The basic process is typically as follows:

•The Customer calls and wishes to return a PDA, for example.

•The RA program is opened in Service Manager and an RA is issued to the Customer. If the Serial Number is in the system, the Equipment can be put on the RA, otherwise it can be logged as a Miscellaneous record. The Customer is advised that an Exchange will be shipped and the RA is printed and emailed to the Customer to allow them to return the faulty unit. The call concludes with the Customer. The Equipment on the RA is then posted to a Job in Document Entry by clicking the Post icon. During this process make sure that the Job Type is set to Service Exchange.

•The Equipment will be added to the Equipment marker in the template. (If Miscellaneous, it will be created as Miscellaneous and can later be changed to the actual record when receipted in).

•Add/Modify/Delete any Services and Items that have loaded from the template as required. One of the items should be an Exchange unit for the Equipment being returned, and it should be specified from the "Exchange" Location in Inventory. Set the Item Status (Item Properties, right hand side of screen), to Advanced Replacement. That way Document Query can be used to identify all Jobs in the system that have items on them with Item Status set to Advanced Replacement. This can easily be printed as well using the new Export to Excel (File menu) function.

•The Supply Quantity should be set to one (1) and the Unit Price will load from IC price lists as applicable. i.e., if the original Equipment is returned, it will not be necessary to charge for the unit, so the unit price will be set to $0. If the original Equipment is not returned, it will later be charged at normal pricing plus the repair charges. Note that when the Job is saved, then the item quantity will be decremented from that location.

•To create paperwork for the advance shipment, click the Post icon in Document Entry, but do not post an invoice, just click [Preview] and maybe build a specification in Crystal Reports to better track the movement of the goods as they may not want all the detail the standard specification has.

•Set the Job Status to Awaiting Equip RTN.
 

At this point it is not necessary to do anything further until the original Equipment has either been returned or not. If the Job is a WIP Job, it would have taken the costs to the balance sheet. We recommend that you run a Service Manager Day End at some point as that will take up WIP to the balance sheet. If not using WIP Jobs, this last process will not be required.

One other suggestion would be to add a Notation with a Follow-Up (could come in with template) to remind the operator to chase up the return in 5 days if not received back or whatever is the normal check-in time for return of goods. If using Monitor (V/M Management » Monitor) the operator will be auto warned to Complete the Job.

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Now assume that the unit is now returned.

•Open the original RA and then click the Receipt icon to receipt the Equipment in. Load the original document by clicking the Document icon on the top too bar. Find the Item detail line for the item shipped in advance and set the status back to None and change the unit price to $0 if not being billed. i.e., unit was returned. Complete any repair to the Equipment and add or adjust charges as applicable.

•Click Post to post an invoice and take up costs as applicable. The invoice can be printed to email or hard copy as required. During the posting function, if the item relationship was correctly set in setup above, a new Equipment record will be created for the Item shipped. Obviously a Serial Number will need to be specified when adding the Item that was advanced shipped in the first instance.
 

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Return to Inventory

To return the unit that was returned damaged (Equipment node in tree), click on the Equipment, and then select Tools » Return to Inventory (IC Shipment Return).

This opens the I/C Shipment Screens.

At this time Service Manager is not populating parameters from the Equipment record, so the return has to be processed manually.

Set the Entry Type to Return.

Add the Customer ID (very important).

Choose the Service Exchange Location (not the New item location for that item). This is important or S/N may not display Serial Numbers and make the process difficult to complete. Insert the Item detail line. Enter a Quantity to be returned and if S/N is installed you will be asked to choose a Serial Number being returned or type one in. Add the cost and any other values to the cost being returned if applicable. Post the return.

The Job should now be complete, so set the Job Status to Completed.

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Run Day End Processing.

If using WIP, on the Work in Progress tab, tick the Recognize Revenue and Expenses check box. Tick Apply Criteria, clear the Select All check box and then tick the Completed check box only. Click Go to list all WIP Jobs that have been Completed. Click [Process] to process these items.

All WIP entries will reverse off the balance sheet to the P&L as required.

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That should be it. It seems to be a rather lengthy process, but remember it is happening at different times in the workflow and does not really take that long. It is also important to reiterate that a lot is happening here, but all controlled by the integrated accounting system now.

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Document Query can now save column headers when saving a query, and it is possible to print the query to Excel by selecting File » Export to Excel. This will create an Excel file and allow it to be opened immediately so it can be printed.

The queries that are particularly useful are Status set to Awaiting Equip RTN, Item Status set to Advanced Replacement and Site, so you can check all open Jobs for a Site. Date range can be selected per options and compound queries can be created.

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The only adjustment to the above process that might be recommended is during the return of the Advanced Replacement item, it is suggested that you use the Print Preview function to create a dummy shipment document.