Cross References and Supersession's (SSM vs. ServiceShop)
 

This discussion compares the functionality of Cross References and Supersession in Senior Service Manager and ServiceShop as there have been some changes - some brought about in the interest of improved functionality, and some brought about through necessity. This area of functionality has been extensively re-examined in ServiceShop, with the thinking that having both in the manner that SSM has them is confusing, and that this situation could be re-engineered and improved.

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Senior Service Manager

Supersession in Senior Service Manager were intended to handle the situation where one part number "replaces" another. Superseding a number simply changes the part number (from the old to the new) and creates a supersession entry for the new number which references the old number. However, you cannot do a partial search for a superseded number. You have to know, and enter the entire number in order for the feature to work. In fact, you pretty much have to know that the superseded number was there to begin with. The functionality was attempting to cover for a situation where you were inadvertently searching for the old part number (because perhaps you did not know about the existence of the new one). But since you'd have to enter the ENTIRE OLD NUMBER for the system to be able to find anything at all, this is not likely to work - rarely does anyone ever type in the entire number to find a part. So supersession's only really work if you either

1) search for the ENTIRE OLD NUMBER, which you never really would do, or
2) you work it backwards, meaning that you find the new number, and voluntarily (for whatever reason) decide to "look up" what the old (superseded) number(s) used to be.

Neither of these are commonly done.

There are other drawbacks. When you supersede a number, you are essentially killing the old number as it used to exist in the system. Not only can you no longer do a partial search for it (as mentioned above) since it no longer exists as a part number, but also, historical parts sales will be misleading since the old (superseded) number has been physically changed to BE the new one, (even though it remains as the old number on any invoices you sold it on).

For all these reasons, we would never supersede numbers in our own SSM databases (in either our automotive database, or in the computer business database). We would cross-reference, but never supersede. We did on occasion add supersession entries to a part manually, but this never really did us any good since we would never search for the entire number). We never, ever actually SUPERSEDED a part number - the side affects were considered too consequential.

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ServiceShop

Like Senior Service Manager, ServiceShop has both supersession's and cross-references. Both have undergone some changes. Currently supersession's have a bit less functionality, while cross-references have more, with the idea that cross-references could be, and should be enhanced such that they would essentially replace supersession's (e.g., cross-references would almost always be the more desirable alternative). In fact, as of ServiceShop's Release 7, the SSM to ServiceShop upgrade routine asks you if you want to convert all supersession's which currently exist in your SSM database to cross references, and this discussion should help you to answer that question).

In ServiceShop the issue of searching for superseded numbers is complicated by the fact that ServiceShop has incremental parts search (Senior Service Manager does not). This is a huge improvement in the way parts are searched for. In ServiceShop, as you type, part number searching happens instantly. In Senior Service Manager you must type characters, then press a key. So, for everyday parts searching, ServiceShop's method is better. But since incremental search cannot also search the superseded numbers table at the same time, if you want to search for a superseded number, you must use a separate dialog.

Supersession in ServiceShop

Supersession can be found in the Maintain Inventory window under Tools, Find Superseded Numbers, and in the Add Parts window under Tools, Superseded Numbers. In fact, all of Senior Service Manager's supersession capabilities have been replicated in ServiceShop with the exception of the fact that Sevice2000 does not have the "Supersede A Part" procedure that
- physically changes the part number (from the old to the new) and
- inserts a supersession entry into the new referencing the old).
But you can still accomplish all this this manually if you want to, so if you really want to do create and maintain supersession's in the system the way you might have done in SSM, you still can.

Cross References in ServiceShop

Because of the disadvantages associated with supersession's, the ServiceShop design goal became to enhance cross-references and obsolete parts such that they could be used in conjunction with each other in lieu of supersession's. As mentioned above, as of ServiceShop's Release 7, the SSM to ServiceShop data conversion offers you an option to convert all supersession's which currently exist in your SSM database to cross references, by
1.) creating real part numbers from the supersession's (e.g., the old, superseded parts)
2.) adding cross-reference entries to the new parts (e.g., the parts they were originally superseded to)
3.) marking these parts it just created (which are actually the old, superseded part numbers) as obsolete.

The concept is that if you cross reference to an obsolete part, you can still search for the obsolete part the same way you’d search for any other part, but you’d wind up finding and being offered the option to sell the cross-reference. Further, you will not wind up blending the sales histories of the cross-referenced parts the way supersession's do.

Consider the advantages of cross-references (over supersession's):

You can keep both (or all) numbers in the system

You can search incrementally by any (of an unlimited number of) cross-referenced numbers

You can set any of the cross-referenced parts within the dialog to be non-stocking (sets the stocking level to 0)

You can mark a number as obsolete from within the search dialog
(a primary reason why cross-references can replace supersession's)

In ServiceShop, items that are set to obsolete cannot be sold or ordered unless they have an on-hand quantity greater than zero. This prevents accidental ordering of obsolete items. However, there is no problem selling obsolete items if there are some on hand.

Related new functionality in ServiceShop (that Senior Service Manager does not have):

- Checkbox in parts window: Show/hide obsolete items. This gives you a much cleaner search.

- If you go to sell a cross-referenced part that is not in stock, it automatically searches for any cross-referenced part that IS in stock. If it finds one (that is not obsolete), it tells you that a cross-referenced part exists and asks if you want to sell that part. If you say yes, it puts it on the ticket. If you say no, it asks if you want to order the first part you were trying to sell.

Actually, there are 8 possible scenarios here, all of which are explained below, and all of which are based on the following suppositions.

You are selling Part A, which is cross-referenced to Part B..
- If the situation was reversed, the same logic applies.
- If more than two parts cross-referenced, the same logic applies.
The first goal is to sell a part from inventory (as opposed to ordering one you don't really need).
The second goal is to order a part whenever needed.

1. If Part A is not in stock and Part B is in stock and neither is obsolete, it will mention the cross reference, and will ask if you will like to sell Part B. If you say no, it asks if you want to order the first part you were trying to sell, unless it’s obsolete, in which case a messages will appear that says “You may not sell obsolete parts."

2. If neither are in stock and neither are obsolete, it will ask if you would like to order Part A because that’s the one you tried to sell. If you say yes, an option will be provided to create a purchase order with Part A on it. If you say no, the Add Parts dialog will be closed and no parts will be added to the ticket.

3. If Part A is not in stock and obsolete and Part B is in stock, then it will sell Part B without warning. (no screen capture needed – the part simply went onto the ticket)

4. If neither are in stock and Part B is obsolete, it asks if you want to order Part A (because that’s the non-obsolete part).

5. If neither are in stock and Part A is obsolete, it asks if you want to order Part B (because that’s the non-obsolete part).

6. If both are in stock and Part A is obsolete and Part B is not obsolete, it will sell Part A. (no screen capture needed - the part simply went onto the ticket)

7. If neither are in stock and both are obsolete, you get a message saying “You cannot sell obsolete parts.”

8. If more than two parts are cross-referenced, the logic carries over – nothing is different.