Objective

The goals for the participants of this session are to demonstrate knowledge of all four of the master files to be covered and to setup all Product Families, Pricing Families, Units of Measure and Products. Please take notes on the subjects that are covered, as everyone involved in this session will need to be certified upon completion for knowledge in these areas.

Master Files

Product Families

Product Families are used as a convenient way to group products together that will have similar characteristics. Product families are used to group products together for easier product searches in VendMAX and on the VendMAX handheld. Product Families are also used for sorting and grouping the sales results on Product Level sales and sales ranking reports. Product Families are used in the merchandising of Vending Points of Sale. For instance, a column in a Vending Machine can be locked to only accept products that belong to a certain Product Family. The Product Sales Ranking report will compare Product sales performance among products within a Family. In addition, the VendMAX Optimizer will make suggestions for the replacement of poor selling products. These suggestions will be based on a comparison of sales performance among other products in the same family. Product Families can also be used to define Tax and Commission structures. Note: When adding a new Product Family, VendMAX will create and add a “Generic Product” with the same description to the Product Masterfile. This Generic Product can be used in Planograms if you want to utilize Product Family level of inventory accountability. Once a Product Family has been created, it cannot be placed out of service.

Setup:

Select Product Families from the quick links on the left of the main VendMAX screen or from the Master Files drop down menu.

Once Product Families Master File is open hit the + on the navigation bar to create a new Product Family. You will immediately being taken to a blank form view.

Create a Description and a Code for the new Product Family

Check Shared Between Sites when the same Product Family is used at more than one site. Note: Sites are set up in VendMAX when you need to track operations separately. ex. operations in different cities with their own warehouses.

Use the drop down menu to select a Round Type for this product family. Note: Round Types are used for truck loading and for pick lists for any product family. (IF Necessary)

Enter the figure used to round the product to, under this family in the Round Amount field.

Example. If you do not want a driver to break a six-pack of canned soda in order to fill a machine, select a rounding type under that product family and enter 6 in the Round Amount field.

In the Trigger Percent field, enter the depleted percentage amount that products under this product family should reach before VendMAX recommends bringing product to a machine.

Example; if you set your soda products family to 50% and an inventory is taken of the machine; the picklist will tell the driver to bring soda product to the machine that has depleted below this level.

Hit the OK button up on the navigation bar. The setup is now complete.

‘Main’ tab

Rounding – (Used for prekit) Rounding can be defined for a Product Family, and will therefore apply to all Products that are members of that Product Family. Rounding effects the servicing of Item Level Points of Sale, using the VendMAX handheld. During a Vend Visit service, when a Route Driver enters the ‘Beginning Inventory’ value for a column in a Vending Point of Sale, the VendMAX handheld calculates the difference between that inventory level and the Par level established for that column. In order to reduce the need for data entry, VendMAX will fill in the ‘Added’ quantity for this column with the number of units required to return the column to Par. This advantage of reducing the data entry requirement is negated if VendMAX calculates values that need to be edited by the Driver. This can happen in Can Drink machines, when the column needs 13 units to return to Par. In this case, it is more likely that the Driver will fill the machine with 12 units, since the product packaging is in 6 packs. Rounding allows VendMAX to improve its predictions to more closely match the anticipated actions of the driver, and reduce the need to edit the calculated Fill Values. In the case described above, the Rounding Type should be set to DOWN, and the Round Amount should be 6. This would then cause the ‘Added’ quantity on the Handheld to be calculated as 12 if the column is 13 units short.                                                                            

Round Type – “None” = do not perform any rounding. “Up” = Take the actual number of units needed and round up to the next ’round amount’. Down = Take the actual number of units needed and round down to the next ’round amount’. “Nearest” = Round the ‘Added’ number either Up or Down as necessary to get to the ’round amount’.                                                         

Round Amount – This would be the package quantity to which you wish to have the ‘Added’ amount rounded. If this is set to 6, the ‘added’ quantities on the handheld for all products in this Product Family will always be shown in quantities divisible by 6. (i.e. 6, 12, 18, 24….)                                             

Trigger Percent – This value can be set independently from Rounding Type and Round Amount.  They can be used together or separately. Trigger Percent is similar to Rounding in that it attempts to refine the calculated ‘added’ amounts for products in a POS on the handheld. The refinement attempts to make the calculated values as close as possible to the Driver’s actual fill amount, reducing the necessity to edit and input data. Trigger Percent causes VendMAX to leave the ‘added’ quantities at ‘0’ until the column has sold at least this percentage of the Par value. So, if a chips column has a Par of 10 units, and the Chips Product Family has a trigger percentage set to 20%, then the handheld will tell the driver to fill ‘0’ until it needs at least 2. At that time, the ‘added’ quantity will be the number necessary to get to Par.                       

