Purchase Order Processing - Logistics - In Depth

The de Facto S5 Purchase Order Processing module is fully integrated with the other Logistics Suite modules of Stock Control, Sales Order Processing and Transport, as well as the Financial Suite and Production, Costing and CRM modules. The Purchase Order Processing module benefits from all the key features found across the Logistics module.

Suggested orders can be based on re-order formulae and then modified prior to saving. This can either be done for a single supplier or for a range of suppliers, products and warehouses.

Within de Facto S5, sophisticated re-order formulas can be created and assigned to individual or groups of products. These formulas can involve any available fields of data such as actual stock, minimum, maximum, day's stock, shelf life, etc. Additionally, new fields can be defined via a series of specific queries, for instance, to enable the last 60 days sales to be used, or the quotation activity over the last 4 weeks, or the sales for the same 60 day period last year.

This highly flexible facility allows products on a purchase order to be easily sold to customers, and the stock receipts to be held specifically against the sales order. Options are provided for automating direct shipments, adding to existing purchase orders and exclusively linking orders.

The purchase order processing module provides a comprehensive way to handle large contract orders, which have multiple call-offs. Each time a call-off is made from the original contract it will inherit the pricing from the contract, although this can be updated if required. At all times the original and contract balances are maintained and reports can be run on the state of the contract.

Contracts and call-offs can be linked on a back-to-back basis to equivalent sales orders. As with all other types of logistics transactions, they can also be linked to the job-costing module for performing detailed contract costing.

The scheduling function offers another option for the handling of large orders. Scheduled orders differ from contract orders as they allow forward deliveries to be planned. Each delivery will be given its own quantity and requested and promised dates which will be used in the forward planning of stock levels.

The de Facto S5 price and discount structures offer a comprehensive series of options. Facilities include either quantity breaks or multiple bands within a price list. These can be set as net prices, discounts or mark-ups. There are additional facilities for total order volume, weight or value-based discounts or bands. Discounts or bands may also be applied to subtotals by product groups within an order, based on volume, weight or value.

Price groups and fixed discount groups can also be applied to individual order lines or group totals within an order, and permit customer price variations by product group. Multiple Price lists linked to a customer allow supplier special prices or price groups to over-ride general price lists.

All price and discount lists can have multiple versions, thus maintaining a fully detailed pricing history, plus additional facilities for using validity dates on pricing. The combination of pricing hierarchies and validity dates allows the handling of special offers or promotions, including over-lapping promotions.

Price lists can be held in any currency, and discounts can be transferred to purchase orders as either net prices, or gross price and discount. A series of parameters control the application or accumulation of multiple discounts on the same order. Posting controls allow separate accounting for discounts, if required.

Linked price lists allow selling price lists to be linked to buying price lists and formulae applied for fixed price or percentage mark-up of base prices, quantity breaks and band prices. Automated facilities exist for the maintenance of price lists from sales orders so that re-negotiated prices can automatically update the price list.

To assist with maintenance of price lists a number of powerful new features have been added to S5. These include an option which allows the use of custom scripts to handle the updating of prices within a list, between multiple lists or to set other data such as the priority supplier. A new command in the price list window allows the importing and updating of new prices into the current displayed version of the price list.

In some distribution scenarios, suppliers will give special prices to their distributor to support their sales to a specific customer. This normally wreaks havoc with gross margin reporting within the distributor's business. The de Facto S5 logistics suite offers a solution whereby customers can not only have their own sales prices but also a cost price for the product.

de Facto S5 will then carry out all of the complex accrual accounting behind the process, to ensure that both management accounts and margin reporting are accurately maintained.

An Outside Processing facility has been added to S5, aimed at anyone who converts, manufactures or in any way changes a product using Outside Contractors. de Facto S5 now provides an integrated method for handling works orders which involve the outside processing of raw materials via a purchase order, so that within a single transaction you can record the added cost of the outside processing.

The de Facto S5 purchase order processing module provides comprehensive EDI /XML facilities. EDI can be handled for incoming deliveries, delivery schedules and outgoing orders and goods receipt confirmations.

de Facto S5 is fully eServices enabled. As such, a supplier could be given access to demand planning data, quality information or product data / pricing via the web site.

The supplier record allows the specification of all of the pricing and discounting options to be applicable to the supplier as well as the suppliers own product code and description lists where required. Other data such as default delivery schedule, nominal interface, and order entry requirements such as compulsory order number and contact can also be specified.

Delivery schedules provide a mechanism for de Facto S5 to automatically calculate shipment charges based on the schedule a supplier or order is linked to, their distance band and the shipment weight, volume or value.

Each purchase order can hold order dates, requested and promised delivery dates. These delivery dates can be varied by order line if required, using the scheduled orders. The dates are used to organise the forward receipts plan held by the expediting system.

The de Facto S5 purchase order processing module provides the normal facilities for transaction entries including quotations and orders. User defined transaction types may be also be used. These can dictate the data entry methods, processing options, document printing and accounting treatment.

The purchase order-processing module allows the creation of multiple quotation requests or recording of quotations received. These are done using all of the same facilities used by purchase orders. Quotations can be converted to orders, with the order maintaining a link back to the originating quotation. Quoted prices are also recorded directly against the product on the supplier details.

