The To Be Ordered program allows you to call up any items that are scheduled to be ordered, adjust the amount to be ordered, if desired, and then cut purchase orders. (For more detail about the Purchase Orders Entry program, click here.)
To access the To Be Ordered program...
From the menu at the top of the [i] Merchant Desktop, select Modules-Purchasing-To Be Ordered. The To Be Ordered screen appears.
This screen is a gateway where you can view or change any and all items that are scheduled to be ordered within [i] Merchant. You can also create Purchase Orders at this screen.
To locate items that are scheduled to be ordered using a basic search:
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Note: |
You can also use the Advanced Search option to find items. The Advanced Search is good for creating search templates that define more complex searches. Using the Advanced Search option is a good way to select items to place on Purchase Orders. For detailed information on Advanced Searches, please click here. |
In the Find Product By field, select a search criterion (for example, Description), then define the search in the field directly underneath. For a detailed tutorial on how to do a basic search, please click here.
Once you have defined your search and clicked on the Find button, a list of matches will appear in the grid at the bottom of the screen. (The coulmns in this grid can be altered and maintained using the Column Designer.) From this list, you can highlight an item and double-click on it, or, with the item highlighted, click on the Properties toolbar button. This takes you to the Product Properties screen, where you can change the to-be-ordered information, if necessary, and if you have security access to do so. (You can also change anything you want on the Product Properties screen for the selected item, apart from to-be-ordered information.)
The to-be-ordered information on the Product Properties screen has four columns: Quantity, Type, Vendor, and Comments.
Quantity is simply the quantity to be ordered.
Type is the to-be-ordered type for this particular order. Click on the binoculars icon to the right of the field under Type, and select a to-be-ordered type for the order (for example, you may have an order type of P for Publisher, V for Vendor, and so on). Select the one that makes the most sense.
At the Type Parameter screen, if needed, you can create a new Type or change the parameters for an existing one. For more information on how to set up and maintain basic parameter information, please click here.
The Vendor column is where you select which vendor you want to order this item from--for this particular order. If you need to view information on how to select a parameter in a code-driven field, please click here.
The Comment field is optional and allows you to key in any necessary note regarding the order of this item.
If you want to create a new row for this item while still on the Product Properties screen, click on the Add button in the To Be Ordered box. A new, blank row appears. You might want to create a different row (an additional order) if you wanted to order a certain quantity of the item from one vendor and a certain quantity from another vendor. Add as many rows (additional orders) for the item as you need.
(If you need to delete a row, click on the arrow directly to the left of it. The row will be highlighted in yellow. With the cursor still positioned over the arrow, right-click. A menu appears, with Delete Row being the only option. Select this option and confirm you wish to delete the row at the system prompt. The row will be deleted.)
Once you have looked at or changed or added to an order for an item, click on the Close toolbar button on the Product Properties screen. You will be prompted to save your changes. Save them if desired, then you will be returned to the To Be Ordered screen. Repeat this procedure for the items on your list, or create new search criteria and proceed.
The New toolbar button on the To Be Ordered screen allows you to view any product within your [i] Merchant system, whether it has an existing to-be-ordered quantity or not. Simply click on the New toolbar button, and the Find Product screen appears. Define your product search on the Find Product screen, select the item of items on the resulting list you want, then create orders for these items on the Product Properties screen, as described above. These items will now appear in searches for products that have an existing to-be-ordered amount.
You can create Purchase Orders directly from the To Be Ordered screen. Find the items you want to put on your PO. Use either the basic or advanced search method. The advanced method might be better if you want to put several items on the PO.
Once you have a list of items in the grid at the bottom of the To Be Ordered screen, you can either create a PO for every item on the list (that is, put every item on the same PO), or you can select specific items from the list and just put the selected items on the PO.
To select specific items:
Press the Control key on your keyboard and click on each of the items you want to place on the PO.
If you want all of the items in the list to be on the PO:
Don't highlight anything. Just proceed to the next step.
After selecting the items you want to be included on the PO (or if you want all of the items to be on the PO):
Click on the Cut Po toolbar icon on the To Be Ordered screen. The PO Process box appears. Several fields need to be filled in here for the PO to be cut.
The top portion of the PO Process box offers two choices: "Select all items in the list" and "Select only highlighted items". If you want all of the items listed back at the TBO screen to be included in the PO, then select "Select all items in the list". If you only want the items you selected to be included, then choose "Select only highlighted items".
The PO Prefix and Suffix fields are optional. Key in either a prefix or a suffix or both (such as MSF or 109 or whatever makes sense to you to help identify the PO)--or leave the fields blank. It's up to you.
