Frequently asked questions & answers and help documents

If a customer wants to buy from you via simple system, you will be informed about it by e-mail. Under “Company & settings” – “my Company” – “Contacts & system e-mails ” you can store a contact address for new customer inquiries under “Customer requests”. If this field is not filled, the main contact will be addressed.

Inquiries from customers can be found in the “Customers” area under the “Requesting customers” tab.

Here you can see all the details of a request and edit it. You have the option of accepting, rejecting or deferring the request (for example, if there is still a need for clarification).

The customer is informed about every status change and can view the current status of his request.

We recommend that every new simple system user, as well as users of our Classic platform, attend one of our webinars before using NextGen.

To clarify technical questions or how to use the portal, we offer an “Office hour” during the initial period after the introduction of NextGen.

If your concern cannot wait until the next “Office hour”, you are also welcome to contact our technical support.

Yes. At the latest, when the synchronization period ends and the Classic platform is shut down at the end of Q1.2023.

Yes. There is no cost for the migration to NextGen.

After the synchronization is turned off, with the full switch to NextGen, the following applies:

• Catalogues: Remain intact and can be used further. From now on, updates will be made exclusively via NextGen.
• Price lists: Must be recreated, loaded and assigned in the format updated for NextGen.
• Customer Article Numbers: Must be recreated, loaded and assigned via the new part number list in the format updated for NextGen.
• Media: Remains according to the one-time sync (at the time of NextGen account creation), but still does not appear in the list of available media on NextGen.

Order interface

• Only the standard open trans 1.0 and 2.1 formats are supported. Plain text orders will of course be retained.
• It is no longer possible to configure individual information (prefix, subject) when receiving orders by email.
• The function for configuring different order recipients per customer is no longer available. Only 1 central order recipient can be configured.

Catalogue

• No more .csv format allowed (not even via technical support)
• Stricter check for compliance with the permitted BMEcat standards

Price lists: Price file
The format of the price list changes

• The column headers are translated into English
• Only the .csv format is accepted (no .txt or .dat).
• In future, the customer article number/material number will be maintained via a separate file (article number list).

FTP-upload
There are new access data for uploading via FTP. The FTP servers of Classic and NextGen are different.

The aforementioned functions are currently no longer available on NextGen. We are looking at alternative solutions for some of these functions. The development of the NextGen platform is not yet complete. We are happy to take your wishes and suggestions at [email protected].

• Requests for special articles (alternatively possible by email)
• Listing of special articles (alternatively possible via the catalogue)
• Shopping cart note text (alternatively possible by email / contractual agreement)
• Global customer discount across all articles (alternatively possible via a catalogue or a price list with individual prices)

After consultation with our Vendor management, there is also the possibility of setting up an OCI punch out, e.g. to make configurable items available to your customers. Since OCI strongly limits the functionalities of the platform on the client side, this step should always be coordinated with and approved by the client.

You can find more information on this topic in our help document Setting up an OCI Punch-Out.

Just as on the previous platform “Classic”, the specification of an ECLASS is also required in “NextGen”. Via the catalogue, you can deliver the ECLASS either in version 5.1 or 7.1.

If you would like to learn more about ECLASS, please visit the ECLASS eV page.

Yes, you can offer both individual catalogues for your connected customers on the partner marketplace and public catalogues on the open marketplace from which all simple system customers can buy. Please note that a different commission rate applies to the sale of products on the open marketplace, which you can view under “Company & Settings” – “My Company” – “Contract Details”.

By the way: For NextGen, the catalogue management was completely restructured and the possibility was created to administer both the customer-specific individual catalogues and the public catalogues (formerly “Click&Order” catalogues) in one vendor access.

You can expand your product portfolio independently at any time using catalogue upload (as BMEcat). There are no limits to this.

After consultation with our vendor management, there is also the possibility of setting up an OCI punch out, e.g. to make configurable articles accessible to your customers. You can find more information on this topic in our help document Setting up an OCI Punch Out.

There is no quantity limit for items or maximum file size for catalogue files. However, please note: The larger the catalogue file, the longer the upload and the subsequent processing will take.

Only price lists and customer article number lists are subject to a limit of 1GB per file, and media to a maximum file size of 5GB per .zip file.

You can find more information on this topic in our help documents Providing catalogues

Yes, you can easily set up automation via FTP in Self-Service and use it for regular updates. This is currently possible for catalogues as well as for price lists. You will find the information required for the set-up including your personal access data in the NextGen portal in the areas “Catalogues” as well as under “Price lists” after clicking on the button “Automatic upload”.

For more information on the aforementioned topics, please refer to our help documents Provision of Catalogues and Automated Delivery of Catalogues & Price Lists via FTP Server.

No. The *.csv format can no longer be processed on NextGen.

You cannot generate a BMEcat catalogue with the help of your systems? In our help document Help for creating a BMEcat catalogue via Sepia Converter we explain how you can realise this with the help of a free Excel tool.

Alternatively, we will be happy to put you in touch with service providers who can take care of the catalogue production for you. Simply write an email to our vendor management: [email protected]

A price must always be transmitted in the catalogue. Items delivered in the catalogue without a price will be declared as an error and will not be made available to the customer.

More information on this topic can be found in our help document Providing prices on NextGen.

If you only use a catalogue to provide prices, your customer will see the prices contained in it.

If you use a price list in addition to the catalogue, it takes precedence over the catalogue (even if the catalogue prices should be lower).

If no prices are stored in the price list for some items in the catalogue, the price from the catalogue is used for these items.

If different prices are available in several price lists for one item, a best-price logic is applied. The customer receives the lowest price from all price lists assigned to him.

More information on this topic can be found in our help document Providing prices on NextGen.

No. The format of the price list in NextGen has changed compared to Classic. The header is now in English instead of German. In addition, customer item numbers are no longer maintained via the price list, but via a separate upload process.

More information on this topic as well as a template for the price file can be found in our help document Providing prices on NextGen.

If your systems meet the requirements for such a retrieval, a price web service can be set up in consultation with our vendor management. Please note that there is a charge for set-up and use.

More information on this topic can be found in our help document Providing prices on NextGen.

Yes, you can easily set up automation via FTP in Self-Service and use it for regular updates. This is currently possible for catalogues as well as for price lists. You will find the information required for the set-up including your personal access data in the NextGen portal in the areas “Catalogues” as well as under “Price lists” after clicking on the button “Automatic upload”.

More information on the above topics can be found in our help documents Provision of prices on NextGen and Automated delivery of catalogues & price lists via FTP server.

The provision of customer item numbers (also called material or part numbers) can either be done via the catalogue or by uploading a customer item number list in *.csv format.

Only one customer item number list can be assigned to a customer at a time. In the case of a group customer, for example, you can assign the list to several customers who all use the same customer item numbers.

More information on this topic can be found in our help document Provision of customer article numbers

In addition to images, you can deliver all data formats defined according to the BMEcat Standard 1.2 or 2005. For example, you can provide your customers with documents as PDF files (technical data, safety data sheets, etc.) or additional information as deep links (e.g. availabilities, stocks, delivery times).

You can find more information on this topic in our help document Provision of stocks & delivery times