DIY Setup: Your Extras | ConnectSx Help Center

Preference Cards

Preference cards in Beacon are powerful templates that streamline your surgical workflow. They act as a "pick list" for specific procedures and surgeons, ensuring the right inventory is ready when needed.

Why Use Preference Cards?

Quote Generation: Use a preference card to instantly generate a quote for a case, providing accurate pricing and item lists to facilities.
Easy Inventory Selection: During a case, the preference card allows you to quickly select the actual inventory used from the pre-defined list, reducing search time and errors.
Automated Inventory Requests: Preference cards can be set up to automatically trigger inventory replenishment or loaner kit requests, ensuring you never run out of critical stock.

Methods for Creating Preference Cards

1. Create from Scratch

Navigate to the Preference Card module in the web console.
Select the Site Location and Document Type.
Assign the card to a specific Procedure and Surgeon/Provider.
Add items (devices, containers, or packs) by searching for their Catalog Number or Description.
Define Open quantities (items to be ready for use) and Hold quantities (items on standby).

2. Copy an Existing Card

Instead of starting over, you can duplicate a card from one surgeon or specialty to another.

In the preference card list, click the duplicate button on your existing preference card.
Make Any Adjustments needed to the selected physicians, procedures, notes, and associated inventory.
Click Save.

3. Copy from a Bill of Materials (BOM)

If you already have a Bill of Materials defined for a specific kit or set, you can use that data to populate a preference card, ensuring the card matches your standard container configurations.

Click to create your Preference Card.
Give it a name and select the Physicians and Procedures associated.
When it comes time to select inventory click "Create from BOM".
Select the BOM then proceed.
Add any additional items, before saving and creating your preference card.

Best Practices for Preference Cards

Add Comments: Use the Comments tab to include specific notes, such as "Patient positioning requirements" or even room setup preferences like music choices.
Associate Segments: Attach specific clinical segments (like patient positioning or documentation defaults) to the card so they automatically load during the case.
Regular Audits: Periodically review cards to ensure catalog numbers and quantities reflect current surgical techniques and stock availability.

Bills of Materials

Think of a BOM as a master template or a "blueprint" for your containers (surgical trays, sets, or packs).

By creating a BOM once, you can apply it to dozens of physical trays, allowing the system to automatically tell you what is missing, what is in excess, and what needs to be restocked.

Step 1: Creating Your BOM

If you are setting up many similar sets, start by creating one "Standard" BOM.

Navigate to the Bills of Materials section: Go to Inventory > Bill of Materials and click New BOM.
Define the Type: Select Default for standard containers and trays.
Naming & Canonical Names: Give the BOM a clear name (e.g., "Spine Tray 2").
- Pro Tip: It may be useful to align your BOMs with your Container Canonical Names, when applicable.
Build the List: Search for the catalog numbers that belong in the tray.
- Expert Workflow: Select all the items first, then go through the list and update the Required Quantity for each.
- Note: You can set "Min/Max" quantities, but the system only uses the Required Quantity to determine if a tray is complete. Min/Max are meant to be used as guidelines by users in practice.
Save: Click Create.

Step 2: Efficiently Handling Custom Sets

If a specific surgeon requires a variation of a standard tray, do not start from scratch.

Duplicate and Modify: Find your "Standard" BOM in the list, click Duplicate, rename it (e.g., "Dr. Sweeney’s Custom Tray"), and simply add or remove the specific items that differ.

Step 3: Linking BOMs to Your Containers

Once your templates are ready, you need to tell the system which physical containers should follow those blueprints.

Individual Assignment: Open a specific container’s detail screen and select the template in the Bill of Materials field.
Bulk Assignment: On the BOM detail page, you can use the search bar to find and assign multiple containers to that BOM at once.

Step 4: Stocking the Containers (Using BOMs to build your Sets)

Now that the system knows what should be in the tray, you have two ways to make reality match the digital record. In the Container Detail screen locate the Bill of Materials section with the required devices listed out.

