The Sales Order automatically created by the IFT system is identified as a type "L" sales order. This type of sales order is processed through the normal order fulfillment process and shipped. The shipment of goods against a type "L" sales order produces a special type of invoice record called a “Shipper". A Shipper invoice does not update sales history or get posted to the General Ledger during the Sales Posting process, as the merchandise being shipped out is still the property of your company. When a Shipper invoice is processed the system adds records for each of the items being shipped to the Pending file, and these Pending records are used to track the items while they are in transit to the destination location. The Pending file can be thought of as a temporary inventory location used to track items which belong to your company but which are not physically on hand in any of the warehouse locations maintained on your system (for more information about the Pending file and the types of transactions that are processed using this file please see the Return to Vendor and Pending documentation).
The sales orders and the purchase orders produced by the IFT system can both be viewed using the standard Lookup and Inquiry programs available on the system. This allows both sales and purchasing personnel to obtain up to date information about all in-bound and out-bound shipments including IFT transfers.