Before you can add a product, you'll need to ensure that everything is set up behind the scenes. This includes product taxonomy, units of measurement, and product variables. This guide will take you through the steps of creating everything you need in order to create your products.
Adding Product Classes
If your product classes are already set up, don't edit them unless directed by Orderbot staff.
- Go to Products > Product Management > Manage Classes
- Enter a Class Name. This name will appear on dropdown menus on reports or on the Manage Products page.
- Select a Class Type from the dropdown menu. (Please see the above section on Product Class basics for an explanation of the different types.)
- Click the Add Class button.
Adding Product Categories
Go to Products > Product Management > Product Structure
- Select a Product Class. (e.g. Sales Class)
- Click the + sign button to expand that Class, which will show any existing categories.
- Click the Add Category button under the Class you would like that category to appear under.
- Enter a name for your new category. If there is a reference to another category in another system, you can enter it here.
- Click Submit Changes.
IMPORTANT: If you intend to set up a 1:1 BOM, make sure you add the same categories and groups to all Classes that you're using. Otherwise, you may end up with products appearing under the wrong category on inventory reports.
Adding Product Groups
Go to Products > Product Management > Product Structure.
- Select a Product Class. (e.g. Sales Class)
- Click the + sign button to expand that Class, which will show any existing categories.
- Select a Product Category and click the + sign to expand that category, which will show any existing groups.
- Click the Add Group button next to the category you would like the group to appear under.
- Enter a name for your new group.
- Click Submit Changes.
Changing the Order of your Categories and Groups
Using Product Sequence, you can rearrange the order of your categories and groups, so that they appear in a more convenient order for you.
- Go to Products > Product Sequence. By default, Categories & Groups will be the option selected, but you can switch to Products instead if you like.
- Select your Product Class and click the + Sign to expand your categories.
- Click the Number next to your category to drag and drop it.
- As soon as you drag and drop, your product sequence will automatically be updated. You don't need to click the Submit button up top unless you want to switch between Categories & Groups and Products.
Note: If you have a website, Product Sequence won't affect the order of your products pages unless you have this feature set up. Contact support@orderbot.com to initiate a new project if you would like to add this feature to your website.
Adding Purchase Categories
You will only need Purchase Categories if you're planning to use Vendors and Purchase Orders to manage your inventory.
- Go to Purchasing > Manage Purchase Category.
- Enter your Purchase Category Name.
- Click Submit.
IMPORTANT: If you intend to use a 1:1 BOM, make sure that you add the same categories here that you do for the other Classes that you're using. Otherwise, you may end up with products appearing under the wrong category when you're creating purchase orders.
Adding Units of Measurement
While creating products, you can select your unit of measurement from a dropdown menu.
These are pre-populated with terms like each, package, or Lbs. But you may find that you wish to add your own custom units of measurement.
- Go to Prefs > System Setup > Site Settings > Units of Measurement.
- You'll see three tables with existing units of measurement. You can click the 'Edit' link to make any changes to their names or tick 'turned off' to deactivate them.
- Find the table that refers to the product level on which you would like to create your new unit of measurement.
- Sales Unit - This will appear on sales unit dropdown menus, such as on the product profile you view on the Manage Products page when searching by the sales class.
- Order Unit - This will appear on inventory unit dropdown menus or inventory-related reports.
- Vendor Purchase Unit - This will appear on dropdown menus related to purchasing.
If you have set your products up with a 1:1 relationship between sales, inventory, and purchasing units, you will want to create the same units of measurement on all three levels.
- For each unit you would like to create, enter a name and click the Add Unit button.
Product Variables
Product variables are used when creating child products. They're used for setting up similar products that differ by a variable, such as colour, style, or size.
- To set up variables, go to Products > Product Setup> Manage Product Variables
- Enter a name for your Variable Group. (e.g. Shirt Options) Click Add Group.
- Scroll down and find your new variable group.
- Click Add Variable to bring up a text field.
- Enter your variable name (e.g. Colours) and click Submit Changes . Continue adding variables until you have as many as you need.
- Find your new variables. Click Add Value next to the variable you would like to use to bring up a new text field.
- Enter your value name. (e.g. Tiny) Click Submit Changes.
- Continue adding values until you have as many as you need.
- You can add thumbnails of the Variable Values by clicking Choose File and Updating the appropriate image.
Be careful not to accidentally add your Variable Values on the Variable level. If you do that, you won't be able to select any variables when creating child products.
Reordering Product Variables
When you create child products, the children will take their name from the variables you have created.
For example, if you have a product called 'Robot' and a variable called 'Blue,' then the child you create will be called 'Robot Blue.'
But if you have multiple variables, how do you decide which variable will be first in the name? You do this by reordering your variables and variable values.
Reordering Variables
- Go to Prefs > Product Setup > Manage Product Variables.
- Find the product variables that you would like to re-order.
- Click any area of the grey box around your variable and drag it into another position. For example, in our screenshot above, we're moving 'Sizes' to be above 'Colours.'
Reordering Variable Values
The process for reordering your variable values is very similar to variables.
- Go to Prefs > Product Setup > Manage Product Variables.
- Click the + sign next to your variable to expand it, showing the variable values.
- Click anywhere on the grey box around the variable value you would like to move.
- Drag and drop the variable value to where you would like to move it. In our example above, we dragged S to be under M
