What the # ?!

 I mentioned in a previous post that I would explain about price codes.

If you think about it all the program needs to work out a frame price is the cost of the moulding and its width. Once it knows the rebate dimensions it can work how much moulding will be needed (2 * X + 2 * Y, + 8 * moulding width)

This was the principle that the first Wessex Pricing Program (WPP1) used.

The idea was resurrected in the Framers Pricing App. Here the App can work out a cost either by using an Id number from a csv file (for instance "PW112"), or a pricing code which contains the information needed.

How does the App distinguish between the two?

The price code always is always preceded by "#" (eg. #34G). The numbers represent the moulding cost, while the letter represents the width.

In practical terms, there is a utility in the App (and now in the desktop program) whereby you can enter the cost and the width of a moulding and it will issue a code that you can write on the moulding sample.

(App - go to "Settings" and tap "Get Moulding Code". WPP4 - go to "Tools" > "Get Moulding Code") It is now easy to give a price - put in the dimensions, look on the sample for the price code and enter that, together with glass, mount and sundries.

It is good practice to check the code each time you get an invoice for that moulding.

The sharp-witted amongst you will have spotted that the code does not identify an individual moulding, A moulding with the same cost and width will have the same code. So, if you are recording a job, you will need to be able to identify the particular moulding.

In WPP4 you can do this in the "Notes" section when saving the Job. With the App the world is your oyster! You could record the details in a duplicate-book or you could take a screen-shot of the price and a photo of the work and sample(s), being careful to marry up the two images (rename them in file manager), or a mixture of the two.

Also, the width part of the code (the letter) covers a number of Mm. and so is not quite precise. In practice the effect on the final cost is minimal.

So why go with this form of pricing when other more exact ways are available?

Simply because it is so straightforward and easy to understand. There are no databases to maintain, no csv files to wrestle with. The costing is slightly less exact (by pence not pounds), but if your margins are that tight then use a different system. 

Another reason to include these codes in WPP4 is to better integrate the program with the Pricing App. Already you can export a file of mouldings from the desktop program to the App, now you can go the other way and use the App's pricing codes in the main program.