Dates effects on product listing

[amyb]

Is there documentation on how the different dates fields affect the product listing?  I want to understand the different applications of, say, the last ship date and the discontinued date.  Thanks for your help.

[nancyVigo]

@amyb , this is a great question and one I would be interested to know as well!

[CommunityJedi22]

Hello @amyb and welcome back.  Absolutely is the answer to your question.  We created the IM Participant Dictionary (affectionately call the IMPD) to give customers all the details they could imagine for attributes.  Click HERE to see that space in the community.  Today, the version for IM 8.34 is current.  

It can seem a little overwhelcoming at first but the best place to start is on the IM Participant Dictionary tab of the spreadsheet.  Here you will see different columns for filtering.  Start by using Column C for Im GUI / Load Sheet Name to find the attribute in question.

We are working on a video with our Product and Training teams to overview how to use the IMPDs so be on the lookout for that.

[amyb]

I do appreciate the definitions and what the date communicates to a trade partner.  I am wondering if and how dates affect an item's availability in 1WS.  I believe I understand that the discontinued date prevents an item from being ordered?  But that I must remove publications and request deletion of an item for it to be removed from the system.

[CommunityJedi22]

Hello, thanks for the clarification as I understand better what you are looking for.  It sounds like you already saw this solution-confirmed article but please take a look just to make sure.  

If your item is published, you can populate the Discontinued Date with a future date but remember the best practice is to remove the publication for that item before it becomes the current date. Different circumstances can cause the Global Registry to unregister your item which could cause errors for you if that occurred while still published. 

[Scott_Brown]

Hi all,

I would like to add some comments to what Mark has posted.

The discontinue date, cancel date, end availability date, last order date, and last ship date are all end of product life attributes. They provide the recipient with information on when they need to begin turning an item off from the supplier. Suppliers can choose to use any or all of these. Let me talk about each one.

Last order date communicates the last date on which an order will be accepted for the item. Any orders after this date will likely be rejected. Setting of this date does not impact the use of the product's content and there will likely be additional item messages shared to update content, primarily other important dates.

Last ship date communicates the last date on which shipments for the item will be made. Any orders which were made after the last order date or without enough processing time before the last ship date will likely be rejected and not shipped. Setting of this date does not impact the use of the product's content and there will likely be additional item messages shared to update content, primarily other important dates.

End availability date is the last day on which the item will be available from the supplier. This may mean the item will be out of production, if the supplier is the manufacturer. However, if the supplier is a Distributor, end availability date can mean that they are not carrying the item any more. The item might still be in production and available elsewhere.

Discontinue date and cancel date signify the end of life for an item, but in slightly different ways. Cancel date means the item was never produced and won't be. Discontinue date means the item was produced and will no longer be produced. Items which have these dates set, should remain published until after these dates have passed. This will allow recipients to process the dates into their systems. They may wait for this processing until the last day so as to not upset their existing item files.

When the end of the life of an item comes, these dates can help clarify those last activities. I hope this helps.

[amyb]

I read over again your reply below.  I want to better understand what causes the Global Registry to unregister an item, intentional or otherwise.  How the different date fields come into play.

[Scott_Brown]

The Global Registry does not automatically unregister an item based on dates. The only unregister they perform automatically is in May and November when a GPC Brick codes is being deleted and the item has not been changed prior to the release, meaning the item has a GPC Brick which no longer exists.

Unregistering an item is an action taken by the data pool in coordination with the Information Provider.

[amyb]

Thank you for responding.  After reading what is in the IMPD about GPC Brick codes, I am thinking that I have no input where they are concerned.  And that the only way to delete/unregister (same thing?) an item is to fill out the Excel sheet designed for that purpose.

[amyb]

I apologize for not being clearer.  Do "delete" and "unregister" mean the same thing? Or do can you "unregister" but leave the item in the system?