This article only applies if you use the purchasing module of Optiply. If you are still using your own purchasing module, please contact us via chat. We will be pleased to explain the advantages of our purchasing module to you.
This article assumes that you know for which supplier you want to order. This explanation starts after you have pressed the button 'Start Purchase','Order', or 'New' within the purchase module. You will then see a screen similar to the one shown in the picture below.
Making a purchase order within Optiply consists of a number of steps. These steps are discussed further in this article.
Step 1. Reviewing and adjusting the advice within the purchasing module
When looking at purchase advice, the most important goal is to identify and adjust both the "too high" and the "too low" order advice.
If you have opened the purchasing module from a given advice, your screen will look similar to the previously shown image.
The 'Your current order' column shows the number that Optiply advises you to order. This advice consists of the difference between the optimal stock level, calculated by Optiply (the column 'Max'), and the column 'Stock position' (the available stock in your warehouse + the number that has already been ordered). This number can deviate from this due to restrictions that have been imposed (by your supplier): 'Order by' and the 'MOQ'.
In addition, the various related ID's of the product are shown as followed:
SKU
SKU of the supplier
Article code
The purpose of the module is to not look at every purchase order line, but to see if there is any strange advice to which you can add your knowledge about your market. Think of upcoming offers, extreme trends in demand, etc.
Among the most successful users of Optiply, we usually see the following steps to prepare a purchase order for shipment as quickly as possible.
See if Optiply does not have extremely high advice (e.g. due to a huge trend he detects). If there are extreme order lines between them (unfold them by clicking on the arrow to the left of the row). With the data you then see on your screen, you can easily decide if and how the order advice should be adjusted.
Sort the table by color (red dots at the top). Go through the red products. You will notice that most red dots have a 'Max' of 1. These are often new products. You can check these red dots to see if you need to make any adjustments.
Sort the grey chart by category (A at the top). When you do this, you can see if there are any best-selling products for which Optiply does not order, when you might still want to do so.
As soon as you agree with the order, click on the 'Place order' button. When you've done this, the last part of placing a purchase order within Optiply starts.
Step 2. Completing the order within Optiply and sending the order to your supplier
As soon as you press the 'Place order' button, the completion phase of the purchase order opens. See the image below:
This screen is about sending your order to your supplier. The most common ways to send an order to your supplier are the following two:
Sending an Excel/ CSV/ PDF.
If your supplier accepts orders via email, you can do so by clicking on the 'email the order' button. There you can create the email that will be sent to your supplier with the Excel, CSV, and/ or PDF attached with the order. If you need to upload the excel/ CSV in a portal or deliver it to the supplier in another way, you can use one of the buttons on the left to download the order.Ordering the order in the 'webshop' of the supplier.
It is often the case that a supplier in the webshop has to order product by product. This can be done by downloading the excel/ CSV and using it to place the order. It is also possible to do this in the purchase module (by clicking 'cancel'). The advantage of the last option is that you can then immediately process products that are often not available in the purchase order. The disadvantage of this is that Optiply has fewer data about the delivery reliability of a supplier.
Once your order has been correctly sent to the supplier, the last step is to press the 'Place Order' button. You will see a confirmation that you have succeeded and the purchase order will immediately be visible in your booking module.