Item Overview (5.01.70)

Modified on Fri, 26 Apr at 10:01 AM

Purpose of this document

Items represent the products the food bank manages. They may be purchased, donated, repacked, kitted, or supply products that are part of the inventory of the food bank. Item Cards define products within Ceres for use in inventory management and warehouse processes. This document describes the parameters available for an item and how to set up Items properly.

Ceres Object release 5.00.00 & 5.01.70 is required for the functionality described in this document.

Table of Contents

Setting Up Items
Related Topics

Setting Up Items

1. The Item Card can be accessed from Departments à Warehouse à Planning & Execution à Items.

2. Select an Item from the List that displays.

3. Click Home à New to create a new Item

Note: Items can be edited by highlighting an item from the list, then right clicking and selecting Edit.

Item FastTab

The Item FastTab describes the basic setup of the item.

No.: This is the main identifier for the Item, which can be entered as any combination of text and numbers. Ceres can be set up to automatically number each Item Card for you, or you can enter the number manually.

Description: This field provides the main description of the item. Up to 50 characters can be added here to better identify the item. Any type of text or numbers can be specified.

Description 2: An extension of the Description field. This field can be used to define additional information about the Item.

Pack Size: Descriptive text that provides information on the packaging of the Item.

Blocked: A checkmark in this field prevents the Item from being used.

Allocation Group No: This field provides the information on how the Item is allocated to specific Agencies based on a percentage of the total quantity available. For more information, please see the document Allocating Items Using the Allocation Journal for Agency Express. By default, this field links the Item to itself.

Feature Type: This field assists with sorting, primarily by Shoppers in Agency Express. Choices include New Item, Discounted Item, or Free Item.

Length/Width/Height: These fields assist in shipping and storage and are used in the calculation of the Cubic Feet field. For example, this can help ensure that the delivery vehicle is large enough.

Cubic Feet: This field is calculated based on the length, width, and height fields.

Cube Density: This field represents the relative density of the Item from the weight of the case and dimensions of the case. It is calculated by dividing the weight by the cubic feet of the item. Higher values represent denser items. Possible uses of the cube density field include:

Assist in determining optimum picking bins for products.
Assist in arranging warehouse pick lines to keep like density items together.
Assist in building of pallets to ensure that dense items are placed on pallets first.

Base Unit of Measure: This is the stocking unit of measure. A single unit of measure can be linked to an Item.

Gross Weight: This is the poundage of the Item in reference to the Base Unit of Measure. If the Base Unit of Measure is Lbs, the Gross Weight is 1. If the Base Unit of Measure is case, the Gross Weight is the weight of the case in pounds.

Shopping List: Place a check mark in this field if you want this Item to appear on the Shopping List.

Item Category Code: Allows you to categorize your Items by like factors and set up defaults such as fees, posting groups, cost adjustment factor, and lot tracking for your items. Once a Code is selected, other fields on the card will automatically fill in based on the defaults setup.

Product Group Code: Provides segregation between items, which is helpful for filtering and reporting. An example would be “GOV-CLR-MW” to indicate the item is a government product, cold storage, and medium weight. Product Group Codes are also linked to Bin Class Codes, which allows you to define what types of storage requirements are necessary when placing the item in a bin.

Eaches per Base UOM: This field can provide assistance when making a comparison between the Base Unit of Measure and the Pack Size. In the example above, a CASE consists of six 5 lbs. loaves. Therefore, Eaches per Base UOM is 6.

CMobile Related: Check this box to designate that this is an Item that can be received, moved, etc. using the CMobile Handhelds.

Dormant: Check this box to designate that this Item is dormant. Checking this field automatically sets the filter value to Yes and excludes this record from displaying on the List.

Inventory FastTab

Inventory: This field contains the quantity on hand for this item.

Qty. on Purch. Order: This field contains the quantity currently on open purchase orders that have not been received into inventory.

Qty. on Donation Order: This field contains the quantity currently on open donation orders that have not been received into inventory.

Qty. on Picks: This field contains the quantity currently on open inventory pick documents that have not been posted for shipment.

