The Stock Reordering feature in Protean can be utilised to suggest a stock order based on various criteria such as history, demand or min/max levels etc. you can then amend the order if you wish and quickly raise the relevant purchase orders.

To run the Stock Re-Ordering Process, click on the drop down arrow below the Stock Icon and select Utilities and then Stock Re-Ordering.

The system will then display the Stock Re-Ordering screen:

The screen that opens has two ‘Tabs’: Criteria and Order List.

Criteria Tab:

The Criteria Tab is itself divided into 2 halves. The top half allows you to enter criteria for selecting which Parts in your stock list are included in the calculations and the bottom half allow you to configure how the calculation will take place.

First, select any criteria you wish to apply to the reorder calculation. You must select the correct Depot for the Stores you wish to include. All Stores for the selected Depot will be included. The Depot will default to the current user’s Depot to save time. You can, if you wish, select a particular Supplier as criteria, or a particular Stock Holding Category, Stock Type, Discount Category or User Reference.

Then, once you have made your selections here (leave all fields blank, except Depot, to get all Parts at all Stores in that Depot), choose your calculation method. There are three choices available on the drop-down list.

If you have chosen to simply restock to Minimum or Maximum levels, then all other options will be greyed-out and you are ready to ‘Calculate’ your reorder requirement.

If, however, you have opted to include transaction history in your calculations, then you must enter a start and end date for the history; the minimum number of transactions (this defaults to 6) and how many days’ worth of stock you wish to hold (again, by default this will be the number of days already specified against the Stock Holding Category on the Part records) and in the absence of any ‘demand’, whether then to use Min / Max Levels instead or do nothing.
Once you are happy with your choices, click the  button.

Order List Tab:

The system will open the Order List screen when it is ready and display the list of order requirements based on the criteria and calculation method selected:

Note: In the bottom left hand corner of the screen, you can use the  button to get a hard copy of the Order List for you to check.

For example:The ‘Shortage’ or current situation on a Part may be -1, in other words you have 1 less than current demand in stock, but the ‘Order Qty’ is 5. The reason may state MOQ (or Min Order Qty). In other words whilst you only need 1 to satisfy demand you can only order this items in 5s from your preferred Supplier.

Stock Reordering – Amending the Order List

Stock Reordering – Order Reasons
Reason	Meaning
DMND:	Demand (the default reason). You need to order part simply to meet  current demand
FCST:	Forecast. Looking at the history the system has determined a future need
MIN:	Minimum Stock Level. You need to order items to satisfy Min Stk Lvl specified on Part record
MAX:	Maximum Stock Level. You need to order items to satisfy Max Stk Lvl as specified
MOQ:	Minimum Order Quantity. The selected Supplier has a Min Order Qty on this Part

Once you have calculated the reorder requirement and the system presents you with the Order List screen you can amend the following fields:

Field	Notes
Supplier:	Use the drop-down box to select a different Supplier from the list already set up against that Part. You can go to Part record and add more if you wish. When you select a different Supplier then the Unit Cost Price changes accordingly.
Order Qty:	Simply overtype the suggested quantity if you wish
Unit Price:	The latest cost price for this Supplier/Part combination should appear here but if you wish to change it simply overtype it.

NB You can also remove whole lines or groups of lines from the Order List by selecting the line(s) using the record selector and pressing the Delete key on your keyboard.

Stock Reordering – Create the Purchase Orders

To generate the orders, simply click the  button.

The system will ask you for confirmation, and if you have checked the Order List. If you click ‘Yes’ then the orders will be created.

Once created the system will tell you it is finished and how many orders it has raised:

It will also fill in the order number on each Part Number in the Order List:

You can then either view the orders you have just created in Global Enquiry with the ‘View Orders’ button, view/amend them individually using the magnifying glass button alongside each line or print the Purchase Orders en-masse with the ‘Print/E-mail Orders’ button.

Stock Reordering – Printing Automatic Orders

• After generating the Purchase Orders simply click the ‘Print/E-mail Orders’ button.
• You will be asked for confirmation first and clicking ‘yes’ will print out (or e-mail if set up to do so) the Orders and set the status on those Order to ‘Placed’ so ensure you are happy with them before printing.

Stock Reordering – Amending Automatic Orders

• You can either use the View Orders button to open the Global Enquiry screen, and then amend the Orders. Or use the magnifying glass button alongside each Order number on the Part lines on the Order List itself.
• All the Orders are on Entry status and can therefore be added to, prices altered, deleted and so on.
• When you print the Orders, they then go to ‘Placed’ as normal.