Method	Best Used For...	How it Works
Auto Refill	New Setup: When you are stocking the tray in the system before physically doing it.	The system automatically selects inventory (using FIFO or LIFO) and generates a Pick List for you to take to the warehouse.
Fix Shortages	Manual Matching: When you have the tray in front of you and want to pick specific lot numbers.	You manually search and select the exact items you are placing in the container.

Expert Tips

Location Sync: When you add an item to a container, Beacon automatically updates the item’s location to match the container’s location.
Identify Excess: If you see a red label or an "Excess" warning in the BOM section, it means there are items in the tray that aren't on the "blueprint." You can "Release" these to keep your trays lean.
Inventory Visibility: On the BOM screen, check the "Can Stock" number on the right. This tells you exactly how many full trays you can build based on your current total inventory.

Locations

Custom locations in Beacon allow you to track inventory geographically, adding a layer of precision on top of standard inventory custody. Whether you are managing a hospital stockroom, a satellite warehouse, or a sales representative's trunk stock, locations help you visualize exactly where your assets are.

Step 1: Create a Custom Location

To begin tracking inventory at a specific site, you must first define the location in the system.

Navigate to the Movements header and select Locations.
Click the plus (+) button in the upper right corner.
Enter a Name for the location (e.g., "Northside General Hospital" or "Warehouse A").
Search Google for an address to pin the location to the integrated world map.
Click Create to add it to your list.

Step 2: Assign Locations to Users

For a user to interact with or assign inventory to a location, they must have access to it.

Go to the Users section and select the specific user's account.
Scroll down to the Assignment section and open Locations.
Select and assign the new location to that user.
- Note: Locations created by Sales or Distributor users are automatically assigned to their accounts.

Step 3: Setting Facility Par Levels

Facility Par Levels are used to track inventory held at a facility (like a hospital) that hasn't been sold yet, ensuring you never run out of critical stock.

Navigate to the Facility Par Levels section and click the plus (+) button.
Select the Manufacturer and the Catalog Number for the item.
Select the Location associated with that facility.
Set the Minimum Amount (Par Level) required to be at that location.
Why this is useful: By creating locations for specific facilities, you can use the Par Level Report to see real-time stock levels versus your requirements, helping you identify outages immediately.

Best Practices for Accuracy

Consistency is Key

For location data to be reliable, users must be trained to update the location every time inventory moves into or out of a location. If the system is not updated consistently, your Par Level reports, notifications, and location map views will become inaccurate.

Efficient Mass Updates

Updating locations item-by-item is time-consuming. To streamline your workflow:

Use Transfers: The easiest time to update locations is during a transfer. When setting up or accepting a transfer, you can reset the location for all inventory on that transfer at once.
Use Containers: Changing the location of a container will automatically update the location for all inventory items held within it.

Regions

In Beacon, Regions and Regional Managers are used to create a management hierarchy above the distributor level, allowing for review and oversight. This setup allows managers to oversee sales performance and case activity across specific geographic areas without directly managing their own inventory.

Step 1: Define Your Regions

Regions are groupings of states that allow for more articulate reporting on sales data in specific areas of the country.

Navigate to the Directory section in the main navigation menu.
Select Regions from the directory categories.
Click the plus button (+) in the upper right corner to create a new region.
Enter a Name for the region (e.g., "Northwest" or "Great Lakes").
Select the grouping of states that pertain to this specific region.
Click Create to add the region to your directory.

Step 2: Set Up the Regional Manager User

A Regional Manager is a specific user role that sits above Distributors in the system hierarchy. Use the DIY User Setup or User Setup Checklists for more info.

Go to the Users section in the navigation menu.
Click the Add Users button in the upper right corner.
Enter the manager’s contact information and select Regional Manager as their assigned role.
While in the user profile, you can also set up their commissions or upload relevant employment documents.

Step 3: Assign Regions to the Manager

Once both the region and the user exist, you must link them to grant the manager "purview" (visibility) over that area.

In the Users list, click on the profile of the Regional Manager you just created.
Assign the appropriate Region(s) to this user.
Save your changes.

Integrations

I'm a new user, where should I start?

How can I create a Bills of Materials to manage container Stock Levels?

How do I use Bills of Materials to manage custom trays and surgeon preferences?

DIY Setup: Your Directory

DIY Setup: Users