3.3 Parameter Search

If you want to buy from a specific supplier or have specific details about the item(s) you are looking for (e.g. the manufacturer or description) this search works best. The Parameter Search options appear at the top of the Item Search screen.

Parameter Search provides fields into which search criteria may be entered allowing you to search on one or more of the following catalogue fields from drop-down lists. Criteria entered are not case sensitive.

Supplier – The list of catalogues that you have access to. One supplier can be chosen.
Item Number – The part number or SKU Code of the item that you are looking for.
Item Description – Enter text to search the description of the item.
Manufacturer Name – Enter the manufacturer of the item.
Manufacturer Item Number – Enter the manufacturer’s part number. (Note. Not all suppliers provide this information).
Category Description – Enter a partial or full product category code of the item that you are looking for.
Catalogue Page Number – If a paper catalogue is still circulated for a supplier you can enter the page number from the catalogue that your item appears on. (Note that not all suppliers provide this information.)

Example
If you are searching for 3M data tapes and know the supplier: IT Supplies Ltd, from whom they are purchased you can enter specific text in the relevant fields to conduct your search. Here we would define: Supplier = IT Supplies; Item Description contains the text ‘tape’; Manufacturer Name contains the text ‘3M’.

It is not necessary to select a catalogue from the Supplier selection. If you do not know the name of the supplier from whom your item is usually purchased the supplier selection can be left as “All”. PECOS P2P will search all of your catalogues for the search text that you enter.

Note that if a supplier is not selected, catalogue field search text must be entered to avoid returning no results.

Parametric Search also allows you to choose a sorting preference for your search results. All search results are sorted from lowest to highest price, unless otherwise selected.

3.3.1 Using Parameter Search

Click the Item Search tab to open the PECOS P2P search page.
In the section headed ‘Parameter Search’, select your supplier and search fields from the dropdown menus and enter key words in the ‘contains the text:’ boxes.
Click the search button to locate all items matching your entered criteria. The search criteria section of the page will collapse and search results will display.
Review and filter results and select an item by typing the desired quantity in the Qty field.
Click the Add button to add the item(s) to your shopping basket.

It is important to note that Quick Search and Parametric Search are separate types of search. It is not possible to select a supplier in the parametric search box and then enter search criteria in the quick search box to refine a search. If this is done PECOS will search based on the criteria entered in the quick search box only.

3.3.2 Preferred Items

Some catalogue items may have been assigned a preferential rating by your system administrators or contract managers, in order for you to make a more informed purchasing decision. These items will appear by default at top of the search results list. If you wish to refine your search results to include only items that are marked as preferred, check the 'Preferred Items Only' box at the top of the screen.
It is also possible that your administrators have allowed access only to preferred items and preferred suppliers, in which case non-preferred items will not appear in catalogue search results, irrespective of the 'Preferred Items Only' selection.