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This is the panel where you set up your Sourcing policies. You can print the contents in the table from the Table printout program selection list program.
The Sourcing policy functionality is based on the Sell-Source-Ship (S³) concept which focuses on establishing a successful collaborative relationship between your company and your customers, thus replacing the old Buy-Stock-Sell business model.
The Sourcing policy functionality provides flexibility with the search for available stock during sales order entry and can also be extended to automate the BtB creation process, if needed. It is ideal for all companies that have several suppliers in different locations for either the same, or different items.
You define each Sourcing policy and the associating warehouses in this table. You then attach a Sourcing policy to each customer (Business partner file/Customer file panel) and can optionally create exceptions to the rule by also attaching one on the following levels:
- Business partner file, Address file panel for delivery address – advantageous when a customer has several delivery addresses. You can ensure that the item is delivered from the warehouse closest to the customer’s delivery address.
- Item file, Inventory information panel – advantageous when you always want your items delivered from a specific warehouse regardless of the customer.
How the system searches for a Sourcing policy
Assuming you have not manually entered a warehouse at sales order entry (thus overriding the Sourcing policy functionality), the system searches in the following order to find a Sourcing policy:
- Item file/Inventory information
- Business partner file/Address file for delivery address
- Business partner file/Customer file
Note: The system stays within the first found Sourcing policy for the entire search process.
When a Sourcing policy has been found it looks for the first active warehouse and checks if there is enough available stock. If the entire quantity is not available in the first active warehouse, the system will flag you with the first available dispatch date for the requested quantity.
Setting up advanced functionality
To really take advantage of the Sourcing policy functionality, you can set up the system to perform either of the following during sales order entry:
- Generate a BtB order if there is not enough available stock in the first active warehouse. If that warehouse does not allow BtB orders, generate from the first warehouse that does. Do not check any other warehouses in the Sourcing policy. Required prerequisites:
- Set Auto source to YES in the Sales order type table and the Item file/Inventory file panel. The Auto source field is only used in conjunction with the Sourcing policy field if the warehouse has not enough quantity available.
- Set the following BtB related fields to YES in the Item file/Warehouses panel if you want to allow both types of delivery: Direct delivery, Order type direct, Transit delivery, Order type transit. Alternatively, choose that applicable.
- Set the Direct delivery field to YES for the Delivery address in the Business Partner file/Address file panel to indicate that the customer allows direct deliveries.
- If direct delivery is allowed, Complete delivery must be set to NO in the Business Partner file/Customer file panel.
Or
- First check all warehouses within the Sourcing policy for available quantity. Deliver from the warehouse that contains the entire requested quantity. If no such warehouse exists, generate a BtB order from the first active warehouse in the Sourcing policy that allows BtB orders. Required prerequisites:
- Set Auto source to YES in the Sales order type table and the Item file/Inventory file panel.
- Set BtB sourcing rule to 1 in this Sourcing policy table.
- Set the following BtB related fields to YES in the Item file/Warehouses panel if you want to allow both types of delivery: Direct delivery, Order type direct, Transit delivery, Order type transit. Alternatively, choose that applicable.
- Set Direct delivery to YES for the Delivery address in the Business Partner file/Address file panel to indicate that the customer allows direct deliveries.
- If direct delivery is allowed, Complete delivery must be set to NO in the Business Partner file/Customer file panel.
Note: If the customer allows direct deliveries and you only allow transit deliveries for a particular warehouse, the search for a viable warehouse in the Sourcing policy will continue. If no warehouse is applicable, the system will stop searching and flag you, instead, during order entry with the first available dispatch date for the requested quantity.
Options
| Warehouses | Select this option to add or remove warehouses to a Sourcing policy. |
| Where used | Select this option to view where a Sourcing policy is used. Note: This option is only valid if Used is set to YES for the selected Sourcing policy. |
Selection fields
- Sourcing policy
- This column lists the sourcing policies that have been set up in your system.
- Used
- This column is set to YES if a Sourcing policy has been defined on either of the following levels:
- Item file/Inventory information
- Business partner file/Address file for delivery address
- Business partner file/Customer file
or - Manually on a sales order for delivery address
- BtB sourcing rule
- This column denotes how the system should search for available stock within the warehouses included in the Sourcing policy.
