Customer Order Entry –
Orders are entered into the system interactively by an operator, or they may be interfaced from a user supplied text file.  Either way, they end up in a Order Batch, that can be reviewed and edited prior to actually being posted as active orders.  Multiple Order Batches may reside on the system simultaneously, thus allowing multiple order entry operators at the same time. Invoices may also be interfaced from files down-loaded from user defined sources.  The following types of orders ay be entered:
  • Regular Orders – This is the common type or order.  These are entered from a customer’s Purchase Order, or from a phone-in Order.  This type of order will remain on file until the specified Release Date, at which time a Picking Ticket will be printed.  After shipping, the order is marked for billing, Tax, Freight and Miscellaneous charges are entered and an Invoice is printed.  This type of process is referred to as Two-Step process.
  • Invoices – An Invoice order is one where there is no delay between the time of ordering and the time of shipping.  This is the type of order used for over-the-counter sales, or where a service is provided, or where all of the items ordered are automatically billed.  These orders would typically be already paid for.  This type of process is referred to as One-Step process.
  • Credit Memos – A Credit Memo order allows the customer to receive a credit for returned merchandise, or for overcharges.
  • Loss/Reshpment Orders – A Loss/Reshipment order is similar to that of Regular order.  A Packing Slip and Picking Ticket are printed, however no Invoice or Sales Transaction is generated.
 

Point-of-Sales Order Entry –
Orders may also be entered from a terminal acting as a Point-of-Sales terminal or from a telephone order taker.  For a specially defined Order Batch, after each order is entered, an Invoice or a Picking Ticket will be printed immediately, and the order posted.  Default values for the Order Batch and the Customer reduce the amount of keystrokes required to entry of the Customer Name, the Type of Payment, and the Code and Quantity of each item.
 

One-Step or Two-Step Billing –
In the context of the Customer Order Processing system, Billing involves the selection of Orders that have been shipped, and indicating the Quantity of each line item that are to be invoiced. Once orders are selected for billing, Invoices may be printed and posted, updating the Inventory files and recording the appropriate Open Item records in the Accounts Receivable system. The Customer Order Processing system offers two types of methods for the entry of customer orders, and the subsequent billing. These methods are traditionally referred to a Two-Step Billing and One-Step Billing.

      One-Step Billing:

  1. The Customer's order is entered into the system as an Invoice.  Details of the order are entered along with the individual items that are actually purchased.  At the time of order entry, it's known exactly the quantity of each item being purchased.  A Pick Ticket may be printed for the warehouse, but is is assumed that there is always enough stock available to ship what was ordered.  If goods are purchased in a store, and the customer's order is entered at a cash register, and payment is received, this is also a One-Step process.

      Two-Step Billing:

  1. The Customer's order is entered into the system as a Regular Order.  Details of the order are entered along with the individual inventory items that are wanting to be purchased.  A Pick Ticket is printed, and the individuals in the stocking warehouse will attempt to select and pack the order for shipping.

  2. The billing department receives information from the warehouse to indicate which orders were shipped, and what quantities of each ordered item actually went.  The items that were shipped are then selected for billing.  An invoice is generated for the goods that were shipped.  Any ordered items that could not be filled are marked to be backordered.
 

Multiple Ship-From Warehouse Locations –
Normally, all inventory items for a given order would be shipped from the warehouse defined by the location in the Order Header.  It is possible to specify that a particular item be shipped from a different location.  When Picking Tickets are printed for a given location, only those items that are to be shipped from that location, are printed.  It’s quite possible that a given order may have two Picking Tickets, each for different locations.
 

Special Pricing –
During the entry of Order Line Items, the system automatically computes the Unit Price for the associated Inventory Item.  This unit price may have been derived by means of one of the special Price Code Tables that are available in the system, or by the price specified in the Inventory Item record.  Price Code Tables may be used to offer Prices, Discounts, or Cost Markups based on quantity or dollar amount purchased.  Different Price Code Tables may be established based on Customer or Customer Type, Inventory Item or Product Category, Ship-To, or combinations of.  Price Codes may be defined for specific warehouse locations, and be in effect for specified period of time.  The Price Tables may be imported and exported from/to a spreadsheet for easy manipulation.
 

Prepaid Orders –
For Invoice type orders, or when Regular orders are billed, Prepayment amounts may be entered as Cash Receipts.  This allows for processing of Order Deposits, Cash-With-Order Sales, Over-The-Counter Sales and Credit Card Payments.  When the order is Invoiced, the deposit is identified, and when interfaced to Accounts Receivable, an A/R Open Item Payment transaction will be generated along with the Invoice.
 

Picking Tickets –
Order Picking Tickets are printed on demand for either a particular warehouse location, or all locations.  Only those order that have line item Release Dates less than or equal to the Cut-Off date are printed.  Line items are sorted using a Picking Zone and Sequence number defined for the inventory stored at the given location.  Picking Tickets may be reprinted as necessary.

When Picking Tickets are printed, a Picking Cycle Counter is incremented and assigned to the line items printed.  When the associated order is eventually billed, it is possible to select all items associated to a particular Picking Cycle thus automated to billing selection process.
 

Billing with PC Based Manifest Systems –
Picking Tickets are returned from the Shipping department to the Billing department.  For each ticket, the associated Order is selected and those items shipped will be selected for billing.  If the quantity shipped does not match the original order, or if any item could not be shipped, the order is revised as required.
The system provides for support of a PC based Manifest System.  When Picking Tickets are printed, a Bar Code is printed, coded with the Customer Code and the Order Number.  A text file is also generated containing pertinant shipping information, which can be exported to the Manifest system.  After all orders are picked, the Manifest system is used to scan the Bar Code of the Picking Ticket, produce the necessary documents to ship the order, and generate a text file summarizing all orders ready for billing.  This text file is read by the Billing application and the corresponding Orders are automatically selected for billing.
 

Invoicing –
After all orders have been selected for billing, Invoices are generated and printed.  The Invoice information is summarized and written to the Accounts Receivable system as a Sales Transaction.  Orders that were not fully shipped or billed will remain on the system for future selection.
If necessary, an Invoice Inquiry option provides a means of viewing the Order and associated Line Items for a given Invoice.  The Invoice may also be Re-Printed or emailed to the customer, on demand.
 

Back Order Processing –
When orders are entered with inventory items that do not have enough stock on hand, part or all of the items may be marked for Back Ordering.  The Back Order Processing application provides for the identification of items and/or customers having orders with back ordered items.  It also allows back ordered items to be automatically release if sufficient inventory stock is available.  An Eligible-for-Release report may first be printed listing those items that could be release as of a specific date.
When the automatic release of back order items is processed, the quantity-to-ship fields of each item will be set to the value of the quantity-on-back-order and the item will be marked eligible to be printed on a picking ticket.