The key to Inventory Control is to ensure inventory availability is based on the needs of your organization. In this blog, I wanted to discuss the capabilities of the PO (Purchase Order) Generation feature in Dynamics GP and detail how the feature can automatically generate the required Purchase Orders into your system.

The PO Generation process in Dynamics GP allows the system to advise on purchasing requirements to replenish your inventory levels based on predefined criteria within the application. The Purchase Order Generator feature can analyze your inventory based on the predefined requirements, create automatic reorder points, and automatically create the Purchase Order to fulfill those inventory requirements. To determine the replenishment levels use the following inventory screens: Item Resource Planning, PO Generation Item, Item Vendor Maintenance, and Item Quantities. These screens set up the default vendor.

To run the PO Generator process, perform the following steps:

1. Select Transactions – Purchasing – PO Generator from the Dynamics GP menu or select the Purchasing Module Tab
2. Select the Transactions View
3. Select PO Generator

On the PO Generator Screen the following selection fields are available:

• Select Restrictions –or a combination of restrictions for Purchase Order Generation such as Item Number, Site ID, Buyer ID, Vendor ID, or Item Class ID. Use the From-To options to select your restriction.
• Include Demand from Subordinate Sites – suggestions for items to be purchased are collected from multiple sites.
• Include Order with No Vendor ID – suggestions for items to be purchased will be included for items without a default Vendor ID. The Vendor can be updated on the Suggest Purchase Order screen.
• Select Buyer ID Selection to use on each PO created:
  • None – No Buyer ID will be on PO
  • Specified Buyer ID – Fixed ID entered
  • Item Site Buyer ID – Uses the Buyer ID from the Item Site combination on the Resource Planning screen
• Purchase Order Date – Will be used for the date of each PO. This value defaults to the current date.
• Set Promise Date to – Sets the promise date for the PO items
• Purchase Order Date – Sets the Promise Date to the same as the PO Date
• Purchase Order Date + Planning Lead Time – Sets the Promise Date to the PO Date plus the planning lead time
• Specified Date – Fixed Promise Date entered by the user
• Set Promised Ship Date to Promise Date minus – Sets the ship date with an additional shipping lead time entered by the user.
• Click the Suggest Purchase Order button

Evaluate the list of suggested POs for vendors, quantities, and cost on the suggested purchase order screen and create the purchase orders:

• Mark or Un-Mark POs as desired by using the checkbox next to each PO.
  • Marking a PO tells the system to generate this PO. Un-Marking a PO tells the system not to create it.
• Evaluate Error Messages.
  • A red X indicates that an error will prevent the suggested purchase order line item from being generated into a purchase order in processing. A yellow exclamation point indicates the line contains a warning message but can still be processed.
• Use the Drill downs to evaluate the items for:
  • Item Number to view Item Card
  • Vendor ID to view the Vendor Card
  • Vendor Item Number to view the Item Vendor Card
  • Site ID to view the Item Resource Planning options
  • Ship To Address ID to view the Shipping Address for the PO
  • Buyer ID to view the Buyer ID for the PO
• Click the Print button to Print a list of the suggested Purchase Orders
• Click the Process Button to create the Purchase Orders in Dynamics GP

Configure Dynamics GP items to use the PO Generator:

Before using the Microsoft Dynamics GP PO Generator, you must set up each item so that it can be used with the PO Generator. There are four main touch points when it comes to configuring the item for use with PO Generation:  Item Resource Planning, PO Generation Item, Item Vendor Maintenance, and Item Quantities and default vendor.  Each of the touch points are accessed via the Item Card (Cards – Inventory – Item).

Item Resource Planning allows the user to enable the PO Generation feature for each item.

• To access this feature from the Item Card, Select GoTo – Item Resource Planning

• Select the site for PO Generation
• Change the Order Policy to User PO Generation as detailed below:

• Other optional fields that affect the PO Generation are Order Point Qty, Order-Up-To Level, and Purchasing Lead time.

PO Generation allows the user to set specific parameters for items or for item-site combinations. 

The parameters available are order method, replenishment method, vendor selection, and cost selection. It also allows the user to select which Order types to include for re-ordering requirements: Allocations, Back Orders, and Non-Purchasing Requirements. The parameters provided will determine how the item will be used in PO Generation.

• To access this feature from the Item Resource Planning screen, Select the PO Generation Item button and select the appropriate parameters.

• Order Method
• Order to Independent Site (Default) – Uses quantity requirements only from the site.
• Order to Master Site – User quantity requirements for all sites with this Master site.
• Replenishment Level
• Order Point Quantity (Default) – Order Point Quantity from Item Resource Planning screen – Available Quantity.
• Order Up To Level – Order Up To Level from Item Resource Planning screen – Available Quantity.
• Vendor EOQ – Order Method must be: Order to Independent Site.
• Vendor Selection
• Site Primary Vendor (Default) – Uses the item-site Primary Vendor that is set up in the Item Quantities Maintenance screen.
• Vendor with Lowest Cost – Uses the Vendor assigned to the item with the lowest invoice cost per the Item Vendor Maintenance screen.
• Vendor with Shortest Lead Time – Uses Vendor assigned to the item with the shortest Lead Time in the Item Vendor Maintenance screen.
• Cost Selection
• Vendor Last Originating Invoice Cost (Default) – Uses the cost from most recent invoice from the vendor – item combination.
• Item Current Cost – Uses the Current Cost from the Item Maintenance screen.
• Item Standard Cost – Uses the Standard Cost from the Item Maintenance screen.
• Specific Cost – Uses the cost you specify.

Item Vendor Maintenance is used to define purchasing quantity requirements for the vendor such as Minimum, Maximum, Economic, and Multiple quantities to order.

• To access this feature from the Item Card, Select GoTo – Vendors
• Select the Vendor ID

Item Quantities set the default Vendor used during PO Generation.

• To access this feature from the Item Card, Select GoTo – Quantity/Sites
• Select the site
• Select the Primary Vendor ID used for PO Generation for the site

The Purchase Order Generation feature makes sure that your inventory availability is based on the needs of your organization. This is crucial to Inventory Control.

Still Confused? Give Us a Call.

KTL Solutions is a certified Microsoft Partner. Our consultants have extensive industry experience tailoring the powerful capabilities of Dynamics 365 toward a range of unique business needs. We’ll consult with you to comprehensively uncover the intricacies of your business processes, so that we can identify pain points and flows where Dynamics 365 can help.

If you’re having issues with Microsoft Dynamics 365, give us a call. We’ll get you back on track.