Product Distribution

This chapter describes how to use Siebel Consumer Goods to manage all aspects of product distribution. Topics include:

About Controlling Product Distribution

You can structure and track the distribution of a wide range of products to large numbers of accounts. In addition, you can control where the product is held in the premises of an account.

Your company can control product distribution in the following ways:

Managing distribution lists to automate product distribution. By assigning distribution codes to categories, products, and accounts in a customer’s product distribution account hierarchy, you build a distribution system that determines the products that are distributed to each account. For more overview information about distribution lists, see About Distribution Lists.
Classifying accounts by market segment. Classifying an account’s market segment automates the product distribution process by controlling the products (or product categories) that appear in that account’s product catalog. You classify the market segments for your customer accounts by applying the personalization attribute Account Channel for each account. For more overview information about account market segments, see About Account Market Segments.
Assigning product categories to an account. Administrators or end users can manually assign specific product categories to specific accounts so that only products in those categories are available for distribution.
Creating buying groups. Buying groups are accounts that act as product distributors, or suppliers, to multiple member accounts. For more overview information about buying groups, see About Buying Groups.
Designating merchandising locations. You can assign multiple merchandising locations to an account.

Note: For information that is specific to product distribution and its relationship to sales volume planning, see Sales Volume Planning

About Distribution Lists

Most consumer goods companies are organized in a hierarchical structure, often based on the company’s channels of distribution. Typically, marketing administrators create product distribution lists that control the company products that are available for distribution to their customer distributor accounts and the retail outlets that they serve.

The Siebel Consumer Goods application can use distribution codes to automatically create an account-product record, which is a distribution list of the products that each account (in the product distribution account hierarchy) is authorized to receive. You can apply distribution codes to the appropriate level of the product distribution account hierarchy for each of your customers, usually to the customer’s distribution centers and to the outlets that they serve, and to any or all of the products that your company manufactures. Each subaccount receives the full set or a subset of products that are authorized for the key distributor accounts directly preceding that subaccount in the hierarchy.

Most consumer goods companies use one or both of the following distribution methods to supply their retail outlets:

Direct distribution. With this distribution method, the key account, usually the customer’s own distribution center, is the sole intermediary between your company and the retail outlets.
Indirect distribution. With this distribution method, another intermediary such as a third-party distributor, called an indirect account, exists between the key account and the retail outlets.

Retail product authorization is when your company’s products are authorized for retail distribution at the key account, indirect account, and retail outlet levels. With indirect distribution, distribution lists are built from the products available to the indirect account. These products are a subset of the products from the key account distribution list.

For more information about creating distribution lists to control product distribution to accounts, see Creating Distribution Lists.

About Account Market Segments

If you have multiple channel partners operating in the same locale, such as a shopping mall, you might want them to carry different sets of products to avoid unnecessary price reductions that erode the brand equity of your products. Companies in this situation determine the product mix that an account carries based on the market segment of the account.

In the Siebel Consumer Goods application, you can use the Account Channel attribute to selectively display an account catalog with only the product categories and products that fit the account’s market segment.

Administrators or account managers can tag your company’s accounts with the Account Channel attribute, which determines to which type of distribution channel the account belongs, such as Mass Merchandiser or Electronics Specialists.

About Buying Groups

A buying group is an account (consisting of multiple member accounts) that buys products at high volume, typically for the purpose of receiving discounted prices. All stores in a buying group can benefit by receiving products at prices lower than they receive if they purchase independently.

You can associate specific products with a buying group to determine the products available for distribution to the group members. Buying groups can purchase products on behalf of their member accounts. End users can check to see if their buying group plans to purchase some of the products they require and, if it does, they can remove those products from the plan and eliminate double ordering.

Scenario for Managing Product Distribution

Marketing administrators and account managers perform the process in this example scenario when using distribution hierarchies and the Account Channel personalization attribute to determine how their products are distributed among their accounts. Your company might follow a different process according to its business requirements.

The administrator at a large beverage manufacturing company is responsible for making sure that the correct products are available for each customer account. He does so by controlling product distribution lists at the corporate level. These lists determine the set of products available at the key distribution account level of each account’s hierarchy and the subsets of products available to the accounts down the hierarchy. In addition, the administrator determines where various products are available in retail outlets.

