Module 1: Products - Adding your products & services

What Are Products in ArcSite? 

You can associate your company's services or equipment sold with an ArcSite Shape, Line, or Area to create what we call a Product.

Products can then be used during the drawing process to collect more information than solely what the visual provides. Products are the backbone of using ArcSite for Estimating or creating Takeoffs. 

You simply drop in Shape-based Products and/or draw lines or areas to collect information such as:

1. Quantities
2. Linear ft/m
3. Square ft/m
4. Cost
5. Etc.

Product information can then be used to automatically create

1. Customer Proposals
2. Takeoff Schedules/Bill of Materials

Adding Products to your Account

Setting up your ArcSite Products is a simple process. You will define each product with regards.

1. How it will appear visually
2. Pricing information
3. If there is other data that field folks need to collect
4. What logical group (Categories) the product should belong to

Create a Product

Step 1 – Navigate to https://user.arcsiteapp.com login, click the gear in the upper right hand corner of the screen and then select products in the left hand menu.

Step 2 – Specify a Category

Pick an existing category or create a new category (click + Create button at the top of the Categories section) where the Product will live. Categories are used to group your Products within the app.

Step 3 – Create the Product

Note these are also covered in a video in the next section - Product Set-Up

1. Tap the Create Product in the top right corner of the Product Screen 
2. From the Create Product dialog, you will define all the individual elements required 
3. Provide a Name
4. The description is an optional field that will only appear in the output proposal. You can use this field to give the client additional information about the product itself 
5. Depending on the
6. Select a "Visual Type" (Line, Area, Shape) you choose, based on your product and how it would be drawn.
7. Assign a visual from available Shapes, line styles, or area styles. 
8. Drawing unit shows the unit that will be displayed on output. Note this can be changed (see section - Advanced Pricing Set-Up 3: Quantity Modifier)
9. Add Pricing/Cost if applicable
10. More Inputs allows for the collection of additional information 

Product Set-Up Tutorial

Advanced Product Set Up 1: Non-visual Products

Many of your ArcSite products and services will be added visually to the diagram. (As Shapes, lines, arcs, or areas).

However, if a product doesn't make sense as a visual element (For example – a Work Permit Fee, Extended warranties, or a test to run) ArcSite allows you to define “non-visible” products.

Steps to Create

1. Start the Product creation process
2. For the Visual Representation option, choose ( No Visual )
3. Note that once selected, the subsequent "Visual" option disappears
4. Continue to define and then Save

Use a Virtual Product

Virtual products by their very nature are not added visually to your drawing. Instead, they are accessible from the Takeoff/Estimate Summary screen.

1. Tap on the 1st icon in the top right corner of the screen
2. Tap Takeoff and Estimate
3. Tap Add Other Items in the bottom left corner on Summary Screen
4. Tap to add any available Virtual Products
5. Define the quantity
6. Tap OK to finalize

Advanced Product Set Up 2: Using Product Attributes

Overview of Attributes

Product Attributes are pieces of information that you want to collect for any product used on a drawing. These are separate from the automatically collected “Quantity” attribute or any defined pricing information.

There are 2 types of custom attributes

1. Predefined – The attribute value is already defined and is collected automatically without any user interaction. An example of this type might be static information like a model number for a piece of equipment.
2. The attribute value needs to be collected on-site. In this case, users can answer any pre-created questions to gather information. Examples are endless here, but some could be; wattage for a light fixture, size of the object, configurations, etc.

These attributes can be exported as a Takeoff Schedule/Material List as an Excel spreadsheet and used post site visit to present a more comprehensive view of the client site.

Define the Attributes to Collect

1. Start the Product creation process
2. Tap on Add Attribute at bottom of dialog
3. Choose to the answer be one that is Predefined or that will be collected in the field
4. If Predefined, enter the value
5. If Collected in the field, choose the type of field presented and any necessary pre-filled options.
6. Note – You can use the Photo-Image option to take and associate a specific site photo with a specific instance of a product.

Any collected attribute will appear only on the exported Takeoff schedule / Material List, not on the client-facing proposal. 

How to Use Products in ArcSite 

Step 1 – Access the Product Panel

1. Tap on the Black Arrowhead icon at the top of the right-side toolbar
2. To expand the Product Panel to show as multiple columns, tap on the expander icon at the bottom left corner

Step 2 – Select Product

1. For Shape-based Products, tap on the Product to have it automatically placed on the canvas
2. For line or area-based Products, tap on Product to make active and then draw as usual

Step 3 – Define Attributes (if applicable)

Once a product has been added to the canvas:

1. Ensure it is the actively selected object
2. Tap on Attributes icon on the lower-left corner of the screen
3. Fill in any fields necessary
4. Tap Save and Close button