An order can be accepted into vehicle stock books when it has reached C (confirmed) status and when the offer has been validated by CESAR. You can cancel an acceptance, re-accept a cancelled order, update the record's status, send invoice details, amend the vehicle specification, carry out batch updates and sending the invoice.
What do you want to do?
See also:
VSB Accept Customer Orders help page
Note: An order can only be accepted into vehicle stock books when it has reached C (confirmed) status in showroom and when the offer has been validated by CESAR.
To accept a vehicle into VSB:
On the Accept Customer Orders form, select an order line and click the Accept button 
.
Autoline Showroom connects to CESAR and sends it the Showroom order number, Showroom quote number, Vehicle Stock Books record number and offer number. During acceptance, information is sent in the other direction, from CESAR to Autoline, including any factory information to update the vehicle status. A summary of those changes is displayed in a VSB record update Information box titled CESAR status update information containing a grid whose columns are Field Changed, Original Value, and New Value. (The wholesale offer is converted into a wholesale order when confirmation is sent back.)
Note: The dealer order number becomes the vehicle stock record number.
Click the OK button on the VSB record update Information box.
A RETURN box containing the VSB record number and the order number from which it was created is displayed.
Click the OK button.
A Vehicle stockbooks Question dialog box is displayed, containing the text Order accepted into VSB and prompting you with the question Do you wish to satisfy the outstanding contacts?
Click either the Yes button or the No button depending on whether you want to satisfy outstanding contacts or leave them unsatisfied.
The process continues as per normal Showroom.
Note: Customer details are not sent to CESAR at this point because they were sent when the wholesale offer was created. If there are changes to the customer record after the offer was created, those details are re-sent to update CESAR when the vehicle is invoiced.
Subsequently, regular status updates are sent back from CESAR to update the vehicle record.
Note: The frequency of status updates is determined by the user. See Status updates.
If an order has been accepted into VSB and further amendments are required, changes should be made through the showroom module. Any changes to factory options cannot be made through VSB.
The cancellation of a wholesale order cannot be invoked from Autoline. It should be manually cancelled in the CESAR DFE (dealer front end). However, if the showroom enquiry is still at wholesale offer status, it can be cancelled by storing the enquiry as a lost sale in Showroom.
When the cancel option is selected, no communication is made with CESAR because it is merely a status change, changing the Showroom enquiry from status A to O.
To cancel acceptance from VSB:
When recalling a quotation, available options depend on the status of the enquiry. The example here is a recalled enquiry at O (order) status:
From the master menu select the Showroom CRM module and the appropriate Company.
The Showroom Main menu is displayed.
Select the Quotations option.
The Showroom Customer Enquiries form is displayed.
Tip: See the New Vehicles process for principal menus and toolbar icons.
Select the Recall Enquiry option.
The Find Customer Enquiries form is displayed.
Select an appropriate status radio button and click Next 
.
The Enquiry Search Results form is displayed, listing the vehicles.
Select a line at status A and click Next .
The Recalling An Accepted Order form is displayed.
Select the Cancel the acceptance radio button and click Next .
The order status changes from A to O.
Tip: The order can be recalled and amended in the normal way. You must confirm the enquiry again (setting it to C status) then re-accept the order into VSB. Any changes update the original vehicle stored in VSB.
If you accept the order into vehicle stock books again, the request for a wholesale order is not performed again. Status updates check for any new information.
When a wholesale offer is accepted into Vehicle Stock Books, status updates are sent back from CESAR and populate the status update file (MB.MS.csrst). All transactions then have their Processed flag set to No. The information is then processed (and the flag set to Yes) to update the respective vehicle record in VSB.
The logistics status will be used from the status update file to check the status mappings, this will be used to update the vehicle progress code.
The status updates sent back from CESAR will form a transaction log, therefore each time there is a change detected a status update entry will be created in this file to form a log. The status updates for a vehicle may be viewed from the record. From the vehicle menu, choose Display log of Cesar updates.
Status updates can occur at three stages:
When the order is accepted into vehicle stock books
Manual status update from the vehicle record itself. This updates the status for a single vehicle on request from the user.
You can send batch status updates and invoice details manually by using a CESAR-specific option on the Vehicle Stockbooks menu (access priority 7). Alternatively, the program (VS/STUPD) can be added to the timed operations schedule to be run regularly (typically overnight).
What do you want to do?
Update status of a single vehicle
Manually run a batch status update
Set batch status updates in Timed Operations
Send invoice details (Batch-Send_Invoiced-Trigger)
To update a single vehicle's status:
Load the vehicle record into VSB / vehicle administrator and, in Amend mode, select Vehicle > Wholesale status update from the menu bar or click the button on the toolbar.
Autoline VSB connects to CESAR, which updates the status file (MB.MS.csrst) and the vehicle record.
Tip: If CESAR is unavailable, see Troubleshooting the CESAR Connection.
If any fields in the vehicle record have changed, a VSB record update Information form titled CESAR status update information is displayed. It contains a grid with columns Field changed, Original Value, and New Value.
Note: If there are no changes the VSB record update Information form is not displayed.
Certain fields in the vehicle record are updated by this process and are editable afterwards. They include:
Identity fields and Purchase Brief fields are also updated.
Note: The dealer order number is subsequently referenced as the vehicle stock number. The Order no. reference is used for dealer transfers and populates the purchase brief.
You can send batch status updates and invoice details manually by using a CESAR-specific option on the Vehicle Stockbooks menu (access priority 7).
To manually update batch status
Select Stat updates/send inv details from the Vehicle Stockbooks menu.
A Select Item From Menu is displayed.
Select the Batch-update option.
