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Material Classification (Groups & Types)

Introduction​

Information about the Materials your company purchases from Suppliers is stored at three levels of detail in the system.

These levels make it much easier for you to filter long lists of information to quickly find the exact material you need.

At the highest level, Materials are arranged into Groups. Material Groups are then broken down into Material Types and finally Types consist of Specific Instances, also referred to as Material Items.

The Supplier Catalogue Grid underneath the Search Criteria Panel consists of a set of columns that display specific information about each product, such as its Code, Name, Unit of Measure, physical Dimensions, Cost Price, Supplier Name and so on.

important

For detailed information on searching for existing Specific Material Instances, and adding New Material Items to the Supplier Catalogue, refer to the document titled "Supplier Catalogue (Costing)".

Procedure Guideline​

In this procedure we will explain the process of defining, and adding Material Groups, and Material Types within the Material Resource Category using the Setup features in the Inventory function.

Add New Material Group​

The first step in the process would entail navigating to the Material Group grid list.

  1. Click the Inventory option on the Main Navigation menu.

  2. Click Setup / Tools in the drop-down menu.

  3. Click Inventory Groups in the slide-out menu.

  4. Then click Materials in the side menu.

tip

If you hover your mouse cursor over any menu option that has a right-arrow, the next level slide- / side menu will automatically be displayed, negating the need to click on that option.

The Maintain Material Group grid screen is displayed, listing all the Material Groups that have been defined in the system.

  1. Click the Add button on the Action Bar.

The Add Group screen is displayed.

  1. Type the Name of the Group you would like to add in the Name field.

  2. Type a short description in the Description field.

  3. Then click the Save button on the form Action Bar.

  1. Click the Close button to return to the Maintain Material Group screen.

The new Material Group, with the details you entered above is displayed in the grid list.

  1. Click the Activate button to change the status of the Material Group from Provisional to Active.

Repeat the steps above to add any further new Material Groups.

  1. Click the Close button to close the Maintain Material Group screen.

Material Types​

Once the Material Groups have been defined, the next process involves adding Material Types associated with the appropriate Material Group.

  1. Click the Inventory option on the Main Navigation Menu.

  2. Click Setup / Tools in the drop-down menu.

  3. Then click Resource Type in the slide-out menu.

The Resource Type grid screen is displayed, listing all the Item Types that have been defined in the system.

As we are working with Material Types, we should filter the grid list to display only those Item Types that fall under the Material section in the Item Category.

  1. Click the down-arrow button in the Category field.

  2. Then click on the Material option in the drop-down menu list.

  1. Click the Search button on the Action Bar.

The Resource Type grid list now displays all the Item Types that fall under the Material Category.

  1. Click the down-arrow in the Group field.

  2. Then (scroll down if needed), click on the Material Group option as defined previously.

  1. Click the Search button on the Action Bar.

The Resource Type grid list will be reloaded listing the Item Types previously defined for that Group.

note

If no Item Types have been defined, the grid will be displayed without any Item Types listed.

Add New Material Type​

  1. Click the Add button on the Action Bar.

The Add New Resource Type screen is displayed.

  1. Type in the name of the Material Type you wish to add in the Resource Type Name field.

  2. Click on the down-arrow button in the Resource Category field, and select the Material option.

important

The Resource Type Name and the Resource Category fields are demarcated with a red asterisk, and MUST be completed/selected.

  1. Click on the three-dot button in the Resource Group field.

The Select Resource Group screen is displayed.

  1. Click on the relevant row in the grid list, and then click the Select button on the form Action Bar.

The system returns to the Add New Resource Type screen.

  1. Type a short description of the Material Type in the Resource Type Description field.

Material Type, Physical Attributes​

In this part of the process we will capture the Physical Attributes of the new Material Type being added.

  1. Click on the drop-down arrow in the Physical Category field, and then click on the appropriate option in the drop-down list.

  1. If this Material Type will include different sized Material Items, click the Enable Size Variations check-box field.

  2. Click the Y - Length check-box (under the Use column) to select and use the Length attribute.

important

The Y - Length attribute MUST be selected for any Material Type that is defined as a Solid within the Physical Category list.

The system will display a Warning dialogue when attempting to Save the new Material Type without the Y - Length option checked.

  1. Click the drop-down arrow in the Preferred UOM field if you wish to use a different Unit of Measure to that of the Default UOM.

  2. Type in the desired amount of decimal places in the relevant Decimal Places field.

  3. If your company uses the SEMS Dictionary Module, click on the relevant Display in name check-box field if you require the Material Type and associated Materials to have the Length attribute included in the Material Type / Material Instance Name.

  4. Click on the relevant Variation Fixed Dimension check-box field if you require the Length attribute to be a Fixed Dimension in any variations under this Product Type.

  5. Repeat the steps above to define the Width, Thickness (Height), Diameter, Volume and Weight attributes, as needed, for the Material Type being added.

General / SUNDRY​

  1. Click the Change Item Name on Order check-box to allow Procurement / Purchases Representatives to change the name of Materials when generating Purchase Orders.

  2. Click the Use Serial Numbers check-box if your company uses sequential serial numbers on Material Items.

  3. Click the Generate SKU (Stock keeping unit) check-box to enable the manufacturing departments to generate unique alphanumeric codes that track material and price information.

  4. Click the Use Dictionary check-box if your company subscribes to the SEMS Dictionary Module, and where Material Items & variants are uniquely defined using the descriptive features of this powerful module.

Save & Activate Material Type​

Once you are satisfied that all the Material Type Profile information has been entered correctly, the next step will be saving and activating the Material Type.

  1. Click the Save button on the form Action Bar.
note

When the Material Type has been saved, the Dictionary TAB becomes available.

For further information on Dictionaries, refer to the document titled "SEMS Dictionary Module".

  1. Click the Activate button.

  2. Click the Close button.

The system returns to the Resource Type screen with the newly added Material Type listed as a record row.

Repeat the steps above to add additional New Material Types.

This is the end of this procedure.

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