MANAGING
PURCHASE ORDER
SUGGESTIONS
ALTTECHSOLUTIONS.COM
IN EPICOR AND VANTAGE THERE ARE SEVERAL FIELDS AVAILABLE TO THE BUYER
TO ASSIST WITH THE MANAGEMENT OF PURCHASE ORDER SUGGESTIONS.
BELOW YOU WILL FIND A LISTING OF EACH FIELD, THEIR PURPOSE AND HOW
THEY CAN AFFECT THE CREATION OF SUGGESTIONS.
SUGGESTIONS INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING TYPES:
NEW - THIS IS NEW DEMAND AND REQUIRES A NEW PO
CANCEL - SUPPLY EXCEEDS DEMAND AND THEREFORE NO NEED FOR AN EXISTING OPEN PO
INCREASE - INCREASE THE QUANTITY TO MEET THE CALCULATED DEMAND
DECREASE - DECREASE THE QUANTITY TO MEET THE CALCULATED DEMAND
EXPEDITE - PULL IN THE PROMISE DATE FROM THE SUPPLIER TO OBTAIN THE GOODS SOONER
POSTPONE - PUSH OUT THE PROMISE DATE FROM THE SUPPLIER TO OBTAIN THE GOODS LATER
ALTTECHSOLUTIONS.COM
FIRST, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE MRP CALCULATIONS WORK
WITHOUT ANY PARAMETERS TO ADJUST THE MRP LOGIC. THE BASIC PREMISE
OF MRP IS TO ALIGN SUPPLY AND DEMAND BOTH IN QUANTITY AND TIMING.
IF YOU HAVE DEMAND FOR 5 EACH OF A GIVEN PART NUMBER ON MONDAY,
TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, MRP WILL CREATE 5 NEW
SUGGESTIONS TO ORDER 5 EACH AND HAVE THEM DELIVERED ON EACH OF
THE 5 DAYS. IF THERE ARE OPEN POS THAT ARE NOT IN ALIGNMENT WITH
THESE DEMANDS THEN THE BUYER COULD GET INCREASE, DECREASE,
EXPEDITE OR POSTPONE SUGGESTIONS. IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT
MRP LOGIC IS EXPECTING ALL SUGGESTIONS TO BE ACTED ON.
THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF FIELDS THAT CAN HELP WITH
MANAGEMENT OF SUGGESTIONS.
IN THE PART TABLE ON THE PART/PLANT TAB YOU WILL FIND:
DEFAULT SUPPLIER: ALLOWS SUGGESTIONS TO BE GROUPED BY SUPPLIER. THE
SUPPLIER CAN BE CHANGED ON THE SUGGESTION, IF REQUIRED.
LEAD-TIME: THE NUMBER OF DAYS IN PRODUCTION DAYS IT TAKES FOR THE SUPPLIER
LEAD
TO DELIVER THE PRODUCT. IF YOUR CALENDAR IS SET UP AS 5-DAY WEEKS AND YOUR
PRODUCT TAKES 4 WEEKS TO ARRIVE THEN THE LEAD-TIME SHOULD BE SET TO 20 DAYS.
LEAD-TIME IS USED TO SUGGEST TO THE BUYER WHEN A PO NEEDS TO BE PLACED TO
ALLOW THE SUPPLIER ADEQUATE TIME TO DELIVER THE PRODUCT.
MINIMUM ORDER QTY:
QT THIS IS THE MINIMUM ORDER QUANTITY YOUR SUPPLIER
REQUIRES YOU TO BUY. IT CAN ALSO BE USED FOR PRODUCT THAT COMES IN A
STANDARD SIZE. ONE EXAMPLE IS IF YOU ARE BUYING METAL IN 12-FOOT LENGTHS AND
STOCKING IT IN INCHES, THEN YOUR MINIMUM QUANTITY WOULD BE 144 INCHES.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE WOULD BE IF YOU WERE BUYING ROLLS OF PRODUCT. IF YOU ARE
BUYING 500 FOOT ROLLS OF WIRE, THEN SET THE MINIMUM TO 500 SO THE
SUGGESTION IS FOR A WHOLE ROLL.
BUYER: IF YOUR PURCHASING ORGANIZATION HAS MORE THAN ONE BUYER THIS FIELD
CAN BE USED TO ASSIGN RESPONSIBILITY TO AN INDIVIDUAL BUYER. WHEN THE BUYER
LOOKS AT EITHER NEW OR CHANGE SUGGESTIONS HE OR SHE CAN PULL IN ONLY THE
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE PARTS THEY ARE ASSIGNED. THIS SAME SEGREGATION CAN BE
ACCOMPLISHED WITH PART CLASS.