The Ace Corporation account consists of two warehouse distribution centers, Ace Corporation East and Ace Corporation West. Each warehouse supplies retail outlets throughout North America. Ace Corporation headquarters determines the beverage items that are stocked at each warehouse. In addition, Ace Corporation employs a third-party wholesaler, AnyCompany Distribution, to supply products to outlets in the state of Louisiana in the United States.

The administrator enters the Ace Corporation account hierarchy for product distribution into the Siebel database. He indicates that the Ace Corporation East and West accounts are Distributors and that AnyCompany Distribution is a wholesaler or supplier account for one or more of the Ace Corporation accounts in its product distribution account hierarchy.

He then establishes an authorized product distribution list for the Ace Corporation account product distribution hierarchy that is based on the inclusive distribution option. He gives both of Ace Corporation’s distribution warehouses (Ace Corporation East and West) a distribution code of Premium for the category Fizz and a distribution code of Standard for the category Splash. This designation authorizes both warehouses to receive all of his company’s beverage products that are part of the Fizz category, independent of product category, and all products in the Splash category that have a distribution code of Standard or Limited. However, because Louisiana bans the sale of alcoholic fruit drinks, the third-party wholesaler in Louisiana is not licensed to distribute them. The administrator gives the wholesaler a distribution code of Limited for the category Fizz so that only the subset of his company’s products that do not contain alcoholic fruit drinks is shipped to this warehouse.

The account manager manages and updates the authorized product distribution lists, supplier references, and source of supply for each of her key accounts. She notes that Ace Corporation East cannot meet the demand for beverage products for all the retail outlets that it supplies, so she fulfills the needs of those outlets by designating Ace Corporation West as the alternative supplier for those outlets in the account hierarchy for product distribution.

Finally, the account manager specifies the percentage of the authorized product distribution list each warehouse supplies and designates merchandising locations for several of the products that are available to Ace Corporation’s outlets.

About Creating and Modifying Distribution Lists

Typically, marketing administrators create distribution lists that control the company products that are distributed to a customer’s distributor accounts and the retail outlets that they serve.

Before creating a distribution list for a customer, you must create the appropriate distribution codes. Distribution codes impose a logic on the distribution of products across the account-category hierarchy that is inclusive or exclusive. In both systems, the distribution codes govern how products move from key accounts to subaccounts. For information about creating accounts and account hierarchies, see Managing Accounts

For each product you add to the key account’s distribution list, an account-product record is automatically created. The distribution code you enter for each product on the key account’s distribution list is matched with the distribution codes given to each subsidiary account.

With inclusive distribution, the sequence or order that you assign to a group of distribution codes in the list of values (LOV) is used to assign rank to accounts. For example, outlets might have different distribution codes in the Beverages category. The following table shows the distribution codes and the order that is assigned to those codes in an inclusive system.

Distribution Code	Order	Subaccount Receives
Premium	1	Premium, Standard, Limited
Standard	2	Standard, Limited
Limited	3	Limited

In an inclusive distribution system, subaccounts with the Premium distribution code receive the entire key account’s list of beverages, that is, products with Premium, Standard, or Limited distribution codes. Outlets with the Standard distribution code receive a subset of the entire list, which includes products with Standard and Limited distribution codes. Outlets with the Limited distribution code receive only those products with the distribution code of Limited.

With exclusive distribution, each distribution code defines a specific subset of products that do not depend on the order that you assign to the distribution codes. The following table shows an example of distribution codes and products in an exclusive distribution system.

Distribution Code	Order	Subaccount Receives
Premium	1	Premium
Standard	2	Standard
Limited	3	Limited

In an exclusive distribution system, outlets with the Premium distribution code in the Beverages category receive a subset of the key account’s distribution list of products, which includes products that are part of the Premium category with Premium distribution codes. Outlets with the Standard distribution code for the Beverages category receive a subset of the entire list, which includes only those products with the distribution code of Standard in the Beverages category. Outlets with the Limited distribution code in the Beverages category receive only the products with the distribution code of Limited in the Beverages category.

You can also add unauthorized products to subaccount distribution lists. An unauthorized product is a product that you add to a subaccount’s distribution list outside the inclusive or exclusive distribution system.

