dsg branch operations “how-to guide” · dsg branch operations “how-to guide” r e v i s i o...

DSG Branch Operations “How-To Guide”

R e v i s i o n : A u g u s t 2 0 1 6

How-To Reference Manual for Branch

Operations Managers and Clerical Support

Associates


Dakota Supply Group 8/15/16 P a g e | 1

INTRODUCTION

The intent of this document is to provide a consistent set of useful tips and guidelines for DSG

Branch Operations Professionals. By implementing these guidelines you will achieve the

highest levels of customer satisfaction and profitable for each branch location and DSG overall

as a company. This “How to Guide” is organized by the duties of the Branch Operations Team

working hand-in-hand with the Branch Manager and includes:

ORDER MANAGEMENT

OFFICE MANAGEMENT

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT

BRANCH CUSTOMER SATISFACTION GUARANTE (CSG)

APPENDIX:

Best Practice Guidelines for Working with Purchasing Best Practice Guidelines for Working Segment Managers

MINCRON Fast Path Shortcut List EDIT Review Definitions

KEY CONTRIBUTORS AND CONTACTS

The Operations “How to Guide” was created in a collaborative “Power of WE” effort by

experienced and respected Branch Operations Leaders throughout DSG and Includes:

Tracy Roettger St Paul Branch x2105

Chris Hanson Aberdeen Branch x0103

Michele Wise Rapid City Branch x0404

Allison Moore Missoula Branch x4429

Dwayne Egli Bismark Branch x1607

Dean Barak La Crosse Branch x3149



TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 - ORDER MANAGEMENT PAGES 6 to 32

TYPES OF ORDERS DEFINED

1. Standard Orders 2. Direct Orders 3. Contract Orders 4. Reserved Orders 5. Job Lot Billing 6. Job Accounts 7. Cash Sales 8. Salesman Sample Accounts 9. Bids vs Quotes Definition 10. Bid Tracking

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS: 11. Ordering Non-Stock Material 12. DSG Express – Inside Sales Initiating Transfers 13. Vendor Rebates 14. Adding Freight to Customer Orders 15. Freight Charges from other Branches 16. Customer Pricing Profiles, Discounts and Contracts 17. Lost Orders 18. Back Order Release Triage

FINDING ORDERS

19. Sales Order Inquiries 20. Order Management Inquires

REVIEWING/CORRECTING ORDERS PRIOR TO BILLING

21. Reviewing Orders & Credits 22. Daily EDIT 23. Correcting and Voiding Orders & Bids

CUSTOMER RETURNS AND CREDITS 24. Customer Returns – RGA 25. Vendor Returns 26. Accounts Payables

REPORTS

27. Open Orders, Open Back Orders & Open Non-stocks Report 28. Checklist of Monthly Reports



CHAPTER 2 - OFFICE MANAGEMENT PAGES 33 to 59

1. Introduction

2. Time and Attendance

3. Voiding a Pick Ticket or Credit Memo

4. Customer Deposit on Account at the Branch

5. Faxing or Emailing Invoices

6. Cash Deposits

7. Check Refund Instruction

8. Daily Cash Sales Reconciliation

9. To See if an Invoice Has Been Paid

10. To Send Copies of Invoices to Customers

11. REQUEST FOR ACCOUNT BALANCES:

12. Proof of Delivery for Will Call Orders

13. Proof of Delivery for all other orders

14. Refund of Account Balance

15. Invoice Billed on the Wrong Account

16. Where is the customer account number on an invoice?

17. How Much is on PO

18. Finding Where an Item was Purchased

19. Moving an Invoice from a regular account to a job account & Vice Versa

20. DSG Branch Deposits

21. Making Deposits

22. Credit Card Payments

23. Cash Sale From Another Branch

24. Ordering Deposit Slips

25. States Where We Collect Sales Tax

26. NSF Checks

27. VMI: Vendor Managed Inventory

28. Cash Discounts on an Invoice – How to look it up on the invoice

29. Petty Cash

30. Ordering Supplies and Forms For The Branch

31. CISCO IP Phone Quick Reference Guide

32. Safety Plan For The Branch – Branch Safety Coordinator Program

33. Safety Reminders and Recommendations

34. Safety Compliance Training Requirements

35. Shared Calendars via GroupNet/Public Access

36. Record Retention Guidelines

37. Disaster Recovery Plan

38. Office Management Reports



CHAPTER 3 - INVENTORY MANAGEMENT PAGES 60 to 68

1. Introduction

2. How to use the ABC Analysis report – listing of inventory by GP$ generated per year

3. How to use the D/X Report – listing of old inventory with no sales for 1 year or more

4. Surplus Inventory Report – listing of surplus inventory at a branch

5. Cycle Counting – how to do cycle counting

6. Branch Negative on Hand – report of inventory with a negative balance on hand that

needs to be fixed.

7. New Item Report – Monthly listing of all new items added to a branch.

8. Items returned by a customer that were shipped out of another branch – how to

process

9. Non-Stock Inventory and Monthly report of non-stocking items received at the

branch that has not been billed out to a customer

10. Managing Direct Orders Received to the Branch

11. Checklist of Reports

CHAPTER 4 - WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT PAGES 69 to 80

1. Cycle Count Reviews and Fixing Variances

2. Pending Transfers – How to make release items when they become available

3. Transfer Variance Report – List variances that need to be corrected

4. Open Transfer Reports

5. Negative On Hand Inventory Report – How to Correct

6. Item Missing Location Report – How to Identify Items that are missing a location

7. Receiving Freight Discrepancies & Freight Claims

8. Inventory Adjustments – How to make adjustments to your inventory balance.

9. Wire Lot Control and Maintenance – Cut Wire Pieces

10. Bar Code Labeling

11. DSG Express – Internal Transfer System

12. DSG Express Proof of Delivery

13. Warehouse Setup Best Practices

14. Warehouse Tutorials



CHAPTER 5 - CUSTOMER SERVICE GUARANTEE (CSG) PAGES 81 to 89

APPENDIX PAGES 90 to 104 1. Best Practice Guidelines for Working With Purchasing 2. MINCRON Fast Path Shortcut List 3. EDIT Review Definitions



CHAPTER 1: ORDER MANGEMENT

INTRODUCTION

Order management includes the processes involved with taking, organizing, tracking and satisfying customer purchase requests for DSG’s products. The ability to process orders quickly and efficiently is critical to customer satisfaction and the success of our company. In this section we will discuss the key areas of Order Management:

DEFINITION AND USES OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ORDERS

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

FINDING ORDERS

REVIEWING/CORRECTING ORDERS PRIOR TO BILLING

CUSTOMER RETURNS AND CREDITS

MANAGEMENT REPORTS

ORDER DEFINITIONS AND USES

1.1 STANDARD ORDERS

Reasons to use a Standard Order:

Standard orders can be used for customers who have an established buying pattern. By selecting a standard order in Order Entry, you can quickly and efficiently process a customer’s order. You can also create a “Generic” Standard Order, which can be used in Order Entry for any customer. Generic standard Orders can also be copied to a specific customer for creating a customer specific standard order. You can also copy standard orders from one customer to another. Entering a Standard Order Tutorial:

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/order%20entry/standardorder.pdf

1.2 DIRECT ORDERS

Reasons to use Direct Order:

Direct sales orders are orders in which the vendor is going to ship the material directly to the customer.

Direct line items can be on the same order as non-directs. If authorized, a direct order & a

corresponding purchase order can be entered in one process. Direct orders do not go through shipment

confirmation. Direct orders are released to the EDIT List via Accounts Payable Invoice Approval. Direct

Orders can be for charge or cash customers.

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/order%20entry/standardorder.pdf



Entering a Direct Order Tutorial:

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/order%20entry/directorder.pdf

Tips & helpful hints:

* Look up your Vendor # & 3 digit section code so you have it ready for the non-stock numbers & when

creating your P/O

* The freight type on the sales order must be an ‘A’ to automatically pass the freight charges on to the

customer. (If the cash ticket has been invoiced with a freight type of ‘A’ and the A/P invoice has a freight

amount you may see an additional generated ticket for just freight)

* If a freight type of ‘A’ is used on the order & also the P/O 0 then the freight amount entered by A/P

will automatically be added to anything already existing on the order – be careful not to “double-up” on

the freight when using this to pass along freight to the customer.

* If you need to add a line to a direct order you can create the non-stock on the sales order but do not

finish the steps of tagging the item to a P/O. Once you are done you can copy the new non-stock

number, from your direct order, & paste it into the original P.O. Make sure to enter the correct cost on

your P/O as well as the sell on the direct order.

Things to Consider:

* Is the item from a vendor that is normally stocked at your branch?

* Is this an approved vendor for DSG? If not, you need Segment Manager Approval first.

* Note that Purchasing Agents are under orders to not "force" a stock order just to satisfy a special order

need. That leads to surplus inventory which costs us all money.

* When does your customer need the product?

* What is the Manufacturers lead time?

* Does your order meet the vendor's minimum package requirements? Will your customer take a full

package quantity?

*Does the product requirement meet the vendor's minimum order requirements?

*Freight:

* Does it meet the vendor's prepaid freight minimum?

* Must it be ordered with other stock material in order to qualify for prepaid freight?

* What is the material? How does it need to ship? I.e. UPS vs. common carrier.

* Have you calculated any potential freight into the cost of the order?

* Can you wait for the material until the next stock order is placed by purchasing?



1. 3 CONTRACT ORDERS

Contract Orders allow you to manage and track multiple shipments of material over a period of time. Contract Orders do not commit inventory until released to open sales orders, which is done automatically by the system based on either the tagged dates & qtys of items, or the contract order's promise date on the header. You can also manually release the material. The system does not handle the auto release of directs. Non-Stock Items also require additional consideration compared to normal stock items. Purchasing Dept. will see the stocking items on contract orders during their normal line buys, and order accordingly. Obviously, non-stock items are not on line buys, so care must be taken by order entry associates to manually release N/S's ahead of time so purchasing sees them as backordered on open sales orders, and purchase accordingly. Reasons to use Contract Order:

* This is an easy way to manage and track multiple shipments of material over a period of time.

* Does not commit inventory until released to a sales order, which can be automatic based on shipment

dates and quantities entered. You can also manually release as customer requests for a job.

* The purchasing department sees the stock item demand from the contract on their normal line buys.

* Non-stock products would have to be handled manually as they will not be visible on the normal line

buy until they are on a sales order.

Entering a Contract Order:

* Use fast path OEM, then option 8 - Contract Order Entry

* From Mincron menu, option 1 Order Processing, option 1 Order Entry, then option 8 - Contract Order

* Enter the branch and customer information

Entering a Contract Order Tutorial:

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/order%20entry/contractorders.pdf

1.4 RESERVE AND SHIP COMPLETE RESERVE ORDERS

Reserve and Ship Complete Reserve Orders are similar but have slightly different uses.

Reserve Order:

A Reserve Order is used when you need to allocate inventory but hold it for shipping.

Enter the order as an open order but on the order completion screen change the order type

from O = Open to R = Reserve.

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/order%20entry/contractorders.pdf



Keep in mind that a Reserve Order will not release automatically. The order needs to be

manually changed to an open order to ship.

Ship Complete Reserve Order:

A Ship Complete Reserve Order is used when an order of multiple items is place but is to be delivered

when all items are on hand.

Enter the order as an open order but on the order completion screen change the order type

from O = Open to R = Reserve. Make sure to retain the backorder and change the Ship

Complete option to Y.

You do have the option to print or not to print a Ship Complete Reserve Order if all the items are

on backorder.

A Ship Complete Reserve Order will release automatically to a Ship Complete Pick Ticket when

all items are available to ship.

1.5 JOB LOT BILLING

Job Lot Billing is used when a lot sum price is needed for a bill of material. This is used mainly for project

quotations. This will allow for a lot sum quote but will allow for billing as product is delivered at

different times throughout the project. The process starts with a Job Lot Bid which is then released to a

Contract Order. You can follow the tutorial on the GroupNet under Tutorials.

Job Lot Billing Tutorial:

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/joblot/joblotbilling.pdf

1.6 JOB ACCOUNTS

Job Accounts are an important tool for both DSG customers and DSG. A Job Account is similar to having

a sub account set up specifically for a project under the primary account.

Advantages:

Specific credit line for the project so the primary account credit line can be utilized for daily

purchases.

Specific pricing profile can be set up for the Job Account different from the primary account

profile.

A job name is automatically printed on all orders for the Job Account for easy identification.

A separate month-end statement is generated for the project purchases. This makes it easy to

track the purchases for the Job Account. The Job Account purchases can be easily searched on

the DSG Web Commerce system.

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/joblot/joblotbilling.pdf



A Job Account can reduce shipping and tax jurisdiction errors. The Job Account can have a

specific ship to address different from the customer’s primary address.

Job Accounts provide a detailed list of unpaid material should the customer or DSG determine

there is a need to file a lien on the project or file a bond claim.

The Job Account request form can be found on the GroupNet under Accounts Receivable Forms marked

Job Information Sheet. There is also a flyer to provide a quick summary of the advantages of Job

Accounts for customers and DSG employees.

You can find this information at the following link.

http://intranet/office-forms/ar/job%20account/index.htm

1.7 CASH SALES

Cash Sales can be a sale under the branch cash net or list accounts or an order for a customer with an

open account but paid for at time of pickup. The entry of a cash sale is very similar to order entry for a

charge account. There are a couple things you will need to be aware of.

When entering cash sale use a cash account for your respective branch for a customer without an open

account. The customer may have an open account. In this case the Cash/Charge blank needs to be

changed from R for charge to C for cash. Here are some points to remember when entering a cash sale.

When entering Cash Sale orders, payment collection needs to happen at the shipping branch. If

shipping from another branch, payment needs to be done with a credit card. The order is

entered as an open order and credit card information is placed in the order Notes. Do not place

credit card information in Special Instructions. If the order is in your branch simply follow the

order screens that will follow the order completion.

Payment for Cash Sales must be collected at time of delivery or shipment.

Cash Sales with product shipping from multiple branch locations cannot be entered on the same

order.

When entering a Cash Sale ticket from another branch you will need to change the ship and sell

branch designations on the order header screen. Simply change the ship branch and sell branch

designation to match the shipping branch number.

1.8 SALESMAN SAMPLE ACCOUNTS

Sample accounts have been set up for each salesman and can be located by typing in the last name.

Sample Account Guidelines:

1. An order is to be written and billed whenever a product is taken out of inventory to take to a

customer for their review. Always enter the customer’s company name in the purchase order

http://intranet/office-forms/ar/job%20account/index.htm



field on the order. If the item is to be taken to several customers during sales calls, then the

purchase order field should state “Sales Calls”, and should never be left at any customer site but

kept with the salesman for multiple showings. See exception under #5 below. Absolutely no

merchandise is to be removed from inventory unless a sales order has been created.

A. All orders removed from inventory must be invoiced immediately. These are NOT to be

left as open orders on the salesman account.

I. The salesman must sign the signature pad for every order.

B. It is the salesman’s responsibility to follow up with customers on all samples and have

the product returned and credited within thirty days. Or, if the customer has decided to

keep the item, then the salesman is to have the item credited against their sample

account and re-billed under the customer’s account with a correct purchase order

number. Note: Credits to the Salesman’s Sample Account cannot be written by the

Salesman.

C. If the product will be kept with the salesman to show to multiple customers, than the

product can be held up to forty-five days before returning the item to inventory and

having a credit written to their sample account. Again, this is the salesman’s

responsibility.

2. Fargo Credit Manager will send an email at the end of each month to the President/Sales

Manager, Branch Managers and to Salesman(s) of open item(s) on their sample accounts.

3. The salesman will receive an invoice for each sample that is taken out of inventory and billed via

email. They will also receive a monthly statement via email.

4. These accounts are NOT to be used for personal purchases. All personal purchases must be

made via the employee cash sales account. No exceptions!

5. Orders under $25, which the salesman knows will not be returned or in re-saleable condition,

should be written up on the Branch House Account. A note must be written on the comment

lines stating it will be used for sales calls and the salesman name must be entered in the PO

field. These items DO NOT need approval by the branch manager prior to being removed from

inventory.

6. Orders over $25, which the salesman knows will not be returned or in re-saleable condition,

should be written up on the Branch House Account. A note must be written on the comment

lines stating it will be used for sales calls and the salesman name must be entered in the PO

field. These items MUST be approved by the branch manager prior to being removed from

inventory.



1.9 BIDS VS QUOTES

Bidding Projects and providing customer quotes is a daily occurrence within the branch and it is important to have a clear definition on when to enter Bid vs a Quote in the MINCRON system. The following provides a definition for each: Project / Public Bids: Any bid that is on the builders exchange or a multiple group of contractors (Plumbing, HVAC and Electrical) are bidding directly to the owner or general contractor. This will also include all Municipalities, Telcom's, REA's and COOP's which put out a request for bid for material to more than one distributor for pricing, with the intent to place a purchase order based on this pricing. Design Build / Negotiated Projects: This will include projects the contractor either has or is negotiating with an owner / general contractor. Although they may be going to more than one distributor for a price the bill of Material can be value engineered to meet the owners desired needs. These are not projects that are on the builder’s exchange, or projects that the general public has access to. Bids: When a contractor (Plumbing, HVAC and Electrical) requests pricing on a specific Bill of Material for immediate purchase or for a specific job(s), with the intention to place a purchase order as soon as the job is awarded. These bids will also include those requests from Municipalities, COOP's, REA's and Telcom's. Quotes: When a customer requests general pricing for budgeting, billing or estimating Only, with no intention of placing a purchase order based on this pricing.

