What is e-catalog add-on? And how to use it?

e-catalog is an add-on within LabCollector , empowers scientists to search for new laboratory products directly from suppliers’ lists. Thanks to a flexible CSV parser and Punch-Out system, it seamlessly aligns with your LabCollector system, ensuring effortless and precise integration of product information into your LabCollector inventory.

The screenshot below provides a visual representation of the main interface of the e-catalog add-on.

• A: When you click on “Products“, you will be redirected to the main page (as shown in the screenshot above), which is also set by default when you first access the add-on. Here you will see a table with various information about the products, their status, description, and much more, below is a brief description of what each column correspond to:

• • 1 & 2: If you click in both symbols it will appear a pop-up where you will be able to change the supplier.
    
  • 3: Here you can search for the desired products using keywords of any column. To restrict the search to a specific column you can use the search box of that column.
    
  • 4: Column with the line number.
  • 5-11: Columns with: supplier ID information; auxiliary ID information; unit price information; description of the product (name); unit of measure; classification of the product and manufacturer ID information. The information of these columns can be setup in Data Source (menu C). In that menu you can decide what product information to be displayed here.
  • 12: Column with the user information of who created the product entry.
  • 13: Column with the creation date of the product entry.
  • 14: Column with the user information of who update the product entry.
  • 15: Column with the date of the last update of the product entry.
  • 16: Column with product status information:
    • Product waiting for approval from administrator;
    • Product approved from administrator;
    • Product rejected from administrator.
  • 17: If you click here it will appear all the detailed information of the product.
  • 18: Here you can chose how many rows showing per page (10, 20, 50, 100) and you can also change page.

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• B: By clicking on “Suppliers“, you’ll have access to the list of suppliers added to e-catalog. Moreover you can add more suppliers. Here are the instructions how to do it:

• • 1 – Click in Add supplier.

• • 2 – First you will chose the type of seller. There will be two options: Import seller from LabCollector or New seller add.

• • 3.1 – If you select Import from LabCollector you will select a seller already created in your instance. So you can add this supplier by simply clicking in the green plus symbol. The plus grey symbol means that the supplier was already added.

• • 3.2 – If you select New seller you will add a new seller in your LabCollector instance. It will appear a form to be filled with the supplier information, such as: Name, Address, Telephone, Mobile, Fax and Email.

• • 4 – The final step is a message confirming the success in adding the seller to e-catalog.

• C: By clicking on “Data Source“, you’ll have access to the list of CSV and Punch-out added to e-catalog. Here you will see a table with various information, each column correspond to:

• • 1: Column with the file name.
  • 2: Column with the type of separator for CSV.
  • 3: Column with the type of data source: Punch-out or CSV.
  • 4: Column with date that the data source was added.
  • 5: Column showing if the data source is enable: data source enable;data source not enable. Is only possible to have one data source enabled.
  • 6: Column with actions:delete data source not possible to delete data sourceenable data source add more products, opening the Punch-out interface

• • i) You can add new data source by clicking in Add New Data Sources. Here are the steps to follow:
    • 1. First you will chose if you want to Import from CSV file or Use punch-out system.

• • • 2.1. If you select Import CSV you need to simply upload the file and select the separator type (comma, tab, semicolon, colon, pipe, other). When you finish you click in Save.

• • • 2.2. If you select the Punch-out you will need to fill the form with your Merck account information and then you save.

• • • 3. To activate the Punch-out you need to enter a random product to finish the configuration. It will appear the Punch-out and you will follow these steps:
      • 3.1. First you search for a product using its code, for example W1503-100ML (water).
      • 3.2. You click in panel that will open a pop-up with the product information.
      • 3.3. In the panel information you can add more units of this product. Afterwords you click in see the panel.

• • • 3.4. A new page will open with detailed information of the full order (all the products add and respective quantities). If everything is correct you click in Transfer the panel.

• • • 3.5.You can confirm the product information that will be transfer to the e-catalog. To conclude simply click in save.

• • • 4. The final step is a message confirming the success in adding the CSV or the Punch-out into e-catalog.

Related topics:

• • • Read our KB What are Add-ons?
    • Check the KB What are fields in LabCollector?
    • Read our KB How to start with Reagents & Supplies module?
    • Check the KB What are records in LabCollector?