DBD: Item Setup - Custom

The Custom Item profile is the central module where detailed inventory, pricing, specification, and logistics data are maintained for customer-specific assets. In DB Distributor, all custom item profiles are stored and partitioned by Customer.

This configuration screen can be accessed from multiple locations within the system tree:

Primary Path: Navigate to DB Distributor → Print Management → Setup → Custom Item (also accessible directly within Order Entry).

💡 System Flexibility Note: While this guide outlines the primary entry route via the Print Management setup menu, this identical screen can be accessed directly from your customer profiles. Simply navigate to Accounts Receivable → Setup → Customers, select your target account, and activate the Custom Item Setup/Inquiry module. All underlying fields, parameter rules, and layout structures remain identical.

Customer Query buttons

When you open the module, you must first isolate the target customer using the split query buttons:

🔍 Left Customer Query Button: Accesses a filtered list of your active system Customers.
🔍 Right Customer Query Button: Pulls a master index of all custom items across all customers simultaneously.

Item Code field

To start, type in the desired Item Code.

Existing Item: If the code matches an existing active record, the system immediately loads the profile.
New Item: If the code does not find a match, the Custom Item Copy window will appear. This utility allows you to select an item from any other customer and clone its entire configuration matrix into your new profile under the freshly typed ID.
Manual Setup: To build the record entirely from scratch instead of cloning, click Proceed.

Once an item is selected, the following menu options are available.

Menu Option Layout	Operational Purpose & Capability
Custom Item Setup/Inquiry	Accesses the core 7-tab configuration panel for fundamental settings.
Item Inventory	Houses the item-level warehouse staging and physical inventory variables.
Custom Item Spec – Ply Section	Manages custom multi-ply form layouts (active only if a spec template is used).
Custom Item Spec – Composition	Establishes the technical stock composition, paper weights, or base elements.
Custom Item Spec – Comment	Stores free-form internal manufacturing or specification comments.
Sales Order History Display	Provides an inquiry view of historical customer sales orders for the item.
Custom Location Data	Restricts or modifies how an item behaves across different customer shipping offices. Includes physical inventory counts and item usage tracking.
Custom Item Usage History	Displays localized consumption data by Actual Usage, Cost, or Budget footprints.
Custom Item Reorder Notes	Provisions specialized restock text strings and sets maximum requisition thresholds.
Delete/Reactivate	Executes soft-deletions, profile deactivations, or full record restorations.

Custom Item Setup/Inquiry

The primary setup module contains seven distinct tabs. To successfully commit a brand new custom item profile, you must provide values for these five absolute minimum required fields across the panels: Product Code, Vendor, Unit of Measure, Unit Price, and Unit Cost.

The Description field at the top provides up to 30 characters of free-form text to describe the item across all screens and documents.

1. Setup tab

This tab governs basic corporate ledger classification, ownership rules, and production sourcing defaults.

Product Code (⚠️ Required): Maps the item to its appropriate corporate product category to drive General Ledger financial distribution and high-level inventory reports.
Left-Right / Top-Bottom: Tracks the physical edge-to-edge printing dimensions of the asset.
Plys: Used only if a standard specification template is assigned to the selected product code.
Item Revision: A 6-character free-form alphanumeric text field used to document engineering revision levels or dates.
Vendor (⚠️ Required): Establishes the default supplier profile used to produce or purchase this item.
Plant Code: Pinpoints the default vendor's specific manufacturing facility or plant line (if applicable).
Spec Code: Used as a mapping key when running the automated Specification Copy Utility.
Contract Expires on: A standard calendar date field used to track fulfillment and production contract deadlines.

2. Pricing tab

This tab coordinates cost-of-goods-sold (COGS) tracking, selling price baselines, and automated print management markup behaviors.

	Unit	Quantity Per Unit	Amt / Unit
Price	The customer's billing Unit Of Measure (UOM)	The pieces per unit (Fixed UOMs auto-fill)	The price charged to customer
Cost	The vendor's buying Unit Of Measure (UOM)	The pieces per unit (Fixed UOMs auto-fill)	The cost invoiced by vendor

Numbering: Check this box for serialized/numbered items. When active, Order Entry will prompt for a starting number, and Receiving will prompt for an ending verification number.
Stock Item: Toggles system checking against your active, general physical warehouse stock inventory tables.
Carton Weight: Dictates the gross weight of a standard shipping container unit. This value feeds delivery tickets and cargo manifest calculation programs.
Carton Pack: Identifies the standard bulk pack quantity nested within a single delivery carton.
Combination Quantity: Used as a reference field to show total order volumes when this item is bundled alongside similar parent items on a combined order.
Function Code: Originally designed to denote the operational function of the asset within the client’s organization; commonly used by administrators as a custom reporting filter.
IMS (Inventory Management System): Activates Print Management tracking features. It defaults to "Checked" for designated Print Management Customers. Uncheck this flag to completely disable tracking.
IMS Price: Used to bill customer sub-locations a different price than the core contract price. You can establish a fixed set price in the first block, or enter a strict percentage markup in the second block (e.g., entering 110% automatically bills sub-locations a 10% premium over base price, minimizing manual updates as contract rates change).
Feature Driven Pricing: Connects the record to automated pricing engines that calculate rates based on rule matrices. (See Estimating and Quotation Documentation).
Finder’s Fees / Royalties: Tracks third-party payouts. Define the Type basis (Sales, Gross Profit, Cost, or Fixed), select the payee Vendor, and input your contractual calculation Rate.

3. Alt UOM Tab

Manages secondary identifiers, cross-customer shared ownership parameters, and physical counting variables.

CIC: Customer Item Code: An alternate item ID of up to 20 characters (overriding the standard 10-character limit). Once saved, users can search by the CIC value across Order Entry and reporting filters.
From: Used to pull the item from another customer (shared inventory).
Name: Auto fills when From customer selected.
Previous Item Code: Holds a historical text reference if an item code is modified manually or run through the system's automated Custom Item Code Change utility.
Item Contact: Overrides the primary Customer Print Management Contact designation for notifications linked to this specific SKU.
Reorder Group: Clusters like-items together for combined vendor purchasing cycles.
Artwork Tracking Section: Features an Artwork Tracking File name reference string, a user-defined Status Code tag, and a Status Date log field.
Alternate Units of Measure Setup: Provision up to four separate conversion UOMs used across automated Print Management reports, physical count sheets, and restock notices. Up to two of these alternative tracking units will print out directly onto your physical warehouse inventory count sheets.

Reorder Tab

Coordinates inventory thresholds and usage calculations to drive restock forecasting reports.

Suggested Reorder Qty: The default bulk quantity that automatically prints on client-facing restock advisories.
Estimated Reorder Date: A rolling date field predicting when stock balances will deplete.
Reorder Point in Days: Generates alerts based on a daily consumption sweep. (Formula: Average Monthly Usage ÷ 30 Days × Number of Days defined in this field).
Reorder Point Qty: The minimum physical piece threshold evaluated against live warehouse quantities.
Average Monthly Usage: The system's actively calculated rolling usage average.
Item Status: Current reorder status.
- New: No order history.
- Reorder Notice: Notice sent to customer.
- Sales Order: Order entered for item.
- OK: Sales order complete.
Date: Date of Item Status.
Memo: Free-form text fields (up to 60 characters) that print directly on customer reorder forms.
Don’t Print Until: A hard calendar date override that suppresses automated reorder reports until the target date passes.
Requisition Access / Maximum: Controls specialized online ordering restrictions and caps maximum item release quantities per web transaction.

Last Order Tab

Information on this screen is updated automatically behind the scenes as orders are processed.

Statistics Tab