Concepts

Tasks

Settings

Sending a Purchase Order to a Supplier

Once the purchase order is complete and has been approved (if necessary), you can send it to the supplier. After you have printed or sent the purchase order, the system locks it. You will not be able to change most of the properties or add lines to an order that has been printed or sent, unless you redraft the order.

Several methods are available to send a purchase order to the supplier:

•	Mail: A copy of the document is printed to your default printer. You can then send the printout to the supplier by mail.

•	Fax: A copy of the document is faxed to the supplier. If the selected contact already has a fax number, the system enters it here. Otherwise, you must enter the fax number for this contact.

Note: Before you can send a document by fax, your APM administrator must have set up the Microsoft fax service.

•

Email: APM creates a report using the file format specified in Purchasing Management settings. The report is then attached to an email message and emailed to the supplier. If the selected contact already has an email address, the system enters it here. Otherwise, you must enter the email address for this contact.

You can export an RFQ bid sheet in Microsoft Excel format to one or more suppliers. On the RFQ, the supplier must be set to have the RFQ sent to them by email, and on the Email Info tab, the Spreadsheet option must be selected as the attachment type.

If you are sending an Excel spreadsheet to suppliers, they can enter their bid information in the document and email it back to you. You can then import the bid information into the RFQ.

Note: To send a purchasing document by email you must be using a MAPI-compliant messaging application such as Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express.

Note: If you will be sending the document as an Excel spreadsheet, you must have MS Excel 2010 or later installed on your computer.

•	Phone: The document is communicated to the supplier in some other manner (for example, over the telephone). If the selected contact already has a telephone number, the system enters it here. Otherwise, you must enter the telephone number for this contact.

•	Courier: A copy of the document is printed to your default printer. You can then send the printout to the supplier using the selected courier.

This topic explains how to verify the contact method and information, and then send the purchase order to the supplier.

To set up the Microsoft fax server for fax transmission, see Setting up an APM Fax Server.

To set the purchase order faxing options for a site, please see **Setting Options for Printing, Emailing, and Faxing Purchase Orders.

To Send a Purchase Order to the Supplier

1.	Open the purchase order.

2.	On the Properties view, select the Contact Info tab. This tab lists the contact person to whom you will send the purchase order.

3.	Review the information on this tab to ensure that it is correct:

Setting Name

Description

Send to

The name of the supplier’s contact person to whom you are sending the purchase order. The system enters the name of the purchase order contact identified for the supplier. If no purchase order contact has been entered for the supplier: • the system enters the supplier’s primary contact. • if neither contact is set up on the supplier, you must select a contact from the list.

Send by

Select how you will send the purchase order to the supplier.

4.	If you are sending the purchase order by mail or courier, ensure that the mailing address information is correct. The system will enter default values from the supplier record.

5.	If you are sending the purchase order by courier, select the courier from the Courier list.

6.	If you are sending the purchase order by fax, ensure that the following information is correct:

Setting Name

Description

Fax number

If appropriate, enter the fax number for the supplier’s contact person. If the supplier contact has a fax number entered already, it is displayed here when you select the Fax transmission method.

Priority

Select the priority level for the fax: • Low: All faxes that have a normal or a high priority are sent before a fax that has a low priority. • Normal: All faxes that have a high priority are sent before a fax that has a normal priority. • High: The fax is sent with a high priority.

Cover page

If you will be sending the fax using the MS Fax Server, you can select a cover page template for the fax. To browse for the cover page file, click the folder icon in the box. Cover pages must be in a *.cov file format and accessible on the server.

Subject

If you will be sending the fax using the MS Fax Server, you can enter a subject line for the fax. The subject line is printed on the cover page.

Note	You can enter a note for the fax. The note text is printed on the fax cover page.

Schedule type

If you will be sending the fax using the MS Fax Server, you can select how the fax will be scheduled: • As soon as possible: Sends the fax as soon as the fax server is available. • Discount period: Sends the fax during a predefined discount period. The discount period can be set up on the fax server. • Specific time: Sends the fax no sooner than the selected time. The actual time the fax is sent depends on the availability of the fax server and the fax priority. Enter the date and time that you want the fax to be sent. Note: The time that the fax is sent also depends on how frequently the Action Scheduler is set up to check for pending APM faxes. For example, if the Action Scheduler checks for APM faxes at 12 noon every day, faxes are only sent to the Fax Server queue once a day. To have faxes sent to the queue as soon as possible, set the Action Scheduler polling interval to a small duration, such as 5 minutes. Once a fax is in the queue, the Fax Server uses the schedule type setting to determine when to send the fax.

7.	If you are sending the purchase order by email, fill in the following:

Setting Name

Description

Email address

The email address to be used when sending this document to the supplier. The system enters the supplier contact’s email address by default. If necessary, you can enter a different email address.

8.	From the Purchase Order menu select Send to and then Supplier. A confirmation message appears.

9.	Verify that the contact information and transmission method is correct, and click Yes. The system either prints, faxes, or emails the purchase order depending on the selected method.