In many industries the Purchase Order lifecycle is highly dynamic, especially in the current Supply Chain environment, and can go through changes and revisions from suppliers and customers alike. These changes (quantities, delivery dates, schedules…) can have a significant impact on downstream MRP, S&OP and Fulfillment planning processes. A better and effective approach is to use a collaborative workflow driven process as shown below to support a highly dynamic PO lifecycle.
Illustrative PO Collaboration Process in ZFlow
Below shows an illustrative example of the PO Collaboration process in ZFlow. When the PO is released (can be SAP or other ERP/Finance systems), the Supplier contact joins workflow as a participant and either confirms or changes the PO.
Released Purchase Orders are automatically assigned to suppliers as part of the PO collaboration workflow shown above.
Suppliers can easily participate in the PO collaboration workflows at the right time (activity) and confirms or changes PO as needed.
If the supplier changes the PO elements, the buyer has the opportunity to approve or reject PO changes. If the Buyer accepts the changes, the workflow continues and updates the ERP/S&OP systems to reflects the changes to the PO so that MRP/S&OP planning processes accommodate the changes and plan accordingly.
The PO collaboration process can be extended to support Goods/Services receipt verification, invoice submission by the supplier after goods/services are received, invoice verification, and payment activities.