There are three primary methods to initiate a customer order:
With regular order placement, you enter the customer order manually. With the other two methods, the system generates the order or order lines automatically. A specific component handles the complexity of using plans and overlapping call-offs, that continuously need to be updated.
This process description document focuses on the first alternative and how to manage sales quotation when doing so.
If you receive a request for a sales quotation from a customer, you can enter the sales quotation and send it to the customer. If the customer later approves the sales quotation, you can easily convert it into a customer order. This follows the standard order flow. If the customer does not approve the sales quotation, you can close it and note it as lost.
Start by entering a sales quotation header, which includes such information as the customer's identity and the wanted delivery date. Then continue to the quotation lines where you enter the requested parts and quantities. You can choose not to enter any quantities and instead use price breaks, i.e. different prices for different quantities. You can also enter detailed information about complementary parts, competitors, charges, taxes, as well as notes and document texts. At this stage, however, you do not need, and may not want, to specify all the information that may eventually be needed for a customer order. For example, when you enter a sales quotation for a prospective customer, it is possible to enter only basic customer information. This prospective customer will later be entered as an existing customer if the sales quotation, or any of its lines, is accepted and converted into a customer order. When the sales quotation is released, you can print the quotation and send it to the customer.
When you are working in a Configure to Order (CTO) environment, entering a sales quotation works much in the same way as described above, but in this process you can also create and handle configurations and interim orders.
If the customer approves the sales quotation, you can easily convert it to a customer order through a command. You must enter the reason for winning the order and desired order type. For a prospective customer you must enter additional customer information. The sales quotation will then be converted into a released customer order and be ready to follow the order flow. If the customer's credit account is suspended because he or she has exceeded the credit limit, the sales quotation requires a special attention when it is converted into a customer order.
If the customer declines the sales quotation, you can easily close it by using a command. You must enter the reason why the sales quotation was declined, and you have the option to specify which competitor garnered the deal.