123 Insight Limited has announced a number of new enhancements to its core MRP software, including major updates to how purchase order contracts are handled.
The new functionality allows the buyer to agree a quantity over a period (and importantly take advantage of the unit price discounts) but without having to commit to specific delivery dates.
When the demand that is driving the purchasing is ‘irregular’, the Purchase Contract offers the flexibility so that the buyer does not need to keep amending the Purchase Order.
Contracts can be set up as ‘call-off’ where a specific Kanban quantity is agreed and when the stock hits this level a new call-off is automatically emailed to the supplier.
The call-off also doubles up as the supplier’s delivery note and already contains a 2D barcode which allows the delivery to be booked in upon receipt through a single scan, increasing efficiency through saving time and effort.
Alternatively, contracts can be set up as ‘delivery schedule’ to give the supplier visibility of your current requirements in terms of quantities and dates and you’d agree a “firm” window with them which you’d commit to as a fixed requirement. As the demand changes, the delivery schedule automatically reflects the downstream impact on your supply requirements.
Said Guy Amoroso, Managing Director: “123insight has always been a hugely productive tool for the purchasing team within any manufacturing business. It provides a simple approval process of the automatically system-generated purchase orders. Supplier, customer and manufacturer part numbers are all seamlessly catered for. Purchase Order Requisitions means that the creation of PO’s with full Approval or Rejection processing is totally managed within the core system.
“Further automation is available via Email and SMS messages to ‘Approvers’, making the process both seamless and paperless. Issue or Version control of the Purchase Order happens automatically, eliminating the possibility of confusion between the purchasing team and the supplier. The addition of the Purchase Contract functionality now makes the buyers even more efficient because many parts can now be taken out of the control of MRP, freeing them to concentrate on the important purchases, whilst the contracted items effectively look after themselves.”
