highlight. 6. The screen returns to the main want list menu after clicking transmit. The status for the want list will now have a status of Transmitted or Transmitting. If the status is Transmitting, reselect Maintain Want List from the Ordering drop down menu and the status will now show as Transmitted. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 23 OF 45

24 Electronically Receive Want List Responses Ordering > Maintain Want Lists 1. Highlight want list and select Work with Responses. A list of previous responses displays. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 24 OF 45

25 2. To retrieve a new want list response, select Receive Responses in the Additional Options. 3. The last response, manual or network, displays for each store. Select Receive Responses again from the Additional options. 4. Verify the network selection for how the response is being retrieved. Always use MBS Direct for MBS responses and EZ Link if receiving network responses for non-mbs wholesalers. Click Save. 5. Since loading the response takes a few minutes to complete, there are two process steps to verify the response will be loaded at this time. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 25 OF 45

26 Click Save or press enter, and then click OK on the alert message: 6. ARC contacts the specified electronic service and begins processing the three steps shown on the screen below. This process takes a few minutes to complete. 7. Once ARC has completed all three steps, the number of responses retrieved display. Responses produce both an informational notice and a vendor response. To view the Informational Notice(s), click View Notifications. To view responses, press Enter. 8. The Responses screen displays a Summary that includes the MBS Order Number and total copies filled. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 26 OF 45

27 Other options available on this screen are: Display Detail Data Displays the acutal response lines showing the number of titles with a response. If the wholesaler also has additional inventory options, that data is displayed below the response line. An example is shown in the next image. Assocate Response If the response is associated to the incorrect want list, use the Associate Response option to change the want list association. This is a rare occurrence and likely attributable to open responses from previous terms. Print Response Report version of the detail display showing the response lines for each title. Change Vendor Order Number If the response shows an MBS Order Number that should be associated to a different order number, it can be changed here. It is important to contact MBS Order Processing to also advise of this change. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 27 OF 45

28 9. To associate the response with a Purchase Order, click Process Response. 10. If a PO was allocated when the want list was created, Select Allocated PO. If an existing PO was already created for this want list, Select PO. If no PO exists and one was not allocated, click Add PO to create a new purchase order. In the following example, a PO was allocated when the want list was created so Select Allocated PO will be used. 11. PO header review displays. Since these were set up as part of the want list creation, click Continue on the header options to complete the PO association. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 28 OF 45

29 Now that the allocated PO has been associated to the want list, the PO will display in the Maintain Purchase Orders menu. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 29 OF 45

30 Display Responses Ordering > Maintain Want Lists Highlight the want list and click Work with Responses. Highlight the want list response in the table and click Display. Use Page Up and Page Down to view all the titles on the want list. Notice that the want list response shows quantities ordered and new or used quantities the wholesaler can fulfill. Viewing the Book List from the options menu will also display the responses for each want list. The on order detail displays on the purchase order in Maintain Purchase Orders and shows On Order in Order Quantity Edit. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 30 OF 45

31 Troubleshoot Electronic Transmissions If there are problems with the electronic transmission, use these steps to troubleshoot: 1. Click Error Recovery. Any electronic transmission that failed will be listed in the Transmissions in Error Recovery. Options on the Want List Transmit Recovery include the following: Try Again To resubmit a transmission batch highlight the batch and click Try Again. If you are still unsuccessful with transmitting, please call Support. Display Want Lists To display the want lists in a transmission batch, highlight the batch and click Display Want Lists. Delete To delete the entire batch, highlight the batch and click Delete. 2. Sometimes a batch can get stuck during transmission. To view any batches that might be stuck, click Show Active Requests. The same three options (Try Again, Display Want Lists, and Delete) appear in the Active Transmissions table. If you are still unsuccessful with transmitting, please call Support. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 31 OF 45

32 Edit an Exiting MBS Want List Ordering > Maintain Want Lists An initial Want List order can be created with only one title. Additional titles can be generated and changes such as updating options can be made as part of a manual rework. The want list may also be changed due to course or adoption cancelations. The book list can be regenerated to adjust for open to buy changes. Any decreases in order quantity for titles already filled on a want list response require an edit to the purchase order. Decreases to want list responses will not edit on the wholesaler side. The wholesaler s order processing team must be contacted to confirm any filled titles not needed should be removed on their side too. For MBS Bin and Hold orders, the bin is frozen to avoid modifications to prevent accidental changes. To rework options, or to regenerate the book list, the order must first be opened for modification. The steps are as follows: 1. Highlight the MBS Want List and click on the option Work with Open MBS bins. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 32 OF 45

