You use the information in your MMS (merchandise management system) for regular orders and you use  TecLocal for inquiries and express orders. But up to now you have avoided the tedious double entry of data from your MMS into TecLocal for stock orders! This article will show how easy it is to import your stock orders and order proposals into TecLocal to use for inquiries and orders!

By connecting TecCom to your MMS you gain a number of advantages:

• Generate orders in your MMS as before and send them online;
• Automatic transfer of order information from the MMS; 
• Reduced error rate because there is no manual data entry, resulting in fewer wrong deliveries;
• Time savings in your daily order processing.

Data transfer from the MMS is simple and comfortable. You generate an order proposal file in your MMS, then export it as a text file to TecLocal.  Once you have imported it into TecLocal you can send it to your suppliers electronically.

For correct data transfer you need to update your format description file, also called the IFD interface. This interface interprets the text file from your MMS – CSV and TXT formats are allowed – for your TecLocal. You can import either one order proposal file for all suppliers or a separate file for each one. TecLocal can read and  process all the relevant data for your order with no problems: article number, quantity, supplier, delivery date, different ship-to address and much more. The more complete your generated file in the ERP system, the faster and easier your next TecLocal order will be.

The effort to prepare and test the IFD interface is hard to estimate. It depends on how you generate order proposal files in your ERP system and what their format is. You can develop the interface yourself with the help of the detailed explanations in the file “IFD-ERP System Online Dialog“. It is located at http://www.teccom.de/Download/Orderer/En/IFD_WWS_Online-Dialog_21_en.pdf. You can find examples of IFD files in .ZIP format at: http://www.teccom.de/download/Orderer/ifd/IFD_SampleFiles.zip.

TecCom is happy to provide support on request. Please contact our technical helpdesk – supprt@teccom.de or +49 (0)1805 – 65 65 56!

Steps to Take in TecLocal

Under “Inquire and Order” import your order proposal from the ERP system by clicking on “Read File from MMS”. When you do this you can determine the file name and location each time or set it once and for all. Under “Administration – MMS Access” you can set the file name and its location for automatic import every time you click on “Load MMS File” or “Order Proposals”.

After you have successfully imported a file you will be asked whether you want to delete the transfer file. This way you can avoid using an order proposal file for double orders if you do not want to.

If the file contains more than one order, only the first order will be transferred to “Requests and Orders”. From there you can execute your “Requests” or “Orders” quickly and easily.

All orders, including the first, are stored under “Order Proposals” and remain there until you restart TecLocal or log in again.

If you double-click on an order in “Order Proposals” or mark the order and click on “Requests and Orders”, the individual order will be entered in the article selection. From there you can start inquiries or order the articles as usual. Completed orders will not be deleted from "Order Proposals” as long as you are logged in to TecLocal. In the Outgoing Journal you can see the transmission status. This helps to avoid duplicate orders.

The TecCom Help Desk is available to answer any questions– at e-mail support@teccom.de and tel. +49 (0)1805 – 65 65 56.