Vehicle Stockbooks connects to CESAR and downloads updates of ALL new vehicles held in vehicle stock books (VS.newst) applicable to the dealer. Additionally, it downloads all status updates (after a cut off date) to populate the status file (MB.MS.csrst), which Autoline uses to update the respective vehicle records (see Status updates in VSB in Other Showroom Processes that Interact with CESAR).
Tip: The cut-off date of the last status update is held in the Cesar Controls file (MB.MS.csrct), and is used to determine the date to run from.
Note: Currently there is no log file for the status updates, but you can generate a report. If run as EOD operation, for every vehicle that fails it will write to the event log the status record magic, and record why the vehicle number is zero or invalid (not found).
The respective VSB record is derived as follows:
Using the SR quote magic field of the status record (populated from the CESAR download), we read the CESAR configuration record which has the SR company.
Using the SR company and the SR quote magic, we read the actual quote which has the related VSB number stored.
Using this, we try and read the vehicle record and if successful will update the vehicle record with the status update fields and mark the status record as processed.
The batch status update program (VS/STUPD) can be added to the timed operations schedule to be run regularly (typically overnight).
To update batch status in Timed Operations:
Select the System utilities option (NOT the Utilities button) from the Autoline master menu.
The System Utilities menu is displayed.
Select the Timed operations option.
The Timed Operations menu is displayed.
Select the Configure Schedule option.
The Timed Operations Schedule form is displayed.
Select the Daily radio button in the Scheduled options by frequency group box.
An EOD (End of Day) operations line populates the grid.
Right-click the EOD (End of Day) operations line and select Edit chain from the pop-up menu.
The Edit EOD chain form is displayed.
Select VS Vehicle stockbooks in the Module field in the Available options group box.
The Available options grid populates with applicable operations.
Select the Stat updates/send inv details line and click the Add --> button.
The Stat updates/send inv details line is copied to the Selected options grid.
Right-click the Stat updates/send inv details line in the Selected options grid and select Edit Chain Option from the pop-up menu.
The Scheduling information form is displayed.
Edit the details.
Status update and customer final invoice details are sent when the timed operation is automatically invoked.
Tip: If you add it to the schedule, both the status update and the sending of customer final invoice details will run in the timed operation.
At the time of invoicing in Vehicle Stock Books, normally the final customer details are re-sent to CESAR, along with a trigger to inform it that the vehicle has been sold. The processed flag is then set Y. Also an entry is written into the invoiced details file (MB.MS.csinv), so that if the connection to CESAR cannot be established, the processes flag is set to N to indicate that customer details were not sent. In that case, invoicing can continue but the details will be sent later.
To send invoice details:
Select Stat updates/send inv details from the Vehicle Stockbooks menu.
A Select Item From Menu is displayed.
Select the Batch-Send_Invoiced-Trigger option.
Final customer details are re-transmitted to CESAR along with an indicator (a trigger) that the vehicle has been sold.
Note: Vehicle Stockbooks writes an entry into the Invoiced details file (MB.MS.csinv), so that if the connection to CESAR cannot be established, the process' flag is set to N to indicate that no customer details have been transmitted. You can continue with invoicing but the details will be sent later.
Some editing of option types that are the responsibility of the manufacturer is permitted in the vehicle specification, however it is not possible to add or remove these option types. Any changes should be made through the Showroom / CESAR interface, therefore the vehicle acceptance should be cancelled within showroom and further changes made here.
For example, if attempting to add further factory options, this won't be permitted:
The following message is displayed:
Options of types F, C, T & P cannot be added directly to this vehicle. Such changes need to be routed through CESAR download from Showroom.
To add or remove vehicle options that are the responsibility of the manufacturer, you should cancel the vehicle acceptance in Showroom and make the changes. Some editing of factory options is permitted in VSB, however the right-click menu has the Delete line option greyed out if the line represents an option that is the responsibility of the manufacturer.
Note: For grid lines representing options that are not the responsibility of the manufacturer, for example dealer-fitted options, the Delete line right-click option is available.
Whenever you change factory options in a vehicle specification, Autoline Showroom attempts to connect to CESAR. This applies particularly to Vehicle Stockbooks processes:
Accepting customer orders into VSB: You can only accept an order into vehicle stock books when it has reached C confirmed status in showroom and when the offer is validated by CESAR. You cannot proceed otherwise.
Cancellation of acceptance from VSB: If an order has been accepted into vehicle stock books and further amendments are required, any changes should be made through the showroom module. Any changes to factory options cannot be made through vehicle stock books. The cancellation of a wholesale order must be manually cancelled on the CESAR DFE (Dealer front end).
Tip: To cancel a showroom enquiry still at wholesale offer status, store it as a lost sale in Showroom. In this case, Showroom does not communicate the fact to CESAR because it is merely a status change from A to O.
Status updates in VSB: Vehicle record updates, including status, occur when:
The order is accepted into vehicle stock books
You update it manually, changing the status for a single vehicle configuration
You run a batch status update for multiple vehicle configurations or a timed operation runs it (possibly overnight)
In each case, CESAR downloads updates to Vehicle Stockbooks (populating the status update file MB.MS.csrst) and VSB displays a VSB record update Information box titled CESAR status update information. It contains a grid identifying each field changed, its original value, and its new value.
Note: Vehicle record fields that can be changed in this manner are Chassis number, Progress code, Engine number, Model year, Order number (vehicle stock number), Order date, Build date, Release date, Estimated date received, and Est. delivery date.
Currently there is no log file for the status updates, but you can generate a report. If run as EOD operation, for every vehicle that fails it will write the status record magic number to the event log, and record why the vehicle number is zero or invalid (not found).
