Buy lines are groups of products that you purchase together to meet the vendor target. Generally, buy lines are created for specific vendors. For example, you may purchase all your drill bits and accessories from the same vendor. You can create a buy line containing all those products and increase the time to meet a vendor target. For a full explanation of expanding and contracting to meet vendor targets, see How the Minimum Order Cycle Works.
The fields in the Calculated Values section remain blank until the buy line has been used at least once. The system extracts the calculated values from the purchasing history after the buy line has been included in a purchase order.
To create a new buy line:
On the Purchase / Maintenance menu, select Buy Line Maintenance to display the Buy Line Maintenance window.
From the File menu, select New Buy Line.
Enter the new buy line ID you want in the dialog box that displays and click OK. Buy line IDs cannot contain the following characters:
Asterisks (*)
Tildes (~)
At signs (@)
Carats (^)
Pipes ( | )
Note: Buy line and a super buy line IDs must be different.
In the Description field, enter a brief description to identify the buy line.
This description is printed on reports and used in searches. The system limits the description to 30 characters.
In the Procure Group field, select a procurement group to assigns the buy line to a specific procurement group. This field is optional.
In the Branch/Territory field, enter the branch or territory to which the buy line is associated.
In the Buyer field, select a purchasing agent to assign to the buy line. This field is optional.
Note: Assign buyers to buy lines if you want to select and sort the Suggested P/O queue by buyer.
In the Target field, enter the vendor target using the following options:
Target | Description |
Dollar Amount | Currency in dollar amount. Defaults to U.S. dollars. To use the system default cost basis and currency, as defined in Control Maintenance, leave the fields blank. The Target Base window prompts for the Global Basis Field and Currency to use for creating a Suggested P/O. |
Weight | Target in pounds, such as 675 lbs. |
Pieces | Whole number of items, such as 300 each. |
Load Factor | Target in cubic feet, such as 100 ft. |
Days Supply | Number of days. By setting the target unit to Days Supply, you can create a Suggested P/O that considers a specific period of time. This entry overrides the line buy minimum order cycle value established for the buy line. For more information, see How the Minimum Order Cycle Works. |
Note: The Ln Buy Cycle field is the order cycle calculated in the Suggested P/O program. It is a display only field.
Change the following field defaults as needed:
Field | Description |
Default Lead Time | The number of days required to process a purchase order and receive product. The default is 7. |
Override Lead Time | Use in place of the calculated lead time. This option provides the flexibility to change the lead time for a product when it is taking longer than normal to procure. The default is 0. |
Transfer Grace | The number of days that a branch keeps stock before it is considered surplus and transferred to the parent branch. The default is 999. |
Minimum Cycle | The minimum days supply to use when calculating order quantities. