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Private Supply Network (PSN)

ECI's Private Supply Network (PSN) is a collection of Internet-based services through which you can exchange data and conduct electronic transactions with suppliers and other trading partners. Using PSN, you can electronically:

Export POs to participating PSN vendors

Receive stock price checks from participating PSN vendors

Receive advance shipping notices (ASN) from participating PSN vendors

Create receipts from POs transmitted via PSN to participating vendors

Create invoices from POs transmitted via PSN to participating vendors

To use this functionality, you associate specific e-automate vendors with the PSN PO Export module, configure the PSN, and add a PSN Import option to your Tools menu.

Creating PSN VendorsCreating PSN Vendors

If you are editing an existing vendor to use PSN, do the following:

On the e-automate tool bar, click [Vendors] to open the Vendors window.

From the Vendors list window, select the vendor you want to update.

Click [Edit] or double-click the vendor record to open the Edit Vendor window.

Click the Miscellaneous tab to bring it forward.

In the PO export module field, select PSN PO Export to use the PSN PO export functionality with this vendor.

Click [OK] to save this change.

Proceed to the "Configuring PSN" section of this topic.

If you are setting up a new vendor to use PSN, do the following:

On the e-automate tool bar, click [Vendors] to open the Vendors window.

Click [ New] to open the New Vendor window.

In the Name field, enter the vendor's name.

In the Number field, make no change to accept the system-generated vendor number, or assign your own number to identify this vendor.

Note: When you enter a value in the Name field, e-automate generates a vendor numbers as follows: If the vendor's name is two or more words in length, the system uses the first letter from the first word and the first letter from the second word in the vendor's name plus two digits that are incremented each time a new vendor number is generated for a vendor for whom the first two letters are the same as an existing vendor's first two letters. For example, e-automate would assign the letters JD to vendor John Doe; if this vendor is the first one to whom e-automate would assign the letters JD, e-automate would assign vendor number JD00. The next vendor with these two letters (e.g., Jane Doe) would be assigned JD01, and so on. If the vendor's name is a single word, the system uses the same process listed above but uses only one letter—the first letter of the first word (e.g., for the first vendor whose one-word name begins with J, the system would assign J00).

Click the Address/Contact tab to bring it forward.

In the Billing area, in the Contact field, use the lookup to select the billing contact associated with this vendor, or use the drop-down menu to select [New] to create a contact. The Name, Phone, Fax, and E-mail fields will automatically populate.

In the Purchasing area, in the Contact field, use the lookup to select the person to contact when purchasing from this vendor, or click the Drop-down Menu icon and select [New] to create a contact. The Name, Phone, Fax, and E-mail fields will automatically populate.

In the Address area, complete the following fields as appropriate:

Street: Vendor's street address.

Note: This is the address to which you remit payment. You can add lines in this field by pressing Ctrl + Enter on the keyboard.

City: City where the vendor is located.

State: State or province where the vendor is located.

Zip: Postal or zip code of the vendor.

Country: Country where the vendor is located.

Website: Web address of the vendor.

In the Return area, in the Contact field, use the lookup to select the person to be contacted for returns, or click the drop-down menu and select [New] to create a contact.

Click the Order from tab to bring it forward.

Note: You use the Order From tab for vendors that have one remit to address and multiple locations from which you can order merchandise. You select the appropriate order from vendor when creating a purchase order. If you do not have vendors that fit this description, do not complete the information on this tab.

Click [New] to open the New Order From Address window.

Complete the following fields as appropriate:

Order from: Number or identifier of the order from.

Description: Description of the order from.

Attention: Name of the person to be responsible for the handling of your purchase associated with the order from.

Street: Street address of the order from.

City: City where the order from is located.

State: State where the order from is located.

Zip: Postal or zip code of the order from.

Country: Country where the order from is located.

Preferred order from: When checked and you use this vendor on a purchase order, e-automate automatically sets the Order from field to be this order from on the Order/Shipping tab.

Active: Verify this box is checked so users will be able to see and use this "order from" address.

Click [OK] to save the information entered in the New Order From Address window to the vendor profile.

Note: You use [Delete] to delete an order from and [Edit] to modify an order from.

Click the Miscellaneous tab to bring it forward.

In the Account information region, complete the following fields as appropriate:

Account number: Account number assigned to your company by the vendor.

Credit limit: Maximum amount of credit extended to you by the vendor.

Note: Your purchases are monitored by e-automate and identifies when you go over the credit limit.

Unlimited: When checked, this box grants you unlimited vendor credit.

Terms: Typical terms extended to you by the vendor. These terms are populated automatically by e-automate when this vendor is selected. They can be changed on the transaction if necessary.

On Hold Code: When populated, this vendor is on hold with your company for the specified reason.

Ship method: Typical method by which you receive shipments from this vendor.

Fed. Employer ID: Federal Employee Identification number of the vendor.

