Source Customer Order Lines Automatically

Explanation

Automatic sourcing is used when a sourcing rule is connected to the sales part. The customer order line will be automatically sourced directly when saving your entry in the Customer Order window. When you source customer order lines automatically, the supply code and supplier for the order line will be selected according to the sourcing rule. The system retrieves the correct sourcing rule by first looking at the combination of the sales part and the customer address, then the combination of the sales part and the customer, and finally from the sales part alone.

If the automatic sourcing process cannot find an appropriate sourcing alternative, the order line's supply code will be Not Decided. The customer order line will also receive the Not Decided supply code if a sales part has the sourcing option set to Not Decided. 

Note: There are no logical restrictions or controls when sourcing rules are defined or when sourcing rules are connected to sales parts, sales part/customers, or sales part/customer addresses. Instead, these controls take place within the automatic sourcing calculation. For instance, a sourcing rule suggesting shop order as a supply code, will not be activated by the automatic sourcing if the sales part on the customer order line is defined as a purchased part in the inventory part record. If automatic sourcing cannot find an appropriate alternative, you will receive the message No Sourcing Alternatives Found. This message will be created by the following controls:

• Supply chain data must be defined for the appropriate relations in the supply chain parameter windows or in the supply chain matrixes. Therefore, for a transit alternative, supply chain data must exist for both distances; from the supplier to the order taking site, and from the order taking site to the customer. Note that this also means that a customer order line with a single occurrence address will not be handled by the automatic sourcing.
• Only suppliers (internal or external) connected to the purchase part on the customer order line can end up as a supplier on the customer order line.
• Only inventory parts with a Manufactured or Manufactured (recipe) part type can receive a Shop Order supply code.
• The available supplier type (internal or external) must match the defined supplier selection method or supply code in the used sourcing rule.

If the supply code on the customer order line is set to Not Decided, you can re-run the automatic sourcing by using one of the following options:

• The Customer Order window - On a customer order line with a Not Decided supply code, click Sourcing, Source Order Lines Automatically on the Operations menu.
• The Source Order Lines window - On a customer order line with a Not Decided supply code, click Source Order Lines Automatically on the Operations menu.
• The Source Order Lines Automatically dialog box- On a customer order line with a Not Decided supply code.   

To view the results of automatic sourcing on the customer order line, right-click and then click Sourcing, View Automatic Sourcing Candidates. The candidates shown in the dialog box are the sourcing alternatives that were equally good; they were separated through the sourcing objectives, i.e., the criteria. The Selected check box is selected for these alternatives. For instance, five out of seven sourcing alternatives can deliver the whole sales quantity on time. All five will be shown in the dialog. However, two of the alternatives have the same total shipping time (we assume that only shipping time is used as a criterion). These two alternatives will have the Selected check box selected. The automatic sourcing process will pick the first alternative of the two, to supply the customer.

Note: It is always possible to change the supply code and the supplier suggested by the automatic sourcing.

The Default feature enables you to use the default settings in the Source Order Lines Automatically dialog box. Default settings are derived from the Database Tasks window set by the administrator. 

Prerequisites

• The customer order header status must not be Delivered.
• The order line cannot already be partially sourced by using manual sourcing.
• Supply chain data must exist.
• Suppliers, internal or external, must be connected to the purchase part on the customer order line to appear as possible sourcing alternatives.
• The order lines must have the supply code Not Decided.
• A sourcing rule must be defined for the sales part alone, for the sales part and customer, or for the sales part and customer address.

System Effects

• A customer order line is sourced from one sourcing alternative. The source line receives the correct supply code, and, when appropriate, the correct supplier.
• If stock has been reserved at an internal supplier or at the order-taking site (instant reservations), this will be indicated in the Supply Site Qty Reserved field on the customer order line.
• To source a customer order line means that the supply code of the ordered part and the supplier to use will be chosen according to the settings on the sourcing rule. The chosen supply code and the supplier will be stated on the order line.
• If you have scheduled the task as a background job in the Source Order Lines Automatically dialog box, the task will be automatically performed based on the specified selection criteria.

Window

Customer Order
Source Order Lines
Source Order Lines Automatically

Related Window Descriptions

Customer Order 
Customer Order/Order Lines
Source Order Lines
Source Order Lines Automatically 

Procedure

In the Customer Order window:

1. Populate or query for the appropriate customer order .
2. Select the order line(s) that you want to source automatically, point to Sourcing and then click Source Order Lines Automatically .
3. To confirm, click OK in the message box that appears.

In the Source Order Lines window:

1. Populate or query for the appropriate customer order line.
2. Select the order line(s) that you want to source automatically, right click, and select Source Order Lines Automatically .
3. To confirm, click OK in the message box that appears.

In the Source Order Lines Automatically dialog box:

You can perform automatic sourcing of order lines directly (procedure A), or schedule the task as a background job (procedure B).

A. To perform automatic sourcing of the order lines directly:

1. Open the Source Order Lines Automatically dialog box.
2. Enter a value in the Site field, or click List to select one from the List of Values
3. Click OK.

Note: Click Default if you want to use the default settings. 

B. To schedule automatic sourcing of order lines as a background job:

1. Click Schedule to open the New Database Task Schedule window. Set the scheduling parameters as desired and save. Scheduled tasks can be seen in Scheduled Database Tasks window