33 2. Current MBS orders for this term display and show the status of transmitted. This status must be changed to make changes to the want list. Highlight the order and click Select for Modification. 3. The status changes to Background Initialize in Process and a red message displays stating the Bin Modify Request was submitted to background control. Click Go Back to return to the Want List menu. 4. Want list transmit status is now Modifying Bin. 5. Click Update to edit Want List options or Book List to make changes directly to the books on the list. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 33 OF 45

34 Option may include changing the order preference from Used Only to Used Over New. Book List changes include using the Update option and generating the book list to auto update any new titles or changes. 6. Once modifications are made, use the steps to Prepare Transmit Data to submit the changes to MBS. This will close the modification and the Transmit Status will change back to Transmitted. 7. Use the steps to process the response to see how the changes update the want list purchase order. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 34 OF 45

35 Manual Want List Response Ordering > Maintain Want Lists Want Lists that are generated but not transmitted using Easy Link/Direct Link can be received with a manual response. This is a common way to associate a response and create a purchase order for non-mbs wholesale orders being placed online or through the wholesale representative. 1. Highlight the vendor want list and click Responses. 2. Any pre-existing response will display (including electronically received responses if applicable). To add a non-electronic response, click Add Manual Response. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 35 OF 45

36 3. The book list displays with the option for entering how many New and Used quantities were received on the response. Enter units as needed and click Save. The response will be added, click Save again to complete the entry. 4. The Responses option now displays a response via Manual Entry. To process the response, highlight the response and click Process Response. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 36 OF 45

37 5. The detail screen of the response displays with the option to Process Response. Additional Options also exist to Print or to Change Vendor Order # (note that Associate Response is only for EZ Link responses and is not usable for manual response). 6. It is recommended to add a Vendor Order Number if available. Click Change Vendor Order# to add this, and click Save once the order number is entered. 7. Click the blue Process Response button to create the purchase order. 8. Just like an automatic response, click Select Allocated PO if the option to allocate was selected during the want list creation. Select PO if an MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 37 OF 45

38 existing PO for this vendor has been previously created for this term, or Add PO to create a new PO for this item. In this example, a PO is added. 9. Since header information was not previously transferred, review header details then click Save. 10. The PO will be created. Click the Additional Option of Continue to complete the PO creation. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 38 OF 45

39 The Want List response is now processed and an entry for this response is available in the Maintain Purchase Orders menu. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 39 OF 45

40 Working with electronic Non-MBS Want Lists Creating and transmitting a non-mbs Want List follows the same steps with the exception of using Easy Link instead of Direct Link. A translation process is needed to turn the response into a MBS Purchase Order. Translate Want list Responses via Other Vendors By examining the format of the data being sent from other wholesalers, templates can be created to enable ARC to correctly translate the data into a purchase order. The first time a want list response is retrieved from a wholesaler other than MBS, ARC guides the user through the creation of a translation definition for the vendor s response. This process allows viewership of the data on the response and allows a template to be set up that identifies components of the vendor s response. Once this step has been completed, ARC attempts to translate the response data into a recognizable format from which the PO is then created. The translation definition is stored in ARC so that future want list responses will be recognized and PO s can be automatically created from the response. Retrieve Want List Responses To retrieve and EasyLink Want list Response, from the Ordering Menu: 1. Click Maintain Want lists. 2. Click Work with Responses, and then select Receive Responses. 3. Once the response has been received, click Save. Define Translation and Create Purchase Order Maintain Want Lists > Work with Responses > Process Response > Process Response 1. Click Add PO. Click Save to create the translation definition. 2. This screen supplies general information on how translation definitions are created. ARC relies on user input to define various components of the Want list response to ensure the data is translated correctly. Changing any of the prompts from the default N or Y displays an information screen about that particular prompt: MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 40 OF 45