1099 Required: When checked, specifies that a 1099 form is to be filed for this vendor.

Note: e-automate does not print the 1099 but offers a report in preparation of the 1099.

Order Method: The method used when placing orders.

PO export module: Select PSNPOExport to use the PSN PO export functionality with this vendor.

In the Defaults for vendor invoices region, do one of the following:

If selecting Account/Department option:

GL account: When populated, e-automate pre-populates the account on a vendor invoice with this account.

Department: When populated, e-automate pre-populates the department on a vendor invoice with this department.

Branch: When populated, pre-determines the assigned branch on vendor invoices associated with this vendor. This field is displayed only when branching is enabled.

If selecting GL distribution code option, in the GL distribution code field, use the lookup icon to select the GL distribution code associated with this vendor, or click the drop-down menu icon and select New to create a new distribution code.

Click the EFT tab to bring it forward.

To pay this vendor by electronic funds transfer (EFT) or automated clearing house (ACH) transaction, check Pay by EFT.

Note: When checked, e-automate activates the fields on the EFT tab.

Note: For an EFT to work, you must first configure e-automate for use with EFTs.

To send a pre-note prior to paying this vendor by EFT, select Pending pre-note.

Note: A pre-note acts as a zero-dollar charge to your account that allows the bank to verify that the EFT file is set up correctly prior to processing payments. Vendors that have pre-notes pending cannot be paid electronically.

Once e-automate has created the pre-note file, e-automate selects the Active as of date option and populates the date with the pre-note creation date plus the number of days listed in the Wait the following days after sending pre-note to activate vendor for EFT field on the EFT Options window (which you access by clicking Tools > Options to open the Options window, clicking Accounts Payable to display the Accounts Payable options, and then clicking the [EFT options]... button).

Complete the following fields as appropriate.

In the Account type field, use the drop-down menu to select the type of account used by the vendor for EFT transactions.

In the Account number field, enter the account number of the account to which EFT payments are to be deposited.

In the Routing number field, enter the routing number of the financial institution used by this vendor for EFT transactions.

Note: This field has a nine-digit validation to verify the authenticity of the routing number.

In the Name field, enter the name of the vendor's contact person who is to be notified when EFT payments are processed for this vendor. This notification includes an e-mail containing the invoices paid by the EFT/ABA file.

In the Phone field, enter the phone number of contact person associated with this vendor’s EFT transactions.

In the Email field, enter the email address the system should send email notifications to when payments are electronically processed in e-automate for this vendor.

In the BCC field, enter an email address, if desired, to which the system should send a blind carbon copy of the payment notification when EFT payments are processed for this vendor.

Click [OK] to save the vendor information.

Configuring PSNConfiguring PSN

From the Tools menu, select Options to open the Options window.

In the left pane of the window, double-click on Misc. options. The miscellaneous options are displayed in the right pane.

Click on [Export Modules] to open the Export Modules window.

Select PSN PO Export.

Click the [Configure] button to open the PSN PO Export Module window.

In the PSN facility URL field, make no change to use the production URL with which the system populated this field.

In the PSN source ID field, enter your Great Plains Account ID.

In the Notifications email address field, enter the email address to which the system should send notifications if any issues occur regarding PSN transactions.

Click the [Save] button to save these entries.

Click the [OK] button to close the PSN PO Export Module window.

Click the [Close] button to close the Export Modules window.

Click the [OK] button to save your changes and to close the Options window.

Note: If you made any changes, e-automate displays an Attention window, indicating that all users must restart e-automate in order for these changes to take effect. Do the following:

Click the [OK] button to acknowledge the message.

Restart e-automate so that these changes will take effect.

If you are running e-agent, restart e-agent as well.

Vendor SettingsVendor Settings

Click the [Vendor Settings] button to open the PSN Vendor List window.

Select a vendor from the PSN Vendors column on the left and e-automate will automatically populate the fields on the right. Make changes as necessary.

Vendor Name: The name of the PSN vendor.

Note: The system populates this field. This entry is case-sensitive. If you modify this field's value, PSN requires you to use all capital letters.

Dealer account number: The dealer account number for the PSN vendor.

Note: The PSN vendor should supply you with this number.

Send dealer credentials: Click this checkbox if you want to send the user account number and user account password with the PO to the Vendor.

Note: This selection is unique to each vendor. Currently, only DIGITEK requires you to check this box.

User account number: The Vendor's User ID supplied by the vendor.

Note: This field's use is unique to each vendor. Currently, only DIGITEK requires you to enter a value in this field.

User account password: The Vendor's password for the Dealer account that authenticates this account in the Vendor's system.

Note: This field's use is unique to each vendor. Currently, only DIGITEK requires you to enter a value in this field.

Default facility ID: The ID for the default vendor warehouse from which the orders will be fulfilled.

Note: The PSN vendor should supply you with this number.

Note: During PSN PO processing, the system will only look at this warehouse facility when attempting to fill an order.

Price check facility ID list (comma separated): A comma-separated list of all the warehouse facility IDs you want the system to check for available stock when performing a stock price check.