The Vendor Selection field allows you to choose a different vendor from the one listed for the item(s) back on the list at the bottom of the To Be Ordered screen. If you want to keep the vendor(s) the same, just click on the circle to the left of "Scheduled". (If it is already filled in, simply leave it.) If this is the choice you make, you can leave the Vendor field blank.
Note:
Be aware that if you are creating a PO with multiple items on it and some of the items have different vendors listed on the To Be Ordered screen, you will be creating multiple POs if you choose the "Scheduled" option under Vendor Selection. If, for example, the items you selected to put on POs have three different vendors among them (on the To Be Ordered screen), and you select "Scheduled" under Vendor Selection, you will be creating three different POs, one for each of the vendors.
If you want to select a different vendor, or simply cut the PO just to one vendor, click on the circle to the left of "Specific". Then either key in the short name (code) of the vendor you want in the Vendor field or click on the binoculars icon to the right of the field, and then find the desired vendor via the Find Vendor program. By ordering all items from just this one vendor, you will be creating just one PO.
The Scheduled discount override field is optional. You can override the to-be-ordered discount percentage already set up in [i] Merchant for the applicable vendors (from the Vendor Discount Schedule in Vendor Properties), or you can leave this alone and use the discount percentage established in the Vendor Discount Schedule. If you want to override an existing discount, click on the circle to the left of "Override Scheduled Discount Percent," then key in the discount percentage you will be using for this PO in the field directly beneath it.
There are two fields for the PO's Header information. These are optional. The Buyer field allows you to place the individual buyer on the header of the PO. For example, if a certain employee is cutting this PO, his or her name can be put in the header. If you need to view information on how to select a parameter in a code-driven field, please click here.
In the Ship Method field, if you want, select the shipping method that will appear in the header of the PO you are creating. If you don't care whether or not the shipping method appears in the header, just leave it blank.
The Cancel Backorder option can either be checked or unchecked. If checked, items the vendor does not have on hand will be canceled from the PO. If unchecked, these items will be placed on backorder. Select whichever option makes the most sense to you.
In the Cancel Order Date field, select a date that is the cut-off point for the order. After this cut-off date, if the PO has not been fulfilled, it will be canceled. Either key in a date or click on the arrow to the right of the field. After clicking on the arrow, a mini-calendar appears. Simply select the date you want to use from this calender and it will automatically be brought into the Cancel Order Date field.
In the Request Ship Date field, select the date that you would like the items on the PO to be shipped. This defaults to the current date. Either key in the date or click on the arrow to the right of the field. After clicking on the arrow, a mini-calendar appears. Simply select the date you want to use from this calender and it will automatically be brought into the Request Ship Date field.
Once you have set up the PO Process box the way you want:
Click on the Use Purchasing Agent button at the bottom of the screen. This will take you to the Purchasing Agent program, and, in most cases, this is the avenue we would suggest you take.
or . . .
If you would rather not use the Purchasing Agent, you can click on "Begin creating POs now" to bypass the Purchasing Agent and create the POs. If you click on "Begin creating POs now," a message box may appear telling you that blank vendors will not be processed. This only applies if you selected "Scheduled" under Vendor Selection, and some of the items from the To Be Ordered screen did not have a vendor assigned to them. Click on OK. The Purchase Order is processed. You may want to process a PO in this manner if you have a specified discount and are buying from just one vendor. Otherwise, we would suggest using the Purchasing Agent.
Once a PO is processed using the "Begin creating POs now" option, you are automatically taken to the Find Purchase Order screen, where the PO(s) you just created are listed at the bottom of the screen. To view one of these POs, simply double-click on it, and you will be brought to the Purchase Order Properties screen. You can add to the PO here, or simply review the information on it. (Click here to read more on the PO Properties screen.) Close out of the PO Properties screen when you're finished reviewing the information
or . . .
Click on "Cancel creating POs" to abort the PO process altogether.
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Back at the TBO screen:
To use Grouping, click on the Grouping toolbar icon at the top of the screen.
To create a new Item for a selected product, click on the New Item toolbar icon.
To remove selected items from the list, highlight the items you want removed and click on the Remove toolbar icon.
To open the Buying Manager for selected items, highlight the desired items and click on the Buying toolbar icon. Please note, when accessing the Buying Manager from the TBO page, there is a selection in the Buying Manager that determines which view of the Buying Manager opens--the general screen, with the list of selected items, or the detailed screen, showing the details for the first item selected.
To choose which view you want to see first when you access the Buying Manager from the TBO screen, click on the View menu selection once in Buying Manager. Then select "From TBO Start on" . . . A submenu will display with yout two options--"List of Items" and "Edit Item Detail." Simply check the one you want as the default. This can be changed at any time.