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Machine Communities

Our ERP solution enables you to create machine communities. The function is available in the following document types:

Area Document Type
Sales Sales Quote, Sales Order, Sales Invoice, Sales Credit Memo, Trade-In
Service Service Quote, Service Order, Service Invoice, Service Credit Memo

This chapter is divided into the following sections:

Activating Machine Community Functionality

In order to use the machine community functionality, you first have to activate it. To do so, proceed as follows:

  • Use the quick search (ALT+Q) to find the Sales & Receivables Setup page.
  • Navigate to the Machine Community FastTab.
  • To activate the machine community functionality, activate the Activate toggle switch.
  • In addition, you can enter a resource in the Consolidation Resource field. This resource is used to correctly allocate the original document to the members of the machine community when processing machine community documents.

You have successfully activated the general machine community functionality. The next section describes how to set up user permissions for machine communities.

Setting up User Permissions for Machine Communities

To enable a user to create machine community customers and manage share documents, the necessary user permissions must be set up. To do so, proceed as follows:

  • Use the quick search (ALT+Q) to find the User Setup page.
  • In the list, select the user account for which you want to set up machine community permissions.
  • Click Card in the menu bar.
  • The User Setup Card of the respective user is displayed.
  • Navigate to the Machine/Service FastTab.
  • Activate the Machine Community Administrator toggle switch to specify the user as a machine community administrator and grant them permission to create machine community customers in the system.
  • In the Machine Community Doc. Permissions field, select whether the user may edit comments, percentage, or comments and percentage in share documents for machine communities. If you leave this field empty, the user will not be able to create, edit, or delete comments or percentages in share documents.

You have successfully set up the user permissions for machine communities. The next section describes how to create a machine community customer.

Creating Machine Community Customer

In our ERP solution, a machine community is designed as a separate customer that specifies prices, discounts and other conditions. However, no entries are posted to this customer record. This customer functions as the head of the machine community, allowing you to add separate customers (members) to the machine community. To create such a customer, proceed as follows:

Note

To create a machine community customer, the Machine Community Admin toggle switch must be activated on the corresponding User Setup Card.

  • Use the quick search (ALT+Q) to find the Customers page.
  • Select the customer you want to set up as a machine community customer.
  • In the General FastTab, activate the Machine Community Administrator toggle switch.

You have successfully created a machine community customer. This customer can now be used as the head of a machine community. The next section describes how to add members to a machine community customer.

Adding Members to Machine Communities

To add members to a machine community, proceed as follows:

  • Use the quick search (ALT+Q) to find the Customers page.
  • Select the customer that you have set up as a machine community customer.
  • On the customer card, display the FactBox area by pressing ALT+F2.
  • Navigate to the Machine Community FastTab.
  • Select the Open option from the menu.
  • You can now add the machine community members and the respective share percentages. To do so, select a customer in the Machine Community Member No. field and enter their share percentage value into the Share Percentage field. You can enter up to four decimal places.
  • Repeat this step for all relevant members. Your changes are saved automatically.

Tip

You can also have the system handle the percentage allocation. To do so, click on Suggest Allocation in the menu bar.

You have successfully added multiple members to a machine community. As a result, you have completed the setup of a machine community and can now use it as a customer in sales processes, service processes, and trade-ins.

Using Machine Communities in Sales Processes

This section describes how to work with machine communities in the sales process. It mentions only the specific characteristics of machine communities in the sales process. The basic procedure for creating and posting sales quotes and sales orders can be found in the Sales Quotes & Sales Orders chapter. The following description assumes that you have made all necessary settings for the machine community functionality as described above.

Note

In our ERP solution, you can post documents for machine communities even without share documents. This may be necessary, e.g., if a document needs to be submitted to an insurance company. To do so, two preconditions have to be met:

  • The customer for the document must be set up as a machine community customer.

  • The Skip Machine Community toggle switch in the General FastTab of the document must be activated.

  • You can then post the document as usual. Consider that once you have posted this document, you can no longer create share documents for it.

To create a sales quote for a machine community, proceed as described in the Creating Sales Quotes section. Consider the following specific characteristics:

  • Select a customer that has been set up as a machine community customer in the Customer No. field in the General FastTab. Once you have selected the customer, the Machine Community field in the General FastTab displays the Administrator value.
  • In the menu bar of the Lines FastTab, click Functions > Add Service Item to add a Service Item instead of creating a line of the Item type.
  • Complete the information according to the following table to select a service item for sale:

Tip

If you enter the desired service item number directly, the Manufacturer, Category, Subcategory, and Model fields are filled in automatically.

Field Description
In Stock as Select from the dropdown menu if the service item is a Current Asset, Fixed Asset, or an External Machine.
Manufacturer Select the manufacturer of the service item you want to sell.
Category Select the category of the service item you want to sell.
Subcategory Select the subcategory of the service item you want to sell.
Model Select the model of the service item you want to sell.
Service Item No. You can either select a service item here or leave this field empty.

  • Click OK to confirm your entries.

  • Fill in the remaining fields of the line, e.g., Unit Price Excluding VAT, according to the information in the Creating Sales Quotes section.