If there are further questions on the use of these fields please contact Stacy Tschider or Mike Tupa for more information.

1.10 BIDS FOLLOW-UP IN FOUR (4) AND TRACKING

It is the expectation that all BIDS will be followed up within 4 hours from the time they are originally

submitted to the customer. DSG bid win rate increases substantially with a follow-up the sales team

within 4 hours and asking simple questions like “Did you get our BID and how did we look? What do I

need to do to write the business with you? Etc.

MIS has also created an Open Bid Report. You can choose how often you will be sent the report, most

branches choose weekly. This report will list by sales person all of the BIDS that are currently in “open”

status. All Open BIDS on the report must be followed up and notes added to MINCRON System on the

last time the BID was followed up by the sales team. BIDS that are determined to not be valid any

longer should be closed out in the Mincron system. We also have the capability to indicate whether a

BID was won or lost and provide feedback regarding pricing, etc. to be used on the vendor score card.

Use the link below for a tutorial on BID Tracking and Maintenance using MINCRON

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/bidproposal/Bid%20Tracking.pdf

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/bidproposal/Bid%20Tracking.pdf



SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

1.11 ORDERING NON-STOCK MATERIAL

Non-Stock item are simply a product that is not already loaded in Mincron. Non-Stock items can be

ordered through a stock purchase order or on a direct purchase order. All Non-Stock items are ordered

using a section number (/XXX).

Non-Stock Tutorial:

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/order%20entry/Non%20Stock%20costing%20in%20Order%20Ent

ry.pdf

1.12 DSG EXPRESS _ INSIDE SALES INITIATING TRANSFERS FOR BACKORDERS ONLY

Order writers can initiate transfers through the Order Entry screen for product that they stock but are

currently out of. This option is only available to branches on the DSG Express Routes. The guidelines &

routes can be found at the following link:

http://intranet/purchasing/express/DSG%20Express%20Inside%20Sales%20Guidelines%20rev%2006102

016.pdf

Express Route Schedule & Cutoff Times -

http://intranet/purchasing/express/DSG%20Express%20Route%20Schedule%20and%20Cutoff%20Times

%20rev%2006102016.pdf

There is also WebEx training on how this process works. It can be found on the Groupnet under

Tutorials; Order Entry/Inquiry/Transfers from O.E. (WebEx).

Key Tips:

1. Notes in the body of your order do not copy over to the transfer ticket. If you have special

instructions per line, please note this in the Special Instructions of the Transfer & also make a phone

call or send an email to make sure your special requests are met.

2. If the quantity available shows zero from the branch you are transferring from double check your

item number. It may be different in a different branch, especially when dealing with wire.

3. If the quantity you are trying to transfer will cause a negative on hand at the other branch do not

force it through.

4. Make sure you pay attention to cutoff times & delivery dates when entering an order for DSG

Express. If it’s cutting it close make sure to call the branch!

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/order%20entry/Non%20Stock%20costing%20in%20Order%20Entry.pdf

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/order%20entry/Non%20Stock%20costing%20in%20Order%20Entry.pdf

http://intranet/purchasing/express/DSG%20Express%20Inside%20Sales%20Guidelines%20rev%2006102016.pdf

http://intranet/purchasing/express/DSG%20Express%20Inside%20Sales%20Guidelines%20rev%2006102016.pdf

http://intranet/purchasing/express/DSG%20Express%20Route%20Schedule%20and%20Cutoff%20Times%20rev%2006102016.pdf

http://intranet/purchasing/express/DSG%20Express%20Route%20Schedule%20and%20Cutoff%20Times%20rev%2006102016.pdf



1.13 VENDOR REBATE PROCESSING – REBATE COST FUNCTION Reasons to use Rebate Cost Function * Special Pricing from Vendor for a specific job. * B.O.G.O.’s Rebate Cost Function Tutorial: http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/order%20entry/cost.pdf

1.14 Adding Freight to Customer Orders

LPS: Freight should be added to the customer orders. The PO should be listed on the bill of lading. To

find the ticket that is tagged to that PO. POI - #1 - enter PO and go to body of order. Place a "T" on the

item, continue putting in a "t' to get to the order. Make sure you are looking to see if the order has an

"A" or an "S" in the freight spot.

UPS: Freight should be added to customer orders. Follow the PO to the order. Add to open ticket or

create a new ticket for freight only. As a safe guard make sure to ask salesmen if they have made the

freight an "S" if they really want to charge freight or not.

AP Invoices: When freight is added to a direct PO invoice, it follows to the invoice without having to add

the freight yourself. If the PO is a job or special PO, the freight does not get added automatically. The

person paying the AP invoices needs to follow the PO back to the customer ticket and add the freight

just like an LPS & or UPS freight charge. If the freight is for a stock PO, no freight needs to be added to

customer tickets.

If the customer ticket has already been invoiced a new freight only invoice will need to be created. By

putting a star on the item line you will be able to put a comment stating the order number the freight

should have been added to. See example below....

Make sure you mark "FRT" as an A, and go to the other charges screen to add the freight charges. Finish

the ticket as you would a regular order, making sure it gets reviewed.

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/order%20entry/cost.pdf



1.15 HANDLING FREIGHT FROM OTHER BRANCHES

Freight costs can change an order from a positive GP to negative GP quickly. You can add the freight

costs to the ticket when possible but this is not always possible. At times you may have situations where

the freight cannot be charged to the customer, examples, some customers will not pay a charge listed as

freight, product could be a defective replacement, correct an internal DSG error, etc. Another branch

should not need to take a negative order in these cases. Here are some ways to control these situations.

The first option is to add the freight to the ticket whenever possible.

Some customers will not pay a separate freight charges but are willing to pay more for the item

to compensate for the shipping costs. Simply increase the product price to include the addition

of the freight.

When entering an order to ship from another branch that freight will affect profit and the

customer will not pay freight charges, consider having the UPS, Spee Dee, Fed Ex, etc. charges

billed to your branch freight account number. If you are not familiar with your branch account

numbers, they can be found on the GroupNet under Shipping and Receiving Department.

1.16 CUSTOMER DISCOUNTS & CONTRACT PRICING

Reasons to use Discount Profiles:

• Established for a like group of customers or customer enterprises. • Allows entry of Discounts/Multipliers by product Section, Group or Category with exceptions for individual items. • Allows discounts or item net prices to be established. • Allows column pricing to be used.

Customer Discount Tutorial: (pg. 52)

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/pricing/pricing%20manual.pdf

Reasons to use Contract Pricing

• Are vendor specific. • Specify products for special discounts for a period of time. • Enables tracking of rebates. • Can have enterprise, customer and customer/jobs assigned to them.

Customer Discount Tutorial: (pg. 98


Vendor Rebate Process Tutorial: (each vendor listed under “Vendor Rebate Process”)

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/index.html



http://intranet/mis/tutorials/index.html



1.17 LOST ORDERS

Lost orders are a good indication of what the branch may be missing or short on to meet their

customers’ needs. Anyone entering orders with product not on hand and not being backordered need

to enter these items as a Lost Order. Lost orders are printed on a monthly report but also show on the

daily edit.

Watch for Lost Orders on the daily edit. The edit does list the Lost Order codes, I = Insufficient

stock, P = Pricing, J = Insufficient stock – shipped from another branch, N = Non Stock item for

the branch – not shipped, S = Non Stock item for the branch – shipped from another branch.

Item performance can be seen in Mincron by going to IMI #5 and entering you branch and item

number. From here you can see if items are a stock code Y/N, order points, monthly sales, and

stock status. This information will help in determining past inquires for a nonstock product,

shortages because of long lead-times, increase in demand, etc. Once the inventory need has

been established contact with purchasing can be made to change stock codes, increase stock

levels, and plan for seasonal demand changes.

Lost orders can also show some possible training opportunities. Sometimes a lost order may be

entered but there are substitutes available that the order taker is not aware of or does not

understand. Utilize these coaching opportunities to improve your team.

The section number is based on the vendor. You can find the section numbers a couple different ways.

GroupNet under Purchasing Department. There are sections sorted by name or section. (I

recommend saving this to your GroupNet page for anyone that does order entry.)

You can search the listing by using the find link under Edit or by using Ctrl F. Both will open a

search window.

A quick way to find a section number when entering an order is to enter an item from the same

vendor. F20 will take you to stock status for the item. The section number is listed at the top of

the page.

You can access the section number directly in stock status by using Fast Path SS (stock status)

and entering an item from the same vendor. You will see the section number at the top of the

page.



It is important that correct section numbers are used. The section number connects the item to the

vendor. This is used for many different ways including Vendor Scorecards. When ordering through

stock this is how the item is linked to the line buy. If an incorrect section number is entered on a stock

backorder, the item may not be picked up by the buyer.

In order entry the cost and sell must be entered for the item. You will also need to enter the UPC code

for the item. You will find the UPC on price sheets, or manufacture websites accessible through SiMAN.

1.18 BACK ORDER RELEASE TRIAGE

There are several reasons that can cause back ordered material to not release to a pick ticket at the time

of receipt in the warehouse. In an effort to assist in the trouble shooting, please use the following:

Verify with the warehouse manager that the “fill backorder” option was selected when the

product was received.

Check that the customer is not over credit limit which will cause the order to be placed on credit

hold. Contact the AR department before releasing product.

You may find that purchasing may have tied the back ordered material directly to a purchase

order. In this case, an order will not be generated to fill the back order until that specific PO is

received.

Most back orders can be manually filled using the following steps:

5. Purchasing

1. File Maintenance

7. Backorder control/fill by customer

Enter in customer name or account number

F17 to see all fillable backorders

Place an “F” in front of the items in which you would like to fill and then enter.



ORDER REVIEW, EDIT, CORRECTING ORDERS PRIOR TO BILLING

1.19 REVIEWING ORDERS - ORDERS AVAILABLE TO BE REVIEWED

Fast Path: REV Orders to be Reviewed Screen Orders that WILL display * Will Call (pick-up) tickets that have a signature. * Credit Memos * Shipped Tickets with a picker ID and not reviewed * Our Truck open orders with a signature that did NOT auto review (see POD exception report) Orders that will NOT display * Direct Order * Any Open Will Call tickets without signatures * Any open shipped orders without picker ID’s * Any orders on pricing or problem hold * Any orders that are not in an “open” status (Reserved, Pending, etc….)

Short Review

1. To utilize short review, enter in an ‘S’ in the select field on each order you wish to review and

press F10 = Submit batch to Short Review. The system will only be able to input 16 orders at one

time to be reviewed. If you select more than 16 orders for short review and press F10, the

system will process the first 16 and go back to the original screen and remaining orders will be

ready for submitting to batch via the F10 key. Note: the first set9s) of orders selected will still

appear on the screen but with no ‘S’ in the select field. They will stay on the screen until all of

the orders with the ‘S’ in the select field have been submitted for short review, then the screen

will be refreshed and all of the orders that were short reviewed will be removed. Press F8 to

toggle between all orders and credits if needed.



2. Once the orders are submitted you need to enter the Picker ID of each order to be reviewed. If

the picker ID was entered any time during maintenance of the order the Picker ID will already be

displayed.

3. To process the orders, press F10 = Update.

Inquiry

1. To inquire on a ticket, enter an ‘I’ in the select field and press enter. This will take you to an

Order Inquiry Screen



Long Review

1. To Long Review an order, enter an ‘R’ in the select field and press enter. This will take you to

the Order Review Screen.

2. Enter through & review as normal

Tips & Helpful hints:

* Putting an order on Pricing or Problem hold: * Pricing Hold: * Fast Path – OEC, option 2 * Enter your sales order #, then enter all the way through to the “Order Completion Screen” * F10 (Prc hold) for Pricing Hold * Problem Hold: * Fast Path – OEC, option 3

* Enter your sales order #, then enter all the way through to the “Order Completion Screen” * F8 (Prob hold) for Problem Hold



1.20 DAILY EDIT

The Daily EDIT is the report of all invoiced orders from the prior day. The Daily EDIT prints each morning

but can also be accessed on Mincron.

The printed version will show total sales, total GP for the day, each order, invoice and credit, with line

items, prices, freight charges, GP%, lost orders indicated, and rebate cost functions. This is the last

opportunity to make any changes to orders. The report will print automatically.

To access the EDIT on Mincron simply use the OEC fast path. Select option 23, Edit Batch Inquiry and

enter your branch number. You will then see two lists, orders and credits. You can then open the

option of your choice and review the orders or credits. Here are tips on what to look for on the edit.

* Total Gross Profit for the days sales.

* Low or negative GP%

* Freight that is affecting the GP of the order

* Lost Orders. This is the opportunity to take immediate action to correct missing items, low stock

levels, etc.. as opposed to waiting for the monthly report.

* Order’s Shipped Together - WOG

* Edit Review Definitions – See Appendix

1.21 VOIDING ORDERS AND BIDS

For Sales Orders and Credits:

1. Fast path OEC and then option 7

2. On Mincron Menu: Option 1 Order Processing, Option 2 Order Control, and Option 7 Void Sales

Order

For Contract Orders:

1. Fast path OEC and then option 8

2. On Mincron Menu: Option 1 Order Processing, Option 2 Order Control, and Option 3 Void

For Bids:

1. Fast path BID, then option 3.

2. On Mincron Menu: Option 1 Order Processing, Option 4 Bid Proposal menu , and Option 8 Void

contract order



Information Requested:

The order or bid number, the reason, and the initials of who requested the void. You can also enter a

note to the voided item in the process. Note: This is controlled by security, usually Branch Managers or

Operations Managers. Only a few people can void an order with items tagged on a purchase order or

transfer.

FINDING ORDERS – MINCRON INQUIRIES

1.22 SALES ORDER INQUIRY Fast Path BGO

Fast path OEI and then option 1

On Mincron Menu: Option 1 Order Processing, Option 3 Inquiry, and Option 1 Sales Order Inquiry

Ways to find for an order:

You can enter any combination of the fields listed below to limit your search for an order.

Enter the order/invoice number

* Order and invoice numbers are the same

* The number must be a valid order/invoice number

Enter a sell branch

* You can press the F4 prompt to see a list of branch numbers

* Will show the consignment warehouses

Enter a ship branch

* You can press the F4 prompt to see a list of branch number

* Will show the consignment warehouses

Enter a customer number

* Press the F4 key to use the customer search.

Enter a job number



* If you entered a customer number, you can press F4 key to search for a job number, it will only display

jobs that are set up in Mincron

* Can see closed jobs, by pressing F9 from the select window, toggles between open and closed

Enter a job name

* If you entered a customer number, you can press F4 key to search for a job name

* Select window will display job name, customer name, order#, and date entered

* Can search for job names that are not set up as jobs in Mincron

*Can also do a partial job name search (enter IPSWI), without a customer number

Enter the customer purchase order number

* If you enter a customer number, you can press F4 key to search on customer's purchase order number

* This screen will display the customer po number, name, order# and date entered. You can also limit to

sales order (F13) or contract orders (F14) or both (F15)

* Cannot search purchase order by entering a partial number or characters, must be the complete

purchase order.

* Can search by entering a purchase order number without a customer number also

Enter an item/product number

* Can do an F4 prompt here and will display the Section search of a product

* Can also do any of the other product type searches, using ·.' and '?'

Enter outside sales ID

* Can do an F4 search for outside sales ID

* Search window will display sis id, salesperson name, company number, and branch number

Enter the entered by initials

* Have to enter a valid entered by initials here, no F4 search

Enter an entered after date

*Way to limit the order search, enter the date and all the orders entered on or after that date will show

Enter Y/N for directs only

* Enter a "Y" to only see direct order

* Leave blank of all orders

* Enter an "N" to not see direct orders

Other ways to limit your results: Removing and adding an "X" in any of the following fields will help

limit your search.



These all default in as an "X"

* Quotes

* Pending Orders

* Open Orders

* Reserved Orders

* Shipped Orders

* Invoiced

This option defaults in as not checked

*Voids

The Ord, C/M, 0/M, All option defaults in at "A" for all orders but can change to following:

* "0" - for just orders

* "C" - for just credits

* "0" - for just debit memos

Function keys on the inquiry screen:

* F3 - exit return to previous menu F4- Prompt

* FS- Reset - clears screen

* F14- After you enter an order number and you have not yet pressed the enter key, you can press F14

to see all the generated orders. If you entered a backorder ticket number, it will display the original

order and any other backordered tickets. If you enter the original order number will display all the

backorder tickets.

* F15- My transactions- not available

Selecting a Sales Order:

The screen will display the sales order number, date ordered, date shipped, branch, cash/charge, type of

order (order, credit, debit, quote), status, customer name, customer purchase order number (if

available) in sorted by order number. If the order is a direct order, it will appear in red.

If there is a "more" in the bottom right hand corner, you can page down to see more pages of orders.

You can enter a "G" in the select field to see the generated orders. You can select multiple orders by

placing anything other than a "G" in the select field in front of the order number. When the orders are

displayed in the inquiry, you will need to press the F3- exit key to see the next order that you selected.



Displaying the Sales Order Selected:

The first screen (order summary) that will display is shown below:

Some of the information displayed on this screen:

Status- open, invoiced, reviewed, priced, shipped, etc.

If it is paid or not

Original order# and this order#

Signature on file

Notes on order

Sales amount, tax, other charges, terms discount, and total invoice amount.

Function keys are:

F3 - exit order

F6 - Order Cost- will display the cost for the products on this order.

F7 – Bid - will display the original bid number is order was created from a bid

F8 –Contract - will show the contract order number

F9 - Special instructions - will display any special instructions entered on order

F11 -Display CM - If the notes show a credit written against this order, or if a credit would show

the original order number, you can press the F11 key to display that other order.



F13 – Header - will display the header screen for the order. This screen has more information

regarding the order such as entered by initials, type of order, billing period, picked by initials,

tracking number, shipping method, printing information, and tax information for the order.

Picture of screen below:

From this screen you can see the LPS shipping information (F10) the UPS/SpeeDee tracking information

(F20) or the special instruction (F9). The F3 key will take you back to order summary.

F15- LPS Freight Estimating- will take you to the Key Ship web site to help in estimating freight charges

for the order.

F17 - Line Items- will take you to the order's Line item Detail. You can see the order qty, product number

and description, sell UOM, qty shipped, backorder status, and if tagged to po and transfer. See screen

print below.



From this screen, you can F3 to return to order summary, F14 to display the extended description for

the product, F20 to fold (display cust PO line#) or F4 in the select field for a line item and you can then

enter:

B - Bid Inquiry

C -Contract Order Inquiry

P - PO Inquiry

S - For serial number

R - Vendor return inquiry

T- Transfer Inquiry

W- Work Order Inquiry

If you press the enter key, the following screen will display showing, unit price and cost, selling price,

discount, net price, selling cost, GM%, qty shipped, description, taxable status, and terms for each line

item. From here you can enter the F3

-exit key to return to order summary screen, the F12 cancel key to go to Line Item Detail screen, or F18

for the extended pricing and costing information for the line items.

F18- Payment History- will display the payment information for the order, if you have security to see.

F19 -Invoice Tax Details- only for invoiced orders- will show all the tax information for the invoiced

orders.

F21 -Order Totals- Displays the total for the ordered quantity not the shipped quantity. This is a toggle.

Example -look at order 8114794- shipped total is 2544.30, ordered total is 5130.33. The cost will only be

for the shipped quantity.



F22 – G/L Detail – (only for invoiced orders - and is controlled by security level) Shows the general ledger

breakdown of the invoice order.

F23 - Image - If the SIGNATURE ON FILE displays on Order Summary screen from which you can email or

fax a copy of the delivery ticket with the embedded signature on it. Will also show you who picked it up

and when it was picked up.

F24- More- will give you more function key options for the inquiry

1.23 ORDER MANAGEMENT INQUIRY

* Fast path OEI and then option 2

* On Mincron Menu: Option 1 Order Processing, Option 3 Inquiry, and Option 2 Order Management

Inquiry

Information Requested:

* Only one request plus the Promise date can be entered.

* Branch Number- if entered will display all orders for the branch, can use F15 key to find the name associated with the order writer initials. * Salesperson ld- if entered will display all the orders for that salesman, can use F15 key to find the name associated with the order writer initials. * Order Writer- if entered will display all the orders for that order writer, can use F13 key to change the sort order from * Promise date to order number. * Customer Number- if entered will display all the orders for that customer, can use F15 key to find the name associated with the order writer initials. * Promise Date -enter MM/DD/YY- Will use this dale to display any orders that have not been invoiced and the promise date of the order is equal to or less than what was entered. If leave promise date as 00100100 the inquiry will display all open orders. To search for a customer, use the F14 key and the inquiry will run for the customer selected.



Screen Displayed:

Entered order writer PAH Promise date 02/28/15- orders with the INV status have an open backorder

that has not yet been generated

Fillable Backorders By Branch Inquiry

Fillable Backorders Inquiry:

1. Fast path OEI and then option 14

2. On Mincron Menu: Option 1 Order Processing, Option 31nquiry, and Option 14 Fillable

Backorders by Branch

3. This is a DSG modification, so there is no F1 help for this inquiry

4. Information Requested:

5. Branch Number

6. Screen Displayed:



Example: Entered branch 022

Information displayed:

Status of the backorder- P is Purchase in Progress

Type of Order- RSV is reserved order

Item#

Item Description

Available QTY

B/0 Quantity

Customer Name

Order Number

There is not a F4 prompt on the select field, but entering an "I" in the field will take you to order inquiry.



CUSTOMER RETURNS AND CREDITS 1.24 CUSTOMER RETURN INFORMATION Reasons to use RGA:

The RGA fast path is a way to create a credit to the customer without having to use multiple sessions to

look up the needed information to process the credit. By using the RGA fast path you can enter items

that the customer is returning & “tie” those items to the original sales order(s). The system will then

create either “pending” or “open” Credit Memos. Once a pending credit memo is released to an “open”

status, then normal system processing for Credit Memos applies.

Entering a Customer Credit Tutorial:

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/returns/rga.pdf

Tips & Helpful Hints:

* One of the key benefits of using the RGA process is that the system will keep track of the quantity that

is returned and will prevent you from issuing credit for more then what the customer purchased.

* The system will also keep track of any price corrections that are issued, so that if the customer later

returns the item, you do not issue credit for the original price that was charged.

* Once a credit is created using the RGA process in Mincron, no changes or additions can be made. If

changes or additions need to be made you will need to void the original credit memo & start a new one.

* For freight only credits put a ‘*’ in the Item Field & an ‘F’ in the SEL field then hit enter. Then you can

add notes to the lines if you like.

* Don’t Return Items That You Ship Out of a Stocking Branch: If your branch doesn't carry items that

you ship out of a stocking branch, don't automatically send them back to the stocking branch if your

customer returns them. In most cases the stocking branch has already replenished inventory and ends

up in an overstock situation.

The Branch Manager/Operations Manager must contact the buyer and have the buyer activate the item

so you can issue the credit and put in your own stock. Branch Manager/Operations Manager will work

with the buyer to transfer, return or otherwise deal with this material.

1.25 VENDOR RETURNS

It is vital to always communicate with the purchasing agent before initiating a vendor return for good,

sellable stock material. Although the product may be non-stocking at your branch, we may have some

restrictions as to how many returns we can do, how many dollars we can return or possibly need to

create an offsetting purchase order.

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/returns/rga.pdf



Compile your list of items, include quantity as well as the original purchase order number.

Vendor Returns should be entered for all material leaving the building regardless if a factory credit will

be issued or not. This is the only way to track material after it has left the building.

Vendor Return Tutorial:

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/inventory/vendorreturns.pdf

1.26 ACCOUNTS PAYABLE

The accounts Payable Dept. is responsible for processing payments for inventory, services & other non-

salary expenses. The primary purpose of this department is to ensure invoice(s) are paid in a timely

manner and with accuracy.

Accounts Payable Tutorial:

http://intranet/financial/ap/AP%20Manual.pdf

REOPRTS

1.27 MONTHLY OPEN ORDER/ BACKORDER REPORT

This report is generated monthly as part of the scheduled report run maintained by MIS department. It

is run on the 15" of each month and sent out to all branch managers or office managers or branch

operations via email.

These reports should be distributed to order writers and worked to make sure that orders are invoiced

in a timely manner.

1.28 REPORT CHECKLIST

Open Orders - Monthly, emailed pdf, automatic Open Back Orders - Monthly, emailed pdf, automatic Open Non-Stocks - Quarterly, emailed pdf, automatic Vendor Rebates - Monthly, emailed pdf, automatic Open Vendor Returns - Monthly, emailed spreadsheet, automatic EDIT - Daily, Green bar or Printer Paper, automatic Open Receiver - Monthly, Green bar or Printer Paper, Manual

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/inventory/vendorreturns.pdf

http://intranet/financial/ap/AP%20Manual.pdf



CHAPTER 2: OFFICE MANAGEMENT

2.1 INTRODUCTION

Office Management is an important piece of the Operations Manager’s duties. You will find that most

of the duties in this section have a close connection to your fellow DSG associates as well as to the DSG

customers. You will find many tips and tricks in this section that will help you assist any customer

efficiently. Efficiency in how we handle our DSG encounters will help us achieve the running of a

profitable branch.

2.2 TIME & ATTENDANCE

DSG uses the computer system to keep track of logging in and out and a running tally of your hours.

The following will show you how to Log In/Out, provide In/Out detail and look at your hours for the

week.

To LOG-IN

Mincron # 16 Time & Attendance Menu

Mincron # 1 Log-in/Log-out

Enter Employee Number. Press Field Exit Key.

*** Make certain your name appears on the screen. If it’s not, please F12 to cancel and retype your

employee number. If your name appears, press the enter key to confirm Log-in.

Employee Time Card Review

Mincron # 16 Time & Attendance Menu

Mincron # 2 Employee time card review

Enter Employee Number. Press Enter.

Hours will be displayed. F3 to exit. Press F10 to review PTO & ESL balances earned and taken.

F12 to exit. F3 to return to the main menu.

Additional information as well as examples of the Time & Attendance can be found on the DSG Intranet:

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/t_a/time-attendance.pdf

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/t_a/time-attendance.pdf



2.3 VOIDING A PICK TICKET, CREDIT MEMO, CONTRACT ORDER

A pick ticket and credit memo can be voided in Mincron. It is important to make certain you are only

voiding an order that was generated at your branch. If there is a need to void an order generated at

different branch location, please contact the branch manager or operations manager to assist you with

The request. It’s a good reminder to have your sales staff present you with the ticket that they want

voided. This will insure that the ticket isn’t floating around or possibly getting picked and you can make

certain the product was returned to inventory.

Please follow the steps below to void a transaction:

#1 Order Processing

#2 Order Control

#7 Void Sales Order (use this option for pick tickets and credits)

OR

#8 Contract Orders (use this option to void contract orders)

Key in the order you wish to void. Make certain the order that you are voiding at the order in the

Mincron match. (This is a great double check to verify you didn’t key in an incorrect number.)

Enter through the order until you are prompted for the following:

Void Requested by: This would be the initials of the individual that asked you to void the

transaction.

Void Reason code: F4 will give you a list of choices that you can select as to why you are

voiding the order.

Please include any additional information in the notes field.

If you are voiding a credit card order, this automatically voids the credit card charge also.



2.4 DEPOSITS ON ACCOUNT

Customers may drop payments on account off at the branch. A notice, in the form of an email, of these

payments needs to be sent to the Accounts Receivable Department including the following information:

****************************************************************************

DEPOSIT ON ACCOUNT: BRANCH: DATE: BY: TOTAL DEPOSIT: ACCOUNT #, CUSTOMER NAME, CASH/CHECK #, AMOUNT PAID, INVOICES PAID

A deposit slip will be filled out and flagged “AR” to alert the accounts receivable department

that this deposit is on account rather than a daily deposit.

Please include as much information in your email as possible. If the customer supplied a check

stub detailing the invoices paid, this should be scanned and attached to your email.

Always keep a copy of the email and check. Staple the deposit slip to this information for your

records.

Report deposit daily. A trip to the bank weekly.

Have a back-up trained at the branch in case of PTO.

Any replacement money for NSF checks should be done on a separate email and separate

deposit slip.

Misc. checks: contact AR for instruction. Rebate checks, please contact the segment manager

for coding,



2.5 FAXING OR EMAILING INVOICES

Customers may call asking for a copy of an invoice to be faxed or emailed. This can be done locally

rather than contacting the AR department. Below are the steps to take to fax or email to satisfy the

request of the customer:

Mincron FASTPATH: OPO

#5 Reprint Invoices

#2 Reprint by invoice number

TAB down to the invoice number field.

Key in the invoice number that you need to send.

TAB over to the F/E field.

Key in ‘F‘ to fax the invoice. Key in ‘E’ to email the invoice. Key in 'Y' in the P field to mail a copy.

You will be prompted to choose a fax or email address that you wish to send the copy to.

Make your selection and F10 twice.

Make sure to type notes on the invoice in Mincron: The date, how and who you sent the copy to. This

helps the A/R dept. If they are following up on payment. Fast path: OEI #1 Notes

If an order is open, reviewed, or in priced status, the system will not allow you to reprint until invoiced.

It important to place a note on each invoice that you fax/email to a customer. Use fast path OEI #1 and

place a message in the “notes” field. (Ex: Faxed invoice to Tom Schwan 10/15/15) If the AR

department has any questions or needs to follow up with the customer they can see your notes which

may assist them with a point of contact.

2.6 CASH DEPOSITS

A cash deposit is essentially a deposit for a cash sale customer or A/R customer that wants to pay in

cash, in which they give Dakota Supply Group payment for materials in advance of items being ordered

and/or delivered.

Cash deposits are used for several different reasons.

cash customer’s that would like to purchase non-stock material

cash customer’s that want to pay for items backordered in advance



as a general purpose fund from which a cash customer can make withdrawals for material picked up over time Using the cash deposit option allows DSG to collect the money upfront for material, that the customer has ordered, insuring that we have received payment for special order items, before we order from the manufacturer. Options for Cash Deposits can also be found under Fast Path “DEP”. There you will find maintenance and inquiry options for cash deposits. Inquiry will allow you to search all deposits that have been done, open and closed, and will show you how much money is left on the deposit, how the deposit was originally paid for and what order it is tied to. The Maintenance option will allow you to transfer, refund, and even forfeit the cash that is remaining on a deposit. You can find detailed steps for creating and using deposits following link: http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/cashdeposit.pdf

2.7 CHECK REFUND INSTRUCTIONS

Check to see how the invoice was originally paid. If it was paid via credit card, then we do NOT process a check refund, instead we need to credit back to the customer’s credit card. This would be for credit memo’s and double payments. You would check the invoice that the credit memo pertains too to see how it was paid.

If the invoice was paid via a check, what date did the check go into our bank? If a recent cash sale, you will need to contact the branch and ask them to check their cash sales recon report to find out what date they actually took the deposit to our bank. Need to wait 3 weeks from deposit date before processing a check refund, to make sure the original check has cleared our bank and no stop payments or NSF notices. If you think it’s an account where an exception can be made to this rule, you would need prior approval by a Credit Manager.

Does the customer have open items on the account or open orders that they can deduct the amount from instead of us processing a check? If so, point that out to the customer when they request the refund. There will be a few exceptions, where they will still need a check instead of deducting.

If refunding a credit memo, it MUST be reviewed/billed through Mincron (have an invoice date) before we can process any refunds.

On the Intranet go to: http://intranet/office-forms/ap/Check%20Request.pdf

1. Accounts Payable

2. Forms

3. Check Request Form

Fill in the following items:

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/cashdeposit.pdf

http://intranet/office-forms/ap/Check%20Request.pdf



Top Section – Clear Accounts Receivable

Date Requested by Branch $_____________ total amount of refund

Mincron Customer Account Number Adjust A/R Account- Check Yes if items are open on the customer account and Fargo credit department will need to clear them

Check No if it is a cash sale credit memo etc. where nothing is open on the customer’s account

(Look at ARI # 8 customer inquiry, Shift F5 to see if open orders exist)

Name

Complete Address

Credit Memo # or reference invoice number double paid via check # xxx & ck # xxx etc.

Bottom Section - G/L Coding

All Cash Sales (where there is nothing to clear from the AR) Code To:

BR# - 00 – 1060 – 000 (example 021-00-1060-000)

All AR Accounts (open items on the AR that need to be cleared that the check refund covers) Code To:

BR# - 00 – 1210 – 001 (example 021-00-1210-001)

Print the Check Request form

Print copies of the credit memo’s or Print Screen showing items that need to be cleared off of the

account via ARI #8 Shift F5 screen. See examples.

Put notes on customer account that a check refund request was scanned and email to (name of AP

person), Kathy Gross, and give details such as cm B111333 2/21/15 ($151.15) or inv B111444 2/21/15

$110.00 dble pd via ck # 123 & ck # 155. If there are several items also put total refund $ amount.

When entering the note on customers account, scan through all notes to see if we have processed a

check refund previously for this customer. If so, please write the vendor number on top of the check

request form, before scanning & emailing to Corporate, so they know one already exists.

Scan and email check request & attachments to Accounts Payable contact, Kathy Gross and your Credit

Manager.



At month end, once Corporate has had time to process the refunds go to:

API

2. Invoice by vendor

Enter customer name (AP sets up vendors, such as City of Albert Lea, just type in City and search list)

Put X in front of the customer you want

Put in date

Put X in front of the check amount that matches your request

Write DSG’s check number and date on the check request form

Write the AP Vendor Number on the top of the check request form.

