Product Change

Newspapers that own multiple publications may have a situation where, due to delivery or market considerations, subscribers of one pub need to be shifted to another pub. Obviously, making such a switch is a time-consuming process. However, by using this option, Product Change, you can save time and minimize data entry mistakes.

Product Change switches active or temp stopped subscribers from one publication (the “from” product) to another (the “to” product), based on delivery schedule, billing method, and route/district. A different delivery schedule and billing method can be specified for the “to” product, and the appropriate transactions are created to accomplish the switch. Both route and mail delivered subscribers can be shifted to the new publication.

Note: Product Change is a powerful tool. Please read the documentation below thoroughly before running this utility.

Transactions Created by Product Change

Several different transactions may be created by Product Change, including starts, stops, and transfers. The following table describes the transactions and the role they play in the publication switch.

Transaction	Description of transaction
Perm Stop	A perm stop transaction for the “from” publication will be created for each subscriber.
Start	A start transaction for the “to” publication will be created for each subscriber (unless the subscriber already has an active or temp stopped subscription with the “to” publication). The route will be determined by consulting the router.
Temp Stop	If the subscriber is temp stopped on the “from” publication, an equivalent temp stop will be created for the “to” publication (unless the subscriber already has an active subscription with the “to” publication).
Transfer Out Transfer In	If the subscriber is office pay in both the “from” and “to” publications a transfer out will be created for the “from” publication, and a transfer in for the “to” publication.
Billing Change	If the billing method entered for the “to” publication is different than the one specified for the “from” publication, a billing change transaction will be created for the “to” publication.
Delivery Schedule Change	If the delivery schedule entered for the “to” publication is different than the one specified for the “from” publication, a delivery schedule change transaction will be created for the “to” publication.

Special Considerations for Product Change

Before running Product Change, please take the following considerations into account:

• Because Product Change uses the router to determine the new route for each subscriber, you must have the router defined for the “to” product.

• The router does not need to be defined for mail subscribers. If the subscriber’s label group exists for the “to” publication, they will be assigned this label group, otherwise the label group will be determined by the subscriber’s Zip Code using Zip Label Group setup.

• Subscribers with future non-monetary transactions (for example, a delivery schedule change, billing change, or stop and restart with donation) will not be switched; instead, they will be written to an exception report. Subscribers with payments or available refunds will be switched, and the payment or refund will be taken into consideration in the transfer in transaction created for the “to” product.

• Subscribers currently in grace will be switched, but the grace amounts will not be transferred to the “to” product. Instead, the subscribers will be written to the exception report, and the grace amounts must be manually handled (if necessary).

• The subscriber’s rate will be transferred with the subscriber, unless the rate is not valid with the “to” publication. In that case, the subscriber will be rerated.

• If you have the billing method for the “to” publication set to office pay, but a route does not allow office pay subscribers, these subscribers will become carrier collect.

• If a subscriber already has an active or temp stopped subscription on the “to” publication, Product Change will only change the delivery schedule, based on the Product Change Setup option.

• Publishing runs for both the “to” and “from” products must be closed before this utility is run.

Running Product Change

To switch subscribers from one publication to another:

• If you have occupants that subscribe to both publications, you will need to specify how their delivery schedule should be changed in Product Change Setup.

• Select Product Change from the Subscription/Address menu.

  
• Select Add and complete the following fields. We recommend that before you do the actual product change, you run this option with Report Only set to “y” so that the exception report can be viewed for possible problems.

Field	Type	What to enter
EFFECTIVE DATE	date	Enter the date on which the product switch should take place. Transactions created by the process will have this date.
FROM PRODUCT	setup	Indicate the publication that subscribers should be switched from.
DELIVERY SCHEDULE	setup	Indicate the delivery schedule that subscribers should be switched from. Only subscribers with this delivery schedule for the “from” product will be switched.
BILLING METHOD	predefined	Indicate the billing method that subscribers should be switched from (carrier collect, office pay, paid comp, or unpaid comp). Only subscribers with this billing method for the “from” product will be switched.
TO PRODUCT	setup	Indicate the publication to which subscribers should be switched.
DELIVERY SCHEDULE	setup	Indicate the delivery schedule that subscribers should be switched to. They will have a subscription to the “to” publication delivered on days defined by this delivery schedule.
BILLING METHOD	predefined	Indicate the billing method the subscribers should have with the “to” publication.
SOURCE, SUBSOURCE	setup	Enter the source code and, if applicable, subsource code that should be used for any transactions created by this utility.
REASON CODES	setup	Enter the reason codes for the different transactions that may be created by this utility: start, permanent stop, temporary stop, delivery schedule change, billing method change, transfer out and transfer in.
SELECTION METHOD	predefined	Indicate whether subscribers should be picked for the publication switch based on district, route, or label group. Note that district and route will change route delivered subscribers only, and label group will change mail delivered subscribers only.
SELECTION	setup	Enter the district, route or label group (depending on what is entered in Selection Method) to base the switch on, or enter “*” to multi-select districts or routes. Only subscribers within these routes, districts or label groups will be selected for the product change.
REPORT ONLY	yes/no	If you set this field to “y”, the product change will not take place—only the exception report will be created. We recommend that you initially run the utility with this field set to “y”, review the exception report, and then run it again.

• Select Continue to begin processing. Subscribers of the “from” product assigned to the delivery schedule, billing method and routes, districts or label groups entered will be switched to the “to” product. As part of the process, the Product Change Utility report will be created, detailing the subscribers who had their publication switched by the process. The standard view/print options are available.

• Run Rerouting for the “to” product.

The Product Change Utility Report

The Product Change Utility report lists successful product changes, processing errors, and other information about the process. The report has seven distinct reporting areas:

• Successful Change. Lists subscriptions that were carrier collect in the “from” publication and are now carrier collect in the “to” publication.

• Transfer. Lists subscriptions that were office pay in the “from” publication and are now office pay in the “to” publication (Transfer Out and Transfer In transactions will be created for these subscribers).

• Transfer Grace. This is the same scenario as “Transfer”, but the subscriber was in grace in the “from” publication. No Transfer transactions will be created, and the grace amount must be manually entered.

• Grace. Lists subscriptions that were office pay in the “from” publication and in grace and are now carrier collect in the “to” publication. The grace amount will have to be handled manually.

• Refund Due. Lists subscriptions that were office pay in the “from” publication (and had a balance) and are now carrier collect in the “to” publication. An Available Refund transaction will be created when stop transaction is processed. The refunds must be entered manually.

• Pending Transaction. Lists subscribers that had pending transactions and were therefore not processed.

• Processing Error. Lists subscribers that were not processed because of some error (other than a pending transaction).

Example—Product Change Utility Report