How to Add a Commodity
Where is the Commodity Menu Located?
- Company > Start a Task > New Commodity
Why & When a Commodity is Added
A new commodity can be a major cateogory of produce such as apples or onions, or it can be a material such as a packing material. Add a new commodity when you will be packing, brokering or shipping a new type of produce or if you plan to track and manage materials.
How to Add a Commodity
- Company > Start a Task > New Commodity
- Fill in required yellow fields. Name, Description, and Code may be the same, or different.
- Choose the Asset type: Product (produce type), Material (packing material), or Assembly (Packing materials where product is shipped but not packed).
- If you want to add a base Unit of Measure, click the dropdown beside Equiv. Unit UOM (Equivalent Unit, Unit of Measure) to choose this commodity's basic unit.
- Example: Apples 40 pounds (40#) or Each, Potatoes 100 weight (CWT).
Assigning Stages
IMPORTANT: Before adding stages, it is critical that your organization decides the criteria and elements the commodity requires. Discuss this with your Envio Representative. Reference the Commodity Planning Worksheet.
- Click Assign a Stage to begin setting up the stages.
- Beneath Stage Name, click the dropdown and select one stage. Most produce commodities use raw and packed stages.
- Click Modify.
- Below Available Elements, click on the name of the lement you want to use to define the product.
- Click the < < button to add it as an Element. The element value will display under the Elements area.
- Continue adding elements. When finished, click OK.
- The window closes and the grid area in the original window will populate with the Element choices selected.
- You may reorder the elements by clicking an element name and then clicking the red directional arrows. The order determines how the elements are listed when creating products.
- Determine which Element will define the weight. Click the checkbox on the element(s) that will define the weight.
- Note: Pack is a common choice to define the weight. Pack is the container the items are stored in
- Click on the Element Values tab. A list of elements will appear. Click on the Element Name in the box (Variety, Pack, etc.). The corresponding data will show in the Values grid.
- Click the New Value button in the middle of the right-hand side of the screen to add as many values as you need. A new blank row will appear in the Values table. Type in the value under the Code heading (<11 characters; No spaces). Input a description in the Description field.
- Continue to add values to each Element.
- When all Elements have Values, Save and Close the "Stage, Commodity" window first and then Save and Close any other open windows.
- Example: Close the "Packed Cherries" window before closing the Cherries window.
Troubleshooting & Tips
- Reference the Commodity Planning Worksheet for review on assigning Commodity Elements.
- Materials can be created with the Stage set as Un-used. The elements often chosen are Type and Misc.
- Be sure to add weight definitions to commodities before adding products. See How to Adjust Weight Definitions for help.