Enter DSG’s check number, date and amount in the AR customer notes

Make sure the A/R Items were cleared off of the customers open items. Look under ARI, #8 Customer

Credit Analysis, Shift F

File the check request and attachments in the customer file

2.8 DAILY CASH SALES RECON

A report will print daily of all of the cash, check, and credit card sales that took place at your branch.

This is a 4 page report titled “Sales Recon”.

STEP ONE:

Physically count the cash in your till. (Keep the adding machine tape total for your records.)

Report your till balance amount in the “total cash in till” field.

The “less cash remaining” field is the balance that your till started with.

The difference between the total cash and the cash remaining is what needs to go to the bank.

This amount should equal the cash sales portion of your cash report. Report this in the “cash to

bank” field.

Now, on to the checks…. Physically add all of the checks that are in your till. (Keep this adding

machine tape for your records.)

Report the check balance total in the “checks” field.

You then add the “cash to bank” and the “checks” field together to get your total deposit.

Fill out the deposit slip.



STEP TWO:

The cash sales + the check sales = your deposit to the bank.

The credit card sales field will not be reported on your deposit slip.

The second page of this report shows all VOIDED transactions from the previous day.

The 2nd and 3rd page show the sales and indicate if it was a cash sale, check sale or credit sale.

There is also a spreadsheet that is required to be filled out each month using the information above.

*** If possible, do not use your till for petty cash. Rather generate a separate fund, use a company

credit card, or generate a check request.

Date__________________________

Beginning Cash till Balance $350.00

Less Petty Cash Vouchers _______________

Cash Remaining _______________

Total Cash in Till _______________

Less Cash Remaining _______________

Cash to Bank _______________

Checks _______________

Total Deposit _______________

Report Total (Amount to Bank) _______________

Difference (Cash Over or Short) _______________

The information above must be recorded in your monthly deposit spreadsheet.

2.9 TO SEE IF AN INVOICE HAS BEEN PAID:

OEI #1 (this option will also show open invoices) OR ARI #6

Upper right corner will show Open, Partially, or Fully Paid

F18 will show how it was paid

Distribution # = check #



If no information there, from main screen of invoice F13 then enter until you get to a payment

screen = cash sale

2.10 TO SEND COPIES OF STATEMENTS TO CUSTOMERS:

Statement copies are not kept in Mincron. The MIS department emails them out each month to the

corresponding credit manager

2.11 REQUEST FOR ACCOUNT BALANCES:

ARI #8

What is due the current month: Go by balance due on the account, not statement total. Balance due

takes into account payments made during the month.

Total balance = MTD + Balance due

If it is the week in between statement run and month end, the buckets have not aged yet so make

sure you have the correct amount.

Our normal terms are PROX Net 25th, for example, all customers purchases from 3/26/12 through

4/25/12 are due for payment by 5/25/12 and would be listed in the current due category. On

5/26/12 if not paid these items would then be Over 30 days, however, they will still show current on

the A/R screens and therefore, you must manually age them: Current is actually 30 days past due, 30

days past due is actually 60 days past due etc.

For the customers that access their own information via the web there is a note on their A/R screen

that informs them that the screens might not reflect the true aged categories until after our month-

end process.

Please contact someone in A/R if you have any questions in understanding these screens or the

aging process. If a customer calls in to ask about what they owe, you can always transfer those calls

to the credit department.

2.12 PROOF OF DELIVERY FOR WILL CALL ORDERS:

In OEI #1 enter the invoice number and hit enter

In the middle of the screen it will indicate if there is a signature on file for the items.



F23 Image, Enter

Select fax or email (F or E), Enter and chose or type in destination number or address.

2.13 PROOF OF DELIVERY FOR ALL OTHER ORDERS:

Contact the branch that shipped the material

2.14 REFUND OF ACCOUNT BALANCE IS REQUESTED:

Go to ARM #8 and bring up the account to confirm that the customer has a credit balance. Verify

dollar amount with them. If they have purchased recently or it looks like they may use it up in the

near future, attempt to let them use it that way instead of issuing a check.

Tell the customer we will set it up for payment and get contact information in case there are

questions later.

Check request forms are found on the Intranet under Accounts Payable forms. On account credits

code to 0BR-00-1210-001

Forward to credit manager for approval.

2.15 INVOICE BILLED ON THE WRONG ACCOUNT:

Let the customer know we will contact the sales person to get more information. Be sure to get

contact information so they can be called back.

Open the invoice in OEI #1



F13 to see who entered the order

Contact the person who entered the order and have them research. Call the customer back and type

notes in the invoice. Mark it with dispute code AC.

2.16 WHERE IS THE CUSTOMER ACCOUNT NUMBER ON AN INVOICE:

The account number is in the upper right hand of the invoice on faxed and emailed versions, right

next to the billing address on the printed version.

2.17 HOW MUCH IS ON A PO:

OEI #1 type in the PO number and hit enter or the beginning of the PO and then F4. All invoices tied

to that PO will be listed. Same options can be used on Job Name – you should search both - some

sales people enter in one, some the other.

2.18 FINDING WHERE AN ITEM WAS PURCHASED:

Open the invoice in OEI #1.

F13 to the Header Information Screen.

In the upper right hand corner of the screen it will tell you what branch the item was sold from and

where it was shipped from.



2.19 MOVING AN INVOICE FROM A REGULAR ACCOUNT TO A JOB ACCOUNT & VICE VERSA:

This can be done only if the order has not been invoiced. If already invoiced it will have to be

credited and rebilled.

2.20 DSG BRANCH DEPOSITS:

There will be checks that come in the mail to your branch. Separate the checks & stubs making sure you have the check number on the remit. Add up all the checks, total, endorse, and make out a deposit slip. Report the information to Kathy Gross with cc Jessica Blixt and your credit manager via email.

Include in the email: Deposit total, account number, check number, customer name, amount of the check, invoices paid. Check stubs can be scanned and sent as backup instead of typing everything in the email. Please report these checks the same day they are received, although you don’t have to bring them to the bank daily.

Make out the deposit slip for these checks only. Checks and cash that appear on your cash sale reconciliation report should be put in a different deposit.

Checks from all branches are applied in Fargo. Any miscellaneous checks (freight claims, etc…) need to have GL codes. Rebate checks should be coded by the segment manager.

If there is ever a time that you have to deposit a check that has not been signed by the customer:

On the line where the signature would normally go, write or type the word “over” and nothing else.

On the back of the check write “lack of signature guaranteed” then add DSG’s name, your name and your title. Endorse the check (all of this goes on the back of the check)

This guarantees YOUR bank that you will accept the chargeback if the check isn’t honored.



2.21 MAKING DEPOSITS:

Daily bank runs are not needed. At least once a week is preferred or more often if you deem

necessary. Please make sure you go on the last day of the month with all remaining deposits to

facilitate a clean bank reconciliation period.

2.22 CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS:

All cash sale payments by credit card are processed by each individual branch.

All payments on account by credit card are processed in Fargo by Kathy Gross or Jessica Blixt.

2.23 CASH SALE FROM ANOTHER BRANCH:

If you need to do a cash sale out of another branch you have two options:

a) Transfer the material into your stock and sell it from your location when it arrives. If you do not stock

the material, contact the purchasing agent and have them add it to your stock then transfer.

b) The customer can pay by credit card - not cash or check.

It is too hard to keep track of and we hate to lose money by having it lost in the mail, or one branch

thinking the other branch will collect and no one does.

Type the cash sale up as a ticket in the shipping branch NOT as an invoice. This is in case inventory is off

and the material is not actually available at the shipping branch, and also in case freight needs to be

added to the invoice.

Enter the credit card information in the notes screen - not the special instructions. We don't want that

information to print and possibly be seen by others. In the special instructions, type "see notes for

payment information."

Then the shipping location bills the credit card the same time they invoice the ticket and adds freight as

needed.

2.24 ORDERING DEPOSIT SLIPS:

Contact Jessica Blixt



2.25 STATES WHERE WE COLLECT SALES TAX:

Minnesota

North Dakota

South Dakota

Wisconsin – charged by county

Iowa – charged by county

Nebraska

Wyoming – charged by county

Michigan – State tax only

2.26 NSF CHECKS:

These are returned to the Fargo branch and scanned to the respective credit managers to have re-

deposited, collect, or adjust back onto the customer’s account.

2.27 VMI: Vendor Managed Inventory

Some of our customers are under a VMI program where Dakota Supply Group basically keeps track

of their inventory for them.

2.28 TO SEE WHICH ITEMS CARRY CASH DISCOUNT ON AN INVOICE:

OEI #1 OR ARI #6 to view the invoice

F17 to look at the items

Enter and view the right hand side

2.29 PETTY CASH

Many branches have a petty cash fund. This fund can be used for expenses such as postage due or

incidental expenses that don’t take a credit card, etc. If is up to the branch to determine how much

they would like to keep in their petty cash fund. It can range from $100 to $500.



2.30 ORDERING SUPPLIES

There are a number of office/warehouse supplies that are managed by the corporate office in Fargo. Please follow this link: http://intranet/office-forms/forms.htm

Bill of Ladings

Distribution Labels

Do not lay flat stickers

DSG Logo Labels

Repacked Material Labels

Dummy Invoice

Field Credit

Letterhead

First Class Envelop (13 x 10)

Regular Envelope # 10

Window Envelope # 10

PICK TICKET ORDER FORM

http://intranet/office-forms/printersupplies.htm

Please order a 6 month supply.

http://intranet/office-forms/forms.htm

http://intranet/office-forms/printersupplies.htm



GREEN BAR PAPER

Ordered locally by each branch. DSG has an account at Cole Papers.

MISC OFFICE SUPPLIES

Many other office supplies such as pens, tape, staplers can be picked up locally, ordered thru Staples,

Office Depot or a similar business that is available to you.

CARDBOARD BOXES

Boxes are ordered each April and October. The corporate office will sent out an email to each branch

requesting quantities. Please remember that we only order boxes twice a year so you much plan and

calculate so that you are not running out.

2.31 QUICK REFERENCE CISCO IP PHONE 7941/7961 SERIES

To Change the ringer sound:

1. Press the Settings button 2. Press 1 for User preferences 3. Press 1 for rings 4. Use the Navigation button to scroll through the list of ring types and press the Play soft key to hear

the sample. 5. Highlight the ring you want, then press the Select soft key. 6. Press the OK and Save soft key.

To adjust the headset, speakerphone or headset volume:

1. During a call, press the up or down Volume button. 2. Press the Save soft key to apply the new volume level to future calls

To Place a Call:

1. Lift the handset and dial the number. 2. Press the line button for your extension, then dial. Button illuminates steady green for active call. 3. Press the Speaker button, then dial. 4. Press the New Call soft key, then dial. 5. If you are using a headset, press the Headset button, then dial. 6. If you have established speed dial numbers, press a Speed dial button.

To Answer a call:

1. Lift the handset. 2. If you are using a headset, press the Headset button. If necessary, press the line button of the

incoming call. 3. To use the speakerphone, press the Answer soft key or the Speaker button.



To End a call:

1. Hang up the handset. 2. If you are using a headset, press the Headset button or the EndCall soft key. 3. If you are using the speakerphone, press the Speaker button or the EndCall soft key.

To View Missed Calls:

1. Press the Directories button 2. Press 1 for missed calls.

To Transfer a call:

1. During a call, press the Trnsfer soft key. This puts the call on hold. 2. Dial the number to which you want to transfer the call. 3. As soon as you hear ringing, or after the party answers, press Trnsfer.

To forward all calls to another number:

1. Press the CFwdAll soft key. You will hear two beeps. 2. Enter the number to which you want to forward all of your calls. Enter the number exactly as you

would if you were placing a call to that number. An animated phone icon flashes in the upper-right corner of your LCD screen.

3. To cancel call forwarding, press the CFwdAll soft key.

To send active, ringing, or on hold call to voice mail:

1. Press the iDivert soft key. 2. The call is transferred to your voice messaging system.

To send an answered call to another’s voice mail:

1. Press the Trnsfer soft key. 2. Press the * key on the keypad. 3. Press the 1 and voice mail extension number you wish to transfer the call to. 4. Press the Trnsfer soft key.

To Park a call:

1. Press the More soft key. 2. Press the Park 3. Note the number the call is parked on (70X) To answer a parked call: Lift hand set and dial the

number the call is parked on.



2.32 SAFETY COODINATOR PLAN 2016

The following activities and responsibilities must be completed to qualify for the $300.00 end of year

bonus:

General Requirements:

1. Keep your branch’s safety manual updated and organized. Documentation of all training,

inspection, and checklist activities should be stored in this manual (for a minimum of three

years) as well as sample copies of all injury reporting forms and our company safety policy. This

is also a good location for storing a copy of the safety data sheets for your branch. It is the

coordinator’s responsibility to keep this manual current. Audits of these manuals are possible.

2. Have an understanding of DSG’s Safety Policy. This includes reading and overseeing the

adherence to the safety plans within the policy. Plans for machine safeguarding, ladder safety,

lifting techniques, forklift operation, wire management, slips/trips/ falls, blood borne

pathogens, and hazardous chemicals are all included in this document. DSG’s company safety

policy can be found on the intranet under Human Resources/Safety. A copy should be stored in

your safety manual as well.

3. Ensure that first aid kits are well stocked and that branch automated external defibrillators are

ready for use (batteries in the AED’s should be replaced every 2 – 3 years). S&W Coordinators

also need to ensure that external walkways are free of ice in the winters, aisles are free of

obstructions, combustibles are stored in lockable cabinets outside the building, and caution

areas have appropriate signage.

4. Make sure that workers are wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) to perform safety

sensitive tasks. The safety of our employees is a top priority so make sure they are wearing

appropriate PPE when handling chemicals, using small machinery, operating large machines,

performing lockout/tagout procedures, handling dangerous objects, and conducting

maintenance activities. In short, any activity involving risk of injury is an activity that should be

performed with the use of PPE.

5. Ensure that all inspections are being performed as outlined in the ‘2015 Inspections and Training

Requirements Guide”. Vehicle inspection booklets are available upon request and all other

inspection forms are on GroupNet under Human Resources/Forms beneath the header entitled

‘Safety Forms’.



2.32 SAFETY COODINATOR PLAN 2016 (cont.)

Monthly Requirements:

NOTE: Documentations from the monthly activities outlined below are to be submitted to Michael Place

at [email protected] by the last day of the month each specific activity is assigned to. For example,

January activities must be submitted by 1/31/15. A second copy of these documents should be stored in

your branch safety manual.

January

Assignment #1 – Monthly Inspection

Assignment #2 – Update/Develop your Emergency Preparedness Plan (EPP).

For DSG branches that changed physical location and are in a new facility, a new Emergency

Preparedness Plan (EPP) must be completed. For existing locations that already have an EPP,

review and updating of the existing plan is an annual requirement. Updates should be reviewed

by the branch manager. A template for creating your EPP is available to coordinators upon

request.

February


Assignment #2 – Emergency Preparedness Plan review

After your branch EPP has been updated, a copy of this plan is provided to associates for review.

After review, associates must sign your Safety Training Documentation Form confirming their

understanding of the plan.

March


Assignment #2 – Quarterly Inspection

April


Assignment #2 – First Aid, AED’s, and DSG Protocols review

Supply each associate with the following:

1. a listing of the contents in your first aid kit(s) and the locations of those kits

2. a copy of the document entitled ‘DSG Protocols for accidents, injuries, first aid, CPR,

and AED certifications’

3. instructions to watch the 10 minute AED training video by the end of the month

After review, associates sign your Safety Training Documentation Form confirming their

understanding of the resources you’ve provided them.

mailto:[email protected]



May


Assignment #2 – Fire Extinguisher Training

Bring in an instructor to your branch to conduct fire extinguisher training for associates. Contact

your local fire department to get guidance on whom to contact for this service. In many cases,

someone from the fire department will be willing to provide the training if you ask them.

Once you’ve retained someone for the training, send an email to your branch associates with

the date/time of the training event. Feel free to schedule more than one session if it makes

sense to do so. Anyone can attend but the training is required for operations managers,

warehouse supervisors, delivery drivers, and warehouse personnel. Upon completion of the

training, participants will sign your Safety Training Documentation Form confirming their

attendance.

June



July


Assignment #2 – Training on Personal Protective Equipment

This training is for any associate that manages or performs safety-sensitive tasks including

operations managers, warehouse supervisors, and personnel otherwise authorized to work in

the warehouse (i.e. counter salespeople, inside salespeople, warehouse workers, delivery

drivers, etc…). This activity must be an in-person meeting to discuss the following:

1. Give attendees a copy of the document ‘Tips for Head, Eye, and Foot Safety’ to

review

2. Associates must understand what tasks require eye protection

3. Associates must understand shat tasks require hand protection

4. Recommend the use of steel-toe or carbon-tip footwear (DSG offers reimbursement

up to $100 for the purchase of protective footwear for warehouse workers once per

year)

5. Associates must understand what tasks require head protection

6. Provide locations of eye wash stations and/or portable eye wash supplies

7. Reinforce the need for warehouse workers to

a. inspect machine guards before using equipment to ensure they will function

properly

b. check for damage on power cords



c. report faulty machinery and tools to the warehouse supervisor and safety

coordinator immediately

Upon completion of the training, participants will sign your Safety Training Documentation Form

confirming their attendance.