Process of Managing Product Distribution

This topic lists the tasks that administrators and end users typically perform to manage product distribution. Your company might follow a different process according to its business requirements.

Administrator Procedures

The following list shows the tasks that administrators typically perform to manage product distribution:

End-User Procedures

The following list shows the tasks that end users typically perform to manage product distribution:

After administrators create distribution lists, end users can perform the other tasks involved in product distribution in any order. However, you can specify suppliers for products only after you create buying groups because you select the suppliers from the existing buying groups.

Creating Distribution Codes

Before you can create a distribution list, you must first define the distribution codes that you want to use.

This task is a step in Process of Managing Product Distribution.

To set up distribution codes

Navigate to the Administration - Data screen, then the List of Values view.
In the List of Values view, query for the Type field RTL_PRFL_DIST_CODE.
The query results show all the account distribution codes that are available.
In the Order column, assign a different number to each distribution code to create a sequence.
Note: The sequence that is applied to this LOV determines the order in which the distribution codes appear on the Dist. Code list. The sequence does not impose organization, but applies a rank in an inclusive distribution system.

Creating Distribution Lists

After you define distribution codes, you can create a distribution list for a key account and specify the subaccounts of the key account. You can then define the products you want to include in the key account’s distribution list.

This task is a step in Process of Managing Product Distribution.

To create an account distribution list and define subaccounts

Navigate to the Administration - Authorized Distribution List screen, then the Detail List view.
Select the account record for which you want to create an account distribution list by performing a query in the list.
Note: For direct distribution, this key account is a key distribution point for the customer, such as a distribution warehouse. For indirect distribution, this key account is responsible for indirect distribution, such as a third-party distributor.
(Optional) Click the More Info view tab, and select the Inclusive check box to assign inclusive distribution properties.
Click the Authorized Accounts view tab, and create a new record in the Authorized Accounts list.
Click the select button in the Account field, and in the Pick Account dialog box, select an account record to add as a subaccount to this key account, and click OK.
Complete the necessary fields.
The following table describes some fields.

Field	Comments
Account Channel	Determines the type of distribution channel to which the account belongs.
Dist. Code	Distribution Code. Determines the products that this account receives.
Category	Determines the category of products this account receives.

Note: You can create multiple records for one subaccount. Each record for a subaccount must have a different category, but each category can have a different distribution code.

After you specify the subaccounts to include in the authorized distribution list, you can define the products available to those accounts.

To define products for an account distribution list

Navigate to the Administration - Authorized Distribution List screen, then the Detail List view.
Select an account record for which you want to define products.
To add the products in a category to the Authorized Category Product list, complete the following steps:
1. Click the Authorized Category Products view tab.
2. Click Category.
3. In the Select Category dialog box, query for the category with products to add to this account’s distribution list and click OK.
  All products in the selected category appear in the Authorized Category Products list, and the Categories list displays the category of a selected product.
(Optional) In the Authorized Category Products list, add a new product without a category.

To set up selection availability for each product in the Authorized Category Products list, use the fields in the following table.

Field	Comments
Orderable	Select this check box to make the product available for selection when a user adds products to a sales order.
Promotable	Select this check box to make the product available for selection when a user adds products to an account or corporate promotion if the Authorized Product field for the account or corporate promotion is selected.
Auditable	Select this check box to make the product available for selection when a user designates products for a retail audit.
Delist Date	The product is available for selection if the value in this field is on or before the date that the user adds products to sales orders, adds products to an account or corporate promotion, designates products for a retail audit.
List Date	The product is available for selection if the value in this field is blank or after the date that the user adds products to sales orders, adds products to an account or corporate promotion, designates products for a retail audit.

Include products in or exclude products from the distribution list for the account.
- To include a product in the distribution list for the account, select the product in the Authorized Category Products list, then specify the distribution code for that product in the Categories list.
  If the Inclusive check box is selected for the key account, do not create more than one product-category record for the same product and category. With inclusive distribution, product-category records for the same product and category but with different distribution codes have contradictory meaning. Also, these records can result in error messages when you apply distribution code updates to the subaccounts for the key account.
- To exclude a product from the distribution list for the account, select the product in the Authorized Category Products list, and then select the Skip check box in the Categories list.
In the Authorized Category Products list, click Apply to propagate the key account’s distribution list to the subaccounts that are associated with the account.
Click the Authorized Distribution List view tab.
All the subaccounts are listed with assigned categories and products.

