Product tiers and preferences

You can use the Tiers and Preferences to group and prioritize products by attributes (such as quality, availability, location, and/or price), and display that information instantly to customer sales representatives (CSRs) during sales order entry. This enables CSRs to cross-sell or up-sell products based on the attributes during the ordering process.

This feature uses the Tiers and Preferences context application in Infor Ming.le to display any tiers and preferences associated with the product currently entered in the order entry line.

For more information about context applications, see the Infor Distribution SX.e User Guide.

CSRs can then communicate the options to your customer, and if the customer agrees, click the option, and the option automatically replaces the product entered in the line.

Planning and coordination is required to set up the product data. After setup is complete, you should modify your work flow so your procedural tasks reflect how you will use Tiers and Preferences. Because of the flexibility of this feature, the more effort you put into planning and setup, the more successful you will be in effectively using tiers, tier groups, and preferences.

You can assign all or specific stock products with this feature. All of the products you assign to a tier group will display in the context application, so if you want to limit scrolling within the application, limit the number of products in a tier and tier group. Be aware that the products display in the context application alphanumerically. Therefore, if you are using numeric preferences, we recommend you use a leading zero (01, 02). Blanks (no preference assigned) display first.

Note:  Do not confuse this feature with the Distribution SX.e cross reference functionality. The cross-reference substitution and interchange functionality is not related.

How tiers and preferences work

  • Use SA Table Code Value Setup to set up different types of tiers and preferences. You can classify SKUs (stock keeping units) based on product tiers (quality: Good, Better, Best) and/or preferences (location priority: 1st-Main whse, 2nd-South whse, 3rd-North whse). We recommend limiting tiers and preferences to three or four categories with meaningful and discernible levels.
  • In Product Setup, select a Tier and specify a Tier Group. The Tier Group is a freeform field with no validation, but it is key to using this feature; only products with a tier (and in the same tier group) display in the context application. Each product that you assign using this feature must have a Tier Group value assigned.
    Note: You can maintain the Preference field from Product Catalog Setup. To handle nonstocks, if a product record in Product Setup is created from a catalog record in Product Catalog Setup, the system copies the preference data from the catalog record.
  • Assign a Preference in Product Warehouse Product Setup.
    Note: To handle nonstocks, if the Product Warehouse Product Setup record is created from a Product Catalog Setup record, the system copies the preference from Product Catalog Setup, or, if not available, from Product Line Setup.
  • After you have assigned the products and warehouse products, add the Tiers and Preferences context application. Your CSR work flow should include keeping the application expanded while taking sales orders.

    When you specify a product on a Sales Order Entry line, the context application displays all of the products in that Tier Group that have a Product Warehouse Product Setup warehouse on the sales order. In the application, products are arranged by tier and the tiers display in tabs. Click a different tab to display the products for a different tier.

    If a product has been assigned a preference, that preference displays beside the a) product name, b) the quantity available, and c) the price. Click Add item to order (+) to replace the current product in the line with the tier item.

Tier Group search

Optionally, you can use Advanced Search to search on the Tier Group in Product Setup. You can also use the Personalize feature to add the Tier Group column to the Products grid.