  • Then, click Actions > Machine Community > Create Share Documents in the menu bar to create the share documents of the machine community members.

  • The Sales Quotes page opens and displays the created share documents.

You have successfully created a sales quote with corresponding share documents. In this case, the original sales quote serves as a machine community administrator document. You then have to convert the sales quote into a sales order and also create share documents for it. To do so, proceed as follows:

  • Follow the steps described in the Creating Sales Order from Sales Quote section to convert the sales quote into a sales order.
  • Click Actions > Machine Community > Create Share Documents in the menu bar of the sales order.
  • The Sales Orders page opens and displays the created share documents.
  • Then, post the individual sales orders as described in the Posting Sales Orders section.

Once all share documents have been posted, the machine community administrator document will be archived. You have successfully completed the sales process for a machine community.

Using Machine Communities in Service Processes

This section describes how to work with machine communities in the service process. It mentions only the specific characteristics of machine communities in the service process. General information on creating and processing service quotes and service orders can be found in the Service Quotes, Creating Service Orders, and Processing Service Orders chapters. The following description assumes that you have made all the necessary settings for the machine community functionality as described above.

Note

In our ERP solution, you can post documents for machine communities even without share documents. This may be necessary, e.g., if a document needs to be submitted to an insurance company. To do so, two preconditions have to be met:

  • The customer for the document must be set up as a machine community customer.

  • The Skip Machine Community toggle switch in the General FastTab of the document must be activated.

  • You can then post the document as usual. Consider that once you have posted this document, you can no longer create share documents for it.

To create a service quote for a machine community, proceed as described in the Creating Service Quotes for Service Items section. Consider the following specific characteristics:

  • Select the service item of a customer that has been set up as a machine community customer. Once you have selected such a service item, the Machine Community field in the General FastTab displays the Administrator value.
  • Complete the information in the Service Wizard and on the worksheet using the steps described in the Creating Service Quotes for Service Items section.
  • Then, click Actions > Machine Community > Create Share Documents in the menu bar of the service quote to create the share documents of the machine community members.
  • The Service Quotes page opens and displays the created share documents.

You have successfully created a service quote with corresponding share documents. In this case, the original service quote serves as a machine community administrator document. You then have to convert the service quote into a service order and also create share documents for it. To do so, proceed as follows:

Note

In our ERP solution, you can create share documents for a service order, even if it has not been completed yet, i.e., the Repair Status of the corresponding service order has not been set to Finished. In this case, a warning is displayed, notifying you that the service order lines will be posted again if you do not make adjustments to the share documents. This process is available for both service invoices as well as service credit memos.

  • Follow the steps described in the Creating Service Orders from Service Quotes section to convert the service quote into a service order.
  • Click Actions > Machine Community > Create Share Documents in the menu bar of the service order.
  • The Service Orders page opens and displays the created share documents.
  • Process the service orders as usual. You will find more information on this in the Processing Service Orders chapter.
  • Then, post the individual service orders as described in the Creating Service Invoices chapter.

Tip

Alternatively, you can create service orders for customers of a machine community without splitting the documents for each member, provided that an internal customer is specified as the Bill-to Customer, and the Skip Splitting Documents for Internal Customers option has been activated during Service Setup. This creates a single invoice for the internal customer and eliminated the need to split multiple documents among the individual members of the machine community.

Once all share documents have been posted, the machine community administrator document will be archived. You have successfully completed the service process for a machine community.

Using Machine Communities in Trade-Ins

This section describes how to work with machine communities in trade-ins. It mentions only the specific characteristics of machine communities in trade-ins. For the basic process for creating, shipping, and invoicing trade-ins, see the Trade-Ins (Without Calculation Worksheet) chapter. The following description assumes that you have made all the necessary settings for the machine community functionality as described above.

Note

In our ERP solution, you can post documents for machine communities even without share documents. This may be necessary, e.g., if a document needs to be submitted to an insurance company. To do so, two preconditions have to be met:

  • The customer for the document must be set up as a machine community customer.

  • The Skip Machine Community toggle switch in the General FastTab of the document must be activated.

  • You can then post the document as usual. Consider that once you have posted this document, you can no longer create share documents for it.

To create a trade-in for a machine community, proceed as described in the Creating Trade-Ins section. Consider the following specific characteristics:

  • Select a customer that has been set up as a machine community customer in the Customer No. field in the General FastTab. Once you have selected the customer, the Machine Community field in the General FastTab displays the Administrator value.
  • Complete the information by following the steps described in the Creating Trade-Ins section.
  • Then, click Actions > Machine Community > Create Share Documents in the menu bar of the trade-in to create the share documents of the machine community members.
  • The Trade-Ins page opens and displays the created share documents.

You have successfully created a trade-in with corresponding share documents. The trade-in functions as a machine community administrator document in this case. You then have to ship and/or invoice the trade-in share documents as described in the Shipping and Invoicing Trade-Ins section. Once all share documents have been shipped/invoiced, the machine community administrator document will be archived. You have successfully completed the trade-in for a machine community.