- About Items with the "No Vendor Product" Label in a Cart
- Suggesting a Vendor Product Be Linked to a Food Item via a Cart
- Specify Pack Size Examples
About Items with the "No Vendor Product" Label in a Cart
When you populate a cart from production, and a food item does not have a selected vendor product in the system via the product-item selection logic, then No Vendor Product is displayed in the Product Description column, as per screenshot below. In addition, items without vendor products appear at the top of the list.
You can submit a "Suggest Link" request to link a vendor product linked to the food item and so that you can submit the purchase order. The request is sent to MealSuite Nutrition Services to verify and create the link. In the meantime, you will be able to purchase the product via your PO.
Note: For reasons why a food item does not have a selected vendor product, see the following article: If a Food Item has the "No Matching Vendor Product" Label?
Suggesting a Vendor Product be Linked to a Food Item via a Cart
To suggest a vendor product be linked to a food item on a cart, complete the following steps:
- Select Procurement > Purchase Orders and click the desired cart open it.
- Open the Filter tools, select the Items Without a Vendor Product check box, and click GO to return items without a vendor product.
- For the item to link a vendor product to, click its gear icon in the Actions column select Edit. the Request Vendor Product Link - [Food Item] slide-out panel appears (second screenshot below).
- Utilize the following filters as needed: .
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- Vendors - filter by vendors.
- Product Brand - filter by the product brands associated with the vendor products
- Stock Item Category - filter by the stock item category associated with the vendor product.
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- In the Search field, enter the product you are searching for, either by description or by product ID, and click Go. The Search Results section returns items that match your search and filter criteria.
- To see details and nutrient info about the vendor product, click its eye icon (
).
- For a product you want to add, click its + icon. The product appears in the section to the right.
Note: If the product you are searching for is not available, it indicates it is not available in your vendor product list. If so, see What If a Vendor Product is Not On My Vendor Product List for options.
- For the product you want to link to the item, click Suggest Link in the Actions column. The Specify Pack Size pop-up appears (screenshot below).
- Enter the following as needed (see Specify Pack Size Examples below to aid you in completing the fields):
- Stock Units per Pack - enter the number of stock units per pack/case.
- Qty of Single Stock Unit - enter the quantity of a single stock unit.
- Stock Unit Amount - enter the weight or volume amount of the stock unit. If the unit of measure is custom, such as "Each", then enter the amount of the custom stock unit of measure.
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Stock Unit - enter the unit of measure of the stock unit. You can also create a custom unit of measurement, such as "Each" by selecting Custom. Doing so refreshes the pop-up with the following fields:
- Name Other Unit of Measure - enter the custom unit of measure name, such as "Each".
- Weight or Volume of 1 - enter the weight or volume amount of the stock unit along with the appropriate unit of measure.
- Click the Submit Suggestion button to link the vendor product to the item. Note that the MealSuite Nutrition Services will review the request to verify the link.
Turnaround Time for MealSuite Nutrition Services
The turnaround time for MealSuite Nutrition Services to verify and create the link is within 24 hours.
Specify Pack Size Examples
The examples below can help aid you in completing the fields for the Specify Pack Size pop-up (step 5 above):
- A soda that comes in in 24-355 ml cans
- A soda that comes in 24-12 oz cans
- Flour that comes in 1-25 lb bag
- Flour that comes in 25-1 lb bags
- Watermelon purchased as 2-1 each and each watermelon weighs 1 lb