Product documentation
Product Information Management is used to define and create products, product masters and product variants. Products of the types Item and Service are used in the sales, purchase, and operational processes in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations. Once the products have been defined and created, you can release these products to individual trading companies. In Rental management, a new variant has been added called ‘Type’, this type allows you to have products of type Rental, Sale & Cross Rental. This type is used on the Purchase Order and Rental Order to identify the items are rental, Cross Rental or Sales. This topic describes setting up a new product and associated variants for a rental environment.
Once Rental items have been aquired, they are referred to as Rental objects (usually 1 object per serial number, or just 1 object for bulk rental items), which represents the object as a combination of all relevant dimensions (including serial number if applicable).
Dynamics Rental Management makes use of the Product Dimensions to distinguish between items that can be rented out and items that can be sold. The product can be exactly the same, but the behavior in the system is different. Rental items do not generate a Cost of Sale, but a Cost of Rental. Inventory usualy needs to be seperated. Rental items often become Fixed Assets on the balance sheet.
After putting the Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations environment in 'Maintenance Mode', find configuration key 'Product dimension - HSO Innovation Rental inventory type' (under 'Trade') and activate the key. Save the change.
The storage dimension group and the tracking dimension group do not have to be associated with a product until after the product has been created. A shared product definition that does not have a storage dimension group or a tracking dimension group can also be released to a company.
These steps show how to do this prior to the product being released Product Information Management > Setup > Dimensions and Variant Groups
Select a Product dimension for your product (this determines the variants and where the ‘Type’ variant is found)
This is the level that the product will be stored at.
This is the level that the product will be tracked at (by its Serial number) and determines if the product is serialised or non-serialised
Product Information Management > Products > Product Masters:
Select New. This opens a New product menu
| Field | Description | Remark |
| Product type | Select Item |
|
Product sub-type |
select Product Master (default) |
|
|
Product Number |
give the product a number |
Number must be unique |
|
Product Name |
give the product a detailed name |
|
|
Search Name |
Enter give your product a search name |
Will take the product name and remove punctuation |
|
Product Dimension group |
select which product dimensions your product requires. You can create a new group, by right-clicking > view details. |
These are used to specify which fields need completing when purchasing and renting the product |
|
Configuration technology |
Select Predefined variant |
From the action pane in the Product Master, select Product dimensions. This opens the Define Invent Type for a Product Master form.
In the Inventory Type quick menu click 'New' and enter the details of the types of Invent type you want your product to have. The usual values are 'Sales', 'Rental' and 'Cross-Rental'.
In the Styles / Configuration / Size / Color quick menu click New and enter the details of which variants you wish to have against your product.
Once your Product Dimensions have been created you can produce variants of the Product. You can create these manually or as we are doing automatically based on the above set dimensions.
From the action pane, select Product variants. This opens the Product variants form.
Click on 'Variant suggestions', this will help you to create a new Variant based on the Type, Style and Size created in the Product Dimensions. A new Variant suggestions window will open. From here you can Select either 'All' or 'Individual' variants. Click on 'Select all' to select all the Variants displayed, and click 'Create' to create them.
Once you have all the Product variants set for your new Product you can now Release these to one or more trading companies. These can also be set on varying criteria e.g. Company ‘USMF’ may not allow Cross Rental on some products so you would not release those to that company.
Select Release Products. This opens a new form.
Select the product to release and click on Next.
From here, select the variants to release. Click Select all to select all Product variants to be released. These can be individually selected / de-selected as required
From the Select companies’ form, select which / all companies you wish to release the products.
Once selected, click on Next
Selected products: this is the total product variants to be released
Selected companies: this is the total number of companies the product is being released into
Show Infolog upon failure: check this box to display an Infolog message if there is a failure in the release process
Click on Finish to complete the release
In Inventory Management > Setup > Inventory > Item Group new groups can be added and existing item groups can be edited.
| Value model | Used when creating a fixed asset for Rental Objects/Items linked to this item group |
| Fixed asset group | Used when creating a fixed asset for Rental Objects/Items linked to this item group |
In Inventory Management > Setup > Inventory > Item Model Group new groups can be added and existing Item Model Groups can be edited. We recommend the following settings:
| Stocked Product | Yes |
| Physical Negative Stock | No |
| Financial Negative Stock | Yes |
All other fields should be setup as per company requirements and standard product setup
Navigate to: Product Information Management > Products > Released Products
Locate your new Released Product then click on the Item Number link to open the released product. Select the Product tab and open the Dimension groups option.
Choose the Storage Dimension and the Tracking Dimension for the item and Click OK
Open the General fast tab and enter an Item Model Group
Open the Manage Costs fast tab and enter an Item Group
You also have the option to set default variants on the Product Variants the fast tab
Default product variant > Type: select Rental (based on the variants set) if this item will be used a the rental variant most of the time
Do the same for any other dimension as needed.
Open the Rental fast tab
Fixed Asset Group > Select the Fixed Asset Group for this product
Book > Select the Fixed Asset Book to be used for this product
Charging > Calendar ID: select a calendar for the item
Object type > Object type: choose an object type for your product.
Utilisation > Utilisation calendar: select 7Day, this can be left blank
Utilisation > Standard rate ID: select Day, this can be left blank
Standard Price > Standard price for utilisation, This can be left blank
Once you have completed the setup, click on ‘Validate’ then you can click Save and close the form
From the Released Product, go to the Product Master action pane and select Released Product variants. For every Invent type of Rental and Cross Rental you must specify an Object type & Project (can be set the same as the released product or separately)
Select the variant to view the details form
Object type > select an object type for the variant
Parent project > Enter a parent project for the variant
Default minimum rental period > If the variant has a different minimum rental period to the released product, enter it here.
Net Weight > Enter a net weight for the variant if required
The Rental objects form gives the user an overview of the unique identifiers of the object. These include the dimensions of the object itself and a lot of related information such as Fixed Asset number(s), Serial number(s) and any service properties and fixed asset information.
Navigate to Rental Management > Rental Objects > Rental Objects
The main grid displays all Rental objects from your company in one list. It includes the inventory dimensions, Serial number and the Fixed asset number (as long as there is only one). On the right hand side there is a related information pane that can be hidden or displayed via the little > or < icon. It displays the object image if available, gives the option for an availability check based on date and warehouse criteria, shows the related Fixed asset number(s) and linked Service calls.
Under the rental object form the ribbon gives the following options:
Rental objects can also have attributes associated with them. Rental objects search allows you to search for rental objects using filters to narrow down the selections. This uses standard (enhanced) attributes and attribute categories.
Navigate to Rental Management > Rental Objects > Rental objects search
Or you can activate (or deactivate) the Rental objects search on the Rental objects list via the Rental object tab >Advanced search > search
The Categories tree, the Filters and the text Search box from the left hand side can be used to filter to the desired Rental objects. For more information on this check out the Advanced search section online (under construction).