Overview of the Spiegel Interface

Purpose: The Spiegel Interface is used to translate order and billing information so that Petals can invoice Spiegel for fulfilling orders.

Background information: Spiegel is a syndication for Petals, which means that Spiegel mails the Petals catalog to their customers. The customers, in turn, order merchandise directly from Petals, often using the Spiegel's charge card. Petals fulfills (ships) these orders, then invoices Spiegel. Spiegel, in turn, receives a commission for these sales. The commission percentage is defined in the Source Code Cross Reference file.

Although Petals accepts the Spiegel's charge card, no credit card authorization is performed. Instead, the system checks the value in the Order $ limit field in the Pay Type record for the Spiegel charge card. If the charge against this pay type is greater than or equal to this value, the system places the order on DH (dollar type) hold.

Next, the operator runs the Held Order by Pay Type Report from the menu or by typing PHOP in the Fast path field. This report lists all orders on DH hold for the specified pay type (usually, the Spiegel's charge card). This report is forwarded to Spiegel so that the charges can be evaluated and authorized manually. Finally, the held orders authorized by Spiegel are released through the Release Held Orders function.

Now these orders are ready to be billed through the normal Billing process. Additionally, there is a batch program that:

• picks up all Spiegel orders (by virtue of the Source Code and designated by an S in the Syn field of the Source Cross Reference file)

• assigns a cross-reference order number (because Spiegel's order numbers are 5 positions; whereas, CWDirect order numbers are 8 positions)

A program resident on Petals' system performs the next two steps:

• assigns an invoice cross-reference number to group all CWDirect invoices for the day into a single invoice

• creates an Accounts Receivable record for the Spiegel invoice.

The following files and reports enable Petals to invoice Spiegel:

• Source Cross Reference file contains cross-reference information between Petals and Spiegel source codes. See Working with Source Cross Reference Codes (WSCR).

• Held Orders by Pay Type report that lists all orders for the specified pay type that are on DH (dollar) hold; these orders must be authorized manually then released through the Release Held Orders function. See Printing the Held Orders by Pay Type Report (PHOP).

• Order Cross Reference file contains the Petals order numbers, cross-referenced to the Spiegel (5-position) order numbers. Both sets of order numbers are assigned by the system. See Display Invoice Cross Reference (DICR).

• Invoice Cross Reference file is where multiple customer invoices are consolidated into a single invoice (typically containing 1,000 invoices); this consolidated invoice is presented to Spiegel for payment. See Display Order Cross Reference (DOCR).

• System Control file now contains the Spiegel Vendor Number (C75) field. This value is used when creating the Held Order by Pay Type Report and when producing the Spiegel Invoice file.

• Pay Type file has been modified. The value in the Order $ limit field is checked when the order is accepted. Orders with a total greater than or equal to this value are placed on DH hold. These orders are included on the Held Order by Pay Type Report and must be authorized manually.