Exclude From – percentage filled & percentage depleted. If you check these boxes off then any product assigned to this family will be excluded from, the percentage filled and percentage depleted on the end of day report. The ‘Misc.’ info tab contains the following fields:                                       

User Defined Fields – The Miscellaneous tab allows you to setup and maintain 10 User Defined data fields for Product Families. Most Master Tables in VendMAX provide a place to create and maintain 10 User Defined data fields. The use of these fields is optional. For information on activating and defining User Defined fields in VendMAX, see the User Defined Fields portion of the Help File for more information.

Pricing Families

Pricing Families are used as a convenient way to group products together that will have similar Pricing Rules set. For instance, if you want to offer a Customer coffee products at a 25% discount from List Price, you will need to create a Pricing Family called Coffee Products, and assign each qualifying product in the Product Master File to that Pricing Family on the Products – Main data tab. Pricing Families only apply to Delivery Sales, and therefore to DeliveryMAX users. Pricing Families differ from Product Families so that Pricing Rules can be created within or across different Product Families. Product Families generally group Product together for Inventory, Purchasing and Sales Reporting convenience. Pricing Families are used for the same purpose, of grouping products, but give you the freedom to create groups that only affect Price Rules. For convenience, Pricing Families can also be used to define Tax and Commission structures when applied to Delivery Sales. Go through all Streamware recommendations.

The following are the fields contained in Pricing Families:                                                                                                         

Shared Between Sites – This setting will have no effect in a single site installation. In a multi-site operation, there may be operations in several states. Under these circumstances, there will be ‘Regional” Pricing Families which are not used at all sites. When this checkbox is turned off, the pricing family belongs only to the Site that created it. This will prevent other sites from using the pricing family for their Products, or even simply seeing it in their Pricing Families list when they are operating the DeliveryMAX client software.     

User Defined Fields – You can setup and maintain 10 User Defined data fields for Pricing Families. Most Master Tables in VendMAX provide a place to create and maintain 10 User Defined data fields. The use of these fields is optional. For information on activating and defining User Defined fields in VendMAX, see the User Defined Fields portion of the Help File for more information.

Units of Measure

The Units of Measure Master File maintains a list of conversion factors that are used in establishing Packaged Products The file allows you to associate a package quantity, or conversion factor, with a common name. This feature allows you to create a package called a CASE, with a conversion factor of 24. Then this entry is associated to each Product that ships in Cases of 24.  Go over several examples. The following are the fields for this master file: 

Description – Descriptive name of Unit of Measure. This description will appear as the first part of a concatenated description that includes the conversion factor, called the display description. This display description appears in the VendMAX client, and on the VendMAX handheld when creating, viewing or editing Inventory Transactions. For this reason, the description should be kept as short as possible.                                          

Conversion Factor – This defines how many of each is contained in the Unit of Measure.                                                                                                              

Shared Between Sites – Ordinarily different sites are operated separately from each other. By checking this box, you are enabling the sharing of Units of Measure information between separate sites. This would be a normal setting, since the Units of Measure that are used are most likely consistent across all sites.

Products Tab -This tab will show all associated products that utilize this specific unit of measure for inventory purposes

Products

The Products Master File in VendMAX is used to keep track of information on all Products sold through Vending Machines, all Products Delivered, and all Parts that are used to repair Vending or Non-Vending equipment. Therefore, it is really a Parts and Products data table. This master file contains basic information about the product, its manufacturer and your supplier. It also maintains data on purchasing history, cost, and inventory movement of the product. Go through all Streamware recommendations.

Main Tab:   

Product Family – Product Family is the primary method to group and sort Product records. The values which are entered are user defined, and every product must belong to a product family. Product Families can be changed at any time if you decide to’re-group’ products at a later time.                                                                                          

Pricing Family – Pricing Family is only active for users who are licensed for DeliveryMAX or for Cold Food. If the field is active, users are required to enter a value when creating a new Product. The creation and assignment of Pricing Families is an important part of creating DeliveryMAX pricing schemes. See the DeliveryMAX Pricing Strategies portion of the Help File for a full explanation of the implications of this setting.                                                                 

