Get suggested purchase orders

Let EloERP work out what to reorder from each product's sales, stock and open orders, one suggestion per supplier, and turn the ones you accept into draft purchase orders.

Suggested orders tell you what to buy this week so the shelves last until the next delivery. EloERP looks at what each product sells, what is in stock and what is already on order. You get one suggestion per supplier in the AI Inbox; accepting one makes a draft purchase order you can still change.

A suggested order open in the AI Inbox with the reason for each line

Before you begin

• Your company needs the AI add-on. See Switch AI on for your company.
• Your role needs the right to create purchase orders.
• Each product needs at least one earlier purchase bill. That is how the suggestion knows the supplier and the rate.
• For products that sell rarely, set a reorder level. See Min Stock Level.

Where to find it

Open Home → Overview → AI Inbox. Suggested orders show there with the kind Suggested order.

Get suggestions now

1. Choose the branch in the top bar. Suggestions are for one branch.
2. Open Home → Overview → AI Inbox.
3. Click Suggest orders now. It shows Working it out….
4. Read the message: how many suggested orders are waiting, or Nothing needs ordering this week.

Suggestions are also made for every branch early each Monday morning, so they are ready when the week starts.

Check a suggestion

1. Click the Suggested order row, for example Suggested order: Ali Traders — 6 products.
2. Read each line: the product, the quantity, the rate and the amount.
3. Read the reason under each product, for example Sells about 12 a week; 5 in stock, 10 on order.

The rate is what you last paid that supplier for the product.

Turn it into a purchase order

1. Click Create draft order.
2. Click OK on Create a draft purchase order from this?.
3. Click the order number next to Posted as to open the purchase order.
4. Change quantities or remove lines if you need to.
5. Approve and send the order as usual. See Purchase Orders.

The draft order is dated today, expected in seven days, for the branch's default warehouse. To drop it, use Undo in the AI Inbox; the order is cancelled.

How the quantity is worked out

• For each product, the weekly sales of the branch are read, and the method that would have predicted the last weeks best is chosen. It notices products that do not sell every week, and products that sell more at the same time each year.
• A product is suggested when its stock plus what is on order has fallen to its reorder point, or below its reorder level.
• The quantity covers about two weeks of sales, plus a safety margin for a busy week.
• Products with too little sales history are ordered up to their reorder level only.
• Services and products without stock tracking are left out.

No AI model is used for the numbers. The same figures always give the same suggestion.

Common questions

Some products are missing from the suggestions. A product never bought on a purchase bill has no supplier to order from, so it is skipped. Enter one purchase bill for it first.

Why is a product suggested when I have stock? Its stock plus open orders is below what it usually sells before the next delivery, or below its reorder level.

I clicked Suggest orders now twice. The newer suggestion for each supplier replaces the older one. The older one moves to Declined as replaced.

Does approving send the order to the supplier? No. It only makes a draft purchase order. You check it and send it yourself.

The suggestions look too small. Sales history is short for new companies. They improve as weeks of sales build up. Set reorder levels to set a floor.