ALTTECHSOLUTIONS.COM
IN THE PART TABLE ON THE PART/PLANT/PLANNING TAB YOU
WILL FIND:
MULTIPLE: MIN/MAX/MULTIPLE IS MAINLY USED FOR SETTING JOB LOT SIZES BUT
MU
MULTIPLE CAN BE USED FOR PURCHASING SUGGESTIONS. IN THE EXAMPLE ABOVE
WHERE WE DISCUSSED SETTING A MINIMUM ORDER QTY FOR WIRE AT 500 FEET,
MULTIPLE CAN BE USED TO ENSURE WIRE IS ALWAYS BOUGHT IN COMPLETE ROLLS. A
MINIMUM ORDER QTY OF 500 AND A MULTIPLE OF 500 WILL AFFECT THE SUGGESTIONS
SUCH THAT IF WE NEED 250 FEET OF WIRE WE WILL GET A SUGGESTION TO BUY 500 FEET
BUT IF WE NEED 750 FEET OF WIRE WE WILL GET A SUGGESTION TO BUY 1000 FEET OR 2
COMPLETE ROLLS.
ROLLS
DAYS OF SUPPLY: DAYS OF SUPPLY AGGREGATES DEMAND AND CUTS DOWN ON THE
NUMBER OF SUGGESTIONS TO MANAGE. IN MY EXAMPLE AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS
DOCUMENT WHERE WE HAD DEMAND ON 5 DAYS OF THE WEEK AND WE WERE GETTING
5 SUGGESTIONS, DAYS OF SUPPLY CAN AFFECT THE NUMBER OF SUGGESTIONS WE DEAL
WITH. IF WE HAD SET THE DAYS OF SUPPLY TO 7 DAYS, THEN THE EFFECT WOULD BE
THIS: WE WOULD GET ONE SUGGESTION FOR 25 PIECES DUE ON MONDAY. DAYS OF
SUPPLY AGGREGATES THE DEMAND AND SUGGESTS BRINGING IT IN ON THE EARLIEST
DEMAND DATE. UNLIKE THE LEAD-TIME FIELD THE DAYS OF SUPPLY FIELD IS IN
CALENDAR DAYS (I.E. 4 WEEKS WOULD BE 30 DAYS.).
RESCHEDULE IN DELTA: AS MRP ALIGNS SUPPLY WITH DEMAND IT WILL ALIGN DATES
WHICH MAY RESULT IN AN EXPEDITE SUGGESTIONS. IF THE DEMAND IS ON MONDAY AND
THE PO IS SCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY, MRP WILL SUGGEST THAT THE PO BE PULLED INTO
MONDAY. THESE TYPES OF SUGGESTIONS CAN BE ANNOYING. BY SETTING A NUMBER OF
DAYS IN THIS FIELD, MRP WILL SUPPRESS THE EXPEDITE SUGGESTIONS. SO IF THIS FIELD
HAS 5 DAYS, THEN THE SUGGESTION TO PULL IN FROM TUESDAY TO MONDAY WILL NOT BE
CREATED. USING THIS FIELD CAN HELP CUT DOWN ON THE NUMBER OF SUGGESTIONS A
BUYER HAS TO REVIEW AND TAKE ACTION ON.
RESCHEDULE OUT DELTA: WORKS THE SAME AS THE RESCHEDULED IN DELTA, BUT
RESCHEDULE OUT DELTA SUPPRESSES POSTPONE SUGGESTIONS. USING THESE TWO
FIELDS IN CONJUNCTION WITH ONE ANOTHER CAN SIGNIFICANTLY CUT DOWN ON THE
NUMBER OF EXPEDITE AND POSTPONE SUGGESTIONS A BUYER HAS TO MANAGE.
THE BUYER HAS THE CAPABILITY ON THE PO ITSELF TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF
SUGGESTIONS HE OR SHE HAS TO MANAGE. THERE ARE TWO CHECKBOXES ON THE
RELEASE TAB OF ANY GIVEN LINE ON A PO THAT ALLOW FOR LOCKING CERTAIN
INFORMATION.
LOCKING QUANTITY: WILL SUPPRESS CANCEL, INCREASE AND DECREASE SUGGESTIONS.
LOCK SCHEDULE: WILL SUPPRESS EXPEDITE AND POSTPONE SUGGESTIONS.
THESE TIPS AND TRICKS WILL HELP MAKE PURCHASE ORDER MANAGEMENT MORE
SEAMLESS BETWEEN SUPPLIERS, PURCHASERS, AND YOU, DECREASING UNNECESSARY
STEPS AND MAKING YOU AND YOUR SYSTEMS MORE EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE.
ALTTECHSOLUTIONS.COM
ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS
BRINGS THE BEST OF THE CLOUD TO
MANUFACTURERS THROUGH SOLUTIONS,
SOFTWARE, AND SUPPORT THAT ENABLES
GROWTH, COLLABORATION, AND BETTER USE
OF TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS. WITH OVER
700 CUSTOMERS WORLDWIDE AND A VAST
TEAM OF MANUFACTURING
MANU
AND
TECHNOLOGY EXPERTS, ALTERNATIVE HELPS
CUSTOMERS BE MORE EFFICIENT, EFFECTIVE,
AND COMPETITIVE.
ALTTECHSOLUTIONS.COM