Fenestratio

Make Windows Easier

General How To

Quoting/Ordering/Pricing

Manage Orders / Order Lifecycle

Once you've assigned an order number to a quote, it's an order, and several order-specific facilities are made available. (Note quotes can be deducted, but it's for simulation purposes and values won't 'stick' and purchase orders created from quotes will not retain a link to the quote.) There are several date boxes, staff selection boxes and checkboxes that can help a plant manager manage and track orders through their 'life cycle' and share that status information with everyone else:
Price Locks
• as soon as an order number is assigned, all product and option prices on the quote become locked and will show with small gray locks on the quote lines page
On Hold (checkbox) & Hold Note (text box)
• used to indicate that order processing is delayed, and why
• if your company is configured to require order approvals, the hold note will default to 'Approval'
• other usual reasons for an order to be on hold are that the paperwork is ambiguous or deficient
• can be set on quote header tab under Order Processing or the order status detail popup
Status Note (text box)
• if the on-hold checkbox is not ticked, the note is used as a status note, often to indicate there is an aspect of the order that will lengthen lead times, like a customized product or special service required
• can be set on quote header tab under Order Processing or the order status detail popup
Required Date (date box) & Required Firm (checkbox)
• used to record a customer's insistence on delivery or installation on a specific date, or a sales representative's rash promise.
• can be set on quote header tab under Order Processing or the order status detail popup
• ticking the required firm box signifies that you will be on the phone apologizing (or worse) to the customer if the required date is not met
• entering a value here will affect any installation or delivery calendar entry for this order
Measurements Are Final (checkbox)
• used to 'release' an installed order to manufacturing/purchasing
• meant especially for companies that do re-measures when installed quotes become orders
• can be set on quote header tab under Order Processing or the order status detail popup
Measurer (staff selection) & Measure Time (date box) & Measure Done (checkbox)
• used to schedule a re-measure and record when it has been done
• can be set on quote header tab under Order Processing or the order status detail popup
• entering a value here will affect the Measurement calendar entry for this order
Installer (staff selection) & Install Time (date box)
• used to schedule an installation
• can be set on quote header tab under Order Processing or the order status detail popup
• entering a value here will affect the Installation calendar entry for this order
Deducted (status message)
• indicates an order has been taken through the 'deduction' steps, from the Deduct tab
• finalizes compound product layouts for manufacturing
• prepares product and component information for purchase or resale products and required components
• causes most product-related information to be locked from further user input.
Ready Date (date box)
• used to 'forecast' when a product will be ready for installation, delivery, or pickup
• can be set on quote header tab under Order Processing or the order status detail popup
• entering a value here will affect the 'Ready' calendar entry for this order
Ready Firm (check box)
• meant to signify that all necessary components (like glass) and/or resale products are 'in-house' and ready date is therefore firm
• can be set on quote header tab Order Processing or the order status detail popup
Product Ready / Ready Now (check box)
• meant to signify that all products are ready for installation, pickup, or delivery
• ticking this box will generate usage transactions and relieve component inventory
• can be set on quote header tab under Order Processing or the order status detail popup
nstallation/Delivery/Pickup Done or Date Done (date box)
• for installed orders, conveys date that all products are installed and collection should proceed
• for supply orders, conveys date that all products are either picked up or delivered and collection should proceed
• can be set on quote header tab Order Processing or the order status detail popup
Invoiced (date box)
• conveys when invoice was either previewed, printed, or mailed
• set automatically by Fenestratio
Deposit Posted (check box)
• accessible only from the Posting tab
• indicates that the order has been posted to company's accounting software
• best filter on quote list to perform and track posting is "Orders Ready not Posted" along with using Deposit as Second Last or Last Column
Sale Posted (check box)
• accessible only from the Posting tab
• indicates that the order has been posted to company's accounting software
• best filter on quote list to perform and track posting is "Orders Ready not Posted"
Paid (check box)
• accessible only from the Posting tab
• indicates that the invoice has been paid
• best filter on quote list to perform and track receivables is "Orders Posted not Paid"
Cancel Reason (select box)
• if selected, conveys reason order was cancelled, and causes it to be excluded from other order management lists
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Price Products

Product prices in Fenestratio should be thought of as "Public List Prices". Second, on Fenestratio quotes, the three factors that can be applied to product prices must be applied the same to all products and options, so all of your product list prices should use a similar markup because they will all be discounted the same by default. Further, if you consider the maximum discount you might give for installed or supplied jobs, you should ensure the net price has an adequate margin built in for all product lines.
There are several "knobs and dials" that can be fine-tuned on a quote to get the price you want:
• Locking:
  • Product and installation and option prices can be overridden with the little blue lock icons. Once a price is locked, Fenestratio will not change it, so any adjustments to the price that become necessary to reflect a change to the product or option are now the responsibility of the user.
• Multiplier:
  • On the quote is a Multiplier setting, usually set to 1, which is applied to the public list prices before calculating the product, installation and option prices for those items not locked. Think of this as a hidden discount (ie. where multiplier is less than 1) or upcharge (where multiplier is > 1). The initial inspiration for the Multiplier was to charge more or less for jobs in regions of varying economic power. Because multiplier was originally conceived as a regional setting, you can set a default multiplier on branch records at maintenance->branches. Because it makes sense to limit hidden discounts or upcharges, you can set a valid range for the multiplier on the branch record. Since each customer belongs to a branch, any new customer record will get a multiplier defaulted from its branch. The customer's multiplier gets copied as a default onto the quote record, which is the bottom level at which it can be tweaked. Last, since you may want to allow some users different latitude with respect to multipliers, you can also set a minimum and maximum multiplier on each security role into which users are placed.
• Factors:
  • Also coming from the Branch onto the Customer and passed onto the quote record are discount/upcharge factors. On the branch and the customer you have one factor with a reason box for supplied jobs, and another factor-reason pair for installed jobs. On the quote there are two factor-reason pairs. These values by default show as bottom-line discounts (if factor is < 0) or upcharges (if factor is >0). If the factors are shown at the bottom of the quote, they are applied to all products and options on the quote - even the locked ones. You can roll the factors into the product prices by ticking the box on the quote header labelled "Apply factors at item level . In the case of item-applied factors-the locked prices do not get changed. Last, since you may want to allow some users different latitude with respect to factors, you can also set a maximum discount on each security role into which users are placed. Bear in mind a 100% discount is not uncommon, as it's often used for 'correction' or 'service' orders.
• Service Discounts:
  • On the quote header page is a checkbox labelled "Apply factors to services", which ticked by default. If it is unticked, then factors will not be applied to installation charges or options that are marked as being part of installation.
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Enter a Quote

• From the home page, click on Quotes, then click
• the "Pick/Add Customer" popup will appear
• once you've added the quote, you will be taken directly to adding the first product
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Email a Quote

• Go to the quote header and click on the EMail button , or the Mail tab if your preferences show you're using quote section tabs.
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Create an Order

• Fenestratio orders are simply quotes with an order number assigned. Go to the quote header and click on the button - the next order number in sequence will be assigned.
• For installed orders, you will need to enter an estimated installation time in days
• If you need to start at a particular order number, or want to use a year-indicating prefix, you can enter an order number too.
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Set up a Dealer

• Steps Summarized:
  • verify standard customer settings for use by dealer
  • assign internal person as dealer's representative
  • set dealer quoting settings
  • create first Self-serve user
  • sign in as that user and try it
  • create other Self-serve user(s)
  • use Fenestratio [Test Drive] and [Test as Dealer] buttons for training
  • inform dealer users of passwords
• the representative is the person in your company to whom the dealer users can submit questions, and to whom requests for order submission will be addressed
• all dealer-created quotes will be supply only, and have the Default Factor 1 Supply Only value from the customer record as discount
• when testing the first self-serve user, open a window in a different browser to test the dealer account, ie. if you use Firefox, open a window in Chrome or Internet Explorer, then you can use both sessions to look at the same quotes at once and fine-tune your settings quickly
• Self-serve users can be restricted to seeing their own quotes - we recommend you have at least one self-server user account not restricted so they can cover colleagues' absences
• Costing:
  • in this context, cost is what the dealer pays you
  • the factors in the quote header shown internally get applied at the item level for dealer-created quotes
  • dealer users can run a "Cost Quote" that shows what they will pay for the products
• Pricing:
  • in this context, price is what the dealer charges their customer
  • Markup Percent is applied to product costs to determine what is shown as the list price of products and options
  • Markup Handling is a management setting for dealers to control what dealer users can see and do with respect to the Markup Percent
    • Hidden - dealer users do not see Markup Percent and may not know about it
    • Locked - dealer users can see the Markup Percent but cannot override it on quotes
    • Unlocked - dealer users can see and override Markup Percent on quotes
  • Discount will default onto dealer-created quotes - allows dealer to 'show' their prospects/customers a bottom-line discount
• Value-Added Options - dealers can charge for their goods and services by adding miscellaneous options to quote lines. These options do not show for internal users.
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Create a New Product

• separate document with images: How to create a new window while quoting - if you're authorized!
• separate document with images: How to create a new window in advance
• if the formula from the related type is not suitable override the pricing formulae at the product level
• to add "views" for the product, prepare and/or use "panel" images roughly scaled to 1 inch per pixel in the typical size
  • eg. for an entry door family
    • create "panel" images 36 x 82 for single doors
    • create "panel" images 16 x 82 for sidelights
• we use Microsoft Paint on Windows to create monochrome product line drawings
• you may be able to get images from your supplier
• for all images created, create a horizontal mirror image so that either inside or outside view can be represented, and link them using the "Flip View" selector
  • avoid using non-reversible drawing elements like the letter "F" for fixed
  • the product view detail page includes to help creating mirror images
• the product view detail page also includes to link to an online PhotoShop clone for touch-ups
• for compound, or multi-panel units:
  • for manufactured or layout-only families, select the panels and specify the typical layout on the view detail
  • combine "panel" images to create images like double doors, or door with sidelight(s), or casement-fixed-casement units
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Add a Product Line

• use Maintenance→Vendors to ensure the supplier is loaded, and the "Used for Products" checkbox is ticked
• use Maintenance→Families to create the family, selecting the appropriate vendor. Consider the "Deductions" value on the family detail:
  • "Deduct Modular" will be used for most fully manufactured product lines
  • "Deduct Structural" can be used for lines using transoms to mull compound units
  • "Do Not Deduct" will show only an image on order cut sheets
  • "Do Not Show" will not show on order cut sheets at all
  • for resale window families, you may want to choose "Layout Only", so the layout can be passed on to purchase orders
  • if the product is one for which you buy glass separately, select "Order Glass Only"
• for each set of products that will share quoting rules and/or pricing methods, create a type using Maintenance→Types
• for each different type of single panel, follow steps for Add a Product above. eg. for a window family:
  • create a single casement product
  • create a single fixed product
  • create a single awning product
• for each aspect of the products in the family that has multiple mutually-exclusive choices, like jamb extension or brickmold type, add a feature using Maintenance→Features
• use Maintenance→Options to describe and price all product add-ons, placing them within features as necessary
• for manufactured product lines:
  • use Maintenance→Vendor Items to add items that could serve as components of products in the family
  • from Maintenance→Families:
    • use the panels button to create a panel definition for each different single panel product
      • on each panel detail, select the corresponding product image as default view
      • use the button to the left of each panel name to specify how each component is used in the panel
    • use the glass button to set default glass descriptions for glass purchases
    • use the default options button to set default options to show on quote line items for products in the family
• for each compound combination of operating and fixed panels of a given type in a given shape that can share a price calculation, follow steps for Add a Product above
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Do a Price Update

• all prices are locked on orders so they are not a concern
• use Administration→Price Lock to lock the prices on all quotes for which you want to honour the quoted prices
  • the "Lock Prices on Quotes Since" setting will be calculated from your "Prices Effective Days" setting on Administration→Company
• use Maintenance→Types to review and change formulae for prices at the type level
• use Maintenance→Products, filter the list as desired, then click to perform mass updates on the selected products
• use Maintenance→Options, filter the list as desired, then click to perform mass updates on the selected options
• Watch out For: price-affecting updates to quotes you've locked will require the price of the product or option in question to be unlocked for Fenestratio to reprice it
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Validate Addresses

• on the company page you can indicate that customer and/or ship to addresses must be validated for order submissions
• we decided not to apply validations at quote time in line with our design goal of keeping quoting as fast and simple as possible.
• addresses are either unvalidated, validated, or overridden
  • validated addresses show
  • overridden address show an Omacron Ō
  • overridden addresses may be necessary for construction sites Google doesn't know about yet
• if you're shipping to the customer's address - you don't need a separate ship-to entry
• you can validate the customer's address from the quote header page by clicking on the modify button under the customer label
• when you click the ship-to-address-search button, Fenestratio pops up a window to look in previously loaded addresses
• when you hit [Validate] on either the address detail or customer detail popup, Fenestratio will ask google to validate the address and show you a map
• if you know an address is correct but it's not recognized by Google yet, you can override validation and Fenestratio will record the fact you overrode it
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Purchasing