Vended Cold Food – If this product is Cold Food, Select “Yes”. Otherwise, Select No. If you select “Yes”, you must also specify a Shelf Life for the product. Also, if you select “Yes”, you must select a Pricing Family that the Cold Food item belongs to.                                                                

Manufacturer – This is an area where you can define the manufacturer of the product. This field is user defined in the Vendors Master File. It can be left blank if you choose not to track this information. This data is only used for searching for different products, and as a filter or grouping parameter in some product sales reports.                                                                                 

 Product Type– The choices for this field are “Product” or “Part”. The “Products” Master File is used to track both Products, which are sold in Vending Machines and Delivered to Customers, and “Parts” which are used to repair Vending and Non-Vending Equipment. The definition in this table of Product or Part allows VendMAX to decide in which lists this new entry should appear.  

Vendor – This field is utilized     

Sw Code – This field is not used

Size of Each (in oz)– Size of individual product.    

Cost Option

Average Cost – VendMAX will calculate an average cost of goods for products in each inventory zone. For instance, if you enter a Receiving Transaction into your warehouse for Cola, purchased at price $x.xx, then another Receiving Transaction into your warehouse for Cola at price $y.yy, then VendMAX will maintain that the average of these two prices is the COG for Cola in your warehouse. If you choose to “Override System Calculated Cost”, you can then establish a fixed COG that you want VendMAX to use, rather than an average of the received values.                                                                                              

Cost from Last Receipt – When this option is utilized and a product is used in a transaction, such as a Vend Visit or Zone to Zone Transfer, the cost tied to that product will come from the most recently entered Receipt for that product. Standing inventory in a zone will still maintain an average cost until the next Physical Inventory is performed, at which time the cost will become that of the last Receipt.                                                                                

Fixed Cost – If you will not be entering cost information with your Inventory Receipts, then you must check this box and establish a Cost in the field below, or else VendMAX will use a $0.00 COG for that product, as it has no way to know what your costs have been. If you wish to use the same cost each time, regardless of the receipts, use this as well.                                                                                                 

Test Market – Not used

Set Generic Product Pricing – Allows you to set an overridden cost for a Generic Product (a product automatically created when you create a Product Family.) 

Exclude From

Percentage Filled

On every vend visit, the ending inventory (beginning inventory + adds – spoiled – removed), for each column, is compared the PAR value for that column and a percentage on the fullness of the machine is calculated.  A check in this field will exclude this product from the percentage Filled calculation.

Percentage Depleted

When a vend visit is created, the beginning inventory for each column, is compared the PAR value for that column and the machine is measured on how full it was when the driver arrived. This is referred to as percentage Depleted.  A check in this field will exclude this product from the percentage Depletion calculation.

Sellouts

Every vend visit maintains the number of sold out columns for each visit. When using STS (Space-to-Sales), sold out columns is equivalent to sold out products.  A check in this field will exclude this product from the Sellout calculation.

Merchandising

A check in this field will exclude this product from being merchandised in the Merchandising module.  This might be useful for Gum & Mint products.

Core Product

This field is used with Dynamic Scheduling and indicates the importance of the product in a planogram. Products using this designation can have different service thresholds over traditional product sellouts when setting Dynamic Scheduling parameters. See Vending Equipment Type – Dynamic Scheduling for more details. Also considered in Merchandiser

Merchandiser

Used by the Merchandiser Module, the ‘Introduce this product via Merchandiser’ hyperlink will open a Merchandise Options tab.  The Merchandiser will analyze the group of POS selected and replace the lowest under-performing product in the same family with the new product.  Keep in mind under-performing products are based upon Global Settings parameters and some planograms may not have products that fit the under-performing criteria.   

Selected Attributes

Used by the Merchandiser module, attributes define characteristics of the product.  Attributes enable you to assist the Merchandiser on the type of product changes being made. For example, a school may only want healthy products or a location may have someone with a nut allergy and not want any products made with nuts. Attributes are based upon the Merch. Product Type and a predefined list of attributes is available.

Use the arrow buttons to assign or deassign the attributes to the product. In this example, we have assigned the attribute “Chocolate Candy” and “Nut” to the product.  

The Preferred attribute has special significance. A product with the preferred attribute will be the first product recommended when replacing an underperforming product in a planogram. This setting should be used sparingly, and may be appropriate with new products that do not have enough sales history, or products with higher margins, and so forth.   To create a new attribute, press the New Attribute button.

Select the product type associated with the new attribute.  This will control when the attribute is displayed.  For example, when Snack is chosen, the new attribute will be visible when the product has Merch Product type equal to Snack.

Enter the description for the new attribute.     

Image

The Image tab of the Products Master File is used to assign a product image to the product.  This product image will be seen on the vending machine screen for remotely connected devices, and also in mobile apps.  It is recommended to use the high-resolution images available in the Crane Master Product Library.  

When the product image is not available in the Crane Master Product List, a custom image can be used.

Field Descriptions

Image

The primary image, displayed on the left, is used in the MEDIA, Navigator Touch and Route Driver Mobile Planogram app on the tablet.   When using a custom image, the image must a .png format and must be 89 X 121 pixels or less.

Alternate Image

The image on the right (Alternative Image) is uploaded to MEDIA machines and used only for displaying nutritional information.   The Alternate image is only used when there is no nutritional information on the nutrition tab.  When using a custom image, the image must a .png format and must be 480 X 800 pixels or less.

Alternate Image

The image on the right (Alternative Image) is uploaded to MEDIA machines and used only for displaying

Choose

To use attach a local image to the product, use the Choose button to browse and select a product image from your network.  To use the Crane Master Product List image, use the Compare to Master List button.  

Remove

Use this button to unlink the product image from the product.

Comparing to the Crane Master Library

In order to use the Crane Master Library and update the image for your product, your product must be linked to the same product in the Crane Master Library.  For instructions on how to create this linkage, click here.  

Tap the Compare to Master List button.

Browsing Tags

The Browsing Tags tab of the Products Master File is used to assign browsing tags to products.  Browsing tags are used on the vending machine’s Browsing Menu to help consumers find a particular class of products. For example, Low Sodium, Gluten Free, and so on.  

Every Form View detail tab of Products data maintains header information. For more information on the data fields contained in the header area, see Product Header details.

Field Descriptions

Assigning browsing tags

The All Tags (window on the left) contains the list of available browsing tags.  Move the tags from the left windowpane to the right windowpane to assign the tag to the current product.

Use the Left / Right arrows to add and remove tags from the browsing template.

Use the “Add or Update Tag” button to create new tags and rename existing tags.

Tap on the button to bring up the current list of browsing tags.  Use the + sign to add new tags.

To select a tag, double click on it or highlight and press the form view icon.

Make your changes and press OK to save.  Use the arrow buttons at the top of the pop-up to scroll through the list of browsing tags.

Units of Measure:

Packaged Products – This is the area to identify which product packages are available. To add an entry into this list, choose the +  button. This will reveal a screen to choose an item from the Units of Measure table. Each entry in this area indicates a packaging for the product, and allows the user to assign a barcode, cost and standard price.   

Vend – A check in this field will identify the package as vendable. This will prevent the route driver from accidentally filling a vending machine with cases of soda.

Delivery – A check in this field will identify the package as deliverable. This will prevent the delivery route driver from accidentally selling single cups, instead of sleeves or boxes.

Default for Load – While any package can be selected when creating a Zone-to-Zone Order or Transfer, the package that is set as “Default for Load” will be the one that is assumed when the product is chosen. This increases the speed of creating these transactions by not forcing the user to enter the package for each entry. If the package desired is not the same as the Default, it can be changed. Only one package can be set as the “Default for Load”.

Default for Order – While any package can be selected when creating a Receipt or Purchase Order, the package that is set as “Default for Order” will be the one that is assumed when the product is chosen. This increases the speed of creating these transactions by not forcing the user to enter the package for each entry. If the package desired is not the same as the Default, it can be changed. Only one package can be set as the “Default for Order”.

In Svc. – This field can be left blank. It is a place to record the date when a Package is first established.                                                       

Out Svc – Once a package has been identified for a product, and transactions have been created which use this product, the package cannot simply be deleted, because other table records in the VendMAX database refer to it. However, suppliers occasionally change their case sizes, or make other packaging changes. If a case used to contain 60 units and now contains only 56 units, you do not want VendMAX users to be presented with a choice of CASE (56) and CASE (60) every time they create a new inventory transaction. Therefore, there needs to be a way to leave the record in the database, and still make it disappear from all reports and lists within the system. That is accomplished by entering a date into this field. This date will establish when this record is no longer to appear in these reports and other lists. This record can be brought back into service simply by erasing the date from this field.  