Qty. on Whse. Entries: This field contains the quantity currently on warehouse entries. It should always match the Inventory field. If this number does not equal inventory you should report it to your support desk.

Qty. on Agency Order: This field contains the quantity currently on open agency orders that have not been invoiced from inventory.

Qty. on Hold for AE: This field contains the quantity currently on hold for agency express orders that have not been validated. Once the order has been validated, the hold is released.

Qty. on Item Journals: This field contains the quantity currently on any unposted item journals. This may include reclass journals, item journals, physical inventory journals, etc.

Cost & Posting FastTab

The Cost & Posting FastTab defines the valuation of the Item. Costing and Fee information is recorded here, along with information on how the item should affect posting.

Costing Method: This field contains the costing method that Ceres uses for this Item. Generally, FIFO is selected as the costing method for purchased product, and Standard for product that is donated.

Standard Cost: For donated Items, this should be the Item’s fair market value as determined by the food bank or Feeding America. This field is active only when a Costing Method of Standard is used.

Unit Cost: Represents the average unit cost for this Item. This field is updated automatically when product is received or invoiced based on the” Automatic Cost Posting” and “Automatic Cost Adjustment” field in the Inventory Setup. Further, he Unit Cost field on the Item Card flows to the Unit Cost field on the Agency Order and other transactions for costing purposes. This field may not represent the true value of the Item based on the Costing Method. In some instances, the Adjust – Item Entries routine will need to be run before this field will update.

USDA Value: Enter a value for this Item as provided by USDA

Handing Fee (per Lb): This is the handling fee per pound that you charge Agencies for this Item. This field will default based on the setup from the Item Category Code.

VAP Fee (per Lb): This is the VAP fee per pound that you charge Agencies for this Item. This field will default based on the setup from the Item Category Code.

Cost Adjustment Type: Select a cost adjust type. The options are Amount or Percent. This field is used in the calculation of the Unit Fee charged to Agencies. This field will default based on the setup from the Item Category Code. In all cases the base unit fee is calculated using this formula prior to any handling or VAP fees being added on to the base unit fee from this calculation.

Amount – The amount specified in the Cost Adjustment Factor will be added to the Item’s Unit Cost.

Percent – The Item’s Unit Cost will be multiplied by the amount specified in the Cost Adjustment Factor.

Fixed – The Item’s Unit Cost will be ignored. The Unit Fee will be set to the amount specified in the Cost adjustment Factor.

Cost Adjustment Factor: Input a cost adjustment factor. This field is used in the calculation of the Unit Fee. If the Item’s cost should not be included in the fee charged to Agencies, leave this field blank. This field will default in based on the Item Category Code.

Handling Fee $: This is the handling fee that you charge Agencies for this item, and is calculated as Handing Fee (per Lb) × Gross Weight.

VAP Fee $: This is the VAP fee that you charge agencies for this Item, and is calculated as VAP Fee (per Lb) x Gross Weight.

Unit Fees: This is the total amount charged to Agencies for this Item. Unit Fees are calculated as follows:

When the Cost Adjustment Type is set to Amount - The Unit Fees will calculate as Unit Fees = Handling Fee $ + VAP Fee $ + Cost Adjustment Factor.

When the Cost Adjustment Type is set to Percent - The Unit Fees will calculate as Unit Fees = (Unit Cost × Cost Adjustment Factor) + Handling Fee $ + VAP Fee $.

When the Cost Adjustment Type is set to Fixed - The Unit Fees will calculate as Unit Fees = Cost Adjustment Factor + Handling Fee $ + VAP Fee $.

Net Invoiced Qty: This field shows how many units of the Item on inventory have been invoiced

Cost is Adjusted: Ceres maintained field that is automatically updated to indicate that the Unit Cost for this Item has been adjusted.

Value Item By: Select either Item or Per Lb. This information is used to determine the inventory valuation of the item on the Inventory Valuation report. When the field is set to Item, the Value Entries as totaled by based on the reports “As Of Date”. When the field is set to Per Lb., the inventory value is equal to the Gross Weight multiplied by the Unit Cost. It can also be helpful to use this field as a filter during reporting.

Gen. Prod. Posting Group: This field is mandatory and determines which Income Statement Accounts are used to post dollar transactions to the General Ledger. This field will default based on the setup from the Item Category Code.

Note: It is recommended that DON or DONATED be used for donated product, PUR or PURCHASED for purchased product, and GOV or GOVERNMENT be used for government (USDA, FEMA, CSFP) product.

UNC Handling Requirement Code: This field dictates the storage requirements for the Item. The UNC Handling Requirement flows in based on the setup from the FBC Storage Requirement Code.

Servings per Base UOM: Enter the amount of servings that are available per the Base Unit of Measure field from the General Tab.

Fee per Serving: This field calculates as the Unit Fees divided by the Servings per Base UOM.

Inventory Posting Group: This field is mandatory and determines which Balance Sheet Accounts are used to post dollar transactions to the General Ledger. This field will default based on the setup from the Item Category Code

Note: It is recommended that DON or DONATED be used for donated product, PUR or PURCHASED for purchased product, and GOV or GOVERNMENT be used for government (USDA, FEMA, CSFP) product.

Fees & Distribution FastTab

The Fees & Distribution FastTab shows information related to the distribution of the item and associated fees.

Unit Fees: This is the total amount charged to Agencies for this Item. This field is calculated from the parameters defined on the Costing & Posting FastTab.

Item Group Code: This field allows you to assign the item to a group for limits. Utilize this field in combination with agency groups to establish order maximum limits for agencies to restrict the quantity of this item that agencies can order.

Agency Unit of Measure: This is the agency ordering unit of measure. A single unit of measure can be linked to an Item.

Exclude from Lb. Based Delivery Charge: This field can be used to exclude this item when delivery charges are calculated on an agency order. It only applies to calculation methods that are based on pounds.

Item Tracking FastTab

The Item Tracking FastTab defines how the Item will be tracked in inventory, and specifies the FBC/UNC codes associated.

Lot No. Required: This field is only visible if Non-Lot item tracking is enabled. Non-Lot item tracking is enabled in the Inventory Setup page on the general tab. Place a checkmark in the field “Allow Non-Lot Tracked Items”. This field allows you to specify if lots are tracked for this item. Non-lot tracked items can’t be palletized. Unchecking this field is only allowed of Pallet No. Required is not checked.

Note: Only non-food consumable items that are not reported on the Receipts & Distribution report should be specified as Non-Lot tracked.

Lot Nos.: This field allows you to specify which number series is used when new lots are assigned.

Expiration Calculation: This field contains the formula for calculating the Lot Expiration Date for this Item. If the Item expires 90 days from date of receipt, you would type in 90D in this field. When a Lot is received, the Expected Receipt Date from the order is used to determine the expiration calculation. This field is assumes behavior based on setup from the Item Tracking Code.

Consume by Date Calculation: This field contains the formula for calculating a Lot’s Consume By Date for this item. If the Item’s consumption date ends 90 days from date of receipt, you would type in 90D in this field. When a Lot is received, the Expected Receipt Date from the order is used to determine the calculation. Once a product in inventory has aged past its Consume By Date, it cannot be distributed to Agencies and must be converted to trash.

Ship by Date Calculation: This field contains the formula for calculating the Lot Ship by Date for this Item, to track the date when an item should be shipped by. Although the Ship by Date is setup and calculates in the same way as the Lot Expiration Date and Lot Consumer by Date, it is only informational and does not factor into any other processes or calculations within Ceres.

Pallet No. Required: Check this field to indicate that pallet tracking is mandatory for this Item. If you are using Non-Lot Tracked Items, and the item is not tracked by lot, then you will not be able to enable pallet tracking for the item.

Tier: Enter the common Tier size of the pallet for this Item. Tier and Height are used to calculate the number of pallets based on the quantity.

Height: Enter the common Height of the pallet for this Item. Tier and Height are used to calculate the number of pallets based on the quantity

FBC Fields: The fields that start with “FBC” are Food Bank Numbering Code field. The fields are the Food Bank equivalent of the UNC fields. The FBC fields are linked to the UNC fields.

