Order Fulfillment Flags

The StreamV System provides several different methods for fulfilling customer orders for a specific item.  The fulfillment methods that can be selected for each item are controlled by or based on some flags (fields) that are maintained in each Catalog and Inventory record.  The fulfillment methods available in the system include the following.

•      Warehouse Fulfillment.  A customer sales order for an item can be filled from available warehouse quantities of the item (it can be shipped from stock).  When this method is used, purchase orders are placed based on the current on hand, and on order quantities in each inventory item and the total quantities of the open shop and sales orders for the item.  When this method is used, customer orders are shipped as inventory is received and allocated to the orders, and no purchase orders are created for specific sales order lines (purchase orders are placed for the total quantity required for each item at the time the purchase order is created).

•      Special Order.  When a special order is processed, the system creates a specific PO requisition for the sales order line for the item and it links or associates the purchase order requisition to the sales order.  The PO requisition is then converted to a purchase order, and the purchase order is received into one of you warehouses.  When the linked PO line is received into inventory, the system allocates the received quantity of the item to the sales order that the PO line was created for, and the goods are then picked and shipped to the customer.

•      Vendor Shipment.  A vendor shipment allows you to have your vendor ship an item directly to your customer for you (without you receiving it into any of your warehouse locations).  When a vendor shipment is processed, the system creates a specific PO requisition for the sales order line for the item and it links the PO requisition to the sales order line.   When the requisition for the item is later converted to a purchase order, the system moves the Shipto and some other information from the selected sales order into the purchase order being created, so that the vendor can ship the product directly to the customer for you.  Once the vendor has shipped the product to the customer and has notified you of the shipment, the system allows you to generate an invoice for the item to close the order, record the cost of the sale and the liability to the vendor, and bill the customer.

There are two fulfillment flags that are maintained for each item in the Catalog and the Inventory Master files.  These flags are

•      The Special Order or “Special” flag.

•      The Vendor Shipment or “VS” flag.

As mentioned earlier, these order fulfillment flags are maintained in both the Catalog and the Inventory Master file.  The information entered into the fulfillment flags during Catalog creation is normally copied into the Inventory or Warehouse records for the item when they are created, but the fields can also be de-synchronized as required (if for example you stock a large item in one of your warehouses but require vendor shipments from another warehouse that is too small to store the item) you may have different values in the vendor shipment flag for the item in each inventory location.   Please note, the system uses the information in the Inventory Master File during transaction processing and the flag settings in the Inventory Master file will determine or control the options that are available for each item during sales order processing.

Both the Vendor Ship and the Special flag are “Three way flags” meaning that each of the flags has 3 valid settings in the Catalog and Inventory Master files.  The Vendor Ship and Special flags are also maintained in each sales order header and line item in the system – allowing you to change the fulfillment method on an order by order basis (depending on how the item is set up).  Your ability to specify the fulfillment method for a particular sales order for a specific item is based on the settings for the item in the Inventory record for the location being processed.

The valid settings for the order fulfillment fields in the Inventory and Catalog Master File include the following.

Y – If a Y is entered into the Vendor Ship or the Special flag, the item must be either vendor shipped or special ordered.  Obviously, only one of the two flags (either the VS or the Special Flag) can be set to Y for each item as each flag forces the item to be fulfilled a certain way every time it is ordered.

N – If an N is entered into the Vendor Ship or the Special Flag, the item can never be vendor shipped or special ordered.   For a single item, both of the flags can be set to N (to disallow vendor shipment or special order processing for the item and force the system to use warehouse fulfillment for the item), or each flag can be set as appropriate.

Blank – If a blank value is entered into the Vendor Ship or the Special Order flags, the system will allow you to set the flag in each order line that you process for the item.  Blank basically means the method is allowed and not required. For example, an N entered in the Special flag and blank in the Vendor Shipment flag shipment would allow warehouse or optional vendor shipment fulfillment for the item but would not allow special order fulfillment for the item.

If the order fulfillment flags for an item are both set to N, only warehouse fulfillment can be used for the item.  If the order fulfillment flags for an item are both set to blank, the warehouse, special order, or vendor shipment fulfillment methods can be used for the item and any of these methods may be selected during the sales order entry process.

In the sales order entry program, the valid options for the Special and the VS flag are either Y (in one of the two fields) or N (in one or both of the fields).  Your ability to set the flags for an order line is based on the settings that have been specified for the flag in the Inventory Master File

More:

Serialized Inventory Flags