View Pricing – This button will reveal a dialog box that allows the user to create base pricing for each package of the product. Inside the dialog box, choosing the + button will create a new line item with today’s date. It then allows for the definition of a Price and a Cost. Both of these entries will only be used for Pricing Rules. When “Cost +” or “List Price” options are defined.                                                          

View Bar Codes – This button will reveal a dialog box that allows the user to create, view or edit barcodes for each package of the product. Since manufacturers sometimes change their barcodes for a product, this table will allow you to define an unlimited number of barcodes for any package of a product. While you can manually type the barcode values into this dialog box, it would be more common to use the Barcode Trainer module of the VendMAX handheld to capture barcodes.                                                                                              

View Pricing Rules – This button will reveal a dialog box that allows the user to view Packaged Product Pricing History.

Misc Info:                                 

In Service Date – This field can be left blank. It is a place to record the date when a Product is first established.

Out of Service Date – In VendMAX, most Master File records cannot simply be deleted, because other table records in the VendMAX database refer to them. As an example, if there are Vend Visits that have been created against a POS then that POS must remain in the database forever. However, Vending Operators sometimes lose an account, reduce the number of POS’ at an existing account, or sell a vending machine. Therefore, there needs to be a way to leave the record in the database, and still make it disappear from all reports and lists within the system. That is accomplished by entering a date into this field. This date will establish when this record is no longer to appear in these reports and other lists.                                                 

User Defined Fields – The Miscellaneous tab allows you to setup and maintain 10 User Defined data fields for Products. Most Master Tables in VendMAX provide a place to create and maintain 10 User Defined data fields. The use of these fields is optional. For information on activating and defining User Defined fields in VendMAX, see the User Defined Fields portion of the Help file for more information.

Purchasing History

Will be going over in more detail once we have transactions to look at.

Quantity on Hand

Will be trained at a future date but here is the explanation anyway. The Quantity On Hand tab of the Products screen provides a quick reference of how many units of this product are available in each Inventory Zone. This will include all Warehouses, Trucks, and other storage locations, but not Vending Points of Sale. This information is available on a historical perspective by selecting a date in the past. When this is done, VendMAX will calculate how many units were on hand in each Inventory Zone on the date requested.

Warehouse Location          

Warehouse – This column displays all the Warehouses in VendMAX.

Product Location – This column allows you to type in free-form text to describe where each product is in the Warehouse. Double-click on the box to type in the Product Location.

Adding a Product to VendMAX

1. Select the Products Master File from quick links at the left of the main VendMAX screen of from the Master Files drop down menu.
2. Once the Products Master File is open press the + on the navigation bar to add a new product. A blank form view will immediately pop up.
3. Enter a description, code, and choose one of the user-defined categories or create a new one.
4. Check Shared between Sites when the same Product is used at more than one site. Note: Sites are set up in VendMAX when you need to track operations separately. ex. operations in different cities with their own warehouses.
5. Press the >>on the Product Family field to associate this product with a Product Family.
6. Press the >> on the Pricing Family field to associate this product with a Pricing Family. Note: If you are not using this functionality at first choose Default
7. Press the >>on the Manufacturer field to select a manufacturer of this product. Note: You may need to add the Manufacturer if there is not created yet.
8. Select a Product Type. Options include Product or Part.
9. Insert a SwCode (Streamware Code) and a Size (in ounces) of the product. Note: The SwCode is not a required field.
10. To track the cost of this product you will have three options; Average cost, Cost from (X)# of receipts and Fixed Cost. Check the appropriate box per your company policy
11.  Test Market is not used
12.  Click on the Units of Measure/Pricing tab.
13.  For every product entered in VendMAX an Each amount, that is one, must be associated. This  is a default value and is termed a Packaged Product. A Packaged Product must be entered for case, box, or other value you vend, deliver, load or order the product. To do this click the + sign beside Packaged Products.
14. After clicking the + the “Add A Packaged Product” dialogue box will open up. Here press the >>on the Choose a unit of measure: field to select a unit of measure as previously defined in the Units of Measure Master File. Click Choose and then OK.
15. Next, select a Default for Load to load the trucks and a Default for Order to order in that packaged product value for each packaged product. ex. case  Note: Usually, the Vend Packaged Product value will be at the Each level
16. Select a packaged product and click on the View Pricing button. The Packaged Product Pricing History will appear.
17. Add the product’s price in the Price field, the from which it applies in the Effective Date field, and the product cost in the Cost field. Note: This is for Delivery only.
18. To manually enter barcodes, select a packaged product and click on View Bar Codes. The Packaged Product Barcodes window will appear.
19. Click on the + sign and enter the barcode number. Make sure to include the very first and last number on the packaging.
20. Click OK to save the entry and then Close to close the Packaged Product Barcodes window.
21. Hit the OK button up on the navigation bar. The setup is now complete.