Merge Rental Product Numbers

This program can be used to build a list of obsolete Bulk and Non-Bulk Rental Product numbers and merge them with an existing Bulk Rental Product in the same Product Class that allows multiple tags.

This can be useful for consolidating similar rental products under one bulk product number, keeping separate Fixed Asset Tags and still retaining the Sales History for reporting purposes.

The product list can be created manually or can be built based on usage reported in Rental History as outlined in Add Rental Products to Merge Queue.
The resulting worksheet can then be viewed and edited before merging.
When the worksheet list is completed the list of products can be printed for an audit trail before completing the exchange.

Rules and requirements to enable rental product merge:

• The 'Retained Product #' is the target product which must already exist as a Bulk Rental Product that is flagged to allow Multiple Tags.
• The 'Obsolete Product #' is the product to be merged and can be either a Non-bulk or a Bulk Rental Product.
• Both the 'Retained Product #' and 'Obsolete Product #' must be in the same Rental Product Class as no postings adjustments to G/L are made.
• The same rental product cannot be listed in both the 'Retained Product #' and 'Obsolete Product #' fields in a merge list.
• After the merge is completed the old obsolete product numbers are automatically deleted and the option is provided to add the obsolete product numbers as barcode for the target products.

Security:

This utility is only accessible if the role assigned to the operator in Operators has permission to delete rental products.
The role permission is setup in Security Roles on the Security tab of Configure System Settings.

Note: To avoid conflicts, only one user can work on the "Merge Rental Product Numbers" and Merge Sales Product Numbers at the same time. Records on the worksheet need to be processed or cleared to enable the other utility.

When products are merged the old obsolete product numbers are automatically deleted, and an audit record is written to Delete Log referencing RSPF73AV.

The prompts are:

SEQ

The sequence number tracks the product records in the worksheet.

OBSOLETE PRODUCT#

Enter the old Bulk or Non-bulk Rental Product number that is to be merged or select it from the Inventory Search window.

DESCRIPTION

The primary rental product description is displayed.

RETAINED PRODUCT#

Enter the target Bulk Rental Product number that will be used to replace the Obsolete Product# or select it from the Inventory Search window.
This number must exist in Rental Inventory as a bulk product with multiple tags and can already been entered on the worksheet as a Retained Product# for other product merges.

DESCRIPTION

The primary rental product description is displayed.

Expanded Detail

Click on the EXP/CON button to view the Product Class of the Obsolete and Retained products, the separate Groups of the Obsolete product and of the Retained product.

Finished?

Product lines can be added or deleted from the worksheet before accepting.

Click ACCEPT to proceed with the Merge Rental Product Number process, or CANCEL to abort and save the product list.
The merge report prints the old obsolete product numbers, the quantities, the Average Cost, and the retained product number.

Merging the Products:

Quantities

The quantity "On Hand" of the Obsolete products and the quantity for each location is added to the Retained product.
An inventory quantity audit trail record will be added in View Inventory Quantity Changes for the Retained product for each location, referencing the Obsolete product number.

Fixed Asset Tags

All Asset Tags belonging to the Obsolete products are transferred to the Retained product.
The new Average Cost is re-calculated based quantity and costs on the existing (Retained) and on the new (Obsolete) tags that are now assigned to the target Retained product.
Because the total net value across all asset tags should equal the total cost across all asset tags for the Retained and Obsolete products, the net effect on the inventory account in the General Ledger is zero and no postings are required.

Data

The following document and history of the Obsolete product will be updated with the Retained Product number:

• Counter Documents including: Counter Worksheets, Quotes, Reservations, Contracts, Invoices, and Exchanges.
• Internal Branch Transfers (two-step transfers)
• Purchase Orders and Warehouse Receipts
• Work Orders
• Sales Orders
• Repair History
• Revenue History

Refer to Merged File List for Rental Products for a list of the data tables that are merged.

Note: No posting adjustments are made to the G/L

The optional values to merge include:

WRITE OBSOLETE PRODUCT AS BARCODE

All Barcodes for Obsolete products are automatically added to the Retained product Barcode list.
This option provides the ability to also include the 'old product number' as a Barcode for the new retained product so that the obsolete product number is still recognized in inventory searches.

Check this box to add the obsolete product number to the new target product as a Barcode.
Uncheck this box if the obsolete product number is no longer required.

Note: If the obsolete product# is used as a barcode for the new product, that number cannot be re-assigned to another product without first deleting the barcode record.

INCLUDE SAFETY NOTES

Check this box to add the Safety Notes from the Obsolete product number to the new target Retained product number.
This may result in duplicate Safety Notes.

Uncheck this box if the Obsolete product Safety Notes are not required.
Safety Notes from the Obsolete product are then deleted and cannot be retrieved.

INCLUDE ATTACHMENTS

Check this box to add any Attachments from the Obsolete product number to the new target Retained product number.
This may result in duplicate Attachments.

Uncheck this box if the Obsolete product Attachments are not required.
Attachments from the Obsolete product are then deleted and cannot be retrieved.

Finished?

Click ACCEPT to print the Merge Rental Product Number list, or CANCEL to abort and save the product list.

Product# Merge Report:
The Product # Merges Report lists the old Obsolete and new Retained products numbers and description, with the quantity on hand of the Retained product after the merge, and the average cost information of the Retained product before and after the merge.

Errors:

If any errors are encountered a warning is triggered.
Errors could be caused if a product# was added or deleted to the product file, after it had been recorded on the worksheet, or if a product is listed on both the Obsolete and Retained columns.

Click OK to acknowledge the warning and review the Information Log for error messages.

CONFIRMATION:

If there are no errors, confirmation is required to accept the report output and proceed with the merge of product numbers.
Click OK to complete the merge or CANCEL to abort.

Note: Be advised that once executed, this operation cannot be undone.
Hence, prior to running this request, verify in the play environment that the results obtained from running this operation are as expected.

When merged the old product numbers are automatically deleted, and an audit record is written to Delete Log referencing RSPF73AV.

ACTIONS:
Additional actions provided by buttons on the Merge Rental Product Numbers screen include:

• Create a List of Rental Products to Merge:
  Click the BUILD LIST button to generate a list of the rental products based on product activity reflected in Sales History, as outlined in Add Rental Products to Merge Queue.

• Remove a Product from the Worksheet:
  Click on the sequence number to highlight or focus on the appropriate product record, and click the DELETE button to remove that product from the list.
  Confirmation is required.

• View Additional Product Information on the Worksheet:
  Click on the EXP/CON button to o view additional product information including the Product Class of the Obsolete and Retained products, the Group of the Obsolete product and the Group of the Retained product.

• Start a Fresh List of Products to Merge:
  Click the CLEAR LIST button to erase the list of rental products in the worksheet.
  Confirmation is required.

Posting Control
The Merge Sales and Merge Rental Products programs are designed to be run by one operator at a time.
Locking will occur if an operator did not exit the posting program correctly.
A Posting Control Information warning will appear on the screen and only operators with Security Role permission to reset the Inventory - Merge Product Numbers flag will have access to the RESET button that unlocks the program.