Adding Multiple Packs to a Product on a Purchase Order or Forward Contract

When placing a purchase order with your supplier, you may receive a packing list detailing the individual packs or unique items allocated to you. To ensure your records are accurate, you can update your purchase order to include these specific packs rather than just a quantity. This can be done manually or through a bulk upload, depending on your preference and the volume of data, this guide will walk you through how to use the list as a template for importing the packs effectively to the purchase, ensuring a seamless and efficient workflow. 

Preparing your Products

Before you begin, it’s important to ensure your products are set up correctly to use packs or unique items. This option is only available for products with a stock method that supports packs or unique items. Check that your products are configured appropriately, as packs and items can be set up in various ways—by weight, length, specification, or other criteria. Once your products are ready, you can proceed with importing the packs. In this example, we will look at packs of specified timber and Items of a unique weight.

Example of a pack product 

Example of a unique item product

Adding Packs Manually

To add packs manually, start by opening the purchase you wish to update. 

Click the Edit button and navigate to the relevant order line. 
Click the Quantity button.

Then click the Specified Packs button. 

Here, click the Add Pack(s) button to begin entering the pack details.

If you look at the top of the window, there is an example of how to input your pack data, this will differ depending on the pack type set up against the products.
If you’re adding specified length packs, start with a lowercase p, followed by the shipper’s pack number e.g., PCK1234. Add a space, then enter the quantity and length separated by an “x”. For instance, you might enter 10x1.8 for 10 pieces at 1.8 metres. You can add multiple lengths by separating them with spaces e.g., 10x1.8 15x2.2 20x3.6. Your complete line should look like this pPCK1234 10x1.8 15x2.2 20x3.6  Repeat this process for each pack on a new line, then click Add Packs to Order to generate packs.

Finally, click Confirm at the bottom of the window to lock in the changes and add the packs to the order line.

For Unique Items the process is similar. This example is for a weighted steel coil.
Amend the quantity of your purchase order line, click to the Unique Items button,

Click Add Unique Items, and enter the details.

Unique items work slightly differently than packs, we are making packs of a unique weight, other metrics are available. 
When entering your packs, start with a lowercase i, followed by the pack number SC9876  and weight 12.1, separated with spaces, e.g., iSC9876 12.1. 
Add multiple packs as needed on separate lines, then click Add Items to Order,

Click confirm in the next window to add the packs to the line. 

If you incorrectly create or allocate a pack, simply use the red Dustbin button to remove the pack from the line. You can also remove or edit the lines if you notice a mistake.

 

Bulk Uploading Packs from CSV or XLS

If your supplier provides a CSV or Excel file with the pack data, 

You can save time by creating a formula in Excel to combine the pack number, quantity, and dimensions into a single line formatted for Merchanter for easy copy and paste bulk upload.

I used this formula with the dataset above
="p" & $D2 &
IF(E2>0, " " & E2 & "x" & E$1, "") &
IF(F2>0, " " & F2 & "x" & F$1, "") &
IF(G2>0, " " & G2 & "x" & G$1, "") &
IF(H2>0, " " & H2 & "x" & H$1, "") &
IF(I2>0, " " & I2 & "x" & I$1, "")

How It Works

1. ="p": This starts the string with a lowercase p, which is required by Merchanter to identify a pack.
2. & $D2: This adds the pack number from column D (e.g., 123456) to the string.
3. & IF(E2>0, " " & E2 & "x" & E$1, ""): This checks if the value in column E (e.g., E2) is greater than 0. 
   1. If it is, it adds: 
      1. A space (" "),
      2. The quantity from column E (E2),
      3. The letter x,
      4. The length from Row 1 of column E (E$1).
   2. If the value is 0, it adds nothing ("").
4. & IF(F2>0, " " & F2 & "x" & F$1, ""): This does the same as above but for column F.
   1. It checks if F2 is greater than 0, and if so, adds the quantity and length from F1.
5. & IF(G2>0, " " & G2 & "x" & G$1, ""): Repeats the process for column G, using the length from G1.
6. & IF(H2>0, " " & H2 & "x" & H$1, ""): Repeats for column H, using the length from H1.
7. & IF(I2>0, " " & I2 & "x" & I$1, ""): Repeats for column I, using the length from I1.

Now filter the list by the correct product

copy the filtered and formatted data

paste it into the Add Packs box in Merchanter. 

Ensure there are no blank lines at the bottom, then click Add Packs to Order to quickly add all packs to the order line. 
Confirm the changes in the next window to complete the process.

Whether you’re adding packs manually or using a bulk upload, updating your purchase order with specific pack details ensures accuracy and improves record-keeping. By following these steps, you can efficiently manage your purchase orders and forward contracts, saving time and reducing errors.

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