You are here: 51. Introduction to Distribution Training Manual > 51.10. Purchasing Master Files > Product Category Master File

Product Category Master File

The Product Category master file is provided in MDS to group items that have similar characteristics for stock handling, margins or sell price markups. You can group products into diminishing items, non-diminishing items, non-inventory items, manufactured items, sub-assembled items, temporary items, text items, roll stock or part builder.

To edit an existing product category:

  1. Select FILE | PRODUCT CATEGORY.

Micronet displays the Category Selection screen.

  1. Select a category from the list.

Micronet displays the Category File Update screen in Update Mode.

  1. Enter or change the category details as required.
  2. Select FILE | SAVE.

To create a new product category record:

  1. Select FILE | PRODUCT CATEGORY.
  1. Press the Esc key to cancel the selection screen.

Micronet displays the Category File Update screen in Update Mode.

  1. Select FILE | NEW.

The Category File Update screen changes from Update Mode to Add Mode as displayed in the title.

  1. Complete the following fields as required:

 

Field

Value

 

Product Category

Enter a unique ID for the product category, up to five characters long.

 

Description

Enter a description of the product category.

 

Category Type

Select the product category type. Options are:

  • Diminishing – items that diminish in quantity as they are sold. This enables proper stock control to occur on these items. In MRF, you would assign this category type to normal store stock items such as such as coil stock, fasteners, skylights, insulation, etc.
  • Non Diminishing – stock on hand figures are not maintained for these items. They would always show 0.00 as the amount on hand. This category type is used for items such as labour, service, freight and handling fees. You should also select this type if you are setting up a product category for gift vouchers.

The cost price for non-diminishing items is always locked as a fixed price and can only be changed in the Inventory master file.

  • Non Inventory – NINV items can be created, ordered, sold, etc. The cost price on file is locked at $0.00 but Micronet prompts for it when ordering or selling NINV products. The actual purchase/sales history is retained for you and includes the cost, sell, units, margins and description. For MRF users, you would assign special buy-ins to this category type.
  • Manufactured – items used by Micronet’s Kitting and Job Costing programs where a part is not purchased from an outside source but manufactured (or assembled) by another Micronet package. These items are the destination items that would be made up of other raw materials products, labour and/or direct purchases.
  • Sub Assembled – items used in the Micronet Invoice Creation and Order Entry programs to identify products that are actually the assembly of other components within Micronet and can be used by a special class of kits. During invoicing, for instance, the user has the option to recall a kit as a sub-assembly, change the components, then print an invoice with the components consolidated or exploded (where the actual individual component items would each be printed on the invoice).
  • Temporary – items that, if used and the quantity as a result becomes zero, are deleted at the end of the month. If the items have not been transacted on and have zero or any other quantity on hand, they are not deleted.
  • Text – items used throughout MDS and the Micronet Job Costing System (MJC) so that lines of standard text can be easily entered on orders, invoices and for free form service job invoices from information given on service job cards.
  • Roll Stock – items linked to the Micronet Roll Forming System (MRF) that can be manufactured via job tickets in MRF. Assign rolled manufactured items and flashings to this category type.
 

Minimum GP

Enter the minimum GP% that is acceptable during the order entry/invoicing process within Micronet. Items can only be sold at a GP less than this figure if the user’s ID has sufficient security access.

 

GL Interface

If you want to dissect sales/stock/debtors by product category, enter the name of the GL interface record for this product category.

 

Stocktake Frequency

If you are using automatic cycle stocktakes, select how often the items in this product category should be counted, e.g. 12 Times a Year or 4 Times a Year.

Micronet will include these items in automatic stocktake batches if the Counts Based On field on the Create Stocktake Batch screen is set to Category.

  1. Select FILE | SAVE.