The complete procurement process can handle quotations, requisitions, and purchase orders, including sending and confirming the purchase orders. It also handles delivery surveillance and sends out reminders when needed. The procurement process can be performed in the following ways:
The purchase requisition and purchase order can also be externally generated by order proposal, customer order, MRP, Master Scheduling, and Next Level Demand. Moreover, a purchase order can be created through supplier scheduling, but this will be described in a separate process document.
This process description document outlines the processes of entering and handling purchase requisitions
This main process also includes a supporting process, which handles supplier agreements. There are two ways in which this supporting process can be performed:
If the company consists of several departments that frequently need to purchase products, use of a requisition could diminish significant administration time because one or more users at each department are allowed to enter a purchase requisition. This purchase requisition can be handled easily by the purchaser or purchasing department. Whenever the purchase requisition is entered, the purchasing department will be in charge of converting the requisitions into purchase orders and executing the purchase. In order to control what is ordered on the requisition, you can use the purchase authorization routine, which requires one or more specified users to authorize the requisition before the buyer can convert it into a purchase order.
The purchase requisition can be used in three ways:
The Enter Purchase Requisition flow consists of two activity diagrams: general flow and express flow. Maintenance users mainly use the express flow. This process is used in all three of the above mentioned methods.
Begin by entering a requisition header in which the requisitioner's identity is indicated. Continue entering requisition lines, specifying the part(s) to purchase, the quantity, and the wanted delivery date. If the purchase part is connected to a primary supplier, this supplier is automatically filled in. You can also use the multi-supplier ordering function, which means that a single requirement is split among a number of suppliers, based on predefined percentages.
You can enter one of three kinds of parts: inventory registered purchase parts, non-inventory registered purchase parts, and no-number parts (i.e., parts that are not entered in the system's part records).
Enter an express purchase requisition in a similar way as the general requisition flow.
The Handle Purchase Requisition flow consists of three activity diagrams: basic flow, extended flow, and express flow.
Once you have entered the purchase requisition entry, you must release the requisition before it can be further processed. If using the authorization routine, a specified user must authorize the requisition before it can be converted into a purchase order. A supplier must have been specified on the requisition line before you can convert the requisition into a purchase order.
If required, you can convert lines on the purchase requisition into a request for order quotation. Using this option, no suppliers need to be specified on the requisition lines and no authorization is required.
The basic flow describes manual handling of a purchase requisition release and conversion into purchase order(s), while the extended flow describes the same functions but for automatic processing. The automatic order processing batch can manually executed or scheduled per day and time.
Express purchase requisitions must be released before being further processed, just as in the general purchase requisition flow. When an express purchase requisition is authorized, a purchase order is automatically created, released, and printed.
You can use supplier agreements when you and your supplier have agreed on terms for a purchase part or for a supplier assortment. There are two kinds of supplier agreements: blanket purchase orders and purchase agreements. The difference between them is in the way in which they are used. A blanket purchase order is only used for supplier agreement releases. A purchase agreement serves in the background as a basis for the price on all applicable purchase order lines, i.e., all manually and automatically generated purchase orders. The only exceptions for the purchase agreement are supplier agreement releases (which use blanket purchase orders) and purchase orders created from an order quotation (the terms agreed in the order quotation will be used for the purchase order line).
You can use the quotation functionality to convert the accepted quotation into a supplier agreement. The quotation to be converted into a supplier agreement can begin either as an externally generated need (from IFS/Project or IFS/Project Delivery), or can be entered manually as a request for supplier agreement quotation.
Start by entering a header and the parts (or supplier assortments) to be included. After this, enter the suppliers to whom you want to send the requests, then print the requests. If the request was generated from IFS/Project or IFS/Project Delivery, the system will include the header and the part lines. All you will have to do in this case is to choose the suppliers and print the requests.
Once you have received the quotations from the suppliers, enter their terms and compare the data to find the most favorable quotation. When you have compared the quotations and decided which one to accept, you can create a new purchase agreement, or add on to an existing supplier agreement. Furthermore, you can print rejection letters to the suppliers whose quotations you have chosen to reject.
The Enter Supplier Agreement flow consists of two activity diagrams: one for purchase agreements and one for blanket purchase orders. You can enter the supplier agreement manually in both these activity diagrams.
When you enter a supplier agreement manually, begin by creating a supplier agreement header in which the supplier and some miscellaneous information is entered. Before saving the supplier agreement for the first time, determine whether it is a purchase agreement or a blanket purchase order. When you have entered the general information, continue adding periods, sites and parts. You can include supplier assortments in purchase agreements. You can use supplier assortments instead of parts if you receive the same discount and additional costs for several parts. You can also include no-number parts, i.e., parts that are not entered in the part record. The supplier agreement must be in a status that allows purchasing (most often status Active) before it can be used.