Note: To view competitor products, for example when conducting retail audits, the competitor products must exist in the distribution list of the account. Only administrators can add competitor products to an end user’s products list. End users who are responsible for account audits can then associate competitor products with the account that they plan to audit.

Amending Distribution Lists

You can amend the distribution list for a key account. For example, you can:

Add an additional product category to a distribution list.
Change the details of a product on a distribution list, for example, the distribution code, account code, sequence code, and if the product is included in the distribution list.

This task is a step in Process of Managing Product Distribution.

To add a product category to an account distribution list

Navigate to the Administration - Authorized Distribution List screen, then the Detail List view.
Select the key account record that you want to amend.
Click the Authorized Category Products view tab, and click Category.
In the Select Category dialog box, query for a product category to add to this account’s distribution list, and click OK.
All products in the selected category appear in the Authorized Category Products list.
For each product, specify a distribution code on the Categories list.
(Optional) For each product, specify an account code and sequence code on the Authorized Category Products list.
Click Apply.
The products in the product category are added to the distribution list of the key account and its subaccounts.

Use the following procedure to amend product details on an account distribution list.

To amend product details on an account distribution list

Navigate to the Administration - Authorized Distribution List screen, then the Detail List view.
Select the account record that you want to amend.
Click the Authorized Category Products view tab.
Select the product that you want to amend.
Amend the appropriate fields in the Authorized Category Products list (Seq. code, Account Code) or the Categories list (Dist. code, Skip check box) as necessary.
Click Apply.
The changes that you made are applied to the key account and its subaccounts.

Copying Distribution Lists

Instead of defining individual subaccounts and products for a distribution list, you can create a new distribution list for an account by copying to that account an existing distribution list from another account. After you perform this copying task, the new distribution list contains all of the authorized accounts and authorized category products from the existing distribution list.

To copy a distribution list

Navigate to the Administration - Authorized Distribution List screen, then the Detail List view.
Select an account record with a distribution list that you want to copy to another account.
Click the Target Accounts view tab.
Select the target account to which you want to copy the distribution list.
Click Copy ADL.
To see the subaccounts and products for the target account, complete the following steps:
1. Navigate to the Administration - Authorized Distribution List screen, then the Account List view.
2. Select the target account.
3. Navigate to the Administration - Authorized Distribution List screen, then the Detail List view.
The subaccounts appear in the Authorized Accounts view, and the products appear in the Authorized Category Products view.

Deleting Products from Distribution Lists

After you create a distribution list for an account, you can delete products from the distribution list of the key account and its subaccounts.

Note: Deleting a product from a distribution list deletes associated merchandising location records, but does not delete associated store condition records.

This task is a step in Process of Managing Product Distribution.

To delete a product from an account distribution list

Navigate to the Administration - Authorized Distribution List screen, then the Detail List view.
In the Accounts list, select the account record for which you want to delete a product.
Click the Authorized Category Products view tab, and query for the product you want to delete.
Click Delete.
The product is deleted from the distribution list for the key account.
Click Apply.
The product is also deleted from the distribution list for the subaccounts if the key account is the only supplier of the deleted product.

Setting Up Account Channel Values

To make effective use of the Account channel personalization attribute, administrators or end users must select values for the Account Channel field for each of your company’s accounts that is included on an authorized distribution list. The Account Channel field determines the type of distribution channel to which the account belongs.

To assign Account Channel personalization attributes to accounts, see Creating Distribution Lists.

Note: If you select no value for the account channel field, its value is recognized as null. Accounts with null Account Channel values are matched with product categories and products that have null values in those fields.

The data for the preconfigured Siebel Consumer Goods application includes predefined values for the Account Channel attribute under the list of values (LOV) type ACCOUNT_CHANNEL. You can create new values or change any of the following existing values:

Apparel Specialty
Athletic Specialty
Convenience Store
Department Store
Dollar
Drug
Electronics Speciality
Grocery
Mass Merchandiser
Military
Pet
Sporting Goods
Warehouse Club

For the procedure to create or change a value in the LOV, see Siebel Applications Administration Guide.

This task is a step in Process of Managing Product Distribution.

