Date Wanted Calculation

When orders are entered manually or received electronically, Rx-Universe has the ability to automatically calculate a "date wanted" (also known as a "due date" or "promised date") based on many properties of the order.

Basic Setup

The first step is to specify the default number of days a job is expected to take.  Under "Setup", "System Settings", on the Orders1 tab, is the setting for the number of days an order is expected to take if no other parameters are specified for any of the properties of a particular job.  This allows the lab to specify the "normal" number of days, and then only set additional parameters for exceptions to that rule.  (In other words, if plastic jobs always take the default number of days, there is no need to set up specific rules for plastic).

In this example, 3 days will be added to the date received for every order.

Adding Days by Material and type of Job

Under "Setup", "Date Wanted Setup", the lab can specify days by material, type of lens (semi-finished or finished), and by Rx within that material.  For each material for which the lab wishes to specify the number of days, a record similar to the following can be created:


In the above example, a Poly job that used semi-finished blanks would take 3 days; a finished Poly lens only 2 days.  If the lens is above a 6.00 sphere, or below a -8.00 sphere, or below a -4.00 cyl, above 5D of prism, or has an add greater than 4.00 then it will be set to 4 days (not this is in lieu of the other days, not in addition to).  However, an extra day is added if the job is to be edged and mounted (a complete job).

Adding Extra Days By Lens Style

Specific lens styles might require extra processing time, for example if the blanks need to be specially ordered, or if the job needs to be out-sourced.  On the lens style screen, additional days can be added for any particular lens style.  Only those lens styles requiring extra processing days need to be set:

In this example, 2 extra days are added for a flat top 45 design.

Extra Days for Services or Addons

Similar to lens styles, certain coatings, addons or services might require additional days.  These can be specified under "Setup", "Addon Codes":

In this example, Super AR requires 3 extra days because it must be out-sourced to another lab.

Extra Days For Specific Lens Blanks

While likely rarely needed, extra days can also be added on a per-blank basis; on the individual lens blank record, the lab can set additional days in the "Days to add" field:

Excluding Holidays and Non-Working Days

After setting up all of the different parameters in materials, lens styles, services and lens blanks, the lab may want to exclude certain days of the week, and holidays, from the calculation.  For example, if a job comes in on a Friday, and the date wanted parameters equal 2 days, and the lab does not work Saturdays and Sundays, the lab would want the due date to be the following Tuesday, rather than the following Sunday.  Under "Setup", "Holiday Dates", the lab can enter specific days which they will not work:

To set days of the week in which the lab is closed, there is a shortcut in the "1" key above; clicking it will prompt for a day of the week to include as a non-working day:


Entering the day of the week and the year, then clicking the add ("+") button, will add all applicable dates to the table: