When editing or revising an order item that was converted from a project specification, you can use the Refresh option on the item form (next to the Import button). This updates the descriptive text on the item to reflect unexpected changes to the specification. It can also update the cost and price if you allow it. This command is available only until the order is marked "shipped" or "invoiced" by you. There are some limitations and alternate approaches to consider:

• This command uses the current Spec ID value to locate the original spec in the project. If either of these IDs has changed, you may or may not get the correct update. This depends on whether the spec with the matching Spec ID represents the current product you are ordering. This is almost always true, but you will want to verify this.
• The Refresh command does not update the quantities of the original item, since this is dependent on the original scope used to create the order and its items. In other words, this command is meant to keep the item itself (the product being ordered) in synch with the specification. In practice, the ordered quantity should not be affected by most changes of this sort.
• If you are using the "Code" field and the incoming field will change the existing value, the command will ask if you want to keep the current value. The "Code" field is a common place to use a plug-in to create a code assembled from more than one source (such as a room code + a product type code), so this allows you to preserve this code rather than replace it with a simpler code from the specification.
• If you use the command after the order has been issued, the appropriate automatic revision note will be created.
• If shipping activity has occurred for the item, the Sidemark and Shipping Note/Date fields will not be updated. You can still adjust the Shipping Note/Date on the Expediting screen for specific shipping splits.
• If the item had an automatically-generated "Usage:" note at the end, the update process will preserve that along with all text below that point (but it does not update that information, since it depended on the scope in effect when you converted the original FF&E).
• If you manually added ordering-related notes to the order item's description that you want to preserve (that is, that are not in the original spec), you will need to highlight and copy them prior to clicking on Refresh (unless they were below the "Usage" note as described above).

None of the changes made by this option are saved until you actually save the item itself, so you can test the result and cancel if needed.

Other Considerations

If the original spec is edited to completely replace an out-of-stock or out-of-production specification with a product from the same manufacturer, the Refresh function can be used to update the existing order item. However, please observe these "best practice" points, especially for orders that have already been issued:

• Never change the original specification unless you are changing it everywhere you have used it in that project, including older, unshipped orders. This is normally the case, but keep in mind that a manufacturing problem could cause a product change midway through a project (e.g., a set of hardware becomes unavailable during a later project phase), in which case, you have two specs and two objects in play and cannot simply change the original spec.

Best practice: create a new spec with a variation of the original spec ID. E.g., if HDWR-023 is no longer available midway through ordering, add HDWR-023b (don't refresh HDWR-023) as the replacement for the remaining items. If you want the Design side to match the ordering side, go to the FF&E Worksheet and use the Replace command to replace all room usages that use the unavailable item with the new object.

• If an order has been issued, a better approach may be to use the Delete command on that order item and then the Add Item command to add the new item, using the Import option on the Item screen to pull the new specification from the project,  You would then manually set the quantity according to the original. This creates a revised order that is more obviously different from the original and helps ensure that vendors see the change on a reprinted order.
• If the replacement will be an item from a different vendor and the original object only had a single component , we recommend that you actually create a new object and specification in FF&EZ-Design. Then use the FF&E Worksheet's Replace command to replace the occurrences of the original object with the new one. Void the original order (or Delete the original item) and use the usual ordering process from the FF&E Worksheet to create a new order. If the original object had more than one component, you will need to only delete the order item for the component that is being replaced, unless it actually affects the rest of the object's components.
• Use the Status note on the Specification screen and the PO note on the Orders List screen as needed to document why a replacement was made. This will help months later if a question comes up.