All purchase orders pass through the following stages:
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Initiating the purchase order
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Approving the purchase order
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Sending the purchase order to the distributor
A receiving transaction is required at the receiving location when the items actually arrive at the destination.
Initiating a Purchase Order
Purchase orders are initiated by inventory requests configured to be fulfilled by a purchase order (the other option is to fulfill via a transfer). The inventory request specifies the SKUs to be ordered, the distributor, the location, and the respective quantities. When the inventory request is approved, the purchase order is created and opened in the Add/Edit Purchase Order form.
The purchase order must be saved at this point and then submitted for approval before the transaction can be completed. This is described in Approving a Purchase Order below.
Approving a Purchase Order
Purchase Orders require approval if the Inventory Approval Plan specifies approval is required. Inventory Approval Plans may be configured on a location-by-location basis or be inherited from a parent location.
If approval is required, the plan may specify one or several approvers. When multiple approvers are required, the purchase order must be approved in the order set by the Inventory Approval Plan.
To start the approval process, a user with the proper authority must submit the purchase order for approval from either the Pending Purchase Orders form or from a purchase order search results form.
After the purchase order is submitted for approval, the purchase order alert icon in the lower right part of the IDI Desktop Client form will flash when the designated first approver is logged in to the Client.
The designated first approver can access all purchase orders pending their approval by double-clicking the alert icon, or using Purchase Order Search. From either one of these forms, the purchase order must be opened in the Edit Inventory Purchase Order form which lists all SKUs for the selected purchase order and the respective quantities. The approver must approve (or reject) each SKU individually. Each approver has the option to adjust the approved quantity up or down. When all SKUs have been approved (or rejected), the approver must save the purchase order. This triggers the purchase order alert icon for the next approver in the sequence. After all designated approvers have approved the purchase order, the purchase order can be completed by marking it as sent.
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