Order types are used to control the customer order process. They define which steps in the customer order process are performed automatically and which steps are performed manually. Order types also define whether shipment inventory, transportation consignments, and priority reservations are used. Your company's business processes will determine how you define your order types. In other words, a different order type corresponds to each of the various customer order routines that may be used in a company.
All customer orders require an order type. You can manually specify an order type on a particular customer order, or you can define a default order type to use for a specific customer.
Order types are considered basic data for customer orders. When defining order types, you must enter a code for the order type along with a description of the order type. Once an order type header is saved, it cannot be deleted. Only the description can be changed.
There are preset order types provided as part of the installation, such as the order types Normal (NO) and Service Order (SEO) which are necessary when running the service management process. The settings and descriptions for these preset order types can be changed when required. You can also enter new order types or modify existing order types. The task of entering or modifying order types is to be performed by a system administrator or equivalent personnel, and should be considered carefully.
You can decide which of the events listed in the table below should be performed manually by using Stop After possibility. By selecting fewer events, you create a more automatic order flow.
In the example provided in the table below, the events Report Picking and Print Delivery Note are selected. This means that you must deliver the parts and create the customer invoice manually; but all the other steps in the order flow will be performed automatically by the application.
The following events are controlled by the order type:
|
Event |
Stop After |
Description |
|
Release Order |
Not selected |
This activates the planned customer order, i.e., the order acquires Released status. This event occurs when the customer order is entered and approved to continue in the order chain. |
|
Print Order Confirmation |
Not selected |
Prints an order confirmation for the customer. A setting in the customer record determines whether an order confirmation should be printed. |
|
Reserve Order |
Not selected |
Reserves the ordered goods in inventory, if this is not already done manually or through priority reservation. |
|
Create Pick List |
Not selected |
Creates a pick list for the ordered goods. The pick list is used to inform the packing staff of what and how much to pick for each specific order. |
|
Print Pick List |
Not selected |
Prints the pick list. |
|
Report Picking |
Selected |
This confirms the picking, i.e., how much and from which inventory location the ordered goods are picked. |
|
Deliver Order |
Not selected |
Reports the ordered goods as delivered in the application and the goods are subtracted from the inventory balance. |
|
Create Delivery Note |
Not selected |
Creates a delivery note that will be sent with the goods to the customer. |
|
Print Delivery note |
Selected |
Prints the delivery note. |
|
Create Invoice |
Not selected |
This creates a customer invoice for the delivered order. When the invoice is created, you can process and dispatch it to the customer. |
|
Print Invoice |
Not selected |
Prints the customer invoice. |
In addition to the events listed in the table above, order types are used to control whether priority reservations, consignment documentation, and shipment inventory are applicable for a given customer order.
If you use the Priority Reservation option, customer orders using this order type will be reserved directly at order entry. This means that these customer orders are given a higher priority than other orders. If there are not enough parts available in inventory, the order line cannot be saved. Note that if you do not use priority reservations, the Print Order Confirmation option must be used in the Stop After field so that reservation of the order will be performed manually.
With this order type, you can indicate whether transportation consignments will be used when delivering customer orders. Consignments are used to handle several customer orders of the same customer, site, order currency, and delivery terms as one unit during the delivery phase.
The following three options are available when using Consignment:
If you use the Use Shipment Inventory option, customer orders using this order type will be moved to a shipment inventory location once the items are picked. This is done for the purpose of collecting or staging the goods before delivery. The order flow should stop after the event Print Pick List when shipment inventory is selected, because report picking has to be performed manually.
When using the consolidated pick lists feature, the settings made when defining the consolidated pick list will override the settings on the order type, i.e. use of shipment inventory, printing pick lists, and pick reporting. Pick reporting is always performed manually when using consolidated pick lists.
When working in a multi-site environment, it is recommended to have specific order types for this type of order. This will help differentiate the multi-site orders from other orders.