Options are available for all types of transactions. These allow the required fields to be specified by user and transaction type. These facilities are designed to speed up repetitive data entry tasks. Template-based order entry can be configured to allow standard product lists to be used either globally or per supplier. This option can speed up data entry tremendously for certain types of business. Templates can be based on previous orders, price lists, special template orders or a simple list held on the supplier record. During order entry the user always has clear sight of current and free stock levels by warehouse.

A further useful option shared by all de Facto S5 transaction types is the ability to have both internal and external references as well as a unique system number for all transactions. Descriptions and notes facilities are available at both header and detail level on all transactions. User-entered reference and description data can be easily corrected after posting.

de Facto S5 allows warning and handling notes to be defined per product, supplier and supplier/product combination. These notes can automatically be copied through onto purchase order notes for document printing if required. Notes are available as either document header or footer notes or attached to the individual order line. Separate notes can be held for printing on orders, goods received notes, etc.

There is also the ability to define different formats for product notes, using stored product information and user-entered text. These can be automatically printed on the purchase documentation.

The de Facto S5 purchase order processing module can be configured to suit many different work flows and offers very flexible control over when and how the different stages of processing are carried out. Each stage can be carried out for either an individual order or using the batch process screens on a selection of orders.

Goods Receiving is carried out either from the individual order or from the batch process option. This allows the user to confirm the products they have received, including any tracking details such as lot numbers and variable data such as weight on catch-weighted items. They can also record the delivery paperwork details and delivery costs where applicable.

Goods received notes can be held as unconfirmed with expected details held against them for businesses that have a concept of goods on water. Their status can then be clearly seen within the de Facto expediting function.

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Goods Received

de Facto S5 allows multiple Goods Received Notes to be processed against a single purchase order. Each Goods Received Notes can handle part and complete shipments, price changes, batch control data entry, quality control data entry, and landed cost confirmation and allocation.

The scheduling function offers another option for the handling of large orders. Scheduled orders differ from contract orders as they allow forward deliveries to be planned. Each delivery will be given its own quantity and requested and promised dates which will be used in the forward planning of stock levels.

There are also options for user-defined landed costs and flexible apportionment. These can be used to apply uplifts based on a value, weight, quantity or volume basis. The landed costs are automatically accrued for.

The new Advanced Landed and Delivery Costs facilities provide for unlimited accrual or notional accounting in respect of delivered and landed costs. Features are provided to calculate and analyse any number of landed costs, based around standard contract terms. This feature is especially important in the sales order and purchase order processing modules.

As with the other processes, Purchase Invoicing can be carried out on a single order or on a range via the batch processing facility. The feature allows the matching of invoices against confirmed goods received notes. Price variances can be handled and if required written back to stock and cost of sales. When accepted, purchase ledger invoice entries are automatically created. These can then have further entries added to them and can be individually or batch posted.

All transaction types, when posted, are immediately updated to the respective ledgers including the nominal ledger. Automated postings for such items as stock, cost of sales, work in progress, accrual accounting are made. All postings are defined via sophisticated "Nominal interfaces" which control the selection of nominal accounts and cost centres for stock accounts or adjustment codes etc.

de Facto S5 offers standard facilities for defining multiple levels of analysis codes on all types of records and transactions at both header and detail levels. These codes can have user-definable titles and choice lists. Many standard reports can then use these analysis codes to select and sort data.

The Purchase Order Processing module features new integrated processes for the handling of supplier returns and credit processing, including the ability to pick, pack, dispatch and process credits from suppliers.

Payment costing facilities for those dealing with open price orders have been extended. This release provides flexible user configurable costing methods, which are able to look at the underlying sales and production data connected to the product being paid for.

The term and acronym are somewhat misleading, arising out of the industry misuse of the original function of providing Advance Shipping Notifications of goods 'on their way', something De Facto has long handled on sales deliveries using EDI to major supermarket distribution centres, for example.

This new development allows the user to receive goods, unload them and put them away in the warehouse without knowing precisely where they came from. The process creates Goods Received Notes which can later be linked up against purchase orders, once the origin is known.

During this process the system creates 'ASN stock' which may be subject to normal warehouse movement functions but not sold, as the linking of the ASN to a GRN effectively establishes ownership and cost.

When a Sales Order Credit or Purchase Order credit is created using the 'Base On' function, a 'Linked Transactions' icon is displayed on the transaction header. The linked transaction window lists the transaction upon which it was based and a 'Go To Transaction' button opens the related transaction.

When a product has been assigned to a Metrics group this information is now indicated in all sales and purchase order transactions. In the transaction detail line window if the selected product belongs to a Metrics group the letter 'M', coloured blue, will be displayed near the top of the window. Clicking on the 'M' opens a window displaying the metric details for that product.

Each of the categories listed below will have multiple versions exploiting the many options that the standard reports provide.

In addition to Purchase Order specific reports, de Facto S5 provides a comprehensive series of Standard Reports, many of which can be easily parameter driven by the user. S5 further provides the Vistas feature, which are a powerful and easy way of selecting, sorting, displaying and working with data from either single or multiple tables.