Note: Be sure to include the Default facility ID in this list if you want to know the quantity of an item available at this facility when performing a stock price check.

Note: During a stock price check, the Stock Price Check Results window will only show the price of the item for the Default facility ID. but it will also show the stock available at each facility you list here as well as a total quantity of the item available at all the facilities you list here.

Allow backorders: If checked, items will be automatically set to 'Ship when in.' If this box is not checked, items will not be backordered if they are not available at the default facility.

Allow partial shipments: Check this box to allow partial shipments on PSN POs.

Note: If the Allow backorders box is not checked and the Allow partial shipments box is checked, the system will ship the items that are available from the default facility and will cancel the remaining items on the PSN PO. If the Allow backorders box is not checked and the Allow partial shipments box is not checked, the system will cancel all the items on the PSN PO.

Request timeout (seconds): Time in seconds for a request to timeout.

Polling interval (seconds): Time in seconds for a polling interval.

Short polling period (seconds): Time in seconds for a short polling period.

Long polling period (seconds): Time in seconds for a long polling period.

Click [Apply].

Click [Save Changes] to save your PSN Vendor information.

Click [Close] to close the PSN Vendor List window.

Vendor MappingsVendor Mappings

Click the [Vendor Mappings] button to open the Vendor Mapping window.

In the e-automate vendors field, click the Drop-down Menu icon and select the vendor you want to map to PSN.

In the PSN vendors field, click the Drop-down Menu icon and select the PSN vendor to associate with your e-automate vendor.

Click [Add].

Repeat Steps 2-4 to map any additional vendors.

Click [OK] to return to the PSN PO Export Module window.

Vendor Data TranslationsVendor Data Translations

Click the [Vendor Data Translations] button to open the Vendor Data Translations window.

In the PSN vendor field, click the Drop-down Menu icon and select the vendor you want to associate translation items with.

In the Translation item field, click the Drop-down Menu icon and select PO ship to type. The system displays the PO Ship To types in a grid to the right of this field.

To edit a PO Ship To Type, do the following:

Select from the grid the PO Ship To Type you want to edit.

In the e-automate value field, make no change to use the name displayed or enter an alternate value.

In the Translate to field, click the Drop-down Menu icon and select an appropriate option. The following options are available:

DS - Select this option to have the Vendor direct-ship the items on the PSN PO to the customer.

SA - Select this option to have the Vendor use the standard method of shipping the items to your warehouse.

Click [Apply] to save any changes.

Repeat Step 4 as necessary to associate each PO Ship To Type with a Translates to value.

Click [Save].

Click [Close] to return to the PSN PO Export Module window.

DefaultsDefaults

Click the [Defaults] button to open the PSN PO Export Defaults window.

Enter the following information as appropriate:
Freight item: Enter the item number with which to associate freight charges on the invoice.
Misc item: Enter the invoice default for a miscellaneous item.

Click [OK] to return to the PSN PO Export Module window.

Completing the TransactionCompleting the Transaction

Click [OK] to save the PSN PO Export module configuration settings.

Check the Configuration status region. If no text is displayed in red font in this region, the system is not detecting any missing and/or incorrect information. If text is displayed red font in this region, review the message in red font and repeat the previous steps in this topic as necessary to resolve any remaining issues.

Setting Up and Activating ASNSetting Up and Activating ASN

Using the Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN) feature of PSN, you can bulk create PO Receipts and PO invoices for POs transmitted via PSN to participating PSN vendors. To set up ASN, do the following:

From the Tools menu in e-automate, select Add-in Manager... to open the Add-in Manager window.

In the Menu Text field, enter a name for the add-in you are adding (for example, PSN Import).

If you are using an on-premise installation of e-automate, in the Command line or web URL field, do the following:

To populate the Command line or web URL field, click the Browse for program (folder) icon to the right of the field to open the Open window.

Using the Open window, populate the File name field by browsing to the location of the eAddins.exe file on your computer.

Note: For server-and-client installations, the default location is: C:\Program Files (x86)\ECI\e-automate\Addins. If you did not install the e-automate client in the default location, navigate to the location where you installed e-automate and locate the AddIns directory. For per-user, client-only installations, the default location is: C:\Users\MyUserName\AppData\Local\ECI\e-automate\Addins (where MyUserName is the name of the Windows user account from which you are accessing e-automate). This folder location may be hidden by default. To access a hidden folder, see the Unhide Files and Folders in Windows topic.

Click the Open window's [Open] button to close the Open window and to populate the Add-in Manager window's Command line or web URL field with the selected path and file name.

In the Command arguments field, type the following command exactly as it appears below. Be sure to match upper and lower case letters.

PSNImport

Check the Include user info checkbox.

Click [QuickAdd] to add your entry to the list.

Click [Close] to close the Add In Manager window. The e-automate Tools menu now displays the PSN Import option (or alternate text you listed in Step 2 above).

Restart e-automate.