Product Specification

When creating an Estimate or Job, you use the Specification Characteristic Types to state to iQuote what are the specifications of the product that you want to estimate. In the case of the Form products, you will do that by using the "Component Format - Form" characteristic. Therefore, before creating the product, you must first create and set up this characteristic in the system.

As mentioned before, there are three Delivery Type options that you can choose from to use in the Form Format: Sheets, Roll, and Fanfold. Each of them has their own inputs that you can define in the Estimate or Job record, which is detailed on the Adding a Form Product In Estimates And Jobs topic.

Creating The "Component Format - Form" Characteristic

In the system’s main menu, navigate to Sales > Records > iQuote > Product Specification > Specification Characteristic Type or enter "Specification Characteristic Type” in the Quick Search field.

Click Add. Complete the fields in this screen, as described below:

Field	Description
Code	Identification code for the specification characteristic type.
Description	Description of the specification characteristic type. The system will show it in the other records.
Screen Description	Description of the specification characteristic type that the system will show in estimate’s and Product Order’s product specification. If this field is blank, the system will use the description defined in Description as the product specification.
Characteristic Class	Standard class that determines the type of specification characteristic, its information and viewing mode in the product specification. When you select a class, the Information about the Characteristic Class area will show how the system will present the characteristic in the product specification and how the characteristic will appear in the Estimate’s and Product Order’s product specification. Choose "Component Format - Form".
Specification Characteristic Classification	Characteristic type that indicates how the system will show the specification characteristic in the Job.
Create Engineering	It indicates whether the specification characteristic is available for Engineering. You should select this option if you expect the specification characteristic to be available in the Engineering, to activate a functionality. If you mark a characteristic as "Create Engineering" and there is no recorded functionality that would suppress this characteristic, the system will not calculate the Engineering. For more information, refer to "Production Group".
Active	Indicates whether the specification characteristic is available for use in the estimate’s and Product Order’s product specification.
Technical Characteristic	It indicates whether the specification characteristic is a technical characteristic. The user can view the technical characteristics in the estimate’s and Product Order’s product specification if they have the access control EPS > Sales > Records> iQuote > Product Specification > Characteristic Specification Type > View Technical Characteristics.
Allows Specialization	Indicates whether the specification characteristic is available for you to select as a specialization characteristic of a product that have different models. If a product has two models, where one will be packed in a packet and the other in a shrinkwrap, it should be specified as a single product with 2 models and it should be indicated that both the shrinkwrap and the packet can be specialized. This way, both models will be available in the product specification. This option applies only to the following specification characteristic classes: Package - Box Package - Strap Package - Packet Package - Pallet Package - Bag Package - Shrinkwrap It’s not possible to specialize the other classes’ product specification.

Note: Information about the Characteristic Class area.

By including the specification characteristic type in the Information about the Characteristic Class area, it is possible to view how the estimates' and jobs' product specification will display the selected characteristic, making it easier to choose the correct class.

The fields displayed in this area are only for viewing and cannot be filled. For more information on how to fill the characteristic fields in the estimate’s or Job’s product specification, refer to Estimating.

Click Confirm. Complete the new fields that will open in this screen, as described below:

Field

Description

Characteristic Description Mode

Define the description that the system uses by default to describe the characteristic in instances such as the Job. By choosing a mode, you set which data the description displays (e.g., the size and delivery type).

You can also choose one of the Customized Description options. To set them up, go to the Customized Description tab to define a customized set of data for the system to use.

Note: Select in the Specification Components Types record the specification characteristic description to be displayed in the Proposal.

Simple generic characteristic added

Type of specification class characteristic Generic Characteristic that you can link to another specification characteristic. For example, if you select the lamination specification characteristic for the product, it is necessary to automatically create a Review laminated materials specification characteristic. This second characteristic is assigned to the product, but the system will not show it in the specification screen.

This way, if the Create Engineering parameter is enabled for this characteristic, it is possible to use the linked characteristic to make filters in the Engineering or to activate generic functionalities.

The system displays this field only if you enable the Generate Engineering options.

Note below a brief description of this toolbar’s button:

Button Name	Button Function
Edit Characteristic Info	Allows the user to edit additional information to the specification characteristic, if the selected class type accept it.

Validation Limits Tab

Note: The validation limits can be used in some characteristic classes to determine a range that can be specified in the estimate or Job. For example, if a minimum and a maximum format are set as a characteristic’s validation limit the system will show a message informing there is an inconsistency in the estimates anytime someone tries to enter a value outside this range in the product specification.

To add a new validation limit, click New.

Click the arrow next to the Validation Type box and select the appropriate validation, if there are any.

In the Minimum field, enter the value to be the lowest validation limit value.

In the Maximum field, enter the value to be the upper validation limit value.

Repeat steps from 1 to 4 to add all the validation limits.

Edit Characteristic Info

For you to be able to use the Fanfold delivery type for Form Format products, you must first create at least one Fold Repeat and Form Height option.

Click Edit Characteristic Info if it is a new Record or if the characteristic details need to be edited. The screen below will open.

Click New on the Fold Repeat section. You must create a new line for each possible number of times that the product can be printed on one fold.

Complete the fields in this screen, as described below:

Field	Description
Description	Description of the Fold Repeat. The system will show it in the other records.
Repeat	Inform the number of times that the product will be printed on the same fold of the fanfold. For example, if you want each fold to have 4 repetitions of the product, enter "4" in this field. You can define the Repeat as "0.5" as well, for cases in which the product layout is larger than only one fold.
Active	Select this checkbox so that this Fold Repeat is available for you to choose to use on Estimates and Jobs.

Click New on the Form Height section to add height size options. You must create a new line for each possible Height that your product can have.

Complete the fields in this screen, as described below:

Field	Description
Description	Description of the Format Height. The system will show it in the other records.
Format Height	It is the product's height in centimeters, millimeters, or inches, depending on the user’s unit. If your user does not have a unit defined, the system considers the company’s unit. Note: You can use rational numbers in this field, such as "2.5" or "1.84".
Possible fold repeats	The system displays in this table all the active Fold Repeat that you created before. Select at least one of the Fold Repeat options to make it available for the height size that you are creating.
Active	Select this checkbox so that this Format Height is available for you to choose to use on Estimates and Jobs.

Click Save.

EXAMPLE:

Consider that you only associate the “Folds 4 up” to the “2 ½” height. Therefore, when you select the “2 ½” height in the Estimate, the only option of Fold Repeat will be “Folds 4 up”.

Note: After adding the appropriate specification characteristic, it is necessary to link it to the same specification component so the system will show it in the Estimate’s and Job’s product specification. For more information, refer to "Linking the Specification Characteristic to the Specification Component".