Job-specific blanket agreements

Customers can now buy products that are subject to job-specific blanket agreements.

Blanket agreement information is created in the ERP. The SyncContract and ShowContract BODs are used to replicate blanket agreements from the ERP to Rhythm for Commerce. A new Blanket Agreement web service is used to retrieve the agreement quantity, remaining quantity, and agreement validity dates from the ERP for display in the web shop.

Blanket agreements in the web shop

To view available blanket agreements, customers click the Blanket Agreement Job Specific list. The first three blanket agreements, their agreement numbers, description, and validity dates are displayed. Customers can click the View All link to view more blanket agreements. By default, a blanket agreement is not selected.

After customers select an agreement, the blanket agreement number is displayed as the name of the Blanket Agreement Job Specific menu item. A green circle indicates that the agreement is active. In addition, the blanket agreement number is added as a filter in the Filter section on the product list page. Customers can slide the filter on to view only those products in the blanket agreement.

In the Product List, Product Details, Product Comparison, Product Recommendations, and Promotional Items widgets, these indicators are used to identify the items in the agreement:
  • A Preferred Item ribbon is displayed.
  • A green circle is displayed next to the item price to show that the blanket agreement prices is being used.
  • The expiration date of the agreement, the quantity of item remaining in the agreement, and the total quantity in the agreement are displayed under the price.

In the Shopping Cart widget, the Preferred Item ribbon and green circle are used to identify products in a blanket agreement.

If price breaks are available in the blanket agreement, they are displayed in the Product Details widget.

Note: In some instances, the Preferred Ribbon indicator is the only indicator used if a price scale has not been set up for the blanket agreement in the ERP.

Users can select one agreement per order. Users can combine items that are not subject to an agreement with items that are subject to an agreement in their orders.

If a user orders a quantity that exceeds the blanket agreement quantity, the blanket agreement pricing is applied.

After a user submits an order in the web shop, a ProcessSalesOrder BOD that includes the ID of the blanket agreement is sent to the ERP.

Blanket agreements in the Business Center

Merchant administrators can review blanket agreements in the new Blanket Agreements form in the Business Center. The Blanket Agreements form shows the agreement number, the customer associated with the agreement, and the validity dates of the agreement. Click a blanket agreement number to view the agreement details, including the description of the agreement, items in the agreement, negotiated quantities, and validity dates.

Merchant administrators can update the description of the blanket agreement in the Business Center. If an agreement is updated through BOD replication, the customized description is retained.

Expired blanket agreements can be removed from the Blanket Agreements form through BOD replication or by running the Replicate.Purge scheduled job.

Compatibility

To use the blanket agreement feature, you must use Infor M3 multi-tenant cloud edition. This table shows the recommended minimum settings to use in M3:
M3 Form Required information
CO Type.Open (OIS010/J) Agreement check: 1-Customers agmnt

Price orig seq: Ensure that the customer order type that you use with Rhythm includes a 6, which indicates that blanket agreement pricing is evaluated.

Settings-Customer Order Entry (CRS720) Check Date: 1-Order Date
Customer.Open (CRS610) Agr chk header: 1-Dis alt

Agr chk lines: 6-OH or manual
Cust Blanket Agreement (OIS060) Qty Check: 1-No Check

Status: 20-Final
Settings Batch Orders (OIS278)

Source: A-API

BI Agr Search: Select this check box.

Agr Chk Header: 0-Manual Entry

Agr Chk Lines: 6-OH or Manual
These conditions apply to the setup of blanket agreements:
  • You cannot add the same item to an agreement more than once.
  • Business chains are not supported.
  • Blanket agreements at the address or warehouse level are not supported.
  • Blanket agreements defined by item group are not supported.
  • Blanket agreements cannot include configurable items.
  • Agreed quantities are specified at the line level.
  • Blanket agreement quantities are consumed during order simulation.

Activation

To activate blanket agreements, you must complete steps in ION Desk and the Business Center.

Complete these steps in ION Desk:
  1. In the Connection Points form, add the Sync.Contract BOD to the ecom connection point and M3 connection points. Set up the BOD to be received by the ecom connection point and sent from the M3 connection point.
  2. In the Document Flow form, add the SyncContract BOD to the data flow from the M3 application to the ecom application.
Complete these steps in the Business Center:
  1. In the Application Properties form, specify these settings:
    Application.Blanket Agreement Mode
    Specify ManualSelect.
    Items.Price Breaks
    To display price break information, specify true.
    WebServce.WSDL URL Endpoint (BlanketAgreement)
    Specify the URL for the blanket agreement web service.
  2. In the Roles form in the Business Center, set up a role with the Admin Blanket Agreement feature element.
  3. In the Users form, assign the role in step 2 to users who can review blanket agreements in the Business Center.

Limitations

The Spare Parts List, Style Items, and Order Approval Details widgets do not support blanket agreement indicators.

A known issue with the display of price break information will be resolved in a future release.