Operational Considerations

Types of Orders

You may place orders in writing (letter, fax or email) or over the phone. You may ask for quotations against which you may quote on to customers. The way you place orders can affect the way you decide to enter them. For example, if you place orders mostly on the phone, then speed of entry may be important, so that you want to reduce the amount of keying that a buyer has to make. On the other hand, if a lot of detail is required for each order, then you may want buyers to take down details onto order pads which take them through the details needed, with a clerk entering the order into the computer as a later step.

The amount of detail that is required at the time the order is placed can vary greatly between companies.For example, if goods are to being ordered from overseas, then you may have to enter extra information onto orders to cater for the needs of import regulations.

Datafile Software allows orders to be categorised as active (which assumes that the orders will proceed through all stages to receipt of invoice), completed (no further processing is required or possible). Other categories include on hold (no further processing is possible until returned to an active state) and quotation (is kept on file until either deleted or turned into an active order by placing the order on the supplier).

Entering Orders

Orders are entered into the Datafile Software purchase order processing system in two steps: first the general order information (the order header) followed by as many individual order detail lines as needed (the maximum is 999 lines).

The order header information is entered through a user-definable screen (Datafile Diamond and Premier only) which means that the wide variety of order information which different companies may need can simply be catered for by redesigning the screen. This you could do yourself — though probably you will use your dealer for this. It also means that if you need to make some changes in a few months time to the information that is entered for each order, then it is the work of a few minutes at your computer, not a few weeks whilst some costly reprogramming is undertaken elsewhere.

The order details can either be entered one by one, using a full screen to do so which thus allows a considerable amount of information to be entered for each order line.Alternatively then can be entered in a fast mode whereby each order line is entered as an order line on the screen — which limits the amount of data entered per order line. These modes can be mixed — you can enter some order lines the fast way and some the full screen way.

If you have a particularly complex order entry procedure, perhaps needing data to be matched against files other than just the purchase and stock ledgers (for example, a file of export agents), you may want to consider using the ProFiler application generator to write a front-end procedure for order entry, bypassing the normal order entry procedures themselves.The power of Datafile Software comes from the ability to mix and match the system features for the results you want.

A particular example of where this may be of considerable benefit is where supplier orders are a direct result of customer orders; you would like an automatic process to generate purchase orders from these customer orders. Your dealer can advise you how ProFiler is admirably suited to help such a requirement.

Order Numbers

It is normal to use a sequential number as the order reference, perhaps with additional codes to help in your processing. The system normally prompts with the next number for you to accept or reject, although you may elect to switch off automatic numbering. For example, you may prefer not to ask for automatic numbering where orders are entered from order pads that are already numbered — you cannot guarantee the sequence in which the orders are passed to you for processing.

You can structure the code with part of it alphabetic and part of it numeric. If you elect to increment order numbers automatically, then the most junior numeric portion of the code is increased by one for each new order. For example, suppose you structure your code in the format AA9999/U). If the last code entered were "GK0412/X”, then the next code offered will be "GK0413/X”. You could use such a technique to prefix order numbers with a branch code, or buyers’ initials, or agent.

Receiving Goods

You already have procedures for recording and controlling orders received from suppliers. You have worked these out from experience to ensure that deliveries are checked and goods inspected. You need to review how you can match these procedures with the facilities available in the purchase order processing system.

In some industries (such as agriculture) part of the procedure of receiving goods can be to prepare, on the suppliers’ behalves, the suppliers’ invoices for their own books.Because Datafile Software bases its POP processes around a process that can include document printing, such a requirement can easily be met.

Quantities — Units and Packs

As discussed in the stock system documentation, some stock items can be purchased and sold in packs.If so, then you need to consider how you are going to record purchase orders: in units, or in units and packs, or in packs only?

The default is to record stock and orders in units. When you buy packs they are split for stock control purposes into units. However, if you keep stock of an item in packs and never break the packs for sale, then you may prefer to use the pack as your unit of stock control, and to buy and sell at that level.

If your suppliers can order in either units or packs, then you need to define your ordering system to process units and packs (Datafile Diamond and Premier only).

Documents

Do you send printed purchase orders (you are strongly advised to do so)? Do you prepare formal receipt of goods dockets? And are these to be printed before putting the goods into stock (with the attendant problems if the goods delivered are not as per your order)? Do you need an audit trail of supplier invoices? Do you sometimes print your suppliers’ invoices for them?

However you want to work, you can tailor the purchase order processing system to work that way too.And you can have several different procedures according to different types of order, to cover the variations you experience in your business.

Within the Datafile Software order processing system the document printing procedures double up as processing procedures. The facilities are extremely powerful and enable you to tailor how orders are to be processed and files updated, with the document as one optional output of the process.An understanding of these facilities is essential if you are to get the most from the system.