You can see the benefits from a more intensive use of the inquiry and ordering functionality in TecLocal: faster and more precise inquiries and orders give you more time for customer contact on the telephone or in person. Customer satisfaction goes up and your employees make better use of their time. In this edition of Tips & Tricks you can read useful tips about how to make it even easier to place inquiries and orders.

Article Selection

TecLocal offers five possibilities to select articles. Four of them are reached with the tab Requests and Orders. In addition to entering the data manually, you can read in the order data from a local catalog or an online catalog. Direct import from your merchandise management system is the fourth option. In the May edition of Tips & tricks we will present the fifth option, a selection of articles from the outbound journal.

• Manual Entry
  • After starting the software you are automatically in the area Requests and Orders and ready for article number entry.
  • Enter the desired quantity and the article number (2). You reach the entry fields by activating the Enter key. In order to input more articles you can also use the Enter key or click on the button New Article (1).
  • Click on Requests and Orders (7). This option is only available when each article in the article selection has its respective product number. If one is missing you can eliminate this line with Delete Product. An alternative is to remove the checkmark by clicking on it, deactivating the line.
    
    
• Electronic Catalog
  • First go to the field Active Catalog (3) and select an electronic catalog. If the catalog you want is not included, contact your IT administrator. For more information about connecting a catalog read the TecCom Newsletter 03-2005.
  • Now click on Call Catalog (4). After you have started the catalog, you can select the articles you want and add them to the shopping basket of the catalog. 
  • In the TecCom window click on Load Catalog (5) – the articles in the shopping basket will be transferred automatically. In the dialog window that then opens click on Yes to empty the shopping basket. Otherwise you will read in the articles again every time. 
  • Click on Requests and Orders (7).
    
    
• Online Catalog
  • In the field  Active Catalog (3) select Online Catalog. 
  • Now click on Call Catalog (4).
    A new window will open showing all available online part catalogs. In addition an internet connection will be established. 
  • Open the desired online catalog and add articles to the shopping basket. 
  • Call the shopping basket. When you now click on the button Copy, the selected articles will be automatically transferred to the article selection in TecLocal. If you do not want to transfer the articles, you can click on Product Selection to return to the Requests and Orders window of TecLocal without transferring the shopping basket.
    
    
• Import from the Merchandise Management System
  • TecCom offers a range of interfaces to transfer your article data from the merchandise management system. To find out more, contact the TecCom Help Desk or ask your IT administrator whether your merchandise management system includes this option.

Requests and Orders

With the switch Requests and Orders you open the window for direct preparation of the inquiry or order message. Here you have the possibility to add more details about your order. Some of them are required, such as supplier selection. Others are optional and may apply to your specific situation, such as a different ship-to address.

The standard procedure is:

• Select the Supplier (1). 
• Specify the Dispatch Mode (2). 
• Pay attention to supplier-specific required fields such as the Delivery Date.
• Click on Request (3) to get information online.
• In order to place your order click on Order (4).

For the transmission of your inquiry or order an internet connection will be established. Within seconds you will receive and online reverse message from the supplier. The availability and status of the individual articles will be displayed using symbols.

Special Tip: Right Mouse Button
You can make your work easier by using the right mouse button for three additional functions that mark your list:

• Select all rows – mark all lines with a checkmark.
• Remove all selections – remove the checkmark from all lines.
• Delete all selected rows – delete all lines marked with a checkmark.

If you have any questions please contact our Help Desk at support@teccom-eu.net or 0049 1805 – 65 65 56.