Assigning Product Categories to Account Catalogs

You can use the Account Channel personalization attribute and rules to control the product categories and products available for inclusion in an account’s catalog, as described in About Account Market Segments.

At times, however, an administrator might want to override the personalization rule to further refine the products or product categories that are available to an account. In this case, the administrator assigns exactly the categories of products available for inclusion in an account’s catalog in the Account Categories view.

Note: If you assign one or more categories to an account through the Account Category view, only those categories are available for inclusion in the account’s catalog. No categories are available based on personalization rules; your category assignments instead override the rules.

This task is a step in Process of Managing Product Distribution.

To assign categories to an account

Navigate to the Administration - Catalog screen, then the Account Categories view.
In the Accounts list, select an account record.
In the Categories list, create a new record.
In the Pick Category dialog box, select one or more categories to add, and click OK.

Viewing and Modifying Distribution List Products (End User)

End users can view the products on an account’s distribution list, add unauthorized products to a subaccount’s distribution list, and modify an account’s distribution list.

Account managers can user the Product Distribution list to enter a list of their customers products and to determine which products are added automatically to promotions when the Products button is clicked in the Account Promotions list of the Promotions screen. Account managers can also capture the regular retail shelf price (bench price), which is the non-promoted price at which the customer sells the product.

This task is a step in Process of Managing Product Distribution.

To view an account’s distribution list products

Navigate to the Accounts screen, then the Accounts List view.
Drill down on the Name field hyperlink for an account, and click the Product Distribution view tab.
The product distribution list for that account appears.

Note: In the preconfigured Siebel Consumer Goods application, you can add additional products to this account’s distribution list from the Product Distribution view.

Use the following procedure to add an unauthorized product to an account’s distribution list.

Note: A product that you manually add to a subaccount’s distribution list is not affected by key account changes.

To add an unauthorized product to an account’s distribution list

Navigate to the Accounts screen, then the Accounts List view.
Drill down on the Name field hyperlink for an account, and click the Source of Supply view tab.
The products on the account’s distribution list are listed on the Products list.
In the Products list, create a new record.
Click the select button in the Product field.
In the Pick Product dialog box, select a product record to add to the account’s distribution list, and click OK.
Complete the necessary fields.
The following table describes some fields.

Field	Comments
Dist. Code	Distribution Code. Determines the products that this account receives.
Account Code	Retailers use this code to identify the product.
Seq. Code	Sequence Code. Specifies the aisle on which the product appears in the display sequence at the outlet.

Use the following procedure to modify a key account’s distribution list.

To modify a key account’s distribution list

Navigate to the Accounts screen, then the Accounts List view.
Select the key account record for the customer’s distribution list.
Drill down on the Name field hyperlink, and click the Source of Supply view tab.
The Products and Source of Supply lists appear.
Modify the Products list as necessary. You can:
- Add new products to the Products list.
- Change the sequence code.
- Assign the product a status of active or inactive.
- Change the distribution code.

Viewing and Modifying Distribution List Categories (End User)

End users can view the products on an account’s distribution list, add unauthorized products to a subaccount’s distribution list, and modify an account’s distribution list.

This task is a step in Process of Managing Product Distribution.

To view or modify category distribution list products

Navigate to the Accounts screen, then the Accounts List view.
Drill down on the Name field hyperlink for an account, and click the Category Distribution view tab.
In the Category Distribution list, create a new record.
Click the select button in the Category Name field.
In the Category Products dialog box, select a product record and click OK.

Complete the necessary fields.

The following table describes some fields.

Field	Description
Category Name	Name of the category.
Description	Description of the category.
Effective Start Date	Date on which the distribution becomes effective.
Effective End Date	Date on which the distribution ends.
Bench Price	The usual price the retailer charges consumers. The regular retail price.
Bench Price Effective Date	Date on which the bench price becomes effective.
Bench Price Updated	A check mark in this field indicates that the Bench Price field was changed and used by the workflow.
Customer Cost Price	The cost of the product to the customer. For wholesalers and direct retailers, this is the same price as the list price, but for indirect retailers, who buy from wholesalers rather than direct from the manufacturer, this is the wholesaler to retailer price. This price is not stored anywhere in the system. To set this price, a sales representative must enter it manually or import it from a source, such as a Demand Signal Repository (DSR), which might have spin data or sell-though data.
Customer Cost Effective Date	Date on which the customer cost price becomes effective.
Customer Cost Updated	A check mark in this field indicates that the Customer Cost field was changed and used by the workflow.

