B
Brian Pellerin
Background
Work declined today is added to Protractor's Deferred Work list. When the customer later returns for the repair, the deferred items are imported into a new Work Order and parts are sourced again due to changing price and availability.
Currently, Protractor preserves part number and pricing information, but not the originally intended supplier. This requires users to re-research parts sourcing that was previously determined.
Functional Requirement
Add a new editable text field named Source (255 chars max) to Part/Material lines. This field is informational only for user convenience, is not used elsewhere in the program, and must persist both going into and coming out of Deferred Work.
Suggested placement: Directly below the Manufacturer field on the part dialog.
Additional behavior:
  • Editable until invoice posting
  • Overwritten programmatically during catalog lookup updates, even if the field already contains data
  • Deferred Work predating this feature will return an empty string: ""
Use Cases:
Use Case 1 – Traditional Catalog Suppliers
For catalog lookups, the Source field is automatically populated from the selected supplier. For example: Catalog lookup from WorldPac → Source field updated to "WorldPac". This preserves the originally intended supplier if the work is later deferred.
Use Case 2 – Non-Traditional Suppliers
Provide a Source field for parts that are ordered via telephone or online, but not from a traditional supplier. The Service Advisor captures ordering details in the Source field. For example: "GMPartsDirect.com, ETA +5 days, Jim - 214-555-5555". Again, the originally intended supplier is persisted.
Use Case 3 – Non-Traditional Suppliers with a Bonus!
This field also provides lightweight tracking for non-traditional supplier orders outside of Deferred Work. The Service Advisor places an order and enters tracking details into the Source field. For example: "GMPartsDirect.com, ETA 6/5, Order #1234, Jim - 214-555-5555". If ETA changes, the field can be updated at any time.