eCommerce Bundled Items or Assembled to Order


Userlevel 4
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We have customers and prospects with a requirement to assemble products based on a customers request, either through a ecommerce store or through direct input into Acumatica.  Some examples of these scenarios are below:

  1. Variety Packs
    1. Pick any 6 of our flavors or frangrences to make your own pack.  Using matrix items is not a viable solution given that these customers may have 300+ individual items.
  2. Made to Orders based on variables. Manufacturing is overkill and does not interface with ecommerce connector. Needs to be rules driven to avoid misconfigured items.
    1. Is this an indoor or outdoor applications?
    2. Do you want still images or video?
    3. What megapixel level? (doesn ot allow megapixel levels not compatible with video if selected)
    4. What country?
      1. Which cellular provider? (does not allow a provider which is not available in selected country)

Issues:

  1. How to faciliate the order in the ecommerce store so that it passed to Acumatica correctly?
  2. How to faciliate the order for direct input into Acumatica?
  3. How to manage the assembly process when manufacturing edition is overkill?

Please share your thoughts on how to address this need?


20 replies

Userlevel 6
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Thanks @jgress - you’re right. There is a long list of features which are desired around this topic. Conversations and cross team planning is continuing to happen around these deeper needs. 

Also, be sure to take a look at one of our new partners Verenia - https://www.verenia.com/cpq-product-configurator-software - they are currently implementing a solution for an eComm customer selling on Shopify and using Manufacturing Edition. I’d be curious to hear your feedback/thoughts on this offering.

Userlevel 4
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@josh.fischer Nice to see the new feature. Unfortunately, it does not appear to address the stated need. Let me know if I am missing something.  Thank you.

Userlevel 6
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For those tracking this conversation, we have added the first feature for supporting the sale of Made-to-Order/Personalized items on BigCommerce and Shopify in 21R2. More information was added here - 

 

Thanks for everyone’s input on this. 

 

Userlevel 1

@dennisgodsill36 - Thank you for comment on Kits - We run into this and need a solution as the kit components are not generated lines on the shipment, thus a warehouse scanning/pick issue - cannot scan if it the lines is not on a shipment.  There are needs for Kit items generated as sales order lines with zero price and the total selling price and there are times the Kit ID item has Zero Price and the line items are discounted,  This of course causes a variability on the sales margin reports as the price might be on the Kit, but the line items are generated with zero sales, but cost booking (shows poor sales $ margin on the item reports).  Definitely worth a round of good input so Acumatica can handle most of the world’s needs.

Userlevel 6
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Thanks @deaster93 - just sent you a DM so I can learn more about this. Appreciate it!

Userlevel 2
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We have a prospect that uses features and options, on items that would benefit from an integrated commerce configurator.  They do not need the full rules based manufacturing configurator but they do need more than matrix items.  If possible, I would like to be involved in discussions for such a feature.

Thanks,

Dennis

Userlevel 3
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Just had a discussion with a customer who wants to have kits to simplify sales entry but needs to ship and record the serial numbers of the kit components and recognize the kit component demand at the time of sales order entry because the components are manufactured..  They will be using Sales Force send the kit components to Acumatica sales order as separate lines,  Most ERP systems have the ability to have sales kits that can explode to lines on the sales order immediately and offer multiple ways to calculate the selling price: use kit price, roll up components to the kit price, price each component separately, etc.The Product Configurator can have supplemental items that become sales order lines and that would work for most clients; one item is the main item you build and the supplemental items can be make or buy,

Userlevel 6
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Hi @brothe58 - Thanks for this insight. Would love to talk with you and your VAR so I can learn more about your business and your exact needs. I’ll reach out to you via your VAR soon.

Userlevel 2

I'm an Acumatica customer in the B2C retail/ecommerce space.

We've used Acumatica's Non-Stock Kits since 2017R2 for build-to-order bundled items, but I've never felt like this was fully baked. I cannot recommend it. We continue to struggle with non-stock kits in Acumatica today.

