Generating Purchase Orders Automatically

The following video introduces the second step in an automated stock procurement process: the automatic generation of purchase orders.

The second automation step is the automatic generation of a purchase order. You can automatically convert a purchase requisition item into a purchase order if a source of supply is assigned to the requisition item. Possible sources of supply for externally procured materials are purchasing info records and outline agreement items.

• A purchasing info record contains data about a specific material and a supplier that provides the material. Purchasing info records can contain conditions, delivery data, and specific texts.

• An outline agreement (for example, a scheduling agreement) is a longer-term agreement with a supplier for the delivery of materials or the provision of services at fixed conditions. These agreements are valid for a specified period of time and for a specified total purchase quantity or value.

The following prerequisites must be fulfilled for the automatic conversion of a purchase requisition item into a purchase order:

• The Automatic Purchase Order indicator must be set in the material master record (purchasing data).

• The Automatic Purchase Order indicator must be set in the supplier master record (purchasing data).

• A valid source of supply must be assigned to the purchase requisition item.

• During conversion, no additional entries may be necessary, such as the tax code for automatic goods receipt settlement.

In the following demo, we will show you where in the master data to set the required indicators for automatic purchase order generation.

In the following demo, you will learn how to use the Schedule Purchasing Jobs app to automatically convert purchase requisitions into purchase orders.