Frequently Asked Question

COUNTERPOINT has introduced a more automated and paramatized purchasing module wherein a mix of part ranking and supplier parameters can allow the system to suggest buy amounts. 

Key components of this purchasing model are:

• Ranking Tables
• Purchasing Parameters
• Ranking Calculation
• Calculated EOQ (Economic Order Quantities)
  
• Lead Time Calculation
• Calculate ROP (Reorder Point/Minimum)
• Purchasing Parameter setup
• Supplier Parameter Setup
• Automated Suggested Order Calculation
• New 'Buyer Focus' screen which allows you to view a list of suggested orders along with information about the parameters set and whether the order has met certain criteria

Part Ranking Parameter Maintenance

One of the key components to the new purchasing model is the ranking of parts. This is done on a weekly basis, with every part being analyzed.

Volume Ranking (No Longer in Use)

The Part Ranking Parameter Maintenance menu option is found through Sales Desk > Administration > Data Maintenance > Part Vol Ranking Parameters and offers the standard Add, Change and Delete functions. The parameters are to be setup by branch or all branches and category or all categories. It is mandatory that a default parameter either by branch or for all branches be setup so that all items can be ranked.

The parameter maintenance allows for:

• 5 - The number of days that that a product is to be kept as “N”ew status. All items are set to an N ranking when they are added to the system. 
• 6 - The number of months sales to view for ranking purposes. 
• 7 - The number of months a product goes without sales after it has been added to the system before it is considered an Obsolete item
• 8 - Whether to set the item to Obsolete if it does not exist in future price updates.

The ranking designations are then entered based on the sales quantity for the number of months being viewed, as entered in the Sales Months field. 

• The Volume ranking Sales % is a percentage of the total either by dollars or units. The flag to indicate the $ or U is in the billing parameters, old screen 4 field 20.
• The ranking designation will be applied to all items that have sold Up To and including the quantity entered. 
• The reorder allows for the changing of the reorder allowed on a particular ranking. 
• The “O” rank is reserved for Obsolete items for which only the reorder flag can be set.

Sales Ranking 

The next ranking parameter is the sales ranking which allows for additional parameters like safety stock. The Part Sales Ranking Parameter Maintenance menu option is found through Sales Desk > Administration > Data Maintenance > Part Sales Ranking Parameters. This is done by branch and it is advised that you first set up a 'catch-all' parameter for all branches before setting up individual branches.

When configuring these parameters, you will want to consider the following:

• Ranking - What rank code to assign to the part when it meets:
• Last 52 Weeks Sales Range - Items with sales up to this value will be considered
  
• Target Turns - The number of turns that you wish to make with items in this dollar range
  
• Safety Stock 'Direct Buy' - For items with this rank, include this percentage of 'safety' stock when ordering direct
• Safety Stock 'DC Replenishment' - For items with this rank, include this percentage of 'safety' stock when replenishing a branch from the DC

Calculate EOQ Values (How Much To Buy)

• This is done for each branch separately
• Age Week Sales
• If Reorder Allowed = N, S or K do nothing
• If Reorder Lock not 0 do nothing
• Calculate the Active number of weeks in the past (X) weeks based on parameter setting
  • Active weeks from First Receipt If the Active Weeks is > Weeks Active parameter (Field 30) use the parameter value
  • If the Active Weeks is 0 do nothing
  • Weeks with Activity = Weeks in Active Weeks that have sales not = 0
• Only done for products that have a first receipt date
• Calculate Annual Unit Sales = previous 52 weeks sales.
• Assign the EOQ
• Based on the sales ranking parameter (see above section) for the part divide the annual unit sales by the turns parameter giving the EOQ Vendor and Transfer.

Calculate Lead Time by Part

• Use the number of receiving’s set on the supplier record. If blank or 0 then default of 8 is used

• Calculate the average lead time for the most recent number receiving’s of the part.

• Compare the average lead time to the highest number of days and add the lower of the difference or 25% of the average lead time.

Calculate Re-order Points (ROP/Minimum)

Purchasing Parameters

New parameters within the purchasing module help drive the suggested order and EOQ calculations

9. System Utilities > 7. Purchasing > 1. Purchasing Parameter Reset

It is suggested that you modify these parameters with the assistance of AMS to ensure they are properly configured

Screen 2

• Default Timer for new product added
• Field 30 - Suggested Order number of weeks sales maximum. 
• Field 32 - Minimum number of Weeks with Activity
• Field 34 - Weighting Weeks
• Field 40 - EOQ and ROP rounding - N = No Rounding : R = Round to nearest number : U = Always round up
• Field 43 - Corporate or DC ROP and EOQ for Suppliers purchased to DC
  Branch ROP and EOQ are used for Direct and Split Suppliers
• Field 42 - Branch Replenishment from DC – B/S/N

• Field 39 - Use Demand Smoothing
• Field 40 - Internal Review timer - 
• Field 66 - Suggested Order Top-up Value - Top up the suggested order if it is within this % of the minimum order value
• Field 68 - Allow split orders by branch

Supplier Parameter Maintenance

Additional flags within the Supplier Maintenance are also considered when using this purchasing model. 