August


Assignment #2 – Annual Inspection

September



October


Assignment #2 – OSHA HazCom Training

This training is for any associate that manages or performs chemical handling tasks including

operations managers, warehouse supervisors, and personnel otherwise authorized to work in

the warehouse (i.e. counter salespeople, inside salespeople, warehouse workers, delivery

drivers etc…). This activity must be an in-person meeting to discuss the following:

1. Give attendees a copy of the pdf document ‘GHS OSHA Understanding Safety Data

Sheets’ to review

2. Reinforce the need for warehouse workers to

a. Understand where to find the safety data sheets (SDS) in your branch.

b. What to do with new safety data sheets as they are acquired. The protocol

is to put a copy in your SDS binder and send a second copy to Michael Place

at [email protected].

c. Store hazardous chemicals in lockable cabinets away from high heat sources

d. store combustibles such propane and gasoline in lockable cabinets outside

the building

e. If a chemical exposure occurs, alert the safety coordinator and operations

manager immediately and then review the SDS. Call 911 if victim’s condition

is deteriorating rapidly or if signs of shock are present.

November


Assignment #2 – Company Safety Policy review

This review is for all associates at your branch. For those employees who manage or perform

safety-sensitive tasks, this activity must be an in-person meeting. This includes operations

managers, warehouse supervisors, and personnel otherwise authorized to work in the

mailto:[email protected]



warehouse (i.e. counter salespeople, inside salespeople, warehouse workers, delivery drivers

etc…). For those employees who do not perform safety-sensitive tasks, this activity does not

require attendance to the in-person meeting. You can send them the policy via email. After

review, all associates sign your Safety Training Documentation Form confirming their

understanding of our safety policy.

December



2.33 SAFETY REMINDERS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1. All delivery drivers and warehouse associates should have access to using ice cleats when

working on icy surfaces. These cleats are inexpensive and can be found in most any hardware,

surplus, or home improvement store.

2. All safe rooms muster points, and caution zones should have signage and be clearly posted in

appropriate areas.

3. All delivery vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 lbs. or greater should have truck

chocks to be used when backed into a docking bay or when parked on sloping surfaces.

Emergency brakes should be employed when parked on steep inclines or declines.

4. Freight doors should have caution signs posted near them to warn people of elevation changes

in docking bay areas

5. Safety data sheets for specific chemical products should be read before handling that product in

any way. Knowing how to respond to a chemical exposure can be critically important.

6. Fire pumps for sprinkler systems should be inspected monthly to ensure the pump is good

working condition. As with any type of inspection, this process should be documented.

7. Each warehouse should have one person that is “authorized” to conduct certification on

machines for that warehouse (i.e. forklifts, manlifts, pickers, and turret trucks). The Montana,

North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin Safety Councils all offer a “Train-the-

Trainer” course that is specifically designed for training personnel on how to effectively certified

personnel on machines.

8. Set a goal to have at least two employees certified in AED/CPR/First AID. It greatly diminishes

the chance that no first responders are available should an associate or customer need

assistance.

9. If one or more associates have the responsibility of filling forklift batteries with water, an

eyewash station should be readily available in the area where this activity takes place.



10. Protective eyewear should be required for associates that operate wire spooling machines, use

chop saws, or refill forklift batteries.

11. All propane and gas tanks, along with other flammables, should be store away from the building

in a lockable shed or cabinet. Never store these items in utility rooms or areas of potentially high

heat.

12. Review your 2013 safety audit checklist before conducting the 2014 audit. This will give you a

chance to verify that areas of concern from 2013 were addressed.

13. Each branch is required to have at least two associates that have been trained in lockout/tagout

procedures. This training is important for properly removing dangerous or malfunctioning

equipment and machinery from use in the warehouse.

14. Provide an accident reporting kit and a first aid kit in all delivery vehicles. Cully has a cost

effective first aid kit (approx. $15.00) available. JJ Keller has accident reporting kits for a good

price ($22.00).

15. Inspections of material handling equipment should be conducted and documented routinely.

This would include, but is not limited to, delivery vehicles, pallet jacks, forklifts, turret trucks,

pickers, chop saws, wire spooling machines, ladders, manlifts, power cords, and pipe-bending

machines. Following the inspection guidelines provided to each branch’s safety coordinator is

required. Storage of inspection documentation is also required for a 3 year period.

16. Encourage associates to take advantage of the health membership credit available to them.

17. Encourage your associates to participate in the DOU (Dinner On Us) program. Articles on a

variety of safety and wellness topics will be available. Plus, this is an easy way to earn a gift card.

18. Promote DSG health initiatives throughout your branch and encourage participation in health

assessments when they are made available to associates.

All of these actions can have a positive impact for Dakota Supply Group. Promoting safety tends to

reduce claims and accidents. Promoting wellness tends to improve moral and foster healthier lifestyles.

These are low cost ways we can help associates and reduce company costs associated with insurance

premiums and compensation claims.



Documentation of Inspections, Testing and Maintenance

All records must be stored for a minimum of 3 years Documented? Frequency

DOT trucks - Pre-trip and post-trip (for each day a DOT truck is used) Yes Daily DOT trucks - In-transit inspection (every 3 hrs. or 150 miles whichever occurs first) No Daily DOT trucks - Cargo inspection (within 50 miles of beginning a trip with cargo) No Daily Non-DOT trucks (CMV's 26,000 lbs. GVWR or under) Yes Weekly Small equipment (i.e. chop saws, cable cutters, wire spooling machines, pallet jacks, power tools, etc…) Yes Weekly Machines (i.e. turret trucks, forklifts, pickers, and manlifts) Yes Weekly

Monthly Inspection Checklist Yes Monthly Emergency Lighting and Exit Signs

Flammables / Chemical Storage

Electrical Equipment

HVACR Equipment

Fire Suppression System - Pump, Control Valves and Gauges

Quarterly Inspection Checklist Yes Quarterly Ladders (Stationary and Rolling)

Power Cords / Extension Cords

Fire Suppression System - Nameplate, Connections, and Drains

Racking

AED / First Aid Kit / Bloodborne Pathogens Kit / Eyewash Stations

DOT trucks - Mandatory DOT inspection (done by DOT approved agency) Yes Annual Fire Suppression System - Water Supply, Piping, Heads, and Fittings (done by licensed contractor) Yes Annual Fire Alarm System (done by licensed contractor) Yes Annual Fire Extinguishers (done by a licensed contractor) Yes Annual Annual Inspection Checklist (replaces the Building Inspection Checklist) Yes Annual Emergency Preparedness Plan (EPP) Review Yes Annual



2.34 SAFETY COMPLIANCE TRAINING REQUIREMENTS

Compliance Training Requirements Annual Training Topics Documented? Frequency * Bloodborne Pathogens / Waste Disposal Yes Annual First Aid & AED's Yes Annual Accident Reporting Yes Annual Storing Combustibles Yes Annual Eye Protection / Eyewash Stations Yes Annual HazCom / GHS / SDS Yes Annual * Machine Use / Safeguarding Yes Annual * Ladder Safety Yes Annual Lock Out / Tag Out Yes Annual * Slips / Trips / Falls Yes Annual * Lifting Techniques Yes Annual Fire Suppression / Using Fire Extinguishers Yes Annual * Hand Safety / Box Cutters Yes Annual Foot Safety / Footwear Yes Annual Company Safety Policy Yes Annual EPP / Evacuation & Muster Yes Annual * Covered in DSG's Company Safety Policy review

2.35 SHARED CALENDARS VIA GROUPNET/PUBLIC ACCESS

1. Open GroupNet

2. Left-click on the Hotspots link

3. Left-click on the Calendars link

4. Left-click on a specific calendar link

5. To create an event, left-click once on the New button in the upper left hand side of the calendar.

6. There are two types of events that can be used:

A. Appointments – time sensitive

B. All date Event – non-time sensitive

To change between either one of them, left-click once on the down arrow to the right hand side of the

appointment tab.

7. Type the subject of the event and the date/time at when the event takes place.

8. Left-click on the details link to enter in details of the event.

9. Once all relevant information is entered, left-click once on the Save and Close button.



2.36 RECORD RETENTION GUIDELINE



2.37 DISASTER RECOVERY PLAN

DSG has in place a Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plan,

Individual Branch Plans can be found on GroupNet/Operations/Disaster Recovery Plans:

http://intranet/operations/disaster/index.htm

The key is to have a plan in place at all locations prior to an event or major disaster. This preplanning

activity is intended to help us respond quickly to minimize any potential losses to associates, assets or

company revenue streams.

Our focus after the first response is to move quickly to restore business operations. The Recovery Time

Objective (RTO) will be the metric we use to set our standards. RTO is how fast you intend to be back to

business after a disaster occurs. For example ... if DSG as a company is down 3 days we would lose over

$1,000,000 in GP$

2.38 OFFICE MANAGEMENT REPORTS

Cash sale recon

Deposit on account

Check Requests

Branch Safety Manual

DOT Inspection

Disaster Recovery Plan

http://intranet/operations/disaster/index.htm



CHAPTER 3: INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

3.1 INTRODUCTION

Inventory Management is just one part of the Operation Managers responsibility.

The following are responsibilities for Managing Inventory:

* Direct the rotation of inventories with the warehouse

* Work with the Branch Manager to manage slow moving inventory

* Improve turns to achieve corporate T&E goals

* Maximize Inventory Performance using reports generated on Mincron

At DSG our cash is the same as inventory. Inventory is where we have our single largest investment. A

bank stores its cash in the vault. DSG’s vault is our warehouse and should be managed the same way as

a bank vault. We should know exactly how much we have, where it is stored, how to keep track of it,

and how to keep it safe … don’t let unauthorized people wonder through your vault.

Inventory at a local branch is stocked to meet the local or regional needs of customers assigned to each

respective branch. DSG’s segment managers determine the manufacturers or vendors DSG works with

while branch managers, with input from segment managers, determine what product to stock at their

branches respectively. Branch managers, segment managers and the chief segment office collaborate

on whether to stock products of a specific segment or not; as not all branches will carry products from

each of the segments DSG conducts business in.

There are several processes that are used to manage our inventory at DSG. Below you will find some of

these processes and procedures to insure that we are managing our inventory correctly to turn a profit.

Rotation of Inventories: Work with your warehouse to direct the rotation of inventory. For example we

have several items that have serial #’s. Water Heaters and HVAC Equipment are a couple that need to be

rotated when new product comes in, the old needs to be sold first. The reason for this is because if

there is an issue with the item being defective later on, the manufacturer will go by the serial #’s to

decide if it is under warranty.

Also, be aware of where material is located in relevance of ease of location, is it a high turn item that

gets replenished often, is the material heavy and should maybe not be put on the racking at a high

level? Do you have bin locations set up for smaller items? Are locations and items labeled on the

shelves (with bar codes for the RF Guns)?



USING REPORTS

3.2 ABC ANALYSIS REPORT

This report is sent to the Branch Manager at month end. (Call Darin Bolken & request this be sent to

you each month)

This report details the letter grade that Mincron assigns to each item in our inventory. These grades are

broken down by DSG in the below format:

A= the top 7.5% of items B=the next top 7.5% of items C= the next 10% of items E= the next 8% of items F= the next 8% of items G= the next 8% of items H=the next 8% of items I= the next 8% of items J= the next 8% of items K= the next 8% of items L= the next 8% of items M= the last 8% or portion of items

You will notice that this does not include “D” items. The “D” designation is reserved for items that have

had no sales in a 12 month period. Using historical data, the corporate average gross margin

contribution of A, B, and C items together is approximately 88%, even though they account for only 25%



of the items stocked. In other words, 75% of the items DSG stocks only contribute in total only 12% of

our total gross margin on average – Pareto’s 80/20 rule. This reflects the importance of the ABC rank as

a tool to help both inventory and sales efforts at a branch.

When looking at this report it only breaks out the amounts that are in each ranking. For a more

accurate list, you can e-mail Dave Brammer (once you get the ABC report) and he can e-mail you the

entire report as the page above is only the 1st page. This report can be several hundred pages long,

depending on how much inventory you have on hand, as it will list EVERY item in ranking order.

With this report if you start from the bottom and work your way up you can go line by line starting with

the “M” items. In Mincron from Fast Path IMI use #5 - Line buy Item to bring up the item you want to

look at. Sometimes there is a negative qty YTD sold because the item was sent on a pick ticket from

another branch for a customer and then customer returned it to your branch, typically if you call or e-

mail the buyer they can have the item sent back to the originating branch, also you can use “SS” Stock

Status, then F10 to see if other branches carry the item and if it is a good moving item have the buyer

transfer it out of your branch and then either have them change the line point on the item or make it

“not stocking” if it is something that the likely hood of it being sold is never.

3.3 D/X ITEMS REPORT

D/X Item reports can be printed or e-mailed from Mincron. Fast Path IMR #20. Put in Branch #, under

class put “D”, “X”, or “B” for both listings. You also have the option to show only those items that you

have a quantity on hand for or all items that are in these classes. You also can choose to print the

description of the item or the Date of Last Sale (which is helpful if you have items you think have been in

your warehouse for a while).



Once you put in the parameters you want, you can either print the report “R” or you can send the report

to your e-mail by putting and “F” in the selection. If you choose “F” you get the report via your e-mail

and can open it as an Excel file. This works great as you can manipulate the columns to see which ones

you really need and you can sort the columns to best fit your needs. Below is an example of an Excel

spreadsheet if you choose “F”.



There are several ways you can work this report. The easiest is to go line by line using Fast Path “SS”

Stock Status or in “IMI” #5.

At this point you have several options to look at to clean up your D/X Items:

* See if items can be transferred to other branches, then have buyer make the item “not

stocking” for your branch and transfer out (as a general rule just because a branch

stocks the item, does not mean they want your inventory if it is not a moving item for

them either) Look to see what “class” the item is for the branch you want to transfer to.

* If you have several items that are from one manufacturer, and you can’t transfer to

another branch, you can see if you can return the items to the factory. Even if we have

to pay a re-stocking charge it is better than keeping “dead stock” for years. You are an

OWNER, use your best judgment on returning items and transferring to other branches,

as some manufacturer’s charge higher re-stock charges than others and some items that

are heavy or are odd sized may cost more to ship back than it’s worth.

* See if your counter/outside sales people can sell the items for a discounted price to

customer. Make a “specials” table in your counter area to display the items with signs

on lower prices.

* As a last resort, you may have to “junk” items if the above options are not feasible. Do

an inventory adjustment to take the item out of your inventory, then let the buyer know

to make the item “not stocking” for your branch.

3.4 SURPLUS INVENTORY REPORT

This report is e-mailed to your Branch Manager at month end. It is a good report as it shows where you

have large dollar amounts of inventory that maybe are not moving fast enough.



This report is also an Excel file. You have to use the drop down button to find your branch. Most of the

items that show on this report are items that your branch sells; there is just a surplus on hand. Use this

report to check to see if some items can be transferred or you can e-mail the buyer on these items and

tell them to set “line points” so once you sell down your inventory we don’t get more than we need at a

given time.

3.5 CYCLE COUNT COMPLIANCE REPORT

This report is sent out monthly and is a good indicator as a check to see that your branch is on track to

count all items in your inventory 4 times a year. You can then adjust your cycle counts accordingly.

3.6 BRANCH NEGATIVE ON HAND

This Mincron screen should be checked on a weekly basis. From the main Mincron screen select option

#2 Inventory Control, then #2 Inquiry, then Option #5 Branch Negative on Hand. From this screen you

have several options to see why an item is negative. In the spaces next to the item you can put an “S”

and see the Stock Status Screen, or an “L” to see the Item Movement Ledger. From there you can

determine why the item is negative and adjust accordingly.



3.7 NEW ITEM REPORT

This report is sent out monthly. It is recommended that you keep copies of it and look at the items

every 6 months or so. Sometimes new items are put into inventory, with sales expectations that are

high, and then they don’t sell as good as thought. This is a good way to catch material that may need to

be sent back to the manufacturer. It is also useful in letting the purchasing people know if different line

points need to be set on product.

3.8 ITEMS RETURNED THAT WERE SHIPPED OUT OF ANOTHER BRANCH

Don’t Return Items That You Ship Out of a Stocking Branch: If your branch doesn't carry items that you

ship out of a stocking branch, don't automatically send them back to the stocking branch if your

customer returns them. In most cases the stocking branch has already replenished inventory and ends

up in an overstock situation.

The Branch Manager/Operations Manager must contact the buyer and have the buyer activate the item

so you can issue the credit and put in your own stock. Branch Manager/Operations Manager will work

with the buyer to transfer, return or otherwise deal with this material.

3.9 NON-STOCK INVENTORY AND MONTHLY REPORT

A non-stock inventory report is sent out monthly and shows ALL non-stocking items that your branch

has received but has not been billed out to the customer. Go thru this report and find out why the

customer has not taken or been billed for this material. A good screen to use is Fast Path “OEI” #9, put

the non-stock number in and it will show you a ledger/history of that non-stock number and item.

Sometimes there are vendor returns out there, or the customer hasn’t taken yet.

If you don't know the non-stock number you can search by the 3 digit prefix & branch number and

search that way.

When non stocks are received, they will have a special label that prints out and they should be stored in

a designated area in the warehouse.

HELPFUL LINKS

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/inventory/InventoryManagement.pdf

This link explains Mincron Fast Path’s IMI and IMR and the different Selections you can use.

http://intranet/operations/Branch%20Operations%20Manual.pdf

This is the link to the Branch Operations Manual, which has Inventory information also.

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/inventory/InventoryManagement.pdf

http://intranet/operations/Branch%20Operations%20Manual.pdf



3.10 MANAGING DIRECT ORDERS RECEIVED AT THE BRANCH LOCATION

Direct orders are written with the intent for the product to be shipped from the factory or manufacturer

direct to the customer’s shop or job site. However, there are many exceptions that require this material

to be delivered in to the branch location.

It is important to understand that the billing to the customer is created when the factory invoice is

entered into Mincron. There is no way for the branch to “receive” this product in Mincron and bill

when delivered.

It is vital that we are able to track this material until it is placed in the customer’s care. The best practice

solution for record keeping with directs that are sent to the branch location are to create a pick ticket

for the customer. See example below. Note that we will not allocate product, rather use an asterisk

(*) in the product number field and tab over to the description to include the necessary information

including (PO #, original PT# material was billed on, location of product, etc.) The packing slip for the

material should then be stapled to the newly created pick ticket and placed in the branch’s pick and hold

file. When the customer takes possession of this direct order, we will be able to capture a signature for

our records.



3.12 REPORT CHECKLIST

ABC ANALYSIS REPORT: MONTHLY

NEW ITEM REPORT: MONTHLY

INVENTORY NOT COUNTED SINCE: QUARTERLY

QUARTERLY NON-STOCK: QUARTERLY

D/X ITEMS: ON DEMAND

SURPLUS INVENTORY REPORT: MONTHLY

CYCLE COUNT VARIANCE REPORT: DAILY

CYCLE COUNT COMPLIANCE REPORT: MONTHLY

NEGATIVE ON HAND REPORT: WEEKLY

NON STOCK REPORT: MONTHLY



CHAPTER 4. WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT

4.1 CYCLE COUNTS

Your warehouse staff should be doing cycle counts on a daily basis. Per DSG all items in your branch

need to be counted 4 times per year. Once your warehouse completes the cycle count each day, they

print a “variance” report that shows which items were off that day. We recommend that you go thru

this report with one of your warehouse persons that did the inventory and double check those items

that are in variance. If you find product or quantities that were off, you can change those items on the

cycle count before your inventory is posted. This will get you familiarized with the products that your

location sells, and sometimes you can find items that are “dead stock” or items that maybe you should

be carrying more of.

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/inventory/cyclecount.pdf

4.2 Pending Transfers Release – 10, 1, 3

This may not be a specific operations manager duty to look at pending transfers, but it is good thing to

keep an eye on for end of year reports & making sure inventory is right. Put in your branch, and an “I”

to look at it as an inquiry. You want to make sure your warehouse is releasing items when they become

available vs. waiting until the full quantity is available. This will enable purchasing to order the excess

items if they are not available in your branch.

4.3 Transfer Variance Report

Again this may not be a duty for the operations manager, but you want to make sure this report is being

worked by your warehouse manager. Prints on green bar paper usually where the Edit prints.

Transfer Receiving Procedure:

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/shipping/procedures/Transfer%20Receiving.pdf

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/inventory/cyclecount.pdf

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/shipping/procedures/Transfer%20Receiving.pdf



4.4 Monthly/Weekly Reports

*Open Transfer Reports -- 10, 2, 2 – make the option to “Open”

--

Put your branch in the To Branch Number – this will show you all the transfers that are open coming to

your branch.

Put your branch in the From Branch Number -- this will show all the transfers that are open leaving your

branch.

These should be cleaned up monthly.

4.5 Negative On Hand Inventory Report

Procedure for checking items with Negative On-hand values must be done weekly. We should never

have items with negative on-hand quantities. When an item does show a negative, it means one of two

things happened: either we sold an item we did not show on inventory or we wrote up a ticket for the

wrong item. In either case, we need to check out what happened and fix the negative. These should be

checked on and corrected once a week. Following are the procedures to be used to check items with

negative on-hand counts.

1. Go to fast path IVI (Inventory Control inquiry).

2. Select option 5 (Branch negative on hand).

3. Put your branch number in the proper field and hit enter. The computer may go to a blank screen for

a minute or two while it searches for items. Do not hit any other keys. Your negative items should

appear shortly.



4. From this screen you can inquire to one of two screens by placing the appropriate letter in the select

field: S will take you to a stock status screen L will take you to the item ledger. These screens may be

helpful to you to figure out how the item went to a negative.

5. If you can’t figure out what happened by looking at the sales and receiving history, you must do a

physical count of the item. It may be helpful to do a screen print of all negative items so you only need

to go to the warehouse once.

6. To correct the inventory, you may need to do a customer credit (if the wrong item was charged on a

ticket) or do a physical inventory adjustment. If you do a physical adjustment, be sure to account for the

negative amount as well as any material you have in stock.

4.6 Item Missing Location Report

This should be run once a month or more to show all items that are missing locations.

To print it:

Main Menu Option #2 - Inventory Control Option #3 - Reports Option #6 - Items Missing Location Report

Enter your branch # & then put a Y in the "Print Only Items With Qty on Hand" Field

I like to change the last field "Include Stock Code Yes Items Only" to N. Otherwise you might have items

with an on hand count but your branch doesn't stock it that will not show up on the report.

4.7 Receiving Freight Discrepancies & Freight Claims

If any discrepancies are present, note on carriers and our bill of lading with detailed notes.

If the shipment has damage, the bill of lading must state if shrink wrap was intact, the item or items

damaged, and the quantity on the carrier’s and our bill of lading.

If a piece count is stated on the bill of lading, the count must be verified. If there is a shortage or

overage, the bill of lading must state if the shrink wrap was intact and how many pieces short or long on

the carrier’s and our bill of lading.

If the shipment calls for a piece count of one pallet, the bill of lading must be signed for as one pallet.

The bill of lading must then state whether the shrink wrap was intact or not intact.

If there are any discrepancies, they must be noted and given to the proper individual at the branch to be

filed with either the carrier or the factory that shipped merchandise. A copy of the discrepancy report



(which is located on the intranet page under office form/warehouse section) and receiving report must

go to the proper individual for filing.

To File a Freight Claim – If shipped LPS, go to MyLPS.com under claims. Fill out necessary information,

and LPS will contact with a claim number.

Do not receive the item into your inventory through Mincron. Write notes that a freight claim is being

filed, and contact purchasing agent to let them know it needs to be re ordered. Once a check is received

from the freight company, it can be applied to the correct GL account.

Freight Discrepancies – If product comes in that is not on your PO, or the wrong qty is received, contact

your vendor or rep with the discrepancy. Depending on what the circumstance is, you can either get the

product re shipped to you at no charge, reshipped to you but being charged & credited, or not

reshipped at all and they bill & credit you. Make sure you write notes in the PO, (POM #2) so that your

accounts payable person is aware of the discrepancy.

Please note: If you have freight damage on a transfer it is the RECEIVING branch’s responsibility to file

the freight claim.

RF GUNS - In 2013 Dakota Supply Group implemented the use of RF Guns in our warehouse. The

purpose behind this was to make the warehouses’ more efficient and to cut down on errors. There are

several functions that can be done with an RF Gun:

RECEIVING MATERAIL PICKING ORDERS/TRANSFERS PUTTING AWAY MATERIAL CYCLE COUNTS VERIFY LOCATIONS AND COUNTS OF INVENTORY For more detailed information on RF GUNS please see the following links on the Intranet: http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/wa/MSSWA%20User%20Manual.pdf

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/wa/Receiving.pdf

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/wa/MSSWA%20User%20Manual.pdf

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/wa/Receiving.pdf



4.8 Inventory Adjustments

Inventory adjustments are a key part of inventory maintenance. Manually adjusting inventory should be avoided if possible but at times must happen. It is important to keep these adjustments in check and understand why they are happening. It is important to have accurate reason codes and explanation of the adjustments. IVM #7 – Put in branch #, and item #.

Fill out each line – Entered By – Your initials Reason Code – F4 will you give you the options of all reason codes Example: K – Picking Error – Adjusting inventory to fix picking error

A Branch Audits B Bin Balance Reconciliation

D Defective F Freight Claim

G Damaged I Buy Consigned Inventory

J Junked K Picking Error

M Miscellaneous N New Item

P Physical Inventory (Controlled by Mincron) R Receiving Error

S Shipping Error T Transfer Variance Adjustment

V Vendor Return Processing (Controlled by Mincron)

W Wrong Cost X Hydro Acquisition

Y Lot Item Maintenance Z Acquisition



Additional Notes – Put in notes on what happened. It is better to be safe than sorry when making an

adjustment, writing notes so when you look back at that item and wonder why you adjusted out you

have a detailed description

Inventory dollars are lost and gained daily. Some of these adjustments cancel each other out but others

do not. These adjustments, positive and negative, affect the performance of the branch. Taking time to

investigate inventory inconsistencies, use of proper adjustment codes, and accurate adjustment

explanations are key in controlling the branch inventory adjustments.

4.9 WIRE LOT MAINTENANCE

The purpose of Wire Lot Control is to help track wire in Mincron without the need for a manual process.

By setting up Lot Control Numbers in Mincron, for your wire inventory, it will enhance & improve

receiving, track and adjust our wire inventory for us & tell the order picker exactly what wire to pick for

each order. This process will help reduce errors and costly time searching for wire. The tutorials can be

found on the Group Net under “Lot Control” or by clicking on the following links:

Lot Number Setup Procedure -

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/lot/LOT%20NUMBER%20SET%20UP%20PROCEDURE.pdf

Order Entry and Wire Lot Entry -

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/lot/OE%20AND%20WIRE%20LOT%20ENTRY%201.pdf

Changing Lot Numbers -

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/lot/CHANGING%20LOT%20NUMBERS.pdf

Resetting Lot Numbers after Cycle Counts -

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/lot/RESETTING%20LOT%20NUMBERS%20AFTER%20CYCLE%20CO

UNTS.pdf

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/lot/LOT%20NUMBER%20SET%20UP%20PROCEDURE.pdf

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/lot/OE%20AND%20WIRE%20LOT%20ENTRY%201.pdf

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/lot/CHANGING%20LOT%20NUMBERS.pdf

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/lot/RESETTING%20LOT%20NUMBERS%20AFTER%20CYCLE%20COUNTS.pdf

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/lot/RESETTING%20LOT%20NUMBERS%20AFTER%20CYCLE%20COUNTS.pdf



4.10 BARCODE LABELING

Barcode labeling is available to customers to allow us to help them manage their inventory. A system

can be put in place that will allow the customer to place an order through “Pronto Forms” by scanning in

barcodes of the products they need and emailing the form to our inside sales staff. With constantly

changing technology this process is likely to be updating frequently. As of this publishing the process is

as follows:

1. Acquire list of items to be scanned/ordered. Currently through IT department but other options

may soon be available.

2. Darin Bolken currently owns the printing process but again other options may soon be available

to create in individual branches.

3. Download Pronto forms on ipad, Bruce Arenz can help set up options.

4. Customer goes to replenishment option on ipad, enters PO if required, scans items needed,

enters quantity and emails form to DSG.

5. DSG sales then creates order for customer from form.

Some examples of labels created “in-house”:

Barcode labels are a great way to get our foot in the door for future opportunities as well. We want to

make it as easy as possible to place their orders with us.



4.11 DSG EXPRESS - INTERNAL MATERIAL TRANSFER SYSTEM

The DSG Express is our fast, reliable transfer system of moving material between DSG branches to meet increasing customer demands. It was designed and currently operated by the employee owners responsible for our shipping processes in each location shown below.

The DSG Express has three routes operating today:

DSG Northern Express (Hopkins, Monticello, Alexandria, Fargo) - Daily

DSG Southern Express (Hopkins, St Paul, Rochester and La Crosse) - Daily

DSG Southwest Express (Hopkins, Aberdeen) – Thursday’s

Future plans will connect the entire company to a DSG Express route.

With this new capability, we can leverage our size and scale for purchasing material to central

warehouse locations and effectively moving the material to meet the growing demands of our

customers.

INSIDE SALES GUIDELINES FOR UTILZING THE DSG EXPRESS:

Inventory can only be transferred from branches on the DSG Express Routes:

DSG Northern Express:

BR11 Fargo Waterworks

BR12 Fargo Electrical

BR27 Alexandria

BR56 Monticello

BR51/53 Hopkins (Main Hub)

** BR52/58 via Metro Route Truck

DSG Southern Express:


BR21/22/82 St Paul

BR20/26/28 Rochester/Winona/Austin

BR31 La Crosse

DSG Southwestern Express: (NEW)


BR1/81 Aberdeen (SD Regional Hub)

**BR2/3/4/6/8/9/10 via South Dakota Regional Route Truck

1. Transfers can only be initiated for sold items tied to a customer back order. You must first check to verify no existing transfers or restocking PO’s are in the system from Purchasing for your branch.

2. If you do not stock an item, it is not an item you can transfer in. You must enter the order against the

stocking branch and have it shipped directly to your customer.



3. If the shipping branch only has a few left … call the Branch Manager. This allows them to review their inventory and make the decision.

4. Large orders must involve purchasing so you don’t wipe another branch out. 5. Do not write excess items to be transferred and cancel the back order and put into stock. 6. We are all owners and need to be accountable. Do the right thing to take care of the customer and

also one that benefits our ESOP. 3rd Party carriers may still be the most economical and timely method for shipping.

4.12 DSG EXPRESS PROOF OF DELIVERY

Contact the branch that shipped the material … this is what is currently done for all other orders. DSG

Express can be treated the same way. Communication being the key, if something missed the transfer

truck it is the shipping branch’s responsibility to let the affected branch know.

If you need confirmation on a transfer contact the branch that shipped the material.

4.13 WAREHOUSE SETUP - BEST PRACTICES

5 Branches were surveyed on a few warehouse procedures & the following is how these procedures are

handled at each of their locations. These specific procedures may vary due to size of branch & staff.

1. How is your packing/shipping department setup? Do you have shelves for staging your

truck deliveries?

Branch 1. We have Will Call shelves and a file at the City Desk for the paperwork. The

deliveries are held in a different area. This cleans up the Will Call area and makes it easier to

manage

Branch 2. Yes, we have shelves for both local and out of town deliveries, also for outgoing

transfers in the warehouse. At the counters we have "will call" shelves for pick up orders.

Branch 3. Yes, we do have pallet racking space reserved for customer pick-ups, delivery route

1, delivery route 2 as well as our DSG Express Transfer Route.

Branch 4. Everything is staged in the front of the warehouse in the outbound freight

area. Divided by City Truck, Route Truck & Transfers. No shelving.

Branch 5. Yes, we have separate doors where we stage deliveries on shelving and pallets.



2. Do you fill orders as they print or as needed (ship complete reserve, reserved, future

delivery date)? If you fill as they print is there a notation made on the pick ticket as to where

the order is staged? Do you then file these pick tickets? If so, how is the filing setup? If you fill

as needed what happens to the pick ticket until it's time to fill? Who is responsible for the

filing & follow-up to ensure delivery is made on the correct day/time?

Branch 1. We pick all Ship Complete Reserve, Reserve and future delivery orders. All Ship

Complete Reserve Orders are picked and located on shelves. These orders are then kept in its

own file until it is complete. At that time it is either delivered or set at Will Call. Reserve and

future delivery orders are held and managed by our Warehouse Supervisor. He has his own file

for these and coordinates with the order writer and/or customer for delivery.

Branch 2. We have a filing cabinet in the warehouse for the reserved and open orders that are

not being shipped for a while (we are probably not the best branch to ask on these as we

usually have the highest # of open orders and reserves) our guys only pick the non stock items

that come in on reserves and put in file with notes on where they located the material.

Branch 3. We do prioritize when needed, but we do pick all orders (reserves included). The

exception to this would be pipe. We often highlight the pipe on an order and make notes that

it needs to be picked when shipped or when picked up by the customer. We place notes on

the pick ticket as to where the material is "staged" as well as the piece count. Pick tickets do

not leave the "printer" area until they are picked. We keep a basket there to catch the tickets

until they are picked. We do use a filing system. We have 4 files.... route 1, route 2, and

transfers. We only have 5 buckets in these files (Monday - Friday) these three files are kept in

the warehouse. Orders are shipped according to our route schedules unless a note is placed in

special instructions "hold for release". The pick-ups file is kept at city desk and is filed

alphabetically.

Branch 4. We don't pull any s/c reserves, reserved or future delivery dates. We only pull open

orders and transfers. The salesmen are responsible to release reserves & future delivery date

tickets to be shipped. If you fill as needed what happens to the pick ticket until it's time to fill?

