I need some help identifying an issue with our software or the way we use it. Being the purchasing guy, I use the PO suggestions a couple of times daily. I see parts suggested for ordering that are already on order, and some that are on order do not. Can someone please explain to me how the generate PO Suggestions works. I also have a part that will not generate at all no matter what I do. I am just looking to understand the process better so I ensure I set parts up correctly so they generate when needed. Thank you.
Make sure the Part > Sites > Detail > Generate PO Suggestions checkbox is marked on the parts you want PO Suggestions generated for.
Shane, this comes down to what the system knows about your part’s inventory and demand levels over time. This information is displayed in the time phase form and report, and contained in the PartDtl table. There are a lot of things that go into the calculations, and there is some Epicor documentation that goes through this from the Part site detail and planning tabs. This is the 30,000 ft view, but I hope this helps.
I have this done for all of my parts that I need to see. My issue is that after I have an order in the system with a pending delivery date, some parts still generate suggestions while others do not. I want all parts to generate suggestions regardless of current order status. I’m not sure that is how EPICOR works.
Joseph,
I have never used the time phase form or inquiry/report so I’m unsure how this works. I am looking at this now for the part in question, but need some help understanding it. We don’t use EPICOR for the planning portion, most of that is done manually based on simple min/max and lead time values. All three boxes for Suggestions, Transfer Order Suggestions and Planning Contract Info are checked int he time phase inquiry. I’ll dig into this more and see if I can find something. I’m still not sure why this is the only part that never generates suggestions no matter if I have material on order or not.
Are the order releases marked as Firm? I believe they need to be Firm in order for PO Suggestions to get generated.
Greg Bakker
Software Developer
Kooima Company
Are your jobs scheduled? Any demand on a job needs a date on them to show up in purchase suggestions. Even if you don’t use the schedule, you need to schedule the job.
That still doesn’t explain the ones where you have an order, but the suggestion shows up, but it could explain the one you don’t have a suggestion for.
One way to facilitate this, if you aren’t looking at change suggestions, it to have BPM written to have the “LockQty” box in PO entry selected by default. Another user made this suggestion to me and has made quite a difference in what I see on new orders now.
Time phase is an important tool, but like anything else in EPICOR, is heavily reliant on the accuracy of data input into several other places. It should give you columns of receipts, required qty, balance and a few others. We use this to establish when the demand is and if we have enough inbound to meet that demand.
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