We use stock kits instead of the manufacturing edition for basic assemblies that aren't build-to-order.

We've been able to integrate our website with non-stock kits, but there are still big problems in Acumatica with regards to:

  • Availability calculations
  • Purchase forecasting
  • Serialization of NSK components
  • Shipment package contents
  • Landed cost/margin calculations on non-stock kits

I would be very receptive to a better solution for BTO (build to order) items in native Acumatica.

Userlevel 2
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Joel - We had similar issues and worked with Kensium to first create the configurator in Magento and then add a CSV export to the cart page.  This allowed our internal sales people to be able to use the visual configurator and features of our website and then easily take the export and import into the Acumatica sales order line item section.  This has also made it easy for our customers to configure something and send us the CSV.  

Userlevel 4
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@alijani and @josh.fischer when you build this solution, in addition to Distribution and Manufacturing modules, you also need to support the same in CRM/Quotes as well. This is another thing that keeps coming up from time to time.

Yep. We are also evaluating if we should separate quotes out so they are not dependent on CRM.  For example project Quotes can work independently but yet they can show up  in CRM opportunities.   

Userlevel 4
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@alijani and @josh.fischer when you build this solution, in addition to Distribution and Manufacturing modules, you also need to support the same in CRM/Quotes as well. This is another thing that keeps coming up from time to time.

Userlevel 6
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To piggyback on Ali’s comment, this is a current topic of conversation within the product team. Currently, we are collecting information from customers and prospects about their unique requirements. Our goal is to build 1 solution that universally supports a variety of Acumatica customer types, includes features to support the various requirements, and also pushes/pulls data to/from the multiple eCommerce platforms appropriately. Surprisingly, when you talk with 6 different customers about their needs, there is overlap but each has slightly different expectations. It’s important that the foundation of this solution is prepared for the many different (known and unknown) scenarios.

Userlevel 4
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We are reviewing the Configurator in manufacturing and the Kensium bundles and we will most likely replace the Kensium solution with expansion/extension of capabilities to the manufacturing one.  We are also reviewing how Kits work, as well as what we call modifiers for attributes you can set on an order line level level based on products that were added to the order.   This is complex to make sense of all these separate things and come up with a design that addresses the various needs.  This is why we dont want to rush and it will be a few releases before we see these significantly enhanced in the core product.

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Rahul,  I am familiar with the conversation.  You may recall a prospect I had years ago that needed this functionality.  The need has not gone away but the prospect has. 

A clear picture of  direction from Acumatica would be helpful before getting customers into a solution.

Userlevel 4
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No, Kensium Product Configurator (as it appears in the price sheet) focuses on the Distribution Module. It works with Commerce/eCommerce.

It does not work with Manufacturing - John Schlemmer and I had a few conversations and we know it is feasible. Basically take the data from the Sales Order and populate the Manufacturing BOM, etc.

We decided to take this on when a customer comes along that needs it.

Userlevel 4
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Hey Rahul, 

When you say “Distribution Product Configurator”, are you referring to the Manufacturing Configurator? If yes, this does not work with ecommerce or without manufacturing edition.

Userlevel 4
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Matrix Items replaces Configurable Products in most cases (there are some where Configurable still fits better).

If you need Bundle (Build your own), then the only option out there is the Distribution Product Configurator.

Future versions of Acumatica may bring this in-house. Nothing in the works at the moment as far as I am aware.

Userlevel 4
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Rahul,  That was my understanding. I sent in the product guide from the Kensium Product Configurator to Acumatica and asked this specific question.  They came back with Matrix Inventory which is not a fit for this situation.  No clear answer on where the Bundle feature disappeared to.  It would be good to hear from someone at Acumatica on this topic to get some clarification.

I am guessing that since the Kensium Product Configurator (now owned by Acumatica) and the JAMS Configurator (now owned by Acumatica) do not speak to one another that there is a re-write in the works.

Can someone from Acumatica respond?

Userlevel 4
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This is what the Kensium Product Configurator (now owned by Acumatica) provides. This product type is called a “Bundle”.

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