Merge Item Cards

Fred Office Plus

Overview

There will often be a case in the store where there are duplicate item cards. 

This can be caused by:

1. Inventory mismanagement. 
2. Drug-linked item being created because Fred Office could not find the drug code associated to an item card. 
3. Store accidentally created another item unaware that the item card already exists.

Because Item cards cannot be deleted the only solution is to merge them.

Steps

1. Open up one of the item cards you want to merge.

   It does not matter which one is newer or older as the process of merging will enable us to select which elements we want to keep.

2. Select Tools > Merge.
3. Search for the other item card you wish to merge to. In the below example we are selecting TEST 2.
4. Select the relevant item and click Next. You will be prompted to choose which cards details you want to keep:
   1. Which Item code and Description to keep.
   2. Which Item card price to keep.
   3. Which Stock Qty to keep OR add BOTH together.

      Adding both together is always the safest option as it will balance both stock cards when merging.

   4. Which Barcode (Alias) to keep, OR add the barcodes of both items.

      Once again choosing both is the safest option.

   5. Choose the Supplier of the item card.
5. After all this is done you will come to the last screen where you have the option to Merge now or Add to the merge queue.

   In some cases stores may identify that the Merge Now option is not available. This is primarily because one or both of the item card(s) has a large transaction history. In the case where one of the cards has a lot of history, Fred Office will not allow you to Merge Now as this may freeze the Fred Office system. Stores will be forced to add these items to the merge queue overnight.

6. Click Finish.

What happens if the store has queued up a Merge over night but the Merge did not happen?

This is likely due to an issue with the server. In order for the merge to happen, the computer that is running the Fred Office service must be turned on. (In most cases, this is the soserver).

To troubleshoot, determine whether the server was running overnight.

Server was not running overnight

For smaller stores with only one or two computers, it is likely they turn off the Fred Office service machine when they go home. This results in the merge failing to initiate as the computer is turned off and the merge cannot happen. 

The solution for this is to ensure the computer is on the following night so the merge can perform.

Larger stores with dedicated servers will usually not come across this problem as their servers are constantly running. See below.

Server was running overnight

For larger stores where the soserver has been running overnight and the merge failed to happen:

1. Restart the Fred Office services.
2. Wait overnight and check again the next day.
3. If the problem continues, contact Fred Support.

Related Links

Merge products (Fred Office Plus Online Help)