Alternates ….. How can some one tolerate this ….

Alternates are IMPORTANT ….  they are not supercessions  ..they are REMINDERS that a ‘brother part’ exists …. and sometimes you give better customer service by asking if they might like the “related’ part ….

A recent example is PMC 158  Type 2 Limited Slip Additive … noticed that one store doesn’t sell ,,, while 2 others sell LOTS … when I ask – that store tells me they sell VAL VP011 as a better customer value … ( or an X line we have in ATP AT210  – both are similar

So – what is good with existing system in Exploris … hmm …

-something is better than nothing … I guess

So – what is weak with existing system ….

-if they had used a ‘MASTER’-slave relationship … the work would have been cut down .. you only need to LINK all parts once  … the present way you have LINK every conceivable  option … try that with 4 parts …. and see how much time and effort is required ….

-lets look at a MULTI-STORE situation … no easy way to add once ( for all ) …

A weak system of ALTERNATES costs jobbers lost sales

Here is a copy of an e-mail from 2004 on this matter …. this has to be a  record for the oldest e-mail we have linked to …. and we wait for the system to get better ….

Begin forwarded message:

From: Greg HENDERSON <Greg.Henderson@wrenchead.ca>

Subject: Alternates in Exploris — was FW: Please stock REC 133.54 4L lac thinner

Date: 21 December, 2004 9:38:35 AM EST

To: Terri Ballard <terri.ballard@gpi.com>

Cc: Robert Blair <robert.blair@gpi.com>, Rick Young <rick.young@gpi.com>, Steve Gushie <steve.gushie@gpi.com>, Brian Taylor <brian.taylor@gpi.com>, Roy Hedges <roy.hedges@gpi.com>, Serge Peladeau <sergep@bellnet.ca>, Emmet McLellen <>, Doug Crowe <>, Dave Johnson <>, Moe Armstrong <>

Hello TerriALTERNATES — pardon our impatience on this issue -)

1)  will  Jobbers – or  will the warehouse maintain the  links from a   part
to linked  parts
2) is it on a peer  to peer level – or master to  slave link  — one would
assume that by calling up ANY of the linked parts – that the complete
alternate link  will show on POS?  Right ?  Will it also show up on  an
equiv 2.2 and 3.18 type screen?  What is the limit to number of available links?
3)  if the warehouse maintains – will there be a easy way to suggest missing
links ( like a built in e-mail link to the person who  does this?
4) how will links be identified in the JIF file?  Will we have the  ability
to download all  sku’;s in JIF and  sort in excel to see what have links –
how ?
5) if the warehouse maintains – who is in charge of getting the links found …that is a huge issue — look at the thread below …finding these links
is the big job
6) if the warehouse maintains – how can Jobbers add a local level of links – for X lines?  Can that we added to existing warehouse links?
7) will related sales parts be a sub-level type ALTERNATE –so that we can suggest common parts  sold when you buy the first part.  How will these work (same  questions apply here).   Two  good examples are worldpac’s software and http://www.amazon.com who list parts(books) that others bought when they  got the  first part(book)

Really looking forward to ALTERNATES ( in multiple  flavors )

Regards