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Allocating Samples

Administrators assign samples to sales representatives through the allocation process. The sales representatives deliver the samples to the health care professionals. The application provides the ability to display products for a sales representative and updates them as they become active or inactive. Allocation is applicable to samples, promotional items, and detailing products. Allocation records can either be manually entered, or loaded into the application using EIM.

Using the allocation process, if a sales representative has a product in inventory, and the product does not have an active allocation for a certain period, then the product will not be available for selection, and cannot be added as part of a New call or a Smart call. Products available for selection are filtered based on start and end dates from the Allocation screen.

NOTE:  Products of type Promotional items and details are allocated in a similar way to the allocation of sample products.

To allocate samples

1. Navigate to the Sample Management screen.
2. On the link bar, click Allocations.
3. Select Samples from the drop-down list.
4. In the Allocations view, create a new record and complete the necessary fields.

   Some fields are described in the following table:

   Field	Comments
   Owner Last Name	This is an MVG field. The last name of the sales representative to whom the sample should be allocated.
   Owner First Name	This is an MVG field. The first name of the sales representative to whom the sample should be allocated.
   Start Date	Start Date of the allocation period. Sales representatives cannot access the samples before this date.
   End Date	End Date of the allocation period. Sales representatives cannot access the samples after this date
   Active	This is a read-only check box which is populated based on the Start Date and End Date. The check box is disabled for an inactive period and is enabled l be for an active period (current date is a date between the Start Date and End Date).
   Sample	This is a drop-down field. Administrator can select the sample which will be allocated to the sales representative.
   Max Quantity	This is the maximum quantity a sales representative can allocate in one call. If the sales representative samples more than this quantity to the doctor, a message is displayed to indicate that the user has exceeded the limit. If a change is made to this value, it is reflected only on the Handheld device after the sales representative performs a synchronization.
   Allocated Quantity	The number of samples allocated for this allocation period.
   Stop Sampling	If this flag is checked, the sales representative cannot sample this drug anymore. This behavior is noticed only after the sales representative synchronizes their mobile device.
   Product Type	Read-only field of Sample product type.

NOTE:  If a sales representative creates a call with a certain call date, chooses the products, and then changes the Call Date, the Call Validation process displays an error and prevents the sales representative from collecting a signature or submitting the call.