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Quantum VS Help: Sales Desk |
Forward ordering is a system used when goods are not required straight away by the customer.
With 'Forward' Sales Orders and lines, stock is not allocated to the order/line when the goods are ordered, as happens with standard orders. Instead, stock is allocated on a line-by-line basis based on its Allocation Date; i.e. the date on which free stock can be allocated - or 'released' - to the order line.
The following date fields on Sales Order headers and lines are also important in 'forward ordering':
Required Date: the date on which the customer requires the goods to be delivered. This partially determines when the line can be released for Picking/Despatch. And a
Target Date (if enabled): a date, agreed between you and the customer, on which you will aim to deliver the goods.
Note: Required Date and Target Date fields can be updated by the User as the order progresses and used retrospectively to assess how well you met your delivery targets. See Sales Order Date Fields And Delivery Performance.
Allocation, Required and Target dates will typically be dates in the future, although they may potentially be any date from 'today' onwards.
Forward ordering is useful when the customer does not require the goods for a period of time. The stock, instead of being tied up against the order, may continue to be sold up until the time it is allocated - or released - to the order line.
For example: 'John's Building Supplies' requires 100 bags of cement, but wants them delivered in 30 days. Say you have only 120 units in stock: entering this as a Normal line means all 100 units would be allocated, leaving you with just 20 to sell. This may be problematic if you wish to ensure you have enough units in stock to satisfy short term demand. However, entering this as a Forward Order line leaves all 120 units available to sell. You can then ensure the required 100 units are available to be allocated on the Allocation Date, so that the order can be delivered on the customer's Required Date.
Another benefit is that it is possible to set up 'scheduled orders' whereby a single order line and quantity can automatically be split into a series of deliveries on particular dates.
For example: 'John's Building Supplies' requires 100 bags of cement, but instead of having all 100 delivered in one go, wants this to be split into ten deliveries, each one month apart. This ordering schedule can now be generated from just one Forward Order line, meaning the User does not have to create multiple Sales Orders.
There are two possible ways for a User to enter a Forward line on a Sales Order (as opposed to a Normal line, for which free stock is allocated on Sales Order Completion):
One option is to specify that the Product line will be a Forward Order line using the 'line type selector' - similar to when adding a Text, Manual or Special Product.
Alternatively, you may set up the User's Role/User Permissions (see Enabling Forward Ordering In Quantum VS) so that all Product and Special lines entered will default to being 'Forward' lines.
See Sales Orders: Adding Forward Order Lines.
All Forward Order lines take their Required and Allocation dates from the Sales Order header, but the User may amend these dates on the Sales Order line. A Forward Order line may be changed into a Normal line if required.
Note: The current system of entering 'Forward Order lines' was introduced in Quantum VS 9, replacing the previous concept of creating whole 'Forward Orders'. For details see Forward Ordering In Quantum VS: The Old And New Systems.
Following Sales Order Completion, stock must be allocated to the Forward Order line. Also, a Picking Note must be generated so that the line can proceed through the Picking, Despatch and Invoicing cycle.
Stock allocation, and release of the line for picking/despatch, can potentially happen automatically on Sales Order Completion. This is based on the current date, the line's Required and Allocation dates, your system's 'Process Days Prior To Required' and 'Allocate Prior To Required Days' parameters, and stock availability. More typically, one or both of the following Processes will need to be run manually at a later date:
Forward Order Stock Allocation - to allocate stock to Forward Order lines; and/or
Forward Order Document Release - to release lines to Picking/Despatch.
Once stock has been allocated and a Picking Note generated, the Picking Note will display in the Sales Order's Tracking tab and the order/line will progress through the Picking, Despatch and Invoicing cycle as normal.
For further details and examples see Forward Order Lines: Allocating Stock And Releasing Lines For Picking/Despatch.
The Forward Order Lines Finder lists Forward Order lines and can be used to open the associated Sales Order.
The Sales Orders Report may also be used to list Forward Orders.
The Sales Orders Finder has a filter for Forward Orders.
This section covers:
Note: This section of Quantum VS Help assumes the User has all Forward Ordering-related User Permissions enabled - see Enabling Forward Ordering In Quantum VS.
NEXT: Forward Ordering In Quantum VS: The Old And New Systems