Material Orders

A material order refers to a procurement process that requests specific physical items, materials, or goods from suppliers or customers. This process is fundamental for businesses that require raw materials, components, or finished products to manufacture goods or provide services. Material orders are commonly initiated through a Purchase Order (PO), which outlines the details of the requested items, including quantity, specifications, delivery dates, and pricing agreements.

Material orders play a critical role in supply chain management, ensuring that businesses have the necessary resources to operate efficiently and meet customer demand.

Upon receiving a material order, you will typically confirm the order through an Order Confirmation, verifying your acceptance of the terms and conditions outlined in the PO. This confirmation serves to confirm the agreement between you and your customer and allows for any necessary adjustments or modifications to the order before fulfillment.

When receiving a PO, some customers may require you to promptly acknowledge it with an order confirmation. However, this requirement varies, and while some customers may not mandate it, they might still allow you to confirm the order if needed. This serves several purposes:

• Confirming whether the PO is fully or partially accepted.
• Proposing any required modifications to the PO. If changes are suggested, await approval from the customer before proceeding with the updated version of the PO. This guarantees full alignment between you and the customer regarding the order specifics.
• Rejecting the PO if necessary.

Note that while the Order Confirmation is highly valuable and sometimes mandatory, some customers may not require it. Even if you send it, they may not integrate it into their internal system. Nonetheless, it's important to adhere to this process for those who do require it.
Additionally, for Material POs, you may need to provide a Ship Notice upon shipping the item(s). If multiple shipments are required to fulfill the order, you can generate several Ship Notices until all items have been dispatched.

For Service POs, you might be required to submit a Service Sheet. Please consult the Service PO section for detailed instructions on this process.

Always refer to the instructions provided by your customer to determine which specific documents are required for each order. This ensures smooth processing and fulfillment of orders by your customer's requirements.

Note: If you are using a Standard Account, you can also visit this page or watch this video playlist for dedicated instructions. 

Order Confirmation

Create a confirmation to inform the buyer regarding the order status.

Steps to Confirm Entire Order:

From the PO view, click Create Order Confirmation > Confirm Entire Order.

1. Navigate to the PO view.
2. Click on "Create Order Confirmation" followed by "Confirm Entire Order."
3. Input the unique Confirmation Number for identification purposes.
4. Optionally, specify Estimated Shipping Date or Estimated Delivery Date to apply to all line items. (You may group related line items or kit goods for streamlined processing).
5. Proceed to the next step by clicking "Next."
6. Review the order confirmation thoroughly.
7. Upon confirmation, click "Submit" to finalize the process.

Reject Entire Order

1. From the PO view, click Create Order Confirmation > Reject Entire Order.
   
2. Enter the Confirmation and some comments.
   
3. Click Reject Order.

Once the order confirmation is submitted, the Order Status will display as Rejected.

Note: your customer might not allow you to reject Orders for business or technical reasons. In such cases, the option to reject will be greyed out.

Update Line Items

1. From the PO view, click Create Order Confirmation > Update Line Item.
   
2. Fill in the requested information (the same as for the Confirm All option).
   
3. Scroll down to view the line items and enter the relevant values. Depending on the field(s) you fill in, the Details button will display different options. 
   
4. Confirm – Amount of confirmed items. Clicking on Details allows you to enter the line and add/update other details (reference #, price...)
   
5. Backorder – Items are backordered. Once they are available, generate another order confirmation to confirm.
   
6. Reject – Enter a reason these items are rejected.

Once you're done, click on Next. Then review the Confirmation before clicking Submit. 

If you want to change the purchase order, you must typically wait for your customer to update it by sending a revised order. Subsequently, as a form of acknowledgment, you can generate a final PO confirmation to validate your satisfaction with the revised version. If you don't confirm, you will be unable to process the order.

Update Line Items: Confirm/Update Details

1. Enter the quantity in the Confirm data entry field. 
   
2. Click Details to enter the details regarding the price change.
   
3. Enter:
   
4. Updated price - Unit Price field
   
5. Item substitutions - Supplier Part field 
   
6. Comments regarding the price change
   
7. Update description - Description
   
8. Click OK when done.

Note: each customer relationship might apply different transaction rules and make some fields not editable

Update Line Items: Backorder

1. Enter the quantity back ordered in the Backorder data entry field. 
   
2. Click Details to enter Comments and Estimated Shipping and Delivery Dates for the backordered items on the Status Details page.
   
