How to set up Uniforms in Engage

Creation date: 14/2/2024 1:30 pm Updated: 4/3/2024 9:14 am

The Uniform module in Engage is included in the base package of the software and is available for all customers. The Uniform module allows you to set up various products which can be ordered by your employees, eliminating the need for paper forms, and allows you to keep track of what has been assigned.

The article discusses the following:

- Suppliers

- Approval Processes

- Setting up Uniform Products

- How to set up a Product Group

- Creating your Uniforms

- How to allocate uniforms against specific employees

- 'Buyer' Authority

Suppliers

The first step you need to complete is creating your Supplier info. Please note, this section is regarding setting up an internal supplier (a contact within your business) rather than external suppliers. If you would like your Engage site to connect to one of our external suppliers (meaning that they upload / maintain product pricing, as well as receive order requests direct from Engage), please contact support@engagesolutions.co.nz for more information.

To set up your supplier, click on Customer Admin / Suppliers / "New Supplier". Please note, only those with Admin: Companies authority will have the ability to see this section.

Fill in the form; note that any fields marked with a red asterisk are mandatory fields. The individual marked as the contact for this supplier will be the person who receives any approved orders going forward.

If the individual changes, you are able to edit the supplier information at any time.

The supplier(s) that get entered will be selected when you add in a uniform product, so if you had a situation where you would like IT Equipment to go to 1 individual on approval, and shirts/trousers to go through another individual, I would recommend setting those up separately now.

Setting up the Approval Process

There are a handful of ways you can set up uniform approvals in Engage.

When setting up an internal (local) supplier, you have the ability to select whether or not you want that specific supplier to have a 'Standard Approval Process'. If you select 'No', you are able to have up to 3 levels of approval against that specific supplier.

For IT Equipment as mentioned above, you may have the Direct Manager, then the Branch Managers approve the request, whereas for uniform it may go through 1 specific person.

Please note, this option is not available for external suppliers.

If you select 'Yes' to Standard Approval Process, this then defaults to the approval set up through Customer Admin / Organisation / Companies / "Edit" / 'Over Allocations Action' :

There are 6 options that you are able to choose depending on what is required.

None - No Over Allocation Alerts Required : Allows those with the Buyer authority to purchase allocated uniform items straight to the supplier with no approval process or alerts.

Display Only - Alert on Screen Only : A pop up notification will appear during the ordering process that shows when an item is over it's allocation but still emails straight through to supplier on submitting the order.

Notify Only - Notify Approver - Process Orders : An email notification will be sent to the Approver 1 / Approver 2 contacts that an order has gone through to the supplier.

Approval Required1 - Notify Approvers - Over Allocated Orders Held for Approval : If an order is placed that exceeds the given allocation amount, the order will be required to go through Approver 1 before it will be sent to the supplier.

Approval Required2 - Notify Approvers - ALL Orders Held for Approval : Any orders that get placed will need to go through Approver 1 before it will be sent to the supplier.

No Ordering - Cannot place orders : Restricts the ordering function altogether.

This function can also be customised at Branch level if required. If branch level approval is not required, you can default the branch to work as per what is set up at company level. This can be amended through Customer Admin / Organisation / Branches / "Edit" / Over Allocations Action'.

Products

To set up the Products for your uniform, click on Customer Admin / Products / Maintenance / "New Product". Fill in the relevant form - this is where you will link the specific uniform item to your preferred supplier, which takes in to consideration the set up approval process.

The first page asks you for product information, the second page asks for colours and sizing of the product (if applicable), the third page asks you for individual pricing (note that if the product pricing is the same for all colour and size combination, you are able to Copy the first price down through the full list). The last page of setting up the product is a summary page of the information entered. If you are happy with what has been entered you can Save to lock in your product.

Product Groups

If you would like, you have the ability to group your products together. You can do this by clicking on Customer Admin / Products / Groups / "New Group". By grouping your products, you allow a set allocation of a specific choice of products, rather than done by individual line. EG if a group contained 3 types of shirts, and you are allocated 2 shirts per year, you can select any 2 of the 3 shirts on your order before you are over your set allocation. Rather than adding the 3 shirts individually.

Setting up your Employee Uniforms

To set up your Employee Uniforms, click on Customer Admin / Uniforms / "New Uniform". The concept of the 'uniform' captures the allocated items and amounts of products that specific employees are allowed to have.

When creating your uniform, you are able to select the Roles that the uniform is applicable for. You may find that warehouse staff require more safety equipment than office staff for example. Please note that when allocating the uniform, the employee you are trying to allocate the uniform against will need to have one of the selected roles as part of their Engage profile for it to show on the drop-down.

You can then begin allocating items to your Uniform. To do this, ensure that the product is checked on the left hand side of the screen, then you can add in your allocation amount, as well as your allocation period. In the example below, this would equate to 3 shirts being allowed over a 12 month period.

If an employee tries to order in excess of their given allocation for their uniform, they will be shown a pop-up that tells them their order is over the allocation limit. We still allow orders to progress as there are instances where trousers could rip etc, but the approver will also see a notification that tells them whether the order is above allocation. Employees can use the Notes field to explain if they need to exceed their allocation limit.

Once you have saved your uniform, it will then be available to allocate to your employees.

Allocating Uniform to Employees

To allocate your uniform to an employee, pop to Employees / "Edit" and select the applicable uniform from the Uniform drop-down. An employee's role may be eligible for more than one uniform set up, so this is where you would decide at an individual level what their requirements are.

Authorities

In order to purchase uniform, you will need to ensure that the employee has the 'Buyer' authority enabled. If they do not have the Buyer authority enabled, they will not be able to purchase products.

To give an employee the Buyer authority, pop to Employees / 'Authorities' button next to their profile, and select which Buyer authority is required:

If you have any other queries regarding Setting up Uniforms, or any other areas of Engage, please email us at support@engagesolutions.co.nz and we will get back to you as soon as we can.