20-20 Design™ Import

An Import (F2) function exists that may be used to create an order or quote using data from 20-20 Design™ kitchen and bath design software, a product of 20-20 Technologies Inc. Data from the 20-20 Design software may be imported into either an Order or Quote transaction, not a sale or return. The source data from the 20-20 Design software is expected in an XML (Extensible Markup Language) file format. Saving 20-20 Design files as XML may require a plug-in/add-on from 20-20 Technologies Inc.

Users can map their 20-20 Design to a specific non-stocked item that generates unique item numbers for each component. If matching items are found in the Item Database, they will be used instead.

How does it work?

The first step is to create a design quote in the 20-20 Design software. The quote must be saved in an XML format (as mentioned above) and placed in a location that will be accessible to a user running the application.

After the 20-20 Design file is created, choose either Orders or Quotes from the Point of Sale menu.

Choose a customer, job (if prompted), order or quote document ID, and ItemSet if desired. Once it's possible to enter items (in the grid), the Import (F2) function should be available for selection. Choose Import (F2) and 20-20 Design.

A new form will open displaying settings specific to 20-20 Design. A browse (...) option is offered for locating the XML file.

Use the "..." browse button to select the quote's XML file. The remaining settings on the form can be modified at this time. Users can also use the menu marker to save the settings as defaults for future use. Here is a brief description of the different fields on the form:

Template Item

The template item is the non-stocked item that will be used for any items in the 20-20 Design file that don't have matches in the item or material list tables. The template item designated should be a non-stocked item that requires a description. The 20-20 Design software can potentially include items from different vendors. The template item may be assigned a default vendor or not, but if one is assigned to the template item, it will be used for all the items imported regardless of the vendor/manufacturer listed in the XML data. Users can certainly use different template items for different vendors. Items in the data that have corresponding item records in the Item database could be mapped to the appropriate vendors eliminating this as an issue. Users download the supplier catalogs they wish to use from 20-20 Technologies.

Use Short Form

20-20 offers both a long and short form option when saving a quote in the 20-20 Design software. The long form contains more description information than the short. If you are importing a short form file and choose long form, there is no difference in the item information copied to the quote or order.

Copy Zero Price Line Items

There may be item records in the data with no pricing. Choose this option to import zero price item data into the order or quote.

Copy Zero Quantity Line Items

There may be item records in the data with no quantities. Choose this option to import zero price item data into the order or quote.

Show Item ID in Description

The item id will be shown prior to the text description of the item. "Item ID" from the XML data is excluded from the description if not checked. Manufacturer's Code (ManufCode from the XML data) is added to the Entry tab as comments that will print along with the item description on the resulting document; however, the manufacturer's code and item id are not the same.

Match to Existing Inventory

If selected (checked), the import operation will attempt to match products in the 20/20 data file to items in your inventory. If a matching item is found, it will be used in place of the template SKU specified.

Saving Default Settings

You can use the "Save Defaults" item on the context menu (accessed from the menu marker icon ) to save your selections for future use.

A Note about Pricing and Costs

The price from the XML data is used to set the item's unit price as well as its suggested list price. We only import costs if the catalog installed in 20-20 has costs; otherwise, no cost information is imported from the 20-20 Design data, and any item costs would then originate either from processing or item settings on the software side.

Template items may be set up as cost percentage type items. Cost percentage items calculate a cost as a percentage of the suggested list price. Before using cost percentages with items, it's important to point out that these goods are typically ordered on a customer order, added to a purchase order, and then received with costs. The cost specified during receiving does update costs (weighted average and last receipt) for each item on the customer's order, so the use of cost percentages is certainly not mandatory. Using cost percentages can help provide an estimated margin for the 20-20 Design quote, however.

Receiving goods that are assigned a cost percentage still update the item's weighted average and last receipt cost. Weighted average is the cost used at time of sale, so the cost percentage is not going to affect this; however, the item's market cost (on a renumbered item) is set to match the cost percentage.

What happens after Import?

As items are imported, the item descriptions for each item added (from the template) are set to match either both the Item ID and Description or just the description. The "user code" (UserCode in the XML data) of the item is added as an Entry-level attachment to the item (described as Manuf-Code). In the application, these manufacturer/user codes can be viewed using the Folders (F4) function and by choosing the Entry tab.

Entry comments print with each item on the resulting document just below that item's description. You can expand the grid height to view these comments. Below is an example of how a 20-20 Design quote would appear when used to create a order document:

After the data is imported, there's no difference between an order or quote containing 20-20 Design data and one that has been manually processed, so procedures related to ordering, receiving, and sale remain the same as determined by your company.

Troubleshooting

If there's a question about something that is imported from an 20-20 Design quote, the first thing to look at is the data that came from the 20-20 Design software. The XML data can be viewed using Notepad (comes with Microsoft® Windows® operating systems) or a web browser (which formats it a bit nicer). This data is created from the 20-20 Design software and is neither modified nor deleted by import processing.

The software actually uses very little of the 20-20 Design data in the file and it's pretty easy to figure out whether the data matches what's been imported by viewing the contents of the XML file. It is possible for users to make manual changes to quotes and orders after import. To tell if an order or quote was possibly modified by a user, import the quote data again into a new order or quote and see if it matches the original. If not, it's likely been changed after it was copied.

The names 20-20 Technologies, 20-20, and 20-20 Design are registered, pending or common law trademarks of 20-20 Technologies Inc. and/or any of its subsidiaries.