Fix a PO Line linked to a Sales Order Line

When you generate a purchase order from sales order information, the sales order data and the purchase order are linked for reference purposes, but they're not linked to cascade updates. That is, once you generate a purchase order from sales order data, changing the sales order data will not automatically change the purchase order data. We couldn't do that - what if you've faxed a PO to your supplier - without being hooked into your system how could ~they~ know you've changed things. Thus you need a procedure like this. Two methods:
• 1. All Manual
  • best if changing an existing Purchase Order that has not been submitted or that the supplier knows you're going to be revising
  • go into Purchases, Lines,[Edit], for the image, choose [Load Mirror Image] or [Replace from Item] as required
  • edit the values and notes as required
  • re-submit the purchase order
• 2. Regenerate
  • best if you need to order a replacement
  • go into Purchases, Lines,[Edit], choose [Unlink Sale Line]
  • go to home page to ensure the quote gets cleared from your session memory
  • create a new purchase order for the same vendor
  • go to lines for the new purchase
  • choose [Add Product/Option/Item]
    • choose [Product] on the Add to Purchase popup
    • the sale line you just unlinked should be available to pull onto the new purchase order
    • beware you may need to flip the image for the vendor if they expect inside view and you quote outside or vice versa
    • edit the values as required
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Use an alternate glass vendor

• from the deduction results page, you can click on the name of the glass vendor to create a purchase for that default vendor
• to order the glass from a different vendor:
  • ensure the vendor in question is marked in Maintenance->Vendors as "Supplies Glass"
  • go to Home->Purchases, create a purchase order for the vendor
  • from Purchase->Lines, click [Add Glass], Fenestratio will list the glass units on open orders remaining to be ordered, you can then'pull' glass units onto this purchase order
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Use Manual Purchasing

• since many Fenestratio user companies buy products from suppliers with ordering extranets, we provide manual purchasing as a 'lighter' way to keep your on-purchase-order values up to date, as well as providing a simplified method to record receipts as they arrive
• manual purchasing can be activated for a given vendor item from the vendor item transaction page
• the vendor item transaction page can be accessed from the Inventory page or the vendor item detail page
• once on the vendor item transaction page, a button to activate manual purchasing will appear if it is not already active
• once manual purchasing is activated for a vendor item, the vendor item transaction page will present a button to add a new manual purchase
• existing manual purchases will be shown in a collapsing section beside the item's on purchase order value
• receipts can be recorded by clicking on the manual purchase for which material is being received
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Manufacturing

Prepare Cut Sheets

• From the Quote Header page, click the deductions button in the button bar at the top center of the page, or the Deductions tab if your preferences show you're using quote section tabs, and the deduction wizard will walk you through specifying the information necessary to deduct the order.
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Change Cut Sheet Calculations

• Cut sheets are generated from DynaBOMs, which are editted from Maintenance→Panels, by choosing the button to the left of the panel name.
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Delete a Panel

• delete all views/items which use the panel in a compound layout
• for the item from which the panel's standard view is taken, delete all other views
• button should now show on panel detail
• deleting the panel should also delete the standard view and its item
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Schedule Production

• separate document: Production Scheduling
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Reprint Barcode Unit Labels

• there are several ways to get to the unit label page for an order:
  • from within the quote, click the print button in the tool bar, and then click under the labels section
  • from Order Status, click on an order and then click
  • from Barcode Ready or Barcode WIP, click on on the row of the order desired
• use the Label column at far right to ensure that only the unit for which you want labels is ticked
• click one of the Print buttons to suit your needs
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Quote Posting Page

The quote posting page was set up to pull the events in an order's life cycle that may result in an accounting journal entry being made. The account codes and descriptions displayed come from values maintainable at Administration→Accounts. The placement of accounts in the journal entries is determined by selections on the product family, customer branch and company records.

Also from the quote posting page, you can place a journal entry onto a posting batch, which you may export at a later date for importing to your accounting software.

