6.22.0 Item substitution management

6.22.0 Item substitution management

What's new?

Aspire's latest feature set brings new flexibility to item management across large commercial landscape projects, enabling item substitutions within work tickets and the Purchasing Assistant.

New purchasing permission

Make Item Substitutions: Allows you to substitute any items assigned to the same branch and item category within the work ticket or purchasing assistant screens. To access this Purchasing permission and functionality across Aspire, you must have the following permissions:

• Properties: View Properties or View Only My Properties.
• Opportunities: View Opportunities or View Only My Opportunities.
• Work Tickets: Read Only Access to Schedule Board or Full Access to Schedule Board.
• Purchasing: Add Receipt. 
  • Optional: View Purchasing, which allows item substitution in the Purchasing Assistant.

Branch screen

The branch screen now includes an Allow Item Substitution Visibility in Mobile option, which, when enabled, lets Aspire Mobile users see if a work ticket item has been substituted. This feature supports field teams by providing current item information directly on mobile devices.

Substitute Item modal

The Substitute Item modal is the main interface for performing item substitutions, allowing you to replace items within the same branch and category. Access this modal from the Bulk Actions menu on the Manage Work Ticket Items modal and the Purchasing Assistant screen. 

Pre-requisites:

• You must have the Make Item Substitutions purchasing permission enabled.
• The work ticket status must be open or scheduled to substitute its items.

Filtering criteria:

The list of available items for substitution is filtered based on the following criteria:

• Branch: The replacement item must belong to the same branch as the original item (or be categorized as an "All Branch" item).
• Item Category: The substitute item must match the original item’s category.
• Item Type: The new item must share the same item type (Material, Service, etc.) as the original item.

Additionally, for items to appear in the substitution list, they must be marked as Available to Bid in the item catalog. Items that don’t meet these criteria will not appear in the list, even if they exist in the catalog.

Steps to substitute items:

1. Select the item you wish to substitute on the Vendors & Purchasing tab of the Manage Work Ticket Items modal or on the Purchasing Assistant screen.
2. Go to Bulk Actions → Substitute Item.
3. In the Substitute Item modal, select a replacement item from the filtered list. The replacement item must match the original item’s branch, category, and type.
4. Review any cost differences. If the replacement item’s cost exceeds the original, a system alert will prompt you to confirm the change.
5. Select Save to finalize the substitution.

Results:

After substitution, items are updated at the work ticket and purchasing levels, but the original estimate remains unchanged. 

A substitution icon appears for substituted items in the item display column. Select the icon to open the Substituted Item History modal.

Substitute item error handling

The Substitute Item modal displays specific messages when an item cannot be substituted due to one or more of the following conditions:

• The item is partially or fully allocated.
• The item has been partially or fully received on a purchase receipt.
• The work ticket status is Completed or Pending Approval, so substitution options are unavailable.

Additionally, a notification displays if attempting to substitute a one-time item that is not in the catalog. For items with higher costs than the original, you receive a confirmation message before proceeding.

Substituted item history modal

The Substituted Item History modal displays detailed information for each item substitution, including the substitution date, original item, original cost, substituted item, and updated cost. You can access this modal by selecting the green double arrow item substitution icon from the following screens:

• Manage Work Ticket Items modal
• Purchasing Assistant
• Daily Plan Report (including the Work Ticket Details screen)
• Work Ticket Item Sourcing Report (WTISR)

This feature maintains a detailed log of each substitution, including the date, user, original item, previous cost, substituted item, and any associated cost changes. This comprehensive record ensures transparency and traceability for all substitution activities.

Keep in mind:

• Item Retention on Contracts and Work Orders: The original items remain visible in the estimate, even after substitution. For example, if mulch is substituted with compost, mulch will still appear in the estimate. When you create a change order to add more mulch, the system knows compost was the substitute, so the order automatically applies to compost.
• Irreversible substitutions: Once a substitution is made, it cannot be undone. If pansies were swapped for daisies, re-adding pansies requires you to create a change order and select Separate Work Ticket to start fresh with the original item. This rule ensures substitutions are applied consistently in records for contract and work orders.

Cost/Price Updates:

• Substituting a less expensive material, like daisies for pansies, is straightforward. However, substituting to a higher-cost item will trigger system notifications:
  • For example, if you substitute pansies with roses (a more costly option), the system will notify you of the cost increase and prompt for confirmation before saving.
  • For time-and-material (T&M) invoice types, both the Cost and Price will adjust accordingly, whereas for other invoice types, only the Cost will update.