Every night Ford generates a snapshot of all private and commercial vehicles that are on order for a given dealer, which is called the VISTA/OTD feed. Once the dealer has registered for inclusion in the programme (co-ordinated by the account manager), the data is published via the CDS network, and is extracted as part of the established BCM daily upload mechanism. The file contains vehicle configuration data and consignment information for each order. We call the data contained within this file Vehicle acknowledgements.
The vehicle acknowledgements software reads the file and places the data for each order in an archive that is keyed by ORBIT number. The ORBIT number uniquely identifies a unit within Ford's backend systems, but is not recognised by the dealer and does not appear on any related paperwork. Therefore we have to maintain a map between the ORBIT number and the associated VSB stock reference. Each acknowledgement in the archive can be viewed and selected for inclusion in the batch update of VSB. Acknowledgements can also be cleared from the batch or placed on hold at the administrator's discretion.
Note: VISTA/OTD ignores acknowledgements of order type S unless an actual delivery date is supplied.
The software matches acknowledgements to stock records using the ORBIT number if the mapping already exists, or otherwise the chassis number if known or the dealer order number as a last resort. If a match for a private vehicle is found in VSB and the accounts status has not been advanced to a point at which account postings have been generated, then the stock record is re-configured to match the acknowledgement details. If account postings have been generated for the linked stock record or it is a commercial vehicle then only a subset of fields are updated. If an error occurs during the update of the stock record, or if the software has been unable to differentiate between multiple stock records with matching chassis/order numbers, an exception is generated and the details can be viewed in a dedicated exceptions area. If no match is found for a private vehicle then a new stock record is created from scratch. The software also creates a marketing vehicle record at the point when a c hassis number is made available.
The software provides facilities for searching and reporting on the acknowledgements archive, and there is an interface to Report Generator, but this may require additional development resource. There are no standard report generators for Ford vehicle acknowledgements at present.
Before you can use the Vehicle Order Acknowledgements interface, you must ensure that the Autoline system is set up correctly. This is normally carried out by, or on advice from, a consultant.