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Posting Batches

Posting batches can be maintained at Administration→Posting Batches. A posting batch is a grouping of journal entries generated from events in the life of a sales order. Posting batches can be exported to files of various formats for importing to accounting software.
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Fenestratio API

Fenestratio is determined to be an effective, cooperative cog in your enterprise, as it is today, and as it will evolve over time. Our willingness to build interfaces is part of that, and our API is another. The API is described in a separate document.
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Other System Codes

On records that are most likely to correspond to records in your other software, we provide a special column we call "Other System Code". This is our 'pointer' to that record on the other system, and will be included in all payloads we send to your other software. You may need to enter other system codes on some of your Fenestratio records to enable certain integration capabilities. At time of writing there are "Other System Codes" on Customers, Contacts, Families, Vendors, Users (as a vendor - for commissions and installation sub-contractors). Some values not thusly labelled are expected to have the codes from other sources, like vendor item code and account code.
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Exports

Exports can play a useful role in integration, as well as off-system-analysis. Fenestratio's export-to-Excel facilities are almost all offered at Administration→Export Data. Some exports are offered 'in-place', like purchase order line details or service records.
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Language
While most of the terms used in Fenestratio are universal in the window and door industry, there may be some that we are using in a manner that may not be intuitive for the user:

• Family - a set of products from a particular manufacturer or vendor that share a common set of options and may be mulled together in a frame, such as windows, steel doors, and sliding doors. The family is the level at which you can describe features and options and defaults applicable to the product types in the family, and whether the products included are manufactured or resold by you. Families can be worked with from the Maintenance menu.

• Type - a set of products belonging to a family that share an operating mechanism, such as awning, casement, single hung, etc. The type is the level at which you specify pricing and installation charge formulae for standard products like rectangular windows. Types can be worked with from the Maintenance menu or the Product Types button on the Families page.

• Product - a simple or compound window or door or sunroom wall. At the product level you specify the attributes that determine pricing, like number of panels and operators and frame shape, whether width and height are both required at quoting time, and can override the pricing and installation formulae and default options specified at the type level if necessary. Also at the product level you can specify standard sizes if applicable. Products can be worked with from the Maintenance menu or the Products button on the Families page or the Products button on the Types page.
  
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• View - a layout of a product. At the view level you specify how the frame of the product is configured using x-y coordinates and either provide or generate an image of the layout. Views can be worked with from the Maintenance menu or the Views button on the Types page or the Views button on the Products page. An example view:
  • 
    • {type:CasementLeft,x:0,y:0,w:28,h:60}
    • {type:FixedStandard,x:28,y:0,w:28,h:60}
    • {type:CasementRight,x:56,y:0,w:28,h:60}

• Panel - a simple window frame that is used in a view. At the panel level you specify whether the unit is an operator, what its minimum and maximum allowed sizes are if applicable, what components make up the panel, and which energy star ratings apply. Panels can be worked with from the panels link on the home page and the Maintenance menu, as well as the Panels button on the Families page. Some panels:
  

• Option - an add-on to a product, such as tinted glass or grills. At the option level you specify pricing information as well as formulae for width and height and usage rules. Options can be worked with from the Maintenance menu or the Options button on the Families page.

• Feature - an aspect of a product for which only one of a set of options can be chosen, such as brickmold or casing. At the feature level you specify which options are included, whether the feature is for installation or supply only, is mandatory, whether the first option should be defaulted, and where in relation to other features the feature should be presented. Features can be worked with from the Maintenance menu or the Features button on the Families page.

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General Notes
• when you see a control highlighted in light yellow, it is mandatory
• most pages will include a feedback image at the top right of the page, which will allow you to send email to fenestratio support including context information
• pages where specific help text is available will include a help image at the top right of the page
• List Navigation
  • At the bottom left of most lists is position text, such as "1 - 8/367", which tells you that you are viewing rows 1 to 8 of 367 rows which meet the selection criteria. To navigate through the records in the current selection, use the first page button , the previous page button , the next page button , and the last page button , all of which are located at the bottom right of the list.
  • When navigating lists, in order to most quickly find the record(s) you wish to work on, it is best to use the selection criteria at bottom center under the buttons to filter and/or sort the list records. Each list page will have its own applicable search criteria. After you have made your sort and filter selections, click the refresh button to reload the list. Note that the list does not automatically return to the top of the new selection, rather, it will stay at whatever page you were previously viewing.
• most pages will include , which will return you to the previously visited page.
• most pages will include , which will save your input. Note that if any errors are found, you will be brought back to this page, and a message like
  Some error value was found in your input.
  ..will appear and no updates will have been saved.
• note that not all users will see the same links on menu pages. The role into which the user's profile is placed will determine which pages the user will see. Further, not all buttons will be visible to all users, depending upon the role.
• at the top of most pages is a location bar with a gray background, which shows your current location in the application's structure. You can use the underlined words in the location bar to navigate to pages previously visited.
• at the bottom of most pages is a list of the links from you home menu. These are provided for you to navigate from page to page more quickly.
• please note that some field descriptions, messages, and button captions may differ from what is shown above if your system administrator has modified the system message values
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