UNC Fields: The fields that start with “UNC” are Uniform Numbering Code field fields which are maintained by Feeding America. The UNC fields flow from setup defined in the corresponding FBC field.

Allocation Group No: This field provides the information on how the Item is allocated to specific Agencies based on a percentage of the total quantity available. If entered on the General FastTab, the same number will be entered here and vice versa.

Permit Web Orders: A checkmark in this field allows the item to be ordered via website ordering.

Product Image URL: This optional field allows you to enter a website link to indicate the address where a picture of the item can be accessed. The link can be used by Agency Express.

Replenishment FastTab

The Replenishment FastTab provides optional setup for you to define a default vendor for purchases and define Tiers and Height. The Production fields are not used in Ceres at this time.

Replenishment System: In this field, you can select the type of order Ceres will use when it creates orders. The only option that is support in Ceres is Purchase.

Lead Time Calculation: - In this field, enter a date formula for the amount of time that it takes to replenish the Item. Ceres uses this field to calculate the date fields on order and order proposal lines as follows:

On the purchase order line, the Order Date + Lead Time Calculation = Planned Receipt Date.

On the production order line, the Starting Date + Lead Time Calculation = Ending Date. Not used in Ceres.

Vendor No: Use this field to assign a default Vendor to an Item. This Vendor will be used by Ceres when it suggests purchases. The Vendor can be changed at any time during the purchasing process.

Vendor Item No: Enter the Item Number used by the Vendor in the Vendor No. field.

Purchase Unit of Measure: This is the unit of measure that is used on Purchase Orders. The field defaults to the Base Unit of Measure selected on the General FastTab.

Planning FastTab

The Planning FastTab provides optional setup for planning engine calculations, which is further discussed in the Item Replenishment and Planning document. Below are the default settings for Planning.

Reordering Policy: Once Ceres has detected the need for replenishment, it uses the reordering policy to calculate the lot size per planning period, which you define in the Reorder Cycle field. Select one of the following options:

Blank - If you select this reordering policy, Ceres does not calculate order proposals for this item. The assumption is that you will plan for this item manually.

Fixed Reorder Quantity - Ceres uses the quantity specified in the Reorder Quantity field as the standard lot size. Ceres may adjust this quantity to meet additional requirements or the specified inventory level. If you select this option, Ceres disables the Maximum Inventory field, which is used exclusively with the Maximum Quantity option.

Maximum Quantity - Ceres uses the quantity specified in the Maximum Inventory field to determine the maximum lot size. Ceres may adjust this quantity to meet additional requirements or the specified inventory level. If you select this option, Ceres disables the Reorder Quantity field, which is used exclusively with the Fixed Reorder Quantity option. Please note that this is not the same as the Max quantity for Agency Orders, which is defined as part of Qualifiers.

Order – Not supported by Ceres.

Lot-for-Lot – Not supported by Ceres

Order Tracking Policy: Select one of the options

None - Indicates that neither tracking nor action messages are created.

Tracking Only - Indicates that Ceres will maintain tracking for this Item, but will not issue any action messages

Tracking & Action Msg. – Indicates that Ceres will create tracking and will also issue action messages for this Item.

Stockkeeping Unit Exists: Ceres maintained field to indicate that Stock Keeping Units exist for this Item. Stock Keeping Units are setup from Related Information àItems à Stockkeeping Items.

Safety Lead Time: Enter a date formula to indicate a safety lead time to be used as a buffer period in case of delays in the production or purchase replenishment lead time. When calculating order and order proposal lines, Ceres will add the safety lead time to the lead time. This is true for forward and backward scheduled orders.

Safety Stock Quantity: Enter ta quantity of stock that you want to have in inventory to protect against fluctuations in demand and supply during the replenishment lead time for the item.