Code Description 0 No BtB check. (No auto BtB creation.) 1 After last warehouse. (All warehouses are checked before BtB creation.) 2 After each warehouse. (Only first warehouse checked before BtB creation.)
- BtB sourcing rule desc
- This column displays the description of the BtB sourcing rule.
- Split on warehouse
- This column is set to YES if a sales order line may be split across two sales order lines. It is set to NO if the sales order line must be supplied from only one warehouse.
- Supply from first
- If this column is set to YES it denotes that the first warehouse found in Sourcing policy sequence should be used if it has any available stock (full or partial amount) ready to be dispatched on the requested dispatch date. If this column is set to NO it denotes that the Sourcing policy must continue to proceed normally, i.e. the sourcing routine must find a warehouse that can dispatch the entire ordered quantity.
Work with sourcing policies (DIR05704)
On this panel you create your sourcing policies. For every sourcing policy you define a unique record name and description. You also specify whether all warehouses that will be included in the Sourcing policy should be searched for item information or not.
- Sourcing policy
- BtB sourcing rule
- Indicate how the system should search for available stock within the warehouses included in the Sourcing policy. This field is used in conjunction with the Auto source parameter (the automatic search function).
Code Description 0 No BtB check. (No auto BtB creation.) 1 After last warehouse. (All warehouses are checked before BtB creation.) 2 After each warehouse. (Only first warehouse checked before BtB creation.)
- Split on warehouse
- A purchase from a customer may result in the creation of two sales order lines with dispatch from different warehouses.
Set this field to YES to indicate that a sales order line may be split across two sales order lines. Set it to NO if the sales order line must be supplied from only one warehouse.
Note: The split will only be performed if the Automatic fulfilment parameter is set to YES (in either the Sales order type table or in the Sales order header), and a warehouse was not manually entered for the sales order line. The value defined in Sales order header will have been defaulted from the Sales order type table. However, if the value in the header is the preferred value. If changed then it will override the information defined in the table.
- Supply from first
- Normally the Sourcing policy routine attempts to find a warehouse which can supply the entire ordered quantity. This field, however, is used to indicate that the first warehouse listed in the Sourcing policy sequence will be selected whenever a Sourcing policy is retrieved by the system.
Note: The first warehouse will be retrieved even though the entire ordered quantity can be found in another warehouse listed further down in the warehouse sequence. The requirement, used by the system for selecting the warehouse, is that it must have some stock, not the entire ordered quantity, available for dispatch on the requested dispatch date.
Set this field to YES to indicate that the first warehouse found in Sourcing policy sequence should be used if it has any available stock (full or partial amount) ready to be dispatched on the requested dispatch date. Set it to NO to indicate that the Sourcing policy must continue to proceed normally, i.e. the sourcing routine must find a warehouse that can dispatch the entire ordered quantity.
Work with sourcing policies, Copy (DIR05705)
- Sourcing policy
- New Sourcing policy
Work with sourcing policies, Deletion (DIR05708)
Note: Only sourcing policies that are not used can be deleted.
Work with sourcing policies, Where used (DIR05708)
This panel displays where and on what levels the selected Sourcing policy is defined. The different levels are:
- Item file/Inventory information
- Business partner file/Address file for delivery address
- Business partner file/Customer file
or
- Manually entered on a sales order
- Sourcing policy
- Displays the selected Sourcing policy.
- Customer
- Displays all customers defined with the selected Sourcing policy.
- Del addr
- If the selected Sourcing policy is defined on delivery address level for a customer, displays 1, 2, 3, or 4, to specify which delivery address.
- I
- This column is set to YES if the customer is inactivated. Note: Even if the customer is inactivated, the Sourcing policy is still considered used.
- Item
- If the selected Sourcing policy is defined on item level, displays all those items.
- I
- This column is set to YES if the item is inactivated. Note: Even if the item is inactivated, the Sourcing policy is still considered used.
- Sales order
- Displays the sales orders on which the Sourcing policy has been manually entered for the delivery address.
- St
- Displays the status code of the sales orders on which the Sourcing policy has been manually entered for the delivery address.