How Do I?... > Link to SYNNEX?

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FTP “Flat File”

SYNNEX provides a text file (known by SYNNEX as a “Flat File”) containing product and pricing information. This file is available for download from the SYNNEX FTP server. This file is updated daily with currently product, pricing, and availability information. The prices in this file are specific to your SYNNEX account. This file is not available to all SYNNEX customers by default. If you are not already setup to receive this file, you need to contact SYNNEX to request that SYNNEX starts creating this text file for you and to request the login credentials for the SYNNEX FTP server that will host your text file. SYNNEX processes all FTP Flat File setup requests on Fridays, and it takes SYNNEX about 3 business days before your file is ready for you to start downloading it.

You can contact your SYNNEX sales representative to request your SYNNEX FTP Price & Availability File at 1-800-456-4822 M-F (8:30AM - 5:30PM Eastern Time).

Tutorial Video

Watch a tutorial video that walks you through setting up and using the link to SYNNEX. Additional tutorial videos can be found online.
(Please note that an internet connection is required to watch this video)

How to link to SYNNEX

Step 1: Go to the Products|Setup Product Sources menu, then select the [New] button on the Product Data Source Setup window.

Step 2: From the “Select Database Type” window select “SYNNEX” from the drop down menu. Then click on the [Next] button to move to the next step.

Step 3: On this step you select the SYNNEX data file source. You have two options:

Select SYNNEX .zip file to import

The SYNNEX data file can be manually downloaded from the SYNNEX FTP server. If you have already done this, you can choose this option, and click on the […] button to choose this file.

Note: The SYNNEX FTP site contains a category_list.txt file that is updated daily. This file contains a list of all the current category codes that QuoteWerks uses to generate the tiered tree view listing of SYNNEX products. QuoteWerks ships with a default list of category codes, however if you download this file and place it in the same folder as the SYNNEX .zip file, QuoteWerks will use this file to build the list of categories.

Download SYNNEX .zip file from SYNNEX FTP server

This option is only available if you have the QuoteWerks Real-time module. Choose this option to have QuoteWerks download the file from the SYNNEX FTP server for you.

If you choose this option, you will need to setup the SYNNEX FTP server credentials. Click on the [Setup Credentials] button to do this. You can also select the Tools|Options menu, then select the Real-time tab, and then the SYNNEX tab.

Region

Make sure to select the region you are in. This is used to determine which FTP site and real-time resource to use. QuoteWerks supports the USA and Canadian regions.

Customer No

Make sure to complete the Customer No.

FTP User ID and Password

Make sure to complete the user id and password.

Price File Name

By default the price file name is the SYNNEX user account number with a .zip extension. In some cases SYNNEX customers use a shared FTP file (rather than their own specialized file) in which case you need to enter that file name here (for example: ascii03.zip)

Step 4: Once you click on the [Next] button from the previous step, the “Map Columns” window will appear. This window allows you to map the SYNNEX database columns to their QuoteWerks counterpart. By default, we have already mapped the SYNNEX fields to the appropriate QuoteWerks fields.

If you want to change our default selections simply select the SYNNEX field on the right, then select the QuoteWerks field on the left and choose to map or un-map the fields. If you do change the default mappings we strongly recommend that you only change the CustomXXX field mappings and not mappings to key fields like ManufacturerPartNumber, VendorPartNumber, etc.

Click on the [Next] button to move to the next step.

Step 5: On this window you can “Set Column Titles.” Column titles are the names of the columns as they will appear in the Product Lookup window for this product source.

For example, in QuoteWerks the Cost field is called ’Cost’. In the SYNNEX database the field name is called ‘ContractPrice(w/Rebate)’. You may want to refer to this field as ‘My Cost.’ By clicking on the [Change Title] button you can rename the column title.

Click on the [Next] button to move to the next step

Step 6: Here you can choose to display all of the products in the database when you select this product database from the Product Lookup window.

Click on the [Finish] to import the SYNNEX data file and save the link.

Note: The SYNNEX import process takes about 17 minutes. The FTP download takes about 2 minutes (if you selected that option).

Step 7: Lastly, you receive a notification that “The database is now available for use under the Products|Lookup menu. Click [Ok] to be returned to the Product Data Source Setup window.

How to obtain and install updates

Step 1: If you have chosen to manually download the SYNNEX data file from the SYNNEX FTP server, your first step is to manually download the file. If you have the QuoteWerks Real-time Data Module, then you do not have to peform this step as QuoteWerks will do it for you.

Warning: When updating the SYNNEX database with updated pricing, only the user performing the update should be logged into QuoteWerks (no-one else). This is required so that QuoteWerks can compact the SYNNEX database after the import.

Step 2: Go to the Products|Setup Product Sources menu, then select the “SYNNEX” product data source and click on the [Edit] button. On the “Select Database Type” window, click on the [Next] button.

Step 3: On this step, choose to have QuoteWerks download the data file from the FTP server, or select the data file that you previously downloaded. Click on the [Next] button to continue.

Step 4: Unless you need to make changes to the “Mapped Columns” or “Column Titles,” click on the [Next] button for each of these steps. Lastly, click on the [Finish] button on the “Finished” step. This will begin the updating of the data.

Manufacturers List and Product Categories

Once the link to the SYNNEX has been established, go to the Products|Lookup menu to launch the Product Lookup window. Select the ‘SYNNEX’ product data source from the list of product sources on the left.

You will see that QuoteWerks has created a list of product categories and manufacturers that will make it easier to find an item in this database.

The Looking up and adding products to the quote Chapter will explain how to retrieve products from these linked offline price guides.