3. Click OK when done.

Update Line Items: Reject

1. Enter the quantity in the Reject data entry field to reject the item.
2. Click Details to enter a reason for the rejection in the Comments field on the Status Details page.
3. Click OK when done.

Update Line Items: Multiple Changes

Continue to update the status for each line item on the purchase order. Once finished, click Next to proceed to the review page.

1. Review the order confirmation > click Submit. Your order confirmation is sent to your buyer.
2. The Order Status will display as Partially Confirmed/Backordered/Rejected if items were not fully confirmed, back ordered, or rejected.
3. Click Done

Adding Attachments

If your customer permits, you can add attachments to your PO Confirmation. Simply browse your computer for the relevant file(s) and click on Add Attachment. 

The total size of all attachments cannot exceed 10 MB.

Ship Notice

Create a shipping notification to inform customers about the current status of their order. 

Create Ship Notice

Initiate a Ship Notice once items are prepared for shipping. It's possible to send multiple Ship Notices per Purchase Order (PO).

1. Click on "Create Ship Notice" to proceed.

2. Verify Shipping Details:

   1. Ensure accuracy in both the "Ship From" and "Deliver To" information.

   2. If necessary, update the information by selecting "Update Address". Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory.

3. Click "OK" to confirm and proceed with the notification.

   Note: When you decide to create a shipping notice for the expedited quantity, the status of the purchase order will be updated to Partially Shipped.

Please adhere to specific instructions provided by the customer regarding the required information to be included in Ship Notices

Header – Shipping, Tracking and Transport Information

1. Fill out the requested information on the form. The Packing Slip ID is any number you use to identify the Ship Notice.
   
2. Choose Carrier Name and then Tracking # and Shipping Method will appear.
   
3. Delivery Terms and other transportation details can be included on all Ship Notices to support a broader range of shipping information collaboration.
   

The information you need to provide depends on your existing business processes and the transaction rules set up by your customer. 

Line Item Details

1. Scroll down to view line item information and update the quantity shipped for each line item.
   
2. Update Ship Qty to reflect the quantity being shipped.
   
3. Click Next to proceed to review your Ship Notice.
   
4. After reviewing your Ship Notice, click Submit to send Ship Notice to your customer.
   
5. After submitting your Ship Notice, the Order Status will be updated to Shipped. Submitted Ship Notices can be viewed from the Fulfilment tab or by clicking the link under the Related Documents from the PO View.
   
6. Click Done.

Note: Ship Notices provide improved communications to help avoid unnecessary calls to the order support department.

Goods Receipt

Some customers will send you a Goods Receipt Notice (GRN) to confirm they effectively received the shipped goods. This typically triggers the invoicing/payment process.

What is a Goods Receipt Notice

When enabled, GRNs inform you of what your customer has received in their system from the shipment you sent. The GRN may be sent for informational purposes only, but it can also be necessary for suppliers to generate invoices for the actual goods received. It often serves as the trigger for the invoicing process. In some cases, the 'Create Invoice' button will remain inactive until a GRN is received.

Configuring Notifications for Goods Receipt:

To ensure timely invoicing, suppliers can configure notifications for Goods Receipt Notices. Follow these steps:

• Navigate to Electronic Order Routing.
• Select 'Other doc types'.
• Choose 'Receipt'.
• Enter up to five email addresses to receive notifications about received goods.
• Save the changes.

PO Status Updates:

When goods receipts are enabled, some additional PO statuses are also available. Similar to the 'Shipped' status, when a GRN is received, the PO status will change to 'Partially Received' or 'Received'.

Locating Goods Receipts

You can find Goods Receipts under the Fulfillment tab.

Click on the Receipt number to open it and display the details.

This content provides clear guidance on how to confirm, update, and reject your purchase orders, as well as create ship notices for your material POs. To better understand these procedures in practice, you can access the links below:

These resources provide a practical insight into the mentioned processes. Feel free to explore them to deepen your understanding