Who is responsible for the filing & follow-up to ensure delivery is made on the correct

day/time? If it is a future deliver date, we filed the paperwork in the specific truck route pile,

but do not pull the material until the day before or day of.

Branch 5. We fill as needed. We have a second shift supervisor that has a filing system to keep

track of when orders need to be filled.



3. Do you use the Truck Routing option in Mincron for routing your trucks? If so, do you have

multiple runs per driver per day or do they have set runs each day? If not, how do you route

your trucks & who is responsible for that process?

Branch 1. We do not use the Truck Routing option in Mincron. We run 2 in town trucks on 4

delivery times each day. We have a lead driver that plans what goes on each truck for each

delivery time. They plan their own order of stops. Our out of town truck has set routes each

day.

Branch 2. We do not use the routing option. We have one out of town delivery per day (North

on Tues/Thurs, South on Weds, and Mon/Friday for Special out of town runs) Local delivery is

once in morning and once in afternoon, with stipulations on orders being in by 4pm the prior

day for morning delivery and by noon for same afternoon delivery.

Branch 3. We do not use the truck routing system. We do fill out a delivery truck log sheet

that shows each customer stop, pick ticket delivered and a piece count. We load this same

information in the palms and have the customer sign both the palm and log sheet when

applicable. We load 2 routes Monday through Thursday and 3 routes on Friday. Our

warehouse supervisors have guys rotate so that they are all familiar and can do the job when

necessary.

Branch 4. No we don't. If so, do you have multiple runs per driver per day or do they have set

runs each day? If not, how do you route your trucks & who is responsible for that process?

We don't have set runs each day. The warehouse manager is responsible for setting up delivery

times for our local truck. We have set days for our route trucks. We don't have any cut off times

for local delivers, they are a per needed basis.

Branch 5. We do not use Mincron routing...we have a system called "Road Net" that we input

all deliveries and it generates routes that can then be adjusted as needed. We usually have five

out of town routes daily and our city truck runs early am and then as needed throughout the

day.

4. Do you have a night shift that loads the trucks or do your drivers do that in the morning? If

neither of these options, then what is your process for loading your trucks?

Branch 1. Our out of town route is normally loaded the night before. I have someone here

until 5:30 to finish loading the truck. When the oil was booming, we had a night shift that

loaded trucks after 5:00. The City Trucks are loaded by the drivers.

Branch 2. Our guys usually start loading the truck after 4pm and stay till it is completed.



Branch 3. We do not operate with a night shift nor do the drivers load the trucks. We load

route 1 at 4PM the day before it’s scheduled to leave. (We allow orders to be called in until

3PM for this route) Route 2 is loaded at 8AM the day it leaves for delivery. (We allow orders to

be called in to this route until 7:30AM) We do have different shifts in our warehouse. We

have a number of associates coming in from 7-4, 8-5 and 9-6. This prevents us from having a

large amount of overtime, but offers an overlap of staff to handle the warehouse functions.

With having 3 trucks on the road a couple of days a week and 2 pickups at the branch for local

deliveries, many of my associates wear many hats. They might pick, double check, receive,

drive, sent outbound freight, load truck, do paperwork etc. Many have their "set" jobs, but we

ask that they rotate when needed to keep fluent in all areas in the event of PTO, ESL, busy or

slow seasons.

Branch 4. No night shift, drivers load the trucks before they go that morning. All of the orders

are pulled and sitting in the truck bays ready to load.

Branch 5. Second shift loads trucks the night before...our drivers leave between 5:30-7:00am

depending on the route.

4.14 Warehouse Tutorial Links

City Truck / Delivery Truck - http://intranet/mis/tutorials/shipping/procedures/CTDT%20Deliveries.pdf

Picking / Checking / Shipping Orders -

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/shipping/procedures/Picking%20Orders.pdf

Proof of Delivery - http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/delivery/Proof%20Of%20Delivery.pdf

Receiving Procedures - http://intranet/mis/tutorials/shipping/procedures/Receiving.pdf

UPC Code Maintenance - http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/wa/UPC%20Code%20Maintenance.pdf

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/shipping/procedures/CTDT%20Deliveries.pdf

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/shipping/procedures/Picking%20Orders.pdf

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/delivery/Proof%20Of%20Delivery.pdf

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/shipping/procedures/Receiving.pdf

http://intranet/mis/tutorials/mincron/wa/UPC%20Code%20Maintenance.pdf



CHAPTER 5 – CUSTOMER SERVICE GUARANTEE (CSG)

Branch Operational Processes (Key Franchise Builders)

Successful DSG branches manage and continually improve several key processes that run throughout the

entire operation. The DSG business processes most valued by our customers in our customer

satisfaction surveys include:

1) 100% Order Accuracy – From order entry through order delivery

2) Top Stock Guarantee - Having inventory on the shelf most often requested by customers

3) Stock Return Guarantee – Issuing customer credits in 2 business days for re-sellable stock

These three processes form the foundation of the DSG customer service guarantee. The process steps

and measurement tools used to continually improve these three branch processes are listed below.

100% Order Accuracy Process

DSG is committed to providing 100% Order Accuracy to our customers. Therefore, DSG guarantees that

the items and quantities ordered will match what you receive. If we do not deliver on this promise, you

will receive a $25 Customer Service Guarantee Certificate. The process steps that must be followed

within the branch to achieve this 100% level of accuracy are:

PROCESS STEP 1: Inventory Receiving and Storage



PROCESS STEP 2: Order Entry

PROCESS STEP 3: Order Picking



PROCESS STEP 4: Double-Checking Picked Orders

PROCESS STEP 5: Shipping … via Deliveries with Our Trucks



PROCESS STEP 5A: Shipping … via Will Call (Staging Process)

PROCESS STEP 5B: Shipping … via Third Party Carriers (UPS, Spee-Dee, etc.)

… (Customer Arrives For Pick-up at City Desk)

*Ensure customer signature is captured at time of pickup



PROCESS STEP 5C: Shipping … “Ship Complete Reserves” and “Reserved Orders”

PROCESS STEP 6: Returns and Credits



Order Accuracy is a measurable, controllable, and manageable process. The tools used to measure this

process are contained on the DSG GroupNet. Every branch assigns a key associate “branch champion”

to watch over these measures and help the branch continually improve until 100% order accuracy is

achieved.

Top Stock Guarantee Process – The right inventory on the shelf at the right time

DSG is committed to having our Top 200 stock products on hand most requested by our customers. If

we do not deliver on this promise, our customers will receive a $25 Customer Service Guarantee

Certificate.

The purchasing department drives this process with help from the local branches. The Segment

Managers identify the “generic” marketing list of products that will make up each segment’s top 200

items. The purchasing team then identifies the specific top 200 items for each CSG branch to stock

across the company (some regional variations will exist on brands but the items are basically identical).

Purchasing adjusts the safety stock, lead time and EOQ in Mincron on these items to ensure a 100%

service level is maintained in all branch locations. Once established, continued monitoring of service

level & stock out performance of top stock items is managed by the individual purchasers for those line

buys.



Additionally as part of the Top Stock 200 process management, Purchasing also must maintain Mincron

so that the appropriate Top Stock items are flagged in the system for each branch. This flag will

highlight these items in red during the order writing process, which provides immediate feedback to the

writer so they know that a customer is ordering a Top Stock item. The following flow chart shows the

different paths that will trigger the potential need to review Top Stock item status:

At the branch level it is important to track lost sales and make sure lost sales are entered by associates

in Mincron. An easy-to-follow tutorial is available on GroupNet for entering lost sales. Also sales staff

should be trained on not taking all items from stock if the contractor can’t install them all at one time...

(Ask if you can give them the rest of the material at a later date when it is needed). Finally, the sales

staff must notify purchasing department immediately when stock-outs and shortages occur.

This branch process is a subset of the larger inventory management and control process discussed in

detail in the Branch Inventory Process section of the operations manual.



DSG’s Stock Credit Returns Guarantee Process

We will post saleable stock item returns to customer accounts within two business days from the CSG

date on the credit or RMA form. If we do not deliver on this promise, our customers will receive a $25

Customer Service Guarantee Certificate. To ensure this occurs:

1. Returns need to be processed within 2 business days of returned material arriving back at the

branch.

2. Ensure that salespeople are using the correct reason codes for each item being returned

3. If returns of stocked items are not completed with 2 business days of receipt of goods, we will

be issuing a $25 gift certificate so it is critical to pay attention to the timeline.

Stock Items Credit Guarantee Process Steps:



Emphasis is on making sure that salespeople are entering returns using return authorizations or a

“pending return”. When return authorizations are entered, it is critical that salespeople use the

“promised ship date” as the ETA date of the material arriving in your branch for return. This is the date

that the Mincron report uses to determine which returns have fallen outside the 2-day processing

window.

Again the CSG Branch Champion has a critical role to work with the branch manager to monitor and

control this process utilizing the tools available on the DSG GroupNet.



APPENDIX 1: BRANCH GUIDELINES FOR ORDER HANDLING AND INVENTORY MANAGEMENT – (with Updates for DSG Express)

Introduction:

The intent of this document is to provide guidelines to branch associates for ways to improve our

performance through the proper handling of sales orders and coordination with our Purchasing

Department.

In this document you will find information on:

Order Scenarios For Large Opportunities, Selling From Other Branches, And Special Orders

Process Guidelines for Branches served by a DSG Express Delivery Process new 4/1/2016

Adding New Items to Stock or Changing a Stocking Level

Contract Orders versus Reserve Orders

Communication Guidelines

Operation Guidelines

Finding Who buys What

Item Pricing Information

______________________________________________________________________________

Order Scenarios For Large Opportunities, Selling From Other Branches, And Special Orders

Amongst our strengths here at DSG is the ability to fulfill our customers' requirements by harnessing

our combined buying power accessing inventory from any of our branches. How you deploy those

resources affects not only our success at fulfilling the customer's expectations, but also the

profitability of the transaction.

Most sales orders get handled with no difficulty, but there are three scenarios that require an extra

care;

Scenario 1: Sales opportunities for a large quantity of stocked items

Scenario 2: Sales for items not stocked in your branch, but is stocked at another branch

Scenario 3: Sales for special items – items that are not stocked at any DSG branch

A successful transaction from the customer's viewpoint is one where we fully meet their expectations.

A successful transaction from the viewpoint of your DSG associates is one where we both meet the

customer's expectations, and at the same time maximize our profit. We maximize our profit not just



By making an appropriate gross margin on the sale, but by minimizing our total costs to serve that

customer's need.

Our cost to serve has two main components. First is the freight expense required to move the

product, whether from the vendor or via transfer. These costs can be considerable. Second is the

expense of

Actually handling the transaction. Our cost to serve is lowest when we have the fewest "touches" on

the transaction, either physical touches like transfers, shipping, receiving, and delivery, or virtual

touches, like all the processing steps required to complete the transaction, plus any emails, instant

messages, telephone calls, etc. All of these touches require the time and effort of your associates, and

add additional costs over and above the costs for the goods and the freight to move it around. Fewer

touches means higher efficiency and lower costs which means higher profit. Following is a discussion

of the three scenarios along with the factors that you need to take into account in order to handle

them most effectively.

Scenario 1: You have an opportunity to sell a very large quantity of a stocked item.

Things to Consider:

How soon does the customer really need it?

Very large quantities are not likely to be needed right away, or at the very least, not all at

one time.

Is this a Regular Customer, Target Customer or an Opportunistic Customer? If you have

someone who doesn’t normally buy from us (Opportunistic) asking for all of our stock they may

be on to a potential shortage issue.

Will selling the complete quantity deplete our inventory so that there is a risk of running out

before it can be replenished? If there is a risk of running out, is it also a high importance item

such as class "A" or Top Stock?

Running out means that we lose the opportunity to serve our "normal" demand. These

are the customers we rely on to generate our profits year in and year out.

What is the Manufacturers Lead-Time? Freight MIN? Order MIN?

Call the Manufacturer and find out. Does your requirement meet freight MIN and order

MIN?

Ordering Options:

Place a direct order for the item. (Preferred, lowest cost choice).

You could enter the entire quantity against existing stock, if there is no other way and the need

is really that urgent.



The Branch Managers from the branches from which you are taking the inventory must be

notified and provide approval. Every branch has inventory to support their established

customer base. Not having that inventory jeopardizes their long term success in meeting

the commitments made to their customers.

You need to alert the Purchasing Agent right away so that replenishment plans can be

made.

You could force all or part of the quantity needed to back order, and ask the Purchasing Agent

to place it on order.

This preserves at least some of our inventory for "normal" demands. You must alert the

Purchasing Agent the same day as your back order. Once they tag your back order

quantity to a purchase order you're safe. If the night job runs before the item gets tagged,

the system will attempt to allocate any available inventory to fill your back order.

Scenario 2: You have an opportunity to sell something that your branch does not stock, but is stocked

at another branch.

Things to Consider:

How soon does the customer really need it?

If the urgency is not high, we may be better off ordering the item from the vendor, or

doing a direct.

Do one or more branches have enough to fill the need?

Do not deplete another branch's inventory completely. Every branch stocks to fill the needs of

their customer base. Our inventory is managed very closely at each location to ensure the

maximum number of turns while maintaining customer responsiveness. Ask the Branch

Manager if you can have some of the inventory.

What is the current lead time from the manufacturer?

This is a sales responsibility to know prior to deciding how to proceed.

What is the manufacturers minimum order value & quantity? Does your order meet those?

Ask Purchasing when the next stock order be placed for this vendor?

Have you entered a “Lost Sale” so the opportunity is captured to track this as a potential

stocking item for your branch.

Talk to your Branch Manager about this as a potential stocking item if there will be ongoing

demand.

Ordering Options:

Order the product yourself using a Direct Order in MINCRON

Does your order meet the factory MIN’s for dollar value and freight allowed?

Enter the order against a stocking branch and have it shipped directly to your customer.

This saves us time and money thus increasing our profitability while compensating the

stocking branch for the expense of carrying this inventory.

Charge the customer all or some of the freight.



If you stand the freight be prepared to have the shipping branch assess the charges to

your home branch.

The shipping to address on the order must be the address where the customer is taking

possession of the order. A note under special instructions needs to be added to the order

stating to ship the order to the branch for delivery.

Order is not reviewed until the signature has been captured. Make sure the promise date

on the order is the date the customer will be taking possession of the order. This will help

in decreasing the delay of billing. If a signature has not been captured within a week of the

promise date shipping branch should contact the order writer to find out if the customer

did receive the order or when will it be shipped / picked up.

Have Purchasing order the item from the vendor on their next order.

Enter the order against the stocking branch and ask that it be shipped with the next scheduled

transfer to your branch.

Be sure that there is a scheduled transfer coming your way. Remember that transfers are

not free. This strategy only helps if there is enough other items being transferred to

reduce the incremental freight cost. If the item ends up being transferred by itself then

our costs are much higher than if we had just shipped it directly to our customer. The

receiving branch ultimately pays the cost of freight for transfers, but both branches incur

costs for handling.

Do Not enter the order against your own branch and ask that it be transferred.

This results in the highest cost to serve of any method because it involves so many

"touches". Think of the unnecessary steps; someone has to create your transfer, pick your

transfer, pack it and then ship it. Someone at the other end has to unload it, receive it,

and then pick your sales order. If it is ultimately going to be shipped out or delivered we

have even more touches. If you just have it shipped from another branch then someone

picks it, packs it, ships it, and we're done.

Scenario 3: You have an opportunity to sell something that DSG does not stock.

Things to Consider:

Is the item from a vendor that is normally stocked at your branch?

Is this an approved vendor for DSG? If not you need Segment Manager Approval first.

Note that Purchasing Agents are under orders to not "force" a stock order just to satisfy a

special order need. That leads to surplus inventory which costs us all money.

When does your customer need the product?

What is the Manufacturers lead time?

Does your order meet the vendor's minimum package requirements? Will your customer take

a full package quantity?

Does the product requirement meet the vendor's minimum order requirements?



Freight:

Does it meet the vendor's prepaid freight minimum

Must it be ordered with other stock material in order to qualify for prepaid freight?

What is the material? How does it need to ship? i.e. UPS vs. common carrier.

Have you calculated any potential freight into the cost of the order?

Can you wait for the material until the next stock order is placed by purchasing?

Ordering Options:

You could place a direct order.

This has the lowest cost for us because we have minimal handling. If we do not routinely

order for stock from the vendor, do a direct. If your order stands on its own for freight, or

where freight is not an issue, do a direct. You can handle these situations right from the

sales order and not have to involve any other associates.

You could have it ordered in to stock by itself.

This adds cost because you are requiring your associates to purchase, receive, pick, and

possibly ship or deliver the item. This is only necessary if the customer absolutely will not

accept a direct shipment. Did you ask?

You could have it ordered in to stock with other stock material.

Your item can be added to the next stock order. If freight is an issue, it will not be ordered

until the combination of stock material needed and any special orders meets the vendor's

requirements. As stated above, the Purchasing Agents will not "force" stock orders by

adding items over and above our legitimate needs just to satisfy a special order

requirement. That costs us money by reducing turns.

