There are many scenarios involving customer returns.  We present some examples below.  Videos are best viewed at full screen to show the resolution they were recorded with (HD 1920 x 1080).

Customer return, rework and re-dispatch.

In this video we show how to rework the total quantity sent to a customer with a rework works order and re-dispatch it to the customer on the same sales line.  We do not create NCR paperwork to keep it as simple as possible.

Using NCRs

One of customers has written a great description of how to do customer returns, including creating NCRs. See the link below:-

http://match-it.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/cusret.pdf

Buy/Sell returns

In this video by Dave Nichols talks about about extending a customer return back to the supplier as well for a buy/sell part.  It is rather old but the basic mechanism still stands.

Announcements can be used in three ways. They all involve use of the NM module default called Announcement. All three can be in use at the same time.

1. If a system level value is set, the announcement is shown to all users when they log in.

2. If a value is set for a specific user, that user will be shown the announcement when they log in.

3. If a value is set for a specific customer or supplier, the announcement will be shown when that customer or supplier is picked for a list (by anybody). For example when creating a sales order.

The announcement system can be disabled entirely by setting the system value of the NM default called Show Attention Messages to No.

The KB article called How to set zero rated VAT on a customer is an example of how to create a customer specific default (in this case a VAT code) and can be used as a detailed guide for setting both user and customer/supplier default values. The difference is that in this case the module (sometimes called class) is NM and the default is called Announcement.

To see all the announcements you’ve created in a list, click F4 for the list of defaults in the system, making sure Show all classes is ticked. Type nm and then the Enter key to go to the NM class announcements. Click on the Announcement default to select that line. If you then click the Show Usage button you’ll see all your announcements and you can edit or delete them as required from there.

A related ability is the one to show messages to users when receiving goods. In the PO line detail window there is a field called Notes for Goods-In. When that field is populated, the message is shown to anybody creating a delivery note relevant to that PO line. Similar to the announcement system, it can be disabled entirely by setting the NM default called Show Attention Messages to No.

When a purchase line is created the associated nominal code comes from one of the following sources and in that order:-

1. Supplier value for default.
2. Material record.
3. System value for default.

The relevant default (see the Processes+Show defaults menu) is in the MC module and called Material Buying Nominal Code.

So for example, to always associate a particular nominal code with a supplier (regardless of the material) create an instance of the default for that supplier.

You can do that by going into the detail of the supplier, clicking the Defaults button and then creating a supplier instance with the New button. The Selected Default will be as above. Set the value as required

Materials can be specified to have a shelf life by clicking the Set Size Profile button from the detail of any material record, then clicking on the Usage tab and entering the shelf life in days.

Each batch of that material will then automatically have an associated expiry date, based on the day it was booked in and the associated material shelf life.

If the expiry date is not always based on the associated material shelf-life, a PO default called User must specify expiry date can be set to Yes – meaning that Match-IT will not set expiry dates automatically as above, rather, the user must specify one when booking in materials with a specified shelf life. From the help text of the default:-

When set and the product being booked in has a shelf life the
user must specify an expiry date. When not set Match-IT
automatically uses the shelf-life to estimate an expiry date.

Defaults have system level values but can be overridden on a per user, work-station, site or customer/supplier basis. In the context of this default that is probably most useful when considering suppliers.

Match-IT auto-expires batches during the auto-scheduling process by giving them a state of dead, exactly as if they had been used up in the normal way. You can get a list of expired batches by using the options in the stock list browse or by dragging msiView:failures onto a ribbon menu from the Processes+GoAnywhere menu.

Sometimes the scheduler can remain locked because a machine has crashed or the overnight schedule was interrupted. When this happens you will get messages that the scheduler is locked when you try and use it.

To manually unlock the scheduler in such circumstances, follow these steps:-

1. From the menu bar at the top of Match-IT, select Processes and Go Anywhere.
2. Scroll down to the TR module (see column 1) or type TR+Enter to auto locate to it.
3. Select the line called Facility Locks.
4. Click Execute.
5. Select the Scheduler lock line (as per the Name column).
6. Click Unlock.

Alternatively, go into the re-scheduler and use the buttons in the Tools tab.

After an invoice (sales or purchase) has been exported to accounts, Match-IT does not allow that invoice to be unapproved.

If you go into the invoice detail and select the Audit tab, you can clear the Exported On date; after which Match-IT will allow you to unapprove the invoice.

i.e. You are manually taking responsibility for the potential inconsistency of an invoice in accounts and now potentially removable in Match-IT.

We protect the unapprove action like this to conform to BS/ISO requirements.

