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About Samples Transactions

In the default configuration, Siebel Samples Management supports two open inventory periods. The samples administrator can override this default behavior by adding additional open periods using Siebel Tools. When users click the Submit button for a samples transaction, the system checks the transaction date and time to determine the inventory period into which the transaction should be entered.

For all transactions except receipts, the application enters the transaction into the inventory period that includes the transaction's date and time. If no such period exists, the transaction submission fails.

If the situation involves samples receipts (that is, received samples transactions displayed in the Received Samples view) and no inventory period exists that includes the transaction's date and time, Siebel Samples Management creates a new inventory period.

For example, this situation might occur during initial deployment, before any inventory periods have been opened. The new period's start date and time are set to the invoice receipt's date and time. However, the application first checks whether any pending transaction has an earlier transaction date than the one being submitted. This is done to prevent any impasse that might occur if a second invoice receipt is later submitted with an earlier transaction date.

NOTE:  Once the first inventory period has been created, another period with an earlier start date and time cannot be created.

Submitted samples transactions impact inventory counts in the following ways:

• Samples orders are independent of inventory periods because they have no effect on inventory counts.
• Received Samples (transactions whose Type field is Transfer In) are added to the submitter's inventory counts.
• Sent Samples (transactions whose Transfer Type or Transaction Type field is Transfer Out or Return) are subtracted from the submitter's current inventory counts. In addition, a corresponding invoice receipt is created for the receiving party.

  NOTE:  Typically, samples returns (samples transfers whose Transfer Type field is Return) are expired products that are sent back to the home office to be destroyed. Samples returns are not added back into the home office's master inventory counts. The samples administrator can track samples returns by using the Sent Samples administration view or the Samples History administration views and querying for those samples transactions with a type equal to Return.

• Samples adjustments (transactions whose Transaction Type field is Inventory Adjustment) are either added to or subtracted from the submitter's inventory counts. Samples adjustments are the only type of samples transaction in which negative quantities are allowed.

In the Samples History view, the Add, Adjust, and Submit buttons are enabled or disabled as follows:

• If the transaction's Status field is set to Submitted, the Adjust button is enabled and the Add and Submit buttons are disabled.
• If the transaction's Status field is set to Adjusted, all the buttons are disabled.
• If the transaction's Status field is set to In Progress, the Submit button is enabled and the Add and Adjust buttons are disabled.