To add all the products associated with the category to the category product, click Products.
To update the Bench Price, Bench Price Effective Date, Customer Cost Price, and Customer Cost Price Effective Date fields from category to all the associated products, click Update Products.
To update the respective baseline products records that match the effective dates and account, click Update Price/Cost.

Reviewing Account Catalogs (End User)

Account catalogs contain detailed information about the categories and products that your company makes available for a specific account to order.

If you are an account manager with responsibility for creating quotes and orders, account catalogs are a valuable resource in providing information about the products that are available. You can review catalogs in preparation for a visit or telephone call with an account’s buyer. If you use the Siebel Consumer Goods application on a laptop computer, you can display the catalogs when you meet with buyers, allowing them to view prices and other critical information about your company’s products for upcoming seasons.

This task is a step in Process of Managing Product Distribution.

To review an account catalog

Navigate to the Accounts screen, then the Accounts List view.
Drill down on the Name field hyperlink for an account, and click the Account Catalogs view tab.
A list of catalogs for the account that you select appears in the Account Catalogs list.
In the Account Catalogs list, drill down on the Name field hyperlink.
The More Info view for the catalog appears.
In the Catalogs list, drill down on the Name field hyperlink a second time.
The Categories view for the catalog appears. The Categories list displays the categories of the catalog, and the Category Details form displays the highest-level category.
In the Categories link bar, click the Products link. You can review:
- The category hierarchy in the Categories list.
- Product details, by drilling down on the Product field hyperlink in the products list.

Creating Buying Groups (End User)

A buying group account acts as a product distributor, or supplier, for its multiple member accounts.

To create buying groups, complete the following tasks:

Create a buying group account, or designate an existing account as a buying group.
Associate member accounts with the buying group account.
Associate products with the buying group.
(Optional) Associate specific buying group member accounts with specific buying group products.

This task is a step in Process of Managing Product Distribution.

To create a buying group

Navigate to the Accounts screen, then the Accounts List view.
Create a new buying group account record, or select an existing account record.
For information about creating accounts, see Managing Accounts .
Drill down on the Name field hyperlink and click the More Info view tab.
In the More Info form, select the Buying Group check box.
The Account Attribute Flag is now Buying Group, and you can add member accounts to this buying group.

Use the following procedure to associate member accounts with a buying group.

To associate member accounts with a buying group

Navigate to the Groups screen, then the Buying Group List view.
From the visibility filter, select Buying Group Accounts.
The Buying Groups Accounts form and the Accounts list appear.
From the Buying Groups Accounts form, query to select the appropriate buying group record.
The accounts that are already members of that buying group appear in the Accounts list.
In the Accounts list, create a new record.
In the Add Accounts dialog box, select one or more account records that you want to designate as members of the buying group, and click OK.

Use the following procedure to associate products with a buying group.

To associate products with a buying group

Navigate to the Accounts screen, then the Accounts List view.
Drill down on the Name field hyperlink for a buying group record, and click the Source of Supply view tab.
The Products and Source of Supply lists for the account appear.
In the Products list, create a new record.
Click the select button in the Product field.
In the Pick Product dialog box, select the product that you want to add, and click OK.
Repeat Step 3 through Step 5 for each product that you want to add.

Associating Sources of Supply with Accounts (End User)

You can capture wholesaler to retailer relationships by product category and extend the source of supplier relationships to specify the percent at the category level. You can also extend the percentage to the product level and override the percentages for a particular promotion. You can enter a value in the Percentage field for a source of category supply, and then click the Update button to allocate this value to the corresponding account category product.

This task is a step in Process of Managing Product Distribution.

To associate a source of supply with an account

Navigate to the Accounts screen, then the Accounts List view.
Drill down on the Name field hyperlink, and click the Source of Category Supply view tab.
The Account Category and Source of Category Supply lists for the account appear.
In the Account Category list, query on the Category Name field and complete the other necessary fields.
In the Source of Category Supply list, create a new buying group.
Click the select button in the Buying Group field.
In the Pick Account Suppliers dialog box, select the suppliers that you want to associate with the category, and click OK.

