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effective use of maintain guides

Steven Barath
  something interesting came up the other day at one of our properties   we have food outlets breakfast vs lunch vs dinner, vs grill etc. we encouraged the staff to maintain the respective order guides considering the menu ingredients or offering specific to the outlet   what we have realized is that the chef is still managing to order non approved items to a food outlet because he has found a creative way around the system.   on creating a grill requisition, he orders items mapped to the grill order guide, and then while constructing this same outlet requisition, he changes the outlet to breakfast and continues adding items when complete, releasing the requisition with items from both outlets.   am i missing something in the configuration here?😵
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8 comments

Date Votes
  • David Fournier

    Good afternoon {@0053z00000AyEM2AAN}​,

    Thank you for your query.

     

    We'd like to understand a bit more about the operational configuration & requirements to ensure the best solution(s) are presented.

     

    1) Are each of the Outlets different revenue centers in your Point-of-Sale (POS) system?

    Generally speaking, each Revenue Center ties to one overall 1 Restaurant Outlet or 3 Food/Bev/Operating Outlets per Property Department. 

     

    2) Do you use &/or enforce the use of Templates?

    For example, many customers recommend a Breakfast Template, Lunch Template, etc. to help ensure the correct items are ordered for the particular meal period, area of the restaurant, etc.

     

    3) What operational &/or reporting issues is the chef’s action causing?

    If, for example, the Grill & Breakfast were the same Outlet, then steak for each meal period or area could be ordered on one requisition.

     

    Please provide us further information around the reasons you are looking to enforce these restrictions or configure the system as you've outlined. Thank you.

     

    Best

    David

    Fourth

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  • Steven Barath

    Hi David,

     

    we use the order guide to regulate allowed items.

    the templates become too cumbersome to use especially when you can have 100+ items on a template but only need/want 10

     

    really and truly the system would work as configured, but for the fact that mid requisition the outlet name can be altered.

     

     

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  • David Fournier

    Hi Steven,

    While using a template, there is a filter row at the top which eliminates the need to scroll through the entirety of the template:

    https://fc.force.com/customer/s/article/Purchasing-Inventory-Creating-an-Outlet-Requisition-Using-a-Template

     

    Users could then be encouraged to manage current templates & share them with others within the same Outlet as opposed to managing an entire Outlet's guide, whether within P&/I Adaco or outside of the system.

     

    Are you able to provide a examples of the operational &/or reporting issues that the chef’s action is causing?

     

    Best

    David

    Fourth

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  • Steven Barath

    Hi David,

    there is no substitution for a real phone call, this typing business is not the best as it relates to full exploration of the actualities...….our setup is already using outlet accounts, that is not the issue. we are restricting items to specific outlets, as indicated; really the issues will be permanently solved by not allowing the outlet to be changed during the construction of a requisition.

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  • Steven Barath

    Hi David,

    from an organizational point of view, the Cost Control Department maintain order guides specifically for restricting items and expense

    accounts associated with. our operating departmental users are less administrative, and have no interest in the templates generally speaking. They jump on a terminal enter a dozen stock numbers (mostly from memory) and release the req. basically in no time, they really don't prefer template at all.

     

    the examples of operational issues would really be ordering chemicals to a food outlet, or bar items to a breakfast outlet rather than the pastry department where those items are allowed for baking etc.

     

    the grill has maybe a dozen allowable items, however within the current scenario breakfast costs are being routed through the grill, I could go on :)

     

    Cheers!

     

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  • David Fournier

    Hi Steven,

    Thank you providing that information; given the challenges you're facing, I believe the following configuration would help to control the appropriate items being requisitioned to the correct departments:

     

    1) Enable GL & Outlet Accounts (being sure to follow the sequence here* to ensure no disruption to current usage):

    https://fc.force.com/customer/s/article/Purchasing-Inventory-Outlet-Management

    *If you don't use Purchase Templates, then that step can be ignored-- for other customers who read this post, they will want to follow it through

     

    2) Ensure end users have 'View' access at maximum to 'Maintain Guides' so they don't have the ability to manipulate &/or populate incorrect Accounts against Outlet Products/Recipes:

    https://fc.force.com/customer/s/article/Purchasing-Inventory-Changing-Inventory-Access-Rights-in-User-Groups

     

    3) Ensure end users have 'View' access at maximum to 'GL Accounts for Ordering Outlets Editing in Transactions' & 'GL Accounts for Supplying Outlets Editing in Transactions' so they don't have the ability to manipulate &/or populate incorrect Accounts against Outlet Products/Recipes in Requisitions/Transfers:

    https://fc.force.com/customer/s/article/Purchasing-Inventory-Changing-Product-Vendor-Property-Access-Rights-in-User-Groups

     

    With the above configuration & to use your examples, if a user attempted to order chemicals on a food outlet requisition, the Ordering Account Number column would be blank & the user could not select anything (since it is not in their Maintain Guide, as managed by Cost Control) nor could they save the Requisition.

    If they tried to be clever & order food items (which would populate the Food Account Number from Maintain Guides) but then switch the Outlet to Operating Supplies in order to add the Chemicals, the Food Item Account Numbers would then disappear since they are not applicable to the Operating Supplies Outlet.

     

    This would effectively force them to only order the items in their Maintain Guides to the Accounts that are assigned within that same area & also align with our recommended best practice of configuring Outlet Accounts & enabling the related Administrative flags.

     

    Best

    David

    Fourth

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  • David Fournier

    Good afternoon Steven,

    We appreciate your feedback & our teams certainly value phone calls, video-screenshares, & on-site time with our customers as well.

     

    One of the main objectives of the Fourth Customer Community is to provide timely feedback from a wider portion of our customer-facing teams regarding common questions, challenges, or best practice advice.

     

    Between Articles & these types of Discussion posts, other customers may find relatable scenarios & useful recommendations-- in a similar way that you may find the same in another customer's post.

     

    As you undergo business changes or need more bespoke guidance, you can reach out to the Customer Care Team to arrange a phone call; we simply recommend browsing the numerous Articles & Discussion posts due to the many pieces of information available.

     

    Best

    David

    Fourth

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  • Steven Barath

    Morning David,

     

    It sounds to me like there is an opportunity to look at why the system allows for the change of outlet, mid construction of the outlet requisition, thanks for the links to those articles. I definitely will reach out to the CCT, they too are always a pleasure working with!

     

    Cheers!

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