When you are accessing the standard supplier maintenance 7. Purchasing > 1. Data Maintenance > 1. Supplier Maintenance

Within this screen, these are the key parameters that are used

• 18 - Min. Sugg Order Value: This value will be considered when creating the nightly suggested orders and orders meeting this threshold will be flagged on the 'Buyer Focus' screen
• 44 - Buyer Purchase Order: This buyer ID assigns order responsibility for this supplier to someone and will be used in the naming convention of the nightly suggested orders. All orders for this supplier will be prefixed with this buyer ID
• 45 - Buyer Stock Transfer: This buyer ID assigns order responsibility for this supplier to someone and will be used in the naming convention of the nightly orders coming in from the DC. All DC (stock transfer) orders for this supplier will be prefixed with this buyer ID
• 46 - Buy Frequency:  This is the frequency with which orders are created for this supplier. 
  
• 47 - Buy Day: This is the day of the week that is scheduled to buy for this supplier. On this day, the buyer will be notified of their orders being created.
  
• 48 - Direct to BR?: This indicates that the orders for this supplier are set to be direct to the branch and not split out/ cross-docked at the DC. This is a global setting that can be overridden by the 'B(ranch SO)' option

Branch Split Orders

Beyond the global split order configuration, you can also elect to split orders by supplier and branch. To do this, press B to access the B(ranch SO) option

This screen allows you to only direct ship orders for this supplier to specific branches. Entering an N in any field indicates that this branch will receive direct orders, while a Y will say 'Yes' to a split order from the DC

Automated Suggested Order Calculation

In this purchasing model, the part rankings are recalculated on a weekly basis and then every item in inventory is analyzed on a nightly basis using the part ranking parameters listed above and and order quantity is calculated. 

The daily suggested order calculation can be based the DC or Corporate ROP/EOQ

Recalculates for all parts each day with the exception of parts on outstanding suggested orders where the order quantity has been modified and not ordered yet.

Suggested order will buy direct to branch based on supplier setting

Do not order product set as N for reorder allowed unless there is a customer backorder.

DC available quantity for replenishment to branches calculated based parameter Branch Replenishment from DC.

Transfers it the quantity available is equal to or less than the ROP DC order the DC EOQ – Qty Available + ROP DC base on DC Available Quantity. Use branch purchase quantity for transfers. Also considers if branch is set to be Direct or Split or DC orders 

Corporate Vendor Orders compare the DC available quantity to the Corporate ROP and order when the available is less that the corporate ROP

Buyer Focus Screen

The biggest change with this style of purchasing for your purchasers themselves will be the new buyer focus screen. This replaces the old suggested order listing found at 7. Purchasing > 4. Suggested Order Processing > 4. Add/Change Order

This screen allows your purchaser a couple of options for listing their current set of orders:

• Buyer ID - This is the purchasers buyer ID and will list only orders for suppliers with that buyer ID assigned. The suggested order will also be prefixed with this ID. You can also press enter through the field to select all suggested orders
• Display Filter - This allows you to filter the listing based on a few different criteria
  
  • A = All Vendors
  • B = Both Orders / Transfers over the minimum pre-pay threshold
  • E = Only stock-out orders
  • S = Only orders over the minimum pre-pay threshold
  • T = Only transfers over the minimum pre-pay threshold
  • D = Orders scheduled for buy on today's day

Once you have selected the listing of orders you wish to review, they will display on screen. In this listing are a number of new fields to identify the criteria and status of the order

• Suggested Order / Transfer Name - The name of the suggested order / stock transfer
• Vendor Name - The name of the vendor/supplier
  
• Last Modified Order Line - The last time this order was modified. If noone has manually modified the order, this will show an early morning hour when the system generated the order
  
• Last Order Days - The number of days since the last order for this supplier
  
• Total Lines - Total lines on the order
  
• Total Value - The total value of the order
  
• PP / Transfer Value - The pre-paid minimum value for this supplier
  
• M? - A flag indicating if the order has been modified
• S? - 
  
• Curr - Currency in which the order is created