Alternatives

The substitutes of the materials defined in the card are recorded in the Alternatives tab of the Material. Specifying the substitutes of the material provides ease of use and time saving opportunities to companies who trade equivalent materials. In each line of the Alternatives tab, the definition of another material that is the substitute (equivalent) of the material description is selected. The Divisor and Factor fields are used to specify the Conversion Factors between the defined material and the substitute. The factors to be used in transactions are defined among the Main Units of the material. The Main Units of the defined material and the alternative material does not have to be the same.

The field on the Alternatives tab and their functions are:
Divisor: The factor of the alternative material is entered into this field. The entered value indicates the amount of alternative material to be used.

Material Code: The code of the material definition selected as the alternative of the material defined in the card. The Materials list is accessed through this field and a selection is made.
Material Description: The description of the material selected in the Material Code field is automatically displayed in this field. The alternative material definition can also be reached and selected from this field. Since a material can not be its own alternative, the material defined in the card can not be selected on this field.
Factor: The factor of the material for which an alternative is defined is entered into this field. The value entered in this field indicates the units of the material defined in the card that the alternative material factor entered in the divisor field corresponds to.
Priority: The priority order of the alternative materials selected in the lines. If more than one alternative is selected, each alternative should have a priority in order to use the alternative materials in transactions automatically.

Start / End Date: The date range in which the alternative materials will be used is specified in the start and end date fields. The system date and Period End Date are automatically inserted in the Start Date and End Date fields respectively. The dates can be changed if necessary.
Minimum Quantity: This field is used to record the minimum quantity required to be kept.
Maximum Quantity: This field is used to record the maximum quantity required to be kept.