Item/Vendor Relationships

Item/vendor relationships identify vendors who are potential sources for a part. These relationships enable the system to maintain a list of qualified vendor and vendor quotation information on related quotation entities. They also allow control over supply sources according to company vendor selection criteria by making relationships mandatory on specific key parts before placing a purchase order. Relationships may also be created automatically by the system after a purchase order has been created. A relationship can be held for a short while or deactivated so as to avoid further purchase order placing on the part from this vendor.

The Purchasing application identifies item sources through item/vendor relationships. These relationships define for the system which item(s) can be obtained from which vendor(s). A buyer, therefore, can use item/vendor relationships to ensure that items are purchased from approved vendors. In addition, information entered on item/vendor relationships can be used as defaults when preparing purchase orders, so the buyer has less data to enter when creating a purchase order.

The Item/Vendor Relationship Maintenance conversation is used to add, change, deactivate, and reactivate item/vendor relationships. Procedures for performing these functions are outlined below. For detailed validation information for the screens or reports mentioned below, see the appropriate screens or reports section of this manual.

Adding an Item/Vendor Relationship

1. Choose the Item/Vendor Relationship option. The Item/Vendor Relationship Maintenance Function Select screen is displayed.

2. Fill in the part number and vendor number and choose option 1 - Add an Item/Vendor Relationship. Press the Enter key. The Detail screen is displayed.

3. Fill in the Addition screen. Note the following fields:

· The following defaults are retrieved from the part master record for the item and may be changed:

- Vendor Item Description

- Purchasing Unit of Measure

- Unit of Measure Conversion Factor

- Inspection Required Code

- Buyer Code

· Minimum Order Quantity: If a vendor specifies a minimum order quantity, or your internal policy requires a minimum order, enter that amount here. If a purchase order is created for less than this quantity, a warning message will be displayed to the buyer attempting to create the purchase order.

· Planned Quantity This Year: If a vendor offers a special discount for an accumulated annual quantity, or you have some other arrangement wherein you wish to reach a target quantity for this item, enter that quantity here.

· If you wish to enter comments for this relationship, type Y in the Comments field so the Comment screen will be displayed.

4. Press the Enter key.

· If Y was entered in the Comments field on the Detail screen, the Comment screen is displayed. Type in comments and the corresponding print codes. Press the Enter key.

The Function Select screen is redisplayed.

5. More relationships may be entered by repeating steps 2-5. To exit the Item/Vendor Relationship Maintenance conversation, press F3 - Exit.

Using Item/Vendor Relationships

A Vendor Relation Required flag is defined on the Part Master File. This flag allows the user to decide, part by part, if a relationship is mandatory before placing a purchase order on it.

An Automatic Item/Vendor Relationship Creation flag is defined on the Purchasing System Defaults category on the Reference File. This flag can be set so that the system automatically creates an item/vendor relationship when a purchase order line is created without an existing relationship, providing that the vendor relation required flag for the part is N.

An item/vendor relationship hold code is defined on the Item/Vendor Relationship Master File. It can be used to prevent the creation of purchase order lines on this part for the related vendor. There is no validation to change the hold code value.

A Planned Quantity is established with the creation of an item/vendor relationship. This amount is used during the vendor allocation process as a basis for the quota percentage calculation which determines how much of a requisitioned quantity will be allocated among several vendors.

A maintenance function of item/vendor relationship deactivation allows the user to avoid further purchase order line creation on this part from the related vendor. To use this function, there must be no purchase order line on this part from this vendor and all the related quotations must have been previously deleted. The item/vendor relationship can then be deleted by the File Reorganization program or reactivated before its deletion by an item/vendor relationship maintenance function.

Reports and Online Inquiries

Several reports and inquiries are provided in the system to help you maintain item/vendor relationships. These are summarized below:

Item/Vendor Relationship Reports

These reports list all item/vendor relationships meeting your selection criteria. You may print all item/vendor relationships for a certain part (report PO560A), all relationships for a certain vendor (report PO560B), or all item/vendor relationships with no quotation (PO560C). To request reports:

1. Choose the Item/Vendor Relationship Report Request option. The Item/Vendor Relationship Report Request screen is displayed.

2. Enter an X in the type of report you wish (by part, by vendor, or with no quotation). Enter the appropriate selection criteria. Press the Enter key.

Item/Vendor Relationship Inquiry

This inquiry allows you to view all item/vendor relationships for a certain part, all relationships for a certain vendor, or the detail for a specific item/vendor relationship. In addition, statistical delivery performance and price/quality performance information may be viewed for an individual item/vendor relationship. To perform the inquiry function:

1. Choose the Item/Vendor Relationship Inquiry option. The Item/Vendor Relationship Inquiry Function Select screen is displayed.

2. Enter an X in the type of inquiry you wish (by part, by vendor, or for one relationship). Enter the appropriate selection criteria. Press the Enter key.

3. If you have requested an inquiry by part or vendor, the appropriate list screen is displayed. You may select any line for detail display by entering an X in the Select field and pressing F5 - Detail screen.