Bulk ordering and stock ordering

Build one purchase order per supplier, either from converted jobs not yet ordered (Bulk ordering) or from a supplier's catalogue plus waiting job lines (Stock ordering), then record it as sent.

Where: web · Who can use it: Both pages are in the navigation for every signed-in user. Placing orders needs an ordering permission, and ordering can be switched off for the company. Both cases show a plain notice on the page.

Screens may differ slightly from what you see.

What it is for

Both pages produce one purchase order per supplier, delivered to one of your warehouses.

• Bulk ordering looks across converted jobs for lines that have not been ordered yet and groups them by supplier. One order can cover several customers' jobs.
• Stock ordering works for one supplier at a time. It shows the customer-job lines still waiting for that supplier, and lets you add extra stock from their catalogue.

Who can use it

Both are in the navigation for all signed-in users. If your account lacks the ordering permission, the page says: "Placing bulk and stock orders needs the ordering permission, which your account does not have. An owner or director can grant it to you in Settings, under Permissions." If ordering is off for the company it says: "Stock ordering is switched off for your company. An owner or director can switch it on in Settings, under Warehouses."

How to use it

Choose brand and warehouse (both pages)

At the top, the destination picker may show a Brand (fixed, or a drop-down if you order for more than one brand) and Deliver to (a warehouse). The page shows the address the supplier will be told to deliver to. If the warehouse has no address, an amber warning says the email will not tell the supplier where to send the goods. Add an address to the warehouse or choose another.

Bulk ordering

1. Open Bulk ordering. A counts box says how many of the examined converted lines are ready to order, and lists why others were left out. A date line says anything converted before that date is treated as already ordered elsewhere.
2. Each supplier has its own section with a tick box per line. Everything starts ticked, except a line already on an unsent draft, which shows "already on draft ..." and cannot be ticked.
3. Untick anything you are holding back.
4. Click 1. Open email. The email is built for exactly the lines you ticked, with the order reference, and opens in your mail program. It is disabled if the supplier has no order email.
5. Send the email from your mail program.
6. Back in IBIOS, click 2. Only now are the lines recorded as ordered. The section then shows "Ordered", the reference, and how many lines and jobs.

Opening the email records nothing. If you skip step 6, the jobs still read "not ordered" and arrivals cannot be booked against them. If someone else already ordered a line, it is left off and an alert tells you.

Lines that have no supplier are listed in an amber box ("N lines cannot be routed to a supplier"). They are on no order. Order them yourself, or link the product to a supplier.

Stock ordering

1. Open Stock ordering. Unsent orders show at the top ("N unsent stock orders"). Click Open it to carry on with one.
2. Choose the Supplier and, if you like, search that supplier's products (name, SKU or MPN) and click Search.
3. In "Waiting to be ordered for customer jobs", tick the lines to include.
4. In "Extra stock", type a quantity against any product you want to add. Products that cannot be ordered say why.
5. Click Create order (N lines). This makes a draft and shows a preview with the delivery address and the email text.
6. Click 1. Open email, send it, then click 2. Use Cancel this draft to throw it away.

Tips

• If the supplier list says "Showing the first N suppliers - some are not listed", the list is capped.
• Changing brand or warehouse on Bulk ordering forgets any email you opened, so you must open it again.

Things to know

• Two presses by design: opening the email, then confirming it was sent.
• The reference shown after you confirm is also written onto the quotes.

Related articles

• Supplier orders
• Suppliers: details, currency, RRP rule and price imports
• Work with a quote