Complete the necessary fields.

The following table describes some fields.

Field	Comments
Site	The location of the buying group.
Percentage	The percentage of the total category associated with the supplier.

Click Products to create the product records and associate the supplier accounts associated with the category to the products.
This information can be viewed from the Source of Product Supply view. To determine which products are added automatically when you click Products, see Viewing and Modifying Distribution List Products (End User).
Click Update to copy or update the Percentage values from Category to Products.

Associating Sources of Supply with Products (End User)

You can specify sources of supply for the products on a distribution list. You can associate multiple sources of supply with a single authorized product. This association helps account managers understand the distribution patterns of supply for the various accounts and buying groups.

This task is a step in Process of Managing Product Distribution.

To associate a source of supply with a product

Navigate to the Accounts screen, then the Accounts List view.
Drill down on the Name field hyperlink for an account, and click the Source of Supply view tab.
In the Products list, select the product for which you want to designate a source of supply.
In the Source of Supply list, create a new record, and complete the necessary fields.
Click the select button in the Buying Group field.
In the Pick Account Suppliers dialog box, select the supplier that you want to associate with the product, and click OK.
Complete the necessary fields.
The following table describes some fields.

Field	Comments
Primary Flag	Select this check box if you want the supplier to be the primary source.
Site	The location of the buying group.
Percentage	The percentage of the total product order that comes from the supplier.

Associating Account Products with Merchandising Locations (End User)

By associating an account’s authorized product with merchandising locations, you can assign a specific physical location for that product, such as one or more display locations in a retail outlet or in a warehouse bin. A product can have multiple merchandising locations. If you delete a product record, its associated merchandising location records are also deleted. Deleting a merchandising location record does not delete associated store condition records. For more information about merchandising locations, see Adding Merchandising Locations to Accounts (End User) and Performing Merchandising Audits.

This task is a step in Process of Managing Product Distribution.

To associate products with an account merchandising location

Navigate to the Accounts screen, then the Accounts List view.
Drill down on the Name field hyperlink for an account, and click the Merchandising Location view tab.
From the Merchandising Locations list, select the appropriate merchandising location record.
In the Product list, add products to the merchandising location:
1. To add products individually, create a new record, click the select button in the Product field, select a product in the Account Product dialog box, and click OK.
2. To add products by category, click Select Categories, select a category of products in the Add Products dialog box, and click OK.
  All products in the selected category are added to the merchandising location.

About Configuring Product Distribution

This topic contains information that might be useful when configuring the product distribution features. Topics include:

Specialized Methods Invoked in Product Distribution

The procedures documented in this chapter include buttons that invoke specialized methods, as described in the following table.

Button	Name of Method	Description	Supported On
Apply	OnAssignProductToSubaccount	Changes the ADL status of a selected account to Pending and then triggers a run time event to carry out the Apply task. On the Authorized Category Products view, the Apply task applies all authorized products and categories of the selected key distributor account down to its subaccounts in accordance with inclusive or exclusive logic.	Bus Comp Layer
Category	ShowPopup	Opens a dialog box of categories.	Applet Layer
Copy ADL	CopyADL	Creates a new ADL that is similar to an existing ADL.	Bus Comp Layer
Delete	DeleteSelected	Marks the selected S_ORG_PROD and S_ORG_DIST_LST records in the Authorized Products view for deletion from the parent account and its subaccounts. Triggers the business service SIA CS ADL Delete Business Service, which in turn calls the DeleteExtra method. The DeleteExtra method deletes the marked S_ORG_PROD and S_ORG_DIST_LST records.	Applet Layer
OK	AddCategoryProducts	Adds the category and the products associated with it to the parent account.	Applet Layer
Select Categories	ShowPopup	Adds all products in the selected category to the merchandising location.	Applet Layer

Apply Button for an Authorized Distribution List

The Apply button, which is used to propagate product distribution lists to accounts based on distribution codes that are defined in an authorized distribution list, ceases to function if you change the following preconfigured parameter settings:

For version 7.5, the TRUE value for the Force Active property in the ADL Status field in the Account business component.
For version 7.7 or later, the Y value for the ForceActive control user property in the SIS Account Entry applet.