DC1 Distribution calls these types of orders BtB (Back-to-Back) orders, which means that one (or several) Purchase order is created from and connected to a Sales order.
This functionality allows you to:
- deliver your goods from one Distribution centre. If you choose a direct delivery you avoid storing stock in intermediate locations. Thus all handling of goods is eliminated.
- reduce the cost for carrying inventory (by not having to store the items in your normal stock)
- quickly process purchase orders.
Note: It is assumed that you have a basic knowledge of processing normal sales and purchase orders within DC1 Distribution. The normal handling of orders is not described here. See About sales order entry and About purchase order entry for those instructions.
BtB processing is very common and advantageous. The following scenarios are examples of when you would process this type of order:
- You have a customer that wants to buy specially designed items, i.e. items that you do not keep in stock, but rather must be specially designed according to the customers’ wishes. Instead of stocking these items you order them from the supplier after the customer places the sales order. You would create a BtB order from the sales order and add text lines describing how the item should be designed. You would then have the supplier deliver directly to the customer or via your transit stock to the customer.
- A customer places an order for an item that you do not want to store in stock. You create a BtB order and either deliver directly from supplier to the customer or via your transit stock to the customer.
- A customer places a large order but you do not have everything in stock. Instead of delivering what you have (depleting what you have in stock just for this customer) and then ordering the remaining quantity from the supplier, you can, for example, offer the customer a good price if the customer can wait to have everything delivered. You would then order from the supplier for the entire quantity with a direct delivery from the supplier to the customer or via your transit stock to the customer.
Note: By making use of the Sourcing policy and the Auto source functionality you are able to let the system create the BtB order and automatically select the warehouse from where the goods should be delivered. See About item sourcing during sales order entry and Setting up the item sourcing functionality.
- A customer places a normal size order, but some of the items are reserved for another order. Instead of processing two orders (i.e. one order for delivery of what you have and another for the remaining), you can, for example, offer the customer a good price if you can move the delivery, for example 1 week ahead, and deliver everything at once. You would then enter the BtB sales order for the entire quantity, receive the entire quantity and then deliver.
Types of items
The types of items you would order using the BtB function are, for example, items that you do not keep in your normal stock, but can be sold. You register these items in the Item file as normal items with an item code, description, etc., but you do not store them in stock. Instead you purchase them from the supplier when a demand arises from the customer and deliver them directly from the supplier to the customer or via your transit stock.
Not stored in stock
To ensure that the items are not being stored in stock, set the Planning method field in the Item file to 0 (zero). Tip: If a customer places an order for an item that you do not have registered in the Item file, but you know you can sell, you can quickly generate the item information into the Item file while you are entering the sales order. See Enter a sale for a non-stocked item for instructions.
Creating the purchase order and types of delivery
You have two options from which to choose when creating the purchase order. You can:
- Start the creation process manually
- Let the system automatically create it immediately after the sales order is entered.
The purchase order type also determines the type of delivery:
- Direct delivery, meaning the supplier delivers the goods directly to the customer. The customer’s delivery address is printed on the Purchase order
- Transit delivery, meaning the goods are delivered from the supplier to your transit stock and then to the customer
Note: All availability control is against the purchase order. You cannot deliver more than what you receive and/or quality approve.
See Work flow for Back-to-Back (BtB) orders with direct delivery and Work flow for Back-to-Back (BtB) orders with transit delivery.
Warehouse
Each warehouse you use for the reception of transit goods and deliveries should have the Direct delivery and Transit delivery fields set to YES (you do this in the Item file).
Special warehouse
You can, if you want, set up one warehouse as a BtB warehouse (some sort of fictitious warehouse). Only this warehouse in the Item file would have the Direct delivery and Transit delivery fields set to YES. This allows you to obtain statistics for Direct deliveries and Transit deliveries for BtB orders.
Default BtB supplier
When a back to back order is created in the system, either automatically by the sourcing or decided by the order handler, the supplier used for each order line is always the item’s main supplier. If you want another supplier instead of the item’s main supplier to be used when a BtB order is created, you can enter the default BtB supplier when creating a new order on the Work with sales orders, Create new panel. If entered, this supplier will be stored in the order header and used for all order lines when a back to back order is to be created. It will, however, still be possible to change the supplier on individual order lines after they have been created. Note, however, that the default BtB supplier stored in the order header cannot be changed once the order has been created.
Enquiries and printouts
- BtB overview enquiry
- Sales order enquiry
- Purchase order enquiry
- BtB list printout
- Sales order file list printout
- Purchase order file list printout
Related topics
- Work flow for Back-to-Back (BtB) orders with direct delivery
- Work flow for Back-to-Back (BtB) orders with transit delivery
- Enter a Back-to-Back (BtB) sales order with an automatic creation of the purchase order
- Enter a Back-to-Back (BtB) sales order where you manually create the purchase order
- Mix different types of sales order lines on one sales order
- Maintain the Back-to-Back (BtB) purchase order
- Impact of changing the Back-to-Back (BtB) sales order and/or purchase order
- Track Back-to-Back (BtB) order changes
- About item sourcing during sales order entry
- About purchase order entry
- About sales order entry
- Setting up the item sourcing functionality
- Setting up the Back-to-Back (BtB) order functionality