I was asked by our Purchasing team to setup a different buyer code to handle subcontracted parts… basically identifying parts whose POs need to go to a different address than the normal POs would go. I nodded and agreed that this is an easy way to go…
But then when it came time to set them up, I learned that a Buyer is tied to a Person/Contact… and it enforces uniqueness… in other words, I can’t tie a new buyer to the same person that’s already a buyer. I was hoping to not have to create duplicate person/contacts also, but I will if there’s no other way.
Does anyone have a better idea for helping the buyers to know which parts need to be delivered to a special place - outside of the norm? I’m trying to avoid customizations/BPMs if possible. But I’m not opposed if they are simple.
Yes, a buyer is tied to a percon record, but it also has authorized users.
Our buyers all have a default percon record attached ( BB Buyer has a BB Buyer percon), and then authorized users assigned with the actual user accounts.
You can have the same authorized user on multiple buyers, our purchasing manager is assigned to all our buyer records currently.
I hear ya. Logically I know that a “buyer” is a group and can have many authorized users. But practically, it still gets an email address and a person’s name. So it’s hard to really commit to the mantra.
We haphazardly live in both worlds. Some “buyers” are people and some are categories – like I just made a buyer named REQS and assigned it to all expense part classes so that Requisitions would go to one place.
Thanks for the feedback. I guess it’s a lot like the Engineering Workbench ECO Group ID. It’s all in what works for the company.
That said, I feel like creating another Person/Contact record is a fairly easy and low-risk/low-maintenance thing to do. Then I can have my regular Buyer IDs for “people” but also have my Buyer IDs for “categories”.
We have different buyer codes to somewhat separate out parts, such a raw material and ones that are bought under a blanket PO. I would argue though that subcontract parts have their own tab on PO suggestions. Either way, you’re not alone with creating multiple buyers to help make PO suggestions easier to interpret.
I originally thought this is what they meant, also. But it’s the parts that are used by the subcontract operation they are trying to differentiate… since they would ideally issue a PO to have them delivered to our subcontractor - rather than receive in to our warehouse only to have to turn and send them back out. Does the subcontract tab do this also? Or is it strictly for the “finished subcontracted” parts?
The material to be sent to the subcontractor would not fall under that tab, no. We have a handful of these too, we actually created a separate warehouse called “Inventory at Suppliers” so the PO suggestions suggests them to be delivered there and we can also use min order qtys, safety stock, etc. We just change the primary warehouse and bin of that material to that warehouse and issue from there too. Hopefully that helps, I think either solution would work.
Can you elaborate on this? We created a separate warehouse for this purpose also, but how does that communicate to the buyer that the PO needs to go to a different physical location?
If you change the primary warehouse and bin of the part you’re buying, it will suggest in PO suggestions to be delivered to that warehouse. Since we only have a handful, our buyers just know where to send them if they can filter down to that warehouse. They typically reference time phase and will see it is for the subcontract jobs coming up. Sorry that might not be helpful… I’m sure there are some customizations you could create in that screen to bring in the bin, or purchasing comments on the part.
I get what you’re saying… we setup some parts with a primary warehouse in our subcontractor warehouse and I like how it drives materials through there. I agree I could probably add a small customization to the PO Suggestions screen that would tell a buyer what the primary warehouse is and that could also help drive the PO ship-to.
I have worked with some companies that only have 1 or 2 PEOPLE in Purchasing, but they have 10-15 different buyer codes. they use the buyer codes to differentiate different buyer duties. For example, on the day that they go to purchase all their GLASS, the PERSON would choose the GLASS BUYER code, and see all the recommendations for that.
In their case, ALL PERSONS were associated to ALL BUYER codes, so anyone could act as any of the buyers.
In some other cases, I have seen a mix of this and having each PERSON having their own BUYER code.
Either way, you’re not alone with creating multiple buyers to help make PO suggestions easier to interpret.