In this task your order entry users should enter a handful of sales orders to generate some initial demand to drive MRP generation.
Education:
Sales Orders Guide – Order Entry
Video - Sales Order Managing SO Dates
Training Tasks:
•Enter a set of sales orders sufficient in number to get familiar with order entry and to provide sales demand for MRP generation.
•Enter some lines using the item lookup and other lines using the Speed Entry function.
•Print order acknowledgments and review forms layout.
•Review the Late Supply screen for updating line item Expected Ship dates.
•Review open sales order reports.
Order Entry Guidelines
Do not use outside sales orders
Do not use outside sales orders because doing so compromises the integrity of the closed loop inventory system, the process workflow, and the two accounting system design. Sales orders are fully integrated with bills of manufacturing, inventory, MRP, and shop control and therefore cannot be excised from the system. Furthermore, using outside sales orders compromises the self-contained nature of each accounting system by introducing a host of duplicate functions and data synchronization issues and problems.
Never maintain standing sales orders that never get closed
Never maintain standing sales orders that never get closed to which lines are added as new orders are received. Standing sales orders get increasingly cluttered and unmanageable over time with accumulated lines that greatly complicate forms printing, order picking, and order tracking and reporting. Instead, always enter each new order on its own sales order that gets closed when the order is fully shipped and invoiced.
Do not mix multiple shipping addresses in a single sales order
When a customer order includes multiple shipping destinations where various lines are to be shipped to different addresses, split the customer order into a separate sales order for each shipping address. This is the only way to properly manage the shipping process, to print the correct shipping address on invoices, and to avoid potential errors with sales tax codes and invoice reversals.
Do not change line item required dates except for blanket orders
Always leave the calculated line item Required Date as is because it is an internal target date that drives MRP generation and reflects your company's Time to Shipment strategy. The Required Date also determines job and picking priority. The only exception is when the customer places a blanket order with a set of future shipments, in which case you will enter a line for each shipment and override the calculated Required Date with the requested ship date.
The Expected Ship date is the customer communication date
If you know that you will not be able to ship by the Required Date target date or if you wish to have a bit of cushion in your initial shipment target date, you should use the Expected Ship date as your customer communication date.
Use the Late Supply screen to update Expected Ship dates
Use the Late Supply screen to update line item Estimated Ship dates for sales order line items that will not meet their Required Date due to late supply from jobs or purchase orders of insufficient stock on hand. The Expected Ship date is for customer communications and can be freely updated as needed without affecting job or picking priority.
Never use sales orders as pseudo-jobs
Never use sales orders as pseudo-jobs because the sales order lacks the planning, costing, prioritization, and tracking capabilities that can only be achieved with an actual job. In particular, do not use sales kits as a substitute for bills of manufacturing.