Process Exceptions for Branches on a DSG Express Route

Our Inventory provides us with a Competitive Advantage and the ability for us to get it from

where it is stocked and into our customers’ hands quickly from virtually any branch improves our

financial performance and enhances our ability to achieve our R2 goals.

Salespeople within branches on a DSG Express route will be given the ability to process a

transfer request at the time of order entry. This transfer will f94fulfill all or part of a customer

order.

The Routes and Service levels will be published under separate cover and updated regularly as

this service continues to expand.

Definitions for the DSG Express Process

Transfer – Material that physically moves from a DSG Branch to another DSG Branch for a

customer order/backorder or inventory for a future sale. The material will be received in at

the selling branch as inventory and then the Order/Backorder will be filled.



Order – Material shipped from a branch other (than your home branch) directly to a customer.

i.e. Branch 12 has a requirement for material stocked in Br 21 that they want shipped directly

to the customer. This is an order and would be written as an order to ship and bill from Br 21

to the Br 12 customer.

Orders Can Not be sent via the DSG Express route due to current limitations in accounting for

material that was shipped to a branch and the time a customer signs acknowledgement for

receipt of the material, this will also create delays in billing the customers.

Additional guidelines for ensuring the efficient handling of special orders (FAQ’s):

How can I enter a note on an Order:

- On a sales order, if you enter a note below a special order item prefaced with a # (the pound sign),

that note will display on the purchase order. This is very useful for quotes or special instructions that

the vendor needs to see.

How do I find the buyer for a Manufacturer:

- On the Mincron system, typing BC (for buying calendar) from any command prompt will allow you to

search for the buyer by vendor. From the stock status screen, with an item displayed,

Pressing F9 will show you the buyer for that item. The buying calendar screen also shows you the next

scheduled review, although that does not necessarily indicate that an order will be placed on that

date.

How does a vendor’s Minimum order requirement impact me?

- Vendors have minimum order or freight requirements that drive the frequency with which

Purchasing can place orders. For example, if a vendor requires a $1,000 order for prepaid freight, and

your branch sells $12,000 worth of product a year, chances are that Purchasing can only economically

order once a month. This is important to know before you make promises about the ability to meet a

customer's requirement.

How long will it take to get my order placed?

- Even for vendors where Purchasing can order at will, you cannot assume that they have the ability to

place your order right away. As of this writing, Purchasing manages over 147,000 active items from

970 vendors across 34 branches. Daily priority is given to the most important vendors and items.

Smaller vendors cannot be economically ordered with the same frequency as larger vendors. Any rush

request is competing for attention with the management of important stock inventory.

-For vendors that are routinely stocked and regularly ordered, the buyer will see and react to your

back order or special order need at the next buying interval. You only need to reach out to them if

there are special circumstances or an urgent delivery need.



Can I add on to an existing open order with a manufacturer?

- Special order needs cannot be allowed to decrease the performance of a stocked vendor. An

example of this is a special order need that does not meet a vendor minimum order amount or a

prepaid freight minimum. You cannot assume that purchasing will be able to simply add sufficient

stock product to your order to meet the vendor's requirements. If we do not currently need more

stock inventory, but are forced to add it to meet your requirement, then the result is lower inventory

turns and decreased branch performance. You should ask the advice of purchasing before making a

commitment.

-Your item will then be ordered at the next opportunity. Do not assume that the buyer can add your

item to an existing order. Some vendors process orders in ways that limit our ability to make changes

to existing orders.

Why do I need a UPC code?

- If a vendor provides a UPC code on their price sheet, you can be fairly certain that it is required on

our purchase order. Always put the UPC code on your order. No UPC code delays the placement of

your order and requires someone else to do work that is your responsibility.

What unit of measure do I use on my order?

- Units of measure are on the vendor price sheets. Make sure that you are entering quantities and

costs in the same units as the vendor.

What is the minimum and multiple?

- Vendor price sheets typically state the minimum order quantity for an item. You need to order the

Vendor Minimum and a multiple of that minimum.

What information must be on my order?

- Essential information for correctly ordering the item on your sales order is, UPC code, full part

number, correct current cost, and quote number if applicable and the correct section code. Some

section codes do not uniquely define a specific vendor; for those you must communicate the correct

source vendor to the person you expect to place the order. Some sections do not contain any stocked

items and may not have a buyer assigned, in this case contact the buyer most associated with that

section.

- If an item cannot be ordered because it is missing key information or contains incorrect information,

you will be notified. The item will not be placed on order until you make the necessary corrections.

Once you make the corrections, you need to notify the buyer.



Where do I find all the information I need?

- There are resources available for you to find the information you require on special order items. The

SiMAN portal provides access to information on many electrical segment vendors. The Purchasing

Department section of the DSG intranet provides links to vendor information such as price sheets, and

ways to find section, vendor, and buyer assignments. From the Mincron main menu you can access

vendor information under DSG Utilities Menu/Vendor Scorecard Menu/Scorecard Inquiry.

Who can train me on how to use the tools that are available?

-Your first point of reference is your Branch Manager. He/She will ensure you receive the proper

guidance.

-Use the Manufacturers Rep as a resource. They want you to know how to sell their product.

______________________________________________________________________________

Adding New Items to Stock or Changing a Stocking Level

Branch Managers are the only ones that are authorized to add a new item to stock or change a

stocking level. The following steps must be followed:

1. All new stocking item requests must be authorized by the Branch Manager.

2. A New Stocking Requests Form must be completed in full by the Branch.

3. These forms then go to Janet Fosberg ([email protected]) in purchasing.

4. Purchasing then adds these Items to MINCRON.

5. Notices are given, and product is ordered.

6. Performance is reviewed after six months

The New Stocking Requests Form is posted on the DSG intranet under Purchasing

Department/Forms/New Item Request Form. The form can be downloaded, filled out, saved, and then

emailed to Janet. Additionally, a listing of the DSG approved abbreviations are posted under

Purchasing Department/Approved Abbreviations.



After a new item request has been received from the Branch Manager, Janet will:

- Create a product number and description.

- Secure the help of the Pricing Manager in establishing the correct pricing.

- Work with the buyer to ensure the product is added and proper controls are set.

- Provide notice to the branch that the item has been added.

- Send a courtesy notice to marketing, other branches, relevant managers and assoc.

- Set a calendar date for a six month review

Six Month New Product Performance Reviews:

The process manager and buyer will make an initial assessment of the item's performance, and advise

the branch manager. If corrective steps are indicated, they will be undertaken by the buyer and

branch manager. If the initial request required segment manager and/or CSO approval, they will be

informed of the assessment.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Contract Orders Versus Reserve Orders

Use Contract Orders as the better choice versus Reserved Orders Because:

1. They do not commit and tie up inventory

2. They allow Purchasing better control of Branch stocking levels

Contract Orders are the preferred way to manage and track multiple shipments of DSG stocking

material over a period of time on project jobs and scheduled maintenance programs. Contract Orders

do not commit inventory until released to a sales order, which can be automatic based on shipment

dates and quantities entered. You can also manually release as the customer requests for a job.

The purchasing department sees the stock item demand from the Contract Order on their normal line

buys. Non-Stock products would have to be handled manually as they will not be visible on the

normal line buy until they are on a sales order. See WebEx Training Tutorial on how to setup Contract



Orders on the GroupNet under the Operations/Sales Order Management – Part 1 with Reserved on

Contract Orders.

Reserve orders allocate inventory from the time the order is entered and the longer it takes from

order entry to release the more money it costs DSG. If the release date is delayed an overstock

problem will occur (inventory in stock for normal demand plus the inventory allocated for the Reserve

Orders).

At a cost of 2% per month carrying cost, reserve orders can quickly end up losing money for DSG.

Use reserve orders sparingly and only when you have a firm schedule for delivery dates to keep the

inventory turning in the Branch.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Communication Guidelines

Backorders:

For normally stocked vendors, purchasing will respond to backorders within the constraints of their

economic order intervals. No contact is necessary with purchasing unless there is an urgent time

boundary for delivery. In this situation, the Branch Manager must be cc’d on all communications with

purchasing. Purchasing has the responsibility of letting associates know what our average order

interval or frequency is for vendors and alerting associates if we cannot order their items in a

reasonable amount of time.

Bids and Quotes for Commodity Items:

The Order Writer in Conjunction with the Branch Manager is responsible for contacting vendors and

reps for commodity items used for quotes and bids. This is not a purchasing function.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Operational Guidelines For Improved Inventory Control

1. Day’s Work in a Day: This is a fundamental requirement for all DSG branch locations and must be

done without exception. What is delivered to your branch must be received and put away in the

same day. If not done, what is in the system will not match what is on the floor. This is bad for

the company and will result in poor customer service, wasted time trying to find product and

purchasing decisions based on incorrect information in MINCRON.



2. Stock Adjustments: Branch Managers must approve large or unusual stock adjustments. This is

done to ensure proper research and resolution occurs relative to potential write-off of DSG’s

investment in Branch Inventory.

3. Receiving Discrepancies: This is a branch function with the receiver’s responsibility to investigate

and resolve. MINCRON is the first source of information with follow-up to the order writer,

vendor and shipping company as needed. This is not a purchasing function.

4. Vendor Returns: This is a branch function with the duty to process all needed information with

the vendor to obtain the RGA and process the return. Purchasing needs to be involved only when

a vendor has certain requirements like: number of returns allowed in a year, minimum return

quantities allowed, rebalancing allowances, etc. The vendors that have these requirements are

posted on the GroupNet.

5. Don’t Return Items That You Ship Out of a Stocking Branch: If your branch doesn't carry items

that you ship out of a stocking branch, don't automatically send them back to the stocking branch

if your customer returns them. In most cases the stocking branch has already replenished

inventory and ends up in an overstock situation.

The Branch Manager/Operations Manager must contact the buyer and have the buyer activate the

item so you can issue the credit and put in your own stock. Branch Manager/Operations Manager

will work with the buyer to transfer, return or otherwise deal with this material.

6. Negative on Hand Adjustments: Negative on hand quantities create problems when trying to

make purchasing decisions to replenish these items. Branches must resolve all negative on hand

quantities weekly (see the Branch Operations Manual on the GroupNet for instructions).

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Internal Resources Available

1. From any Mincron prompt, enter fast path "BC" for Buying Calendar. You'll see a screen where you

can search by vendor name, or enter a vendor number. Once you select a vendor and hit enter you'll

see any line buys that exist for this vendor. Be aware that there can be multiple line buys and buyers.



From stock status, key an item, press enter, and then F9 and you should see the same buying calendar

information as above. When an item displays the message "no buying information found for this

vendor”, try BC as above.

2. On the DSG intranet, under Purchasing Department, there is an entry for "Buyers by section,

vendor, and buyer". If you choose that, you'll see three .pdf files that you can bring up that display

results by buyer, by vendor, and by section. You'll find the latter two most helpful. An area where

the section/vendor/buyer relationship is very important is when you enter non-inventory items to be

ordered. If you enter an item using a section code that has more than one possible source vendor, let

the buyer know which vendor you want to buy your item from. Also, some sections have no stocked

items, and therefore have no buyer assigned, in this case contact a buy closely associated with this

item.

3. SiMAN: This is short for Supplier Info Manufacturer Access Network. This program provides a way

for you to gain access to the distributor portion of our vendors' websites. You can visit the vendor's

website through the SiMAN portal and secure the information you need. SiMAN is an extremely

useful tool. You can log on to it right from the DSG Intranet home page. There is also a link to a

tutorial right below the SiMAN logo.

4. DSG Intranet: From the DSG intranet home page, select Purchasing Department, and then Vendor

Information. You will see many vendors listed. This is where we park any information we have such as

price sheets, quotes, etc. If you don't see your vendor on SiMAN, try here next. Think of this as a

virtual catalog shelf. Find the right catalog, and look up what you need.



APPENDIX 2 - MINRON FAST PATHS

Below is a useful list of MINCRON fast paths for quickly navigating within MINCRON:

Fast Path Description Fast Path Description

Accounts Payable Paths

Purchasing Paths

APA A/P ANALYZE ACT POD PO DAILY SUMRY

API A/P INQUIRY POI P/O INQUIRY

APM A/P MAINTENANCE POM P/O MAINTENANCE

APR A/P REPORTS POR P/O REPORTS

APS A/P SYSTEM MAIN POS P/O SYSTEM MAIN

VI VND INV INQUIRY

Receiving Paths

Accounts Payable Paths RCPO RECEIVING P/O

ARI A/R INQUIRY RCS RECEIVING SYS

ARM A/R MAINTENANCE

Sales Analysis Paths

ARR A/R REPORTS MS MO SALES COMP

ARS A/R SYSTEM MSS MO STK SLS COMP

VI VDR INV INQ SAI S/A INQUIRY

General Ledger Paths SAR S/A REPORTS

GLI G/L INQUIRY SAC S/A SLSMN COMSN

GLM G/L MAINTENANCE SAS S/A SYSTEM

GLR G/L REPORTS

Transfers Paths

GLS G/L SYSTEM TRI TRNSFR INQUIRY

Inventory Control Paths TRM TRNSFR MAINTNCE

IVI I/V INQUIRY TRR TRNSFR REPORTS

IVM I/V MAINTENANCE TRS TRNSFR SYSTEM

IVR I/V REPORTS

Truck Routing Paths

SS I/V STOCK STATUS TKS TRUCK ROUTE SYS

IVS I/V SYSTEM

Vendor Returns Paths

Inventory Management Paths VRI V/R INQUIRY

BIM BRANCH ITM MSTR VRM V/R MAINTENANCE

BBL BR/BUY/LINE VRR V/R REPORTING

BC BUYING CALENDAR VRS V/R SYSTEM

IML ITEM MVMT LGR

Others

IMI I/M INQUIRY CRM CUSTOMER REL. MGMT

IMM I/M MAINTENANCE DB DSG DASHBOARD

IMR I/M REPORT EZ EASY ACCESS

IMS I/M SYSTEM EBI EDIT BATCH INQ

Order Entry Paths ES EXTENDED SERVICES

BGO BO GEN S/O FORUM FORUM



IPI ITEM PRICE INQ HELP HELP

OE NEW ORDER ENTRY HP HISTORY PERFORMANCE

BID O/E BID OET IN/OUT TIME CAPTURE

OEC O/E CONTROL CHAT MSG TO WEBOE USER

DEP O/E DEPOSIT REV OPEN ORDERS TO BE REVIEWED

OEM O/E MAINTENANCE TF TABLE FILE MAINTENANCE

OM O/E ORDER MAINT UDM USER DEFINED MENU

OER O/E REPORTS VP VENDOR PREFIX

OES O/E SYSTEM VPM VNDR PREFX MAINT

Physical Inventory Paths WM WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT

PIR P/I REPORT WCS WEB COMMERCE SYSTEM

PI P/I SYSTEM WOS WORK ORDER SYSTEM

Pricing Paths

PRC P/R CUST DISCNT

Operations Paths

PRI P/R INQUIRY OPD O/P DAILY

PRM P/R MAINTENANCE OPM O/P MONTHLY

PRP P/R PROMO PRICE OPO O/P ON DEMAND

PRR P/R REPORTS OPA O/P SYSTEM

PRSM P/R SHEET MAINT OPU O/P UTILITY

PRS P/R SYSTEM OPY O/P YEAR END

PRU P/R UPLOADS SUB SUBMERS PUMP SIZ

PSM P/S PRCING SRVC OPT TECH REF INFO



APPENDIX 3 - EDIT WARNING DEFINITIONS

WARNING LOCATION ON EDIT DEFINITION ACTION/DESCRIPTION

GP% Under Lt Right Side GP % is Under 10% Ck w/order writer to make sure it is

ok & not an err.

Negative GP% Right Side Negative GP% Look into why; if ok, add a note to

the order. If not ok, fix

Chg. Over Let Right Side Order is over the cust.’s

Credit limit

Check for Job account if none then no action

Is required.

Price Override Right Side Sell Price was changed Ck w/order writer to make sure it is

ok & not an err.

Disc Ovrrde Right Side Discount Over Ride Ck w/order writer to make sure it is

ok & not an err.

Cost Ovrrde Right Side Cost override The cost was changed. Ck w/order writer to make sur it's ok & not an

error

Terms Ovrrde Right Side Discount term override Item may offer a discount but was

taken out due to aggressive sell price. Ck with order writer.

Shipped Zero Right Side Shipped Zero Ck stock status to verify inventory is

correct

Rebate Cost Right Side Rebate Cost Function Capture Rebate using OEC #1, enter through to Line Item Price screen & hit F15, enter through to complete

Ck TxJur/Zip Right Side Tax Code Error Check the tax code to make sure it is the correct one for the orders ship

to zip code

Lost Sale Left Side Lost Sale was entered Check to make sure the item isn't a Top 200 (if so make sure purchasing

was notified & CSG issued)

Ck Bill Date Right Side Bill month not = to actual date No action necessary. Due to month

end. It will invoice correctly.

Ck Ship Date Right Side Check ship date Order date/ship date not in the

same month. OK

Pos Credit Right Side Positive Credit

An error was made, check that quantities are neg. (won't happen when using the RGA function but would using the "old" method for

credits

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