Outsource - Outsource Purchase Order Automation
OPO Configuration Settings
All config settings can only be accessed by printIQ support staff
A system setting determines how outsource purchase orders are created / managed after accepting a quote with an outsource request on it.
Each option on this setting expands the automation to more outsource entities:
Off
‘Off’ means that no OPO is automatically generated.
With any of the ‘On’ settings, only the first operation with an outsource request found will be outsourced.
On with restrictions – Operation Only
When ‘On with restrictions’ is selected, the quote must have only one Outsource operation
The ‘Restriction’ referred to in this setting, limits the automation only to operations flagged as ‘Is Outsourced’ in the operations details:
The prepress operations must be finished for the OPO to be automatically created.
This allows pre-production requirements to be met while coordinating the sending of the OPO until after they are completed.
After the prepress operations have been completed, the user is prompted to create the OPO through a time Entry Action modal:
On clicking ‘Save’, printIQ will create the outsource purchase order with a OPO status matching the setting Set Outsource Purchase Order Sent Status of either Email Sent or Goods Sent and updates the job status to Outsourced.
On with no restrictions – Operation Only
When ‘On with no restrictions’ is enabled, the outsourced operation does not require the ‘Is Outsourced’ flag on the operation definition to be enabled.
The first section or job operation found that has gone through the outsource tendering process and been priced by an outsource supplier will be processed through to OPO.
This will not process a fully outsourced section or job.
All prepress operations must be finished for the automation to email the Purchase Order to the supplier.
On with no restrictions – All Outsource
As above, but will also automate Section and Job outsource.
In either situation, if the purchase order is manually sent by a user, the automation process will not duplicate the email to the supplier.
Other settings that relate to the behaviour of automatically generated outsource purchase orders include:
1. 'Send email on outsource purchase order auto creation' - determines if the OPO should be emailed to the supplier. If not enabled, the OPO will be created with the status of ‘PO Created’:
2. 'Set outsource purchase order sent status' - sets the OPO status if the email is automatically sent to the supplier:
3. 'PrintIQ_Outsource_DefaultDeliverToMe' - Controls the default ‘Delivery To’ address on the OPO to have the job delivered either back to the originators factory or directly out to the end customer:
OPO Supplier Detail Settings
The following Outsource settings are supplier based and can be set on a per supplier basis through the Suppliers’ details screen
1. 'Disable Outsource Purchase Order Auto Creation' - This setting will prevent the whole automated OPO workflow from occurring for that specific supplier:
2. 'Outsource Request Courier and Connote tracking info required when dispatched' - When enabled, this setting forces the supplier to enter a Courier and Consignment number when entering shipping date and time:
The following settings control the suppliers’ associated users’ access to the Purchase Order Board and Invoice Board:
When the Allow Supplier Invoicing setting is enabled, it will also grant access to the Purchase Order Board irrespective of the 'Allow Supplier Access To Purchase Order Board settings’ value.
When there is any form of Outsource Purchase Order Automation configured, there are two controlling actions that must be completed in order to trigger the automated OPO creation.
• Artwork must be uploaded and
• All (if any) preproduction operations must be completed.
If a job has no preproduction operations, the OPO automation will be actioned on artwork upload and the job status will be set to Outsourced.
Example Workflows
Workflow 1 – On with restrictions – Operations Only
When the setting is set to ‘On with restrictions – Operations Only’, the product would usually be created on an Outsource quote template:
Where there is one outsourced operation (flagged as ‘Is Outsourced’ on the operation definition itself) and optionally one or more prepress operations.
After the supplier(s) have tendered pricing and a suppliers pricing is selected, the quote is accepted and artwork uploaded.
The job shows an OPO is to be created, which will occur when the prepress operations are completed:
After completing the operations, the user is prompted to create and send the purchase order:
Clicking ‘Save’ causes the OPO to be created and emailed to the supplier and the job status updated to Outsourced:
If there had been no prepress operations, the OPO would have been created and sent to the supplier just after the artwork was uploaded.
Workflow 2 – On with no restrictions – Operations Only
This setting will automate the OPO creation for the first section operation or job operation found.
The operations are not ‘restricted’ to having the ‘Is outsourced’ flag enabled on the operations’ definition, but will still automate such OPO requests.
The first section operation or job operation that is outsourced, will be created and sent to the supplier:
Unlike ‘with restrictions’ in workflow 1 above, the operation does not need to be set as ‘Is outsourced’.
After finishing the prepress operations, the user may be prompted to create the OPO. Clicking ‘Save’ will create the OPO and update the job status to Outsourced.
If the outsourced operation is not ready to be processed at this stage, simply click Close on the Time Entry Action:
Complete the other section operations and after completing the outsourced operation, the Time Entry Action will appear again.
Click Save to create and send the OPO to the supplier and set the job to a status of Outsourced:
Workflow 3 – On with no restrictions – All Outsource
This is the most encompassing and least restrictive of the OPO automation settings.
This setting will process the first outsourced entity it comes across on the product, whether it is an operation flagged as Fully Outsourced, a section or job operation that has had outsource tendering or a fully outsourced section or job:
Automatically Confirm Outsource Tender
The ‘Auto Confirm Outsource’ checkbox on operation components enables the automatic creation and acceptance of outsource tenders within a quote.
This checkbox appears on the General Options section of the component line:
When this is checked and a supplier is selected in the Supplier field, an outsource request will be automatically generated and accepted for this operation when added to a quote.
The selected supplier on the component will be the supplier automatically assigned to the outsourced operation.
This removes the need for outsource tendering when it is not required.
The Outsource Request email does not get sent unless the 'Send email request' button is manually clicked.
Supplier priced products and auto OPO generation
When a product has supplier pricing, printIQ can automatically generate an Outsource Purchase Order and send it to the supplier.
This is controlled by the setting ‘Automatically Outsource Supplier-Priced Products’.
The setting can only be accessed by printIQ support staff
The 'Outsource purchase order email' can be sent automatically but this depends on the setting ‘Send email on outsource purchase order auto creation’ being active.
More information on this setting is above in the 'OPO configuration setting' section.
Supplier priced products are imported via the Product Import screen using the Supplier Pricing CSV:
After quote acceptance, artwork must be uploaded for the automation to be triggered.
If the setting ‘Outsource Purchase Order Auto Creation’ (mentioned above) is set to 'On with no restrictions', the OPO will be created and emailed to the supplier after the artwork has been uploaded and confirmed on the submit artwork screen:
Job Details before artwork upload:
Job details after artwork upload and confirmation:
The timing of the OPO creation all depends on the setting ‘Outsource Purchase Order Auto Creation’ and how it is set.
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