Tech Tips by Pam

Auto Creating Purchase Orders:  What can it do for you?  This one powerful feature can ensure that you never run out of inventory items or order items that you do not need and the best part is, it's all located on one screen and when you click the OK button, you have generated a purchase order that is ready to be sent to the vendor.  The purchase order can then be faxed or sent via EDI from within the program if you have faxing or Internet access.  Now, let's take a look at this awe sum tool called Auto Create!
Open The Uniform Solution program and click on the PO button at the top of the screen. .     When the purchase order screen appears on the right hand side of the screen press the F2-Auto Create button.  The Auto-Create Purchase Order Options screen appears
The Auto-Create Purchase Order Option forms are used to create and modify purchase orders based on the options selected.  The Options tab provides options that when selected tells the program to generate a purchase order according to the selected settings. You can generate a purchase order for desired stock levels, special orders that need to be ordered, drop ship orders to customers or order items sold within a date range.  You can select to generate a purchase order based on one vendor or all vendors or create the purchase order for a specific range of dates.  If you have multi-stores you can also order for all stores or selected stores.  The Advanced tab provides additional settings to further control the auto create procedure.  You can order based on a minimum quantity or a minimum amount.  You can ignore minimum values for special orders older than a specific number of days or limit reordering to a specific inventory code.  Let's review what each of these options will do when selected. Options Tab

1.	Inventory below desired stock levels - select this option to create a purchase order for inventory items that are below the desired minimum level.  You must set your maximum and minimum levels to use this option.  Click here to see tips on setting up Maximum and Minimum levels.
2.	Special orders that need fulfillment - select this option to create a purchase order for special orders that need to be ordered.
3.	Drop shipments - select this option for drop-ship orders.  Each drop-ship order is placed on a separate purchase order.
4.	Items sold within a date range - select this option to create a purchase order for items within a selected range of dates.  When this option is selected the Sales to include field appears at the bottom of the screen allowing you to enter a start and end date.
5.	Vendors to include - select this option if you want to create a purchase order for all vendors or one vendor.  When one vendor is selected, the vendor field appears.  Select the vendor by clicking on the drop down arrow the use your mouse to highlight the vendor.
6.	Stores to include - if you have multiple locations you can generate purchase orders for one store or for selected stores.   When the All option is selected the auto create procedure will generate a purchase order that includes all stores configured in the system.  When the Selected option is selected the auto create procedure will generate a purchase order that only include the selected store(s).

Advanced Tab

1.	Meet a minimum quantity - select this option if you want a minimum quantity met for the purchase order to be created and if this amount is not met, then the purchase order will not be created.  When you select this option, the Quantity field appears.  Enter the number of items that must be on the purchase order for the purchase order to be created.
2.	Meet a minimum amount - select this option if you want a dollar amount to be met for the purchase order to be created.  After you select this option, the Amount field will appear.  Enter the dollar amount that must be met for the purchase order to be created. NOTE:  After you have selected either the meet a minimum quantity or meet a minimum amount, the Advanced Options Active message appears at the top of the screen.  This message is activated to ensure that the user is aware that these options are active on the Advanced tab.
3.	Ignore minimum values for special orders older than a specified number of days - selecting this option will tell the auto create procedure to ignore any minimum requirement for special orders.
4.	Inventory codes to include for stock items - select this option to create a purchase order for all codes or for one code.  When All is selected, the auto create procedure will include all inventory items regardless of the inventory code.  When One is selected you are telling the auto create procedure to limit the purchase order to the selected inventory code.  When One is selected the Code field will appear.
5.	Separate purchase orders by store - if you have more than one location, you can make tell the auto create procedure to create purchase orders by store.  This option must be selection if you plan on drop-shipping the purchase order to each store.
6.	Drop ship the purchase orders to each store - select this option if you want the purchase order sent directly to each store.  NOTE:  When Multi-Location polling is used and a drop-ship is assigned to a store on the purchase order, the only location that can receive items on the purchase order is the location where the drop-ship store is Local.

After you have made your selection(s) you are ready to create your purchase order.  When you click the OK button, your purchase order will be generated and will appear on the Purchase Order List screen.