Creating Services To Ask For Information Follow
Overview
Printer’s Plan can prompt the CSR for missing data whenever a service needs information (cost, price, time, or quantity) that you didn’t preload in the Service Setup window. Designing services to ask for values at order‑entry time is the fastest way to handle one‑off vendor costs, variable design hours, or ad‑hoc finishing charges—without cluttering your database with dozens of special‑case tables.
Info: Prompts appear only if all required cells are blank. Review the Common Fields Guide for a refresher on which fields trigger which prompts.
How It Works
A service prompts for data when both of these conditions are true:
- The service is configured to use a field (e.g., Material Cost, Units/Hour, Run Price).
- The corresponding cell in the Setup or Run table is blank.
Printer’s Plan pauses and asks the CSR for the missing value, then completes its calculations using that input—exactly as if it had come from the table.
Examples
1. Ask for Material Cost Per Each & Price Per Each
- Cost = Material Cost Only; Run table Mat. Cost blank.
- Price = Use Price Column of Setup & Run Table; Price column blank.
2. Ask for Service Time (Design by Hour)
- Quantity = Not Used.
- Cost = Time Cost Only; Cost / Hour = $52.
- Units/Hour blank in Run table.
3. Ask for Cost Per Each (Brokered Service)
- Cost = Material Cost Only.
- Run table Mat. Cost blank; Mat. Costs & Run Prices Are = Per Each.
4. Ask for Cost Per Thousand
- Same as Example 3, but Mat. Costs & Run Prices Are = Per M (1000).
5. Ask “How Many Pieces?” (Quantity Prompt)
- Quantity = Not Used.
- Multiply By = 0 pieces (text label appears in prompt).
6. Ask “How Many Pieces?” + Cost Per Each
- Combine Example 3 (blank Mat. Cost) with Example 5 (Not Used quantity).
7. Ask for Total Cost of Service
- Quantity = Not Used.
- Cost = Material Cost Only; blank Mat. Cost cell.
Key Points
- Prompts fire only when required table cells are blank.
- Per Each vs. Per M controls the prompt label (cost per each vs per thousand).
- Leaving Units/Hour blank triggers a time prompt for labor‑only services.
- If a service stops prompting, check for lingering values or “Use Last Cost/Price” settings—then re‑price the job.
Demonstration
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