Reorder Point Parameters and Order Modifiers: Use these fields for minimum, maximum and reorder quantities to determine the reorder needs to maintain minimum inventory requirements. The planning function in the Requisition Worksheet will base its suggestions on the Maximum Inventory field in the item card. The maximum quantity overrides the amount in the Reorder Point field. In this example, the item is set up with the following quantities:

Max Inventory: -120

Reorder Point - 100

Reorder Qty – 30

The quantity on hand is 102. A sales order is posted for 10, and the quantity on hand drops to 92, below the minimum of 100. The system will suggest you order 28, not 30, because 28 will bring the quantity on hand up to the maximum quantity. You can also enter zero in the Maximum Inventory field that will tell the system to make suggestions based on the Reorder Point field instead.

Kitting (Ceres) FastTab

The Kitting (Ceres) FastTab provides setup Kit BOMs, which is also referred to as ‘backpacks. More information can be found in the Kitting and Advanced Kitting Procedure Documents.

Kit BOM No: The Kit BOM represents the components that comprise the kit Item. It is defined as a Production BOM where Type is Kitting.

Kit Disassembly BOM No: This is the Kit BOM representing the components returned to inventory when a kit is disassembled. Ceres automatically sets this field to the number selected in the Kit BOM No. field. It can be changed if required.

Automatic Build Kit BOM: This function is not available in Ceres.

FB Kit: This field designates that the Item is the result of a Kit.

FB Kit Comp. Generic: If this field is checked, the Item may never have an inventory quantity. It is read-only if any ledger entries exist or if the Item is defined on a Production Bill of Material.

FB Component Item: This field designates that the Item is a Kit component.

Bulk Break Location Code: This field is used as the Location for items which are used for Bulk Break, to break the Item into Eaches.

Bulk Break Bin Code: This field is used is used as the Bin for Items which are used for Bulk Break, to break the Item into Eaches.

Warehouse FastTab

The Warehouse FastTab includes warehouse activities related to this Item.

Warehouse Class Code: This field is used to assist in the placement of items suitable for the type of product. An example, may be to keep all chemicals or cleaning supplies in a designated area of the warehouse.

Put-away Template Code: This field contains the Code of the Put-away Template by which Ceres determines the most appropriate Zone and Bin for storage of this Item after receipt. If you have not set up a Put-away Template for the Item or Stockkeeping Unit, Ceres will use the Put-away Template of the Location.

Phys. Invt. Counting Period Code: This field contains the Code of the Counting Period that indicates how often you want to count this Item in a physical inventory.

Last Phys. Invt. Date Code: This field contains the date on which you last posted the results of a physical inventory for this Item to the Item Ledger Entries.

Last Counting Period Update: This field contains the last date on which you calculated the counting period. It is updated when you use the function Calculate Counting Period.

Next Counting Start Date: This field shows the start date that this item needs to be counted next. The field is updated when a warehouse physical inventory has been performed and registered for this Item within the previous counting period or when you call the function “Calculate Counting Period”.

Next Counting End Date: This field shows the end date that this item needs to be counted next. The field is updated when a warehouse physical inventory has been performed and registered for this Item within the previous counting period or when you call the function “Calculate Counting Period”.

Nutrition FastTab (Ceres 5.01.60)

The Nutrition FastTab is used for tracking nutritional information about an Item using the Healthy Eating Research (HER) methodology.

HER Rating: This field can be set to the HER Rating for the item.

Not Yet Ranked - color coded black (default value for all items)

Choose Often – color coded green

Choose Sometimes – color coded yellow

Choose Rarely – color coded red

Assorted, Not Ranked - color coded black

Unranked – color coded black

Non-food – color coded black

HER Rating Date: This field can be set to the date of HER Rating and is optional.

The HER Rating specified on the Item displays on the Item Ledger Entries and Item Ledger Report View List pages as well as selected printed Agency Orders and Agency Invoices. The HER Rating is sent to and is available on Agency Express. See the Item Nutrition Overview procedure document for additional information.

Advanced Kitting
Allocation Overview
Agency Groups and Qualifiers
Warehouse Pallets and Lots
Item Category and Product Group Codes
Item Vendor Cross References and Prices
Item Nutrition Overview
Kitting Overview
Location Overview
Purchase Order Overview
Purchase Replenishment Overview
Requisition Worksheet
Zone Overview