 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
The automated short-buy creates and transmits purchase orders for you automatically. It also prereceives the purchase orders, and can transfer backorders to another P/O. To do this, it uses call numbers and parameters. This part describes call numbers, and briefly describes the parameters you use to set up the automated short-buy.
In this part, we also discuss how to schedule times for your auto short-buy.
To learn more about this, click here. The automated short-buy is built around call numbers. A call number is a set of instructions for transmitting a purchase order to a particular vendor.
Suppose you transmit a purchase order to S. P. Richards at 10:00 a.m. every morning. You set up a call number for transmitting to that wholesaler. The call number’s parameters control what items can be included on this purchase order and which vendor it’s transmitted to.
Now suppose you also transmit to S.P. Richards at 2:00 p.m. You can use the same call number, setting it to launch at 2:00 p.m. as well. Or you can create a new call number for this later transmission. Perhaps you also transmit to United at 2:00 p.m. You must set up a different call number for this transmission, since it’s going to a different vendor. The two call numbers set for 2:00 p.m. can include different items: the P/O for S.P. Richards may include items from stock class A, for example, and the P/O for United may include items from stock class B.
You control the automated short-buy through parameters. You gain access to these parameters through the (LFA) Automated Short-Buy Menu screen.Three types of parameters need to be set:
These parameters determine which items can be purchased through the automated short-buy. Items that are excluded by the global parameters are not part of the automated short-buy process — you must purchase these items manually.The (LFAØ) Global Automated Short-Buy screen contains the global parameters for the automated short-buy.
Remember that these parameters apply to every call number you set up.When you complete the fields in this screen, make sure that these parameters are appropriate for every purchase order you build through the automated short-buy.
Each call number has its own set of vendor parameters. These parameters let you define the P/O and determine which items it will include. You can also set custom communication parameters for each call number.
When the system launches a call number, the eligible items filter through the global parameters. The items that meet the global limits then go through the vendor parameters for the call number. The items that meet the vendor parameter limits will be placed on a P/O. The system then transmits the P/O, using the call number’s communication parameters.
You create and change the call number parameters in the (LFA1) Vendor Call Number Master screen.The (LFA1) screen has several subscreens, which let you specify a wholesaler or manufacturer, and set limits and preferences to define the call number.
The first (LFA1) screen lists all the call numbers that you set up. From this screen, you can select the call number that you want to change, add, delete, or view. Create and customize a call number for each unique combination of vendor, limits, and preferences.
The launcher parameters determine when call numbers are initiated. They also let you specify which call numbers will be launched at each time. You may launch call numbers 1 and 2 at 10:00 a.m., for example, and launch call numbers 1 and 3 at 2:00 p.m.
When you have set all your global and call number parameters, you must schedule each call number in the (LFA2) Short-Buy Launcher screen. For each time you want to run the auto short-buy on each day, you specify which call numbers you want to use.
You can specify up to 10 call numbers to use at each time and day you run the auto short-buy. Call numbers do not have to be unique: You may have a single call number that you launch at 10:00, 2:00, and 4:00, for example.
Every 15 minutes, the Launcher screen searches for a call to launch and runs the calls that are due at that time. For example, if it is Thursday at 10:00, and you run the short-buy for United and Sparco at that time, the system will run them both in the order you enter their call numbers in the 10:00 Thursday line in the Launcher.
The system compares each item in the short-buy to the parameters for the first call number in that line of the Launcher. If an item meets all the limits set in that call number, the system puts the item on the purchase order for that wholesaler, and marks the item with that P/O number. When the system has compared every item to the first call number, it creates a purchase order with the accepted items, and transmits it to the specified wholesaler.
The system then compares the remaining items (those not included on the first wholesaler's P/O) to the next call number in that line of the Launcher, and transmits the accepted items on a purchase order for that wholesaler. It continues comparing items to call numbers and placing the items on purchase orders either until it has placed all the items, or until it has compared the items to all the call numbers in that line of the Launcher.When the system has created purchase orders for each wholesaler set up for the specified time, it sends them to the wholesalers via modem.
In today's market, DDMS recommends that you set call numbers to launch several times a day. At the end of each day, set up a call number for any additional items that you can transmit before the wholesaler's cutoff time for next-day delivery.
Suppose you purchase most of your items from Wholesaler A, but this wholesaler
is in the Eastern Standard Time zone, and your company is in the Central Standard
Time zone. With this one-hour time difference, you might want to transmit
to Wholesaler A only until 3 p.m. CST. After that time, you might want the
system to transmit to Wholesaler B, which is in the Central Standard Time
zone. This allows you to fill orders that are entered at the end of the day.
When purchase orders go through the automated short-buy process, you do not
have to transmit them manually; the system automatically does this for you.
Limits and ExceptionsItems that are excluded from the automated short-buy process by the limits set in the (LFAØ) Global Automated Short-Buy screen will remain at status 6; you will need to use the standard short-buy process for them.
Items that meet the limits set in the (LFAØ) screen, but do not meet the parameters for any of the call numbers in the current line of the launcher, are listed in an exceptions file, called PO-EXCEPT. The Automated Short-Buy Exceptions Report lists these items.
These items move to status 7, and are also placed in the SHORT-AUTO file. The SHORT-AUTO file is a short-buy file, and you can use it to produce purchase orders through the regular short-buy process (using the [S] Short-Buys action code in the (F) Purchase Order Entry screen).
Each
time the system launches an automated short-buy call, it deletes the SHORT-AUTO
file.
The items in this file return to status 6, and go back through the global parameters and the rest of the automated short-buy process.
Be careful not to put the SHORT-AUTO file through the regular short-buy process when a call is about to be launched.
You specify whether you want to print the Automated Short-Buy Exceptions Report in the PRINT OPTIONS field of the (LFA1) Vendor Call Number Parameters screen. If you specify Y in that field, the Automated Short-Buy Exceptions Report prints as soon as the system completes the launch for the corresponding call number. The system deletes the PO-EXCEPT file after this report prints.
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
|