41 Free Form This is also known as human readable, because various pieces of information are identified about each title. Machine Readable This format is sometimes more difficult to read because there may be special codes imbedded within the data to denote certain information. Character-Delimited This is easily identified by the use of a special character to separate pieces of data within the detail of the response. In the illustration shown above, a backslash appears between each data element. Review the new and used quantities as well as the other book data (author, edition, year published, ISBN, etc.) are all separated by a /. Do you want to specify a begin trigger? The begin trigger tells ARC where to begin looking for the detail lines which contain the information about each title being filled by the wholesaler. The screen above provides an explanation of this and also shows an example of what a begin trigger might be. Setting the line WE ARE HOLDING as the begin trigger tells ARC that any data coming after that line should be considered information about the books on the response. Maintain Want Lists > Work with Responses > Process Response > Process Response 1. Use Page Up/Page Down to locate the Begin Trigger. 2. Each trigger has Beginning Position and an Ending Position. Once the Begin Trigger is found, use the mouse to position the cursor to the first character of the Begin Trigger. Highlight the first few characters of the Begin Trigger and then click Set Beginning Position. 3. Once the Beginning Position has been set, a message appears and an arrow is displayed next to the Begin Trigger s Beginning Position. 4. Next, set the Ending Position of the Begin Trigger. The Ending Position is the last few characters of the Begin Trigger. Highlight the last few characters of the Begin Trigger and then click Set Ending Posting. 5. After the Ending Position of the Begin Trigger has been set, a message appears, stating The Begin Trigger is defined. Continue with the End Trigger. Click Save to save this information and continue. Do you want to specify an end trigger? The end trigger tells ARC where to stop looking for book information on the response. In other words, any data encountered up to the end trigger will be considered a detail line on the response, but once the end trigger is reached, any data after that will be ignored. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 41 OF 45

42 Use the same process to define the End Trigger that was used to define Begin Trigger. Do you want to specify a class designation? The class designation is an indicator (usually N for New and U for Used) included in the response to differentiate between new and used copies. Maintain Want Lists > Work with Responses > Process Response > Process Response 1. Highlight the new quantity and click Set Beginning Position. 2. Click Set Ending Position. 3. A prompt ask you to do the same for the used quantity. Some wholesalers include a new and used indicator next to each quantity (N for new and U for used). 4. Click Save to save this information and continue. Note: You are asked if they want to define a class indicator. After looking at the sample data, they can determine whether or not the wholesaler includes this information in the response. Answer this question Yes only if the new/used indicator needs to be defined. Define Detail Group The Detail Group is compromised of the lines that make up each detail item on the want list response. In the example above, there are two detail lines. The first line contains the shipping warehouse ( CHI for Chicago), the new and used quantities, the book s author, and title. The second line contains the book s ISBN Maintain Want Lists > Work with Responses > Process Response > Process Response 1. Position the cursor to the first line of a Detail Group and click Set Beginning Position. 2. Position the cursor to the last line of the Detail Group and click on Set Ending Position. 3. Once this step has been completed, you are ready to define the quantities being shipped. 4. Click Save to save this information and continue. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 42 OF 45

43 You are asked if they want to define a location indicator. Some wholesalers have multiple distribution centers and that information is included as part of the response. After looking at the sample data, determine whether or not the wholesaler includes this information in the response. If books are being shipped from multiple warehouses, an option to create multiple purchase orders with the same number is available. One for each warehouse. This feature can help streamline the receiving process. Define ISBN Once the used quantity has been identified, a prompt displays to indicate the starting position and ending position of the ISBN. Maintain Want Lists > Work with Responses > Process Response > Process Response 1. Highlight the beginning character of the ISBN and click Set Beginning Position. 2. Then, highlight the last character of the ISBN and click Set Ending Position. 3. Click Save to save this information and continue. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 43 OF 45

44 Review the Translation Maintain Want Lists > Work with Responses > Process Response > Process Response 1. Once the ISBN has been defined, review the translation to insure the purchase order can be accurately created from the response. 2. Click Confirm to confirm the translation. 3. Click Save as Sample to save this template for this vendor. Confirm Translation Changes 1. Once the data is appropriately displayed, click Confirm and Save Response as Sample to save the template. The purchase order for this want list response will then also be created. Once the translation is defined, screen appears explaining the final steps of the translation definition. Correct any identified errors before accepting the translation. The translation definition will then be stored for use with future responses from this vendor. It may take a couple of tries to get the data to translate correctly, but once ARC recognizes all the components of the response, the data will look similar to what is displayed on the screen below. Future responses from this wholesaler will be translated using the template created. It should not be necessary to recreate or modify a template for a want list response unless the wholesaler changes the format or position of the data within their response layout. If the wholesaler changes the format of a future response in any way, it is imperative that the translation definition is modified so that the wholesaler response can be recognized. Create PO s from Other Vendor Responses By examining the format of the data being sent from other wholesalers, templates can be set up to enable ARC to correctly translate the data in to a purchase order. For more information on translating data from other wholesalers, call ARC Systems Support for assistance. MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 44 OF 45

45 ARC Ordering Checklist Print Open-To-Buy Report & Review Buying Decisions Create Want lists (Automatically or Manually) Edit/Print Want lists Transmit Electronic Want lists Receive Want list Responses & Create Purchase Orders Create Publisher Purchase Orders (Automatically or Manually) Edit/Print Purchase Orders Transmit Electronic Purchase Orders MBS TEXTBOOK EXCHANGE, LLC PAGE 45 OF 45