Boost Purchasing Power with Blanket Orders

A negotiated Blanket Purchase Order can maximize buying power and lower purchasing costs. The standing order can also reduce lead times by having the paperwork and release instructions in place when you need to place an order. INDUSTRIOS offers blanket functionality in both the Procurement and Order Fulfillment streams. In this post we look at Blanket Purchase Orders.

Boost Purchasing Power with Blanket Orders

 

 

The following steps walk through the creation of a Blanket Order and Release and some of the things to consider along the way.  The required configuration is covered at the end of this post.

 

 

  1. The Order Date and Vendor are added to a new Blanket Order in the same way as a standard Purchase Order.
  2. The assignment of a Purchase Order Type with Blanket enabled, establishes the PO as a Blanket.
  3.  The Release Type will be the Purchase Order Type assigned to any Releases created for the Blanket. Each Purchase Order Type brings its own defaults and associated workflow.
  4. The Blanket Start and End Dates establish the validity period for the Blanket. The Required Dates and Ship Dates for Releases will be checked to ensure they fall within these dates and whether any exceptions are permitted.
  5. The Auto Assign Blanket to Requisition from MRP controls whether a Suggested Requisition for an Item and Vendor covered by a Blanket Order is automatically linked to that Blanket Order. This link can be broken, and the suggested requisition turned into a spot order if necessary.
  6. Enter the details of the Item being purchased. The Release Quantity field is to the right of the Remaining Quantity. This amount will default when a Release is created. Any modification to the Release Quantity is controlled by workflow.

 

 

  1. To create the Release, click the Release button on the Main Toolbar.

 

 

  1. The Release is created and the purchasing dates can be maintained.

 

 

  1. The Create Release button populates the Release details.
  2. If there are multiple lines on the Blanket Order, tag the lines you wish to include in the Release; update the order quantities and click Create Release.

 

 

The following screens outline the configuration required to support Blanket Order functionality.

Blanket functionality is controlled at the Purchase Order Type level. The Blanket Tab has settings for the Blanket Order and release behaviour.

 

 

  1. Identifies the Order Type for use with Blanket Orders.
  2. Sets the Order Type assigned to Releases created for this Blanket Order.
  3. Allow Entry of Receiving Dates
  4. If set to Yes, the amount on the Blanket Order can be included as Forecast Supply in the MRP calculation.
  5. If you would like to maintain a constant amount on the Blanket Order e.g when a release is created for 50 units, the remaining amount on the blanket is increased by 50 to maintain the original quantity.

The next set of settings control Releases for the Blanket.

  1. A Blanket Purchase Order will have a start and end date. Will you allow a Release to have a Required Date, Promise Date or Ship Date that falls outside the Blanket period? How strictly should the remaining quantity be controlled? Can the order quantity on the Release be greater than the Quantity Remaining on the Blanket?
  2. How should the price on the Release be determined? You can set it to use the price on the Blanket Order or to use the Vendor Price Matrix.
  3. Can the Ship To, Vendor or Vendor Class be different on the Release than on the Blanket? This is useful in scenarios where a Blanket Order is shared across a group of related vendors.

 

 

 

 

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