In very early versions of Match-IT the stock allocator was very simple and allocated stock on the basis of first-come-first-served and it allocated physical stock first and when that ran out allocated in-production stock or scheduled more production.

Intuitively that sounds correct, but in practice it leads to delivery compromises. Consider this simple situation using this legacy scheme:

1. You have 100 widgets in stock.
2. It takes 2 weeks to make a batch of widgets.
3. An order arrives for 100 widgets due for delivery in 4 weeks time.
4. The 100 widgets in stock are allocated to this order – you can meet the delivery date

Everything is fine so far. But, now consider what happens if another order is received for delivery next week. There is no physical stock left because the prior job has it, so a new batch has to be made and that takes 2 weeks, making this new job late!

With modern versions of Match-IT its stock allocator is far more sophisticated and can accommodate this scenario without compromising either job. It does this by treating physical stock as precious. What that means is that it tries to hang on to physical stock for as long as possible, leaving it available to allow you to be more agile. In the above example the allocator does as before when there is only the one order, but when the new order arrives this happens:

Pass 1

1. Physical stock is allocated to order 1 – its on-time.
2. A new batch is scheduled for production for order 2 – its late.

Pass 2

1. The allocator notices that the new batch is on-time for order 1 so uses it, leaving the physical stock in place – its still on-time.
2. The physical stock is still available for order 2, so its allocated – order 2 is on-time as well now.

You might ask “What happens if there are delays in production?” Could that cause order 1 to be compromised? The answer is no. The reason is that the scheduler is continually monitoring the situation and as soon as it notices that the batch in production is going to be too late for order 1, it will grab the physical stock back because it has priority. This means the lower priority order 2 job is compromised instead – as it should be.

This is a very simple example. Things can get far more complex when you are dealing with large assemblies with lots of common parts across different sub-assemblies. The stock allocator can cope with that too. Here’s a real life example that triggered the development of this new allocator (many years ago now):

This is what would happen with the legacy allocator:-

1. You have a large contract due for delivery in 6 months, in that there are large numbers of sub-assemblies all needing lots of special bolts that take 3 months to make – the bolts are the critical path, the whole job can be made in 3 months once the bolts arrive.
2. You have sufficient bolts in stock to meet this job (just).
3. This large contract is very important so it has top priority.
4. The stock allocator allocates the physical stock to this job – exhausting it.
5. The next priority job also wants some of these bolts, but there are none in stock so has to order more, and wait 3 months for them to arrive.
6. And the next..
7. And the next….

So all short term jobs are compromised for the lack of a few bolts!

The modern allocator prevents this.

To use the modern allocator set the Use legacy batch scan order default to No. This default is in the XP module.

Sometimes when trying to recover a damaged file windoze will report an “Access Denied” error and not let the repair happen.

The most likely reason for this is that a file lock has been left in-place from some other session. A useful trick to force Windows to relinquish such file locks, is to temporarily remove the network share that other stations are using to access Match-IT.

So, for example, if other stations are accessing Match-IT through a mapped drive M: that is mapped to something like \\server\match-it, go to the physical location of that folder on the server, you will see a ‘hand’ symbol under the folder name to indicate it is being shared, right-click on it, select Security and sharing, then un-check the share this folder option. Windows will warn you that you are forcing users off – good, that is what is required. Confirm it, do the repair, then re-share it again afterwards.

Make sure when you re-share that you give everyone full control (use the Permissions button).

If you are using remote desktop and terminal services to run Match-IT this technique will not work because there will (usually) be no mapped drive to un-share. In this situation it may be that there are stopped sessions on the server holding file locks. The brutal way to deal with this is to bring up the task manager on the server and stop all processes with the name match_go.exe.

Match-IT needs to configure various Windows components at times including the registry and firewall settings. Even if you are logged into Windows as Admistrator or have administrative privileges, Windows will sometimes refuse to cooperate and you will get a message asking you to “Run Match-IT as Adminstrator” or words to that effect.

To do this, close Match-IT and then right-click on the Match-IT icon and select the menu item that says Run Match-IT as Administrator. Then log in to Match-IT in the usual way. If you received the original message after performing a specific operation, please try again and this time the Windows configuration Match-IT was attempting should succeed. In the case of firewall based original messages, it’s best to leave Match-IT logged in in this way for at least 15 minutes while performing your usual tasks.

By extra line we mean a line that is not associated with a purchase order and/or does not have a material code. For example a carriage or handling charge.

While in the purchase invoice detail:-

• Click New to add a new line.
• Tick the Extra line checkbox.
• Click on the Extra line tab (tab 3) and add a description.

You can optionally link to a PO line but it is not necessary.