This article describes how to create custom product categories and assign products to those custom categories. 

Product Category Customization User Guide

 

All products are assigned to a Product Category. Many attributes in Optimal Blue can be configured differently by Product Category:

• Markups
• Dynamic Markups
• Fee Schedules
• LO Compensation
• Rate/Price Selection Options
• Consumer Quick Quote Groups
• Branch Margins
• QM Policies

Custom Product Categories can be created to more granularly apply these attributes. For example, all Conforming Fixed products are grouped into the Conforming Fixed category. However, the Conforming Fixed category also includes products such as High Balance and HARP products. These products may have different attributes and may need a custom category. Products can be removed from the default category and separated into a custom product category.

NOTE: You only need to configure the Product Category Customization one time for your system. You do not configure the attributes differently by investor/entity.

Creating a Custom Product Category

1. Log into the Configuration site.
2. Select the Product Category Customization option from the Activity Selection menu.

3. Configure the product category attributes, as described below:

• Display Name—In this field, default product categories are read-only. 75 custom categories are available where you can enter the name of your custom product category. In the image above, “Custom Assignment 1” has been re-labeled to “High Balance”.
• Screen Order—By default, the columns displayed appear in the order they are displayed on the Product Category Customization Screen. You can change the order of the product categories by changing the values in this column.
• Visible— All default categories are set to “Yes” by default. To hide or disable a product category, choose “No” from the drop-down list. Custom categories are set to “No” by default. To utilize a custom category, choose “Yes” from the dropdown list.

4. After making changes, click Save at the bottom of the screen.

NOTE: The system determines which products belong in each category by their Product Filters. After you have created a custom product category, you must associate products to the category.

 See the following Changing a Product Category section for further details.

Changing a Product Category

Although each product has a default category determined by the Search Filters applied to the product, you can also change the default category. You can change the product category for an individual product or you can change the product category for several products at once. To change the product category for an individual product, follow the steps below for Product Categorization. To change the product category for multiple products, see the Bulk Category Assignment section.

Product Categorization

1. Select the appropriate investor from the Entity Selection screen.
2. Click Manage Products from the Activity Selection menu.
3. Select the product you want to change.
4. Click Product Preferences and Filters.
5. Select the Product Categorization tab.
6. Select the new category from the Override Assignment drop down list.
7. Click Save.

Note: The Override Assignment drop down list will only display categories set to visible in the Product Category Customization screen. This drop-down list will also show any new Display Names that have been previously configured.

Bulk Category Assignment

To change the product category for multiple products, follow the steps below.

1. Select the appropriate investor from the Entity Selection screen.
2. Click Bulk Category Assignment from the Activity Selection menu.
3. At the top of the page, click on the drop-down list and select the context for which you would like to re-assign the product category.
4. In the product tree, find the product set for which you like to change the product category. Choose the new product category from the New Configuration drop-down list.
5. The new product category will show updated in the Current Configuration column.
6. The page will auto-save your changes.

Configuring Attributes to a Product Category

After you have created a custom product category and attached products to the new category, you have the flexibility to assign attributes to the new category.

For example, separate markups can be assigned to the new category. From the Markup Schedules screen, create a separate markup schedule specific to the new category. Then, in the Product Category Assignments section, the new custom category will display in the Product Category column. Attach the markup schedule to the new product category.