Entering Manufacturers and Manufacturer Part Numbers—Exercises

Basic Data Setup

Manufacturers

Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to register part manufacturers into the system so you can use this data throughout IFS Applications as appropriate. 

Windows:
Manufacturer

  1. Enter a new manufacturer record for the Precision Engineering Ltd. company, specifying XX-PEL in the Identify field (replacing XX with your initials). Save the record. 
  2. Enter another new manufacturer record, this time for Sundt Industries, specifying XX-SUN in the Identify field (again, replacing XX with your initials). Save the record.

General exercise for Manufacturer Setup

Part Catalog Record

Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to create a part catalog record, which is required before you can enter the manufacturers and manufacturer part numbers that will be associated with that record.

Windows:
Part

  1. Create a new part catalog record for a strobe light part, with the part number XX-SL101 (replacing XX with your initials), and using a unit code of PCS.

General exercise for Setting Up Part Catalog

Main Exercises

Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to add records that associate manufacturers and manufacturer part numbers with your strobe light part. 

Windows:
Part Manufacturer
Manufacturer Part Numbers History

Adding Manufacturer Records to a Part Catalog Record

  1. If necessary, in the Part window header, query for the XX-SL101 strobe light part record that you created in the basic data setup exercise.
  2. In the Part Manufacturer tab, create a new manufacturer record in the top table.
  3. In the Manufacturer Number field, either enter the manufacturer ID for Precision Engineering Ltd. or select it from the List of Values. Save the record.
  4. Create another manufacturer record in this table for Sundt Industries and save the record when finished.

Entering Manufacturer Part Numbers for a Part

You will enter two different manufacturer part numbers that Precision Engineering Ltd. can supply and two manufacturer part numbers that Sundt Industries can supply for your company's XX-SL101 strobe light part.

  1. In the top table of the Part Manufacturer tab, select the Precision Engineering record.
  2. In the bottom table, create a new manufacturer part number record.
  3. Enter XX-PEL475 as the manufacturer part number. (Replace XX with your initials.)
  4. Enter any optional data that you want entered for this part number, such as the standardized international code for this part (enter this in the Commercial Generic Description field) the standard NATO stock number if this part has one, or any known values for mean time between failure or repair (MTBF/MTTR).
  5. Save the record.
  6. Create another record, this time specifying XX-PEL477 as the manufacturer part number. (This part number is also supplied by Precision Engineering.) 
  7. Enter any additional data for this part number.
  8. Save the second record.
  9. In the top table, select the Sundt Industries manufacturer record.
  10. In the bottom table, create a manufacturer part number record for the XX-SUN92 part number supplied by Sundt Industries.
  11. Save the record.
  12. Create another record for Sundt's part number XX-SUN90.
  13. Save the record.

Note: When you enter the part manufacturer numbers, the system defaults to setting the approval for the record to Yes. 

Selecting a Preferred Manufacturer Part Number

Note that if you added the manufacturer and manufacturer part records in the order described in the exercises above, the system automatically selected Precision Engineering Ltd. as the preferred manufacturer. It also selected the XX-PEL475 and XX-SUN92 part numbers as the preferred part numbers supplied by their respective manufacturers (as long as the records were approved when entered). IFS Applications automatically selects the first manufacturer entered as the preferred manufacturer, and the first approved manufacturer part number entered as the preferred part number. Let's say that you want to change the preferred manufacturer to Sundt Industries and you want the XX-PEL477 part to be the the preferred manufacturer part from Precision Engineering.

  1. Select the Sundt Industries record from the top table.
  2. Right-click and then click Set Preferred Manufacturer. Sundt Industries is now the preferred manufacturer to supply your part.
  3. Select the Precision Engineering Ltd. record.
  4. In the bottom table, select the XX-PEL477 part number record. 
  5. Right-click, and then click Set Preferred Manufacturer Part No. The XX-PEL477 part number is now the preferred manufacturer part number to order when ordering your part from Precision Engineering.

Note: If the XXPEL477 record is not fully approved (the Approved field is set to Yes), you will not be able to set this part number as the preferred part number. See the next exercise for more information about changing the approved status.

Changing the Approved Status for Manufacturer Part Numbers

When you enter new manufacturer part numbers, IFS Applications sets the approved status of the new records to Yes as the default. You will change the approved status of two manufacturer part number records and enter approval notes for one. 

  1. Go to the record for XX-PEL477 manufacturer part supplied by Precision Engineering. (Select the Precision Engineering record in the top table if necessary to display the Precision Engineering part numbers.) This part number record should have the Approved field set to Yes and the Preferred Part check box should be selected.
  2. In the Approved field for this part number, click No from the list. (Perhaps the MTTR experienced by your company for this part number is unacceptable so your company has decided not to order this part number again.)
  3. Save the record. The Preferred Part check box for the record should be cleared as the part number is no longer approved.
  4. Select the Sundt Industries manufacturer record in the top table.
  5. In the Approved field for the XX-SUN90 part number, select Conditional from the list.
  6. In the Approved Notes field, enter a comment about the conditions that affect using this part number. For example, let's say that the XX-SUN90 part is basically the same as the XX-SUN92 part, except the newer XX-SUN92 part includes one small new feature. If this is the case, you may want to enter the following note: Only order if XX-SUN92 unavailable.
  7. Save the record.

Viewing Manufacturer Part Number History

  1. Open the Manufacturer Part Numbers History window.
  2. Query for your XX-SL101 strobe light part. The window should display two history records showing the approval changes for XX-PEL475 and XX-SUN90. If you removed any manufacturer part records or made any other approved status changes to the manufacturer parts associated with your XX-SL101 part, you will also see those history records displayed here.