Table of Contents
Purpose
Sometimes, you might need to use a specific kit across multiple items or other kits. You can use the auto kit feature to add items to other kits with Bulk Actions.
A good example of this is if you needed to add a 5-gallon plant installation kit to all 5 gallon plants. You could use auto-kitting to combine your Installation Kit with all 5-gallon plants in the items catalog.
Read below to save time when adding items to kits to help your estimators save time, and improve their workflow so your company can close more deals!
Requirements
✅You must have either System Admin or Branch Admin to create Kits and Auto Kits.
Creating A Kit
To create a kit to the catalog, go to Settings ▶️Administration
Select the Estimating tab and then Item Catalog.
Under New, select the New Kit option.
Enter all required information and add your Items to the New Kit.
Type in the Item Name.
📌Note: It’s recommended to name a plant installation kit Installed. The unit type will differentiate between the various Installed kits. This is so that after the auto kit is performed, the new kit name would read [Your Item Name] - Installed.
⚠️ If you have a different Alternate Name than the Item Name, be aware that when Auto-Kitting, the Alternate Name is override by the Item Name.
Alternate Name is copied from the Item Name, but you can change the Alternate Name as needed.
Select an Item Category.
Select how the kit should be measured and set the Unit Type.
A good example would be if your kit includes a plant, enter the container size; if a tree, enter the caliper; for hardscape kits, enter Sq.FT, or Ln.FT.
Assign the branch for where the item will be available. The default Assigned Branch is All Branches.
Select the checkbox if the item will be Available to Bid on an estimate.
This check box is optional but check the Force Single Unit Pricing box if it applies to your kit.
Single Unit Pricing makes sure there is consistent unit pricing during estimation. Rather than calculating the total price for each item on the opportunity, and then dividing to calculate the unit price, Aspire calculates the unit price and then multiplies it to determine the total price.
This method can result in increased pricing, but provides an advantage of producing consistent unit prices on a single work order.
If pricing will be based on a Takeoff Item, then select the Takeoff Item from the drop down menu.
Add all the necessary Items that will belong inside the kit except for the material to be added when auto-kitted.
A good example of this would be if auto-kitting for all 5-Gallon plants, create the kit with all other items except for the plant.
Enter the appropriate factor (production rate) for each item within the kit.
Invert reverses the numerator and denominator units, check this box on as needed.
Adding a Waste % will increase that material amount by the set percentage on an estimate and in the purchasing assistant.
Save the Item.
📑To learn more about Kits in Aspire, read here.
Using Auto Kits in the Item Catalog
Next, you’ll use the newly created Kit in an Auto Kit.
Return to the Items Catalog, and adjust your filters to only show the items that will be used during the Auto Kit action.
Apply your filters and review the list to verify all items are the desired items that need auto kits.
Select the item checkboxes and then Bulk Actions and Auto Kit.
The Auto Kit window appears. Search and select the previously created Installed kit.
📌 Note: You can identify the correct Allocation Unit Type to differentiate between the various Installed kits.
Save.
Aspire merges the item and the installed kit to create a new Kit in your item catalog. The new kit will contain the material and previously created Installed kit. This is a kit within a kit.
The new kit name is automatically generated by Aspire.
If you want your Estimators to use the new auto-kitted items, instead of singular plants, The single plant can be marked as unavailable.