Send purchase orders when a part runs low

A part runs out on the Friday you needed it. Setting a minimum level and a supplier email means the order goes out before that happens.

This is free and runs for automotive accounts.

The three things it needs

On each part, under Parts and Inventory, then Stock:

1. Stock on hand, a real number from a real count
2. Minimum, the level at which you want to reorder
3. Supplier email, the address that actually reads orders

A maximum level is optional but worth setting: it decides the order quantity.

What happens

On weekday mornings we look at your active parts. Any part where on hand is at or below its minimum, and which has a supplier email, goes into a purchase order.

• Order quantity is your maximum minus what is on hand. With no maximum set, we order enough to cover twice your minimum.
• One email per supplier. If twelve parts hit their minimum on the same morning and they all come from the same supplier, that supplier gets one order with twelve lines, not twelve emails.
• Once every 24 hours per part. A part that is still low tomorrow does not generate a second order the next morning unless a full day has passed.
• The order carries your business name, your ABN and your contact details.

Checking it is working

The Low stock page is the first place to look when nothing has been ordered. It lists everything at or under its minimum and separates out the parts with no supplier email, which are exactly the ones nothing automatic can do anything about.

One gap worth knowing about: that page only lists parts whose minimum is above zero. A part left on a minimum of zero never appears there, and can still have an order emailed to its supplier once the on-hand count reaches zero. Give every part you want reordered a minimum of one or more and the page and the orders agree.

Common reasons nothing goes out

• No supplier email on the part. The most common cause by a distance.
• On hand is blank. We compare on hand to the minimum, so a blank on hand cannot be low.
• No minimum on the part. We only look at parts that carry one, so a blank minimum is never ordered. A minimum of zero is a different case: it does still order, once the on-hand count reaches zero.
• An order already went in the last 24 hours.
• It is the weekend. Orders go out on weekday mornings.

Keep the counts honest

Automatic ordering is only as good as the on-hand number. If the count drifts, you will get orders you do not need and miss the ones you do. The stock page records when each part was last counted, which makes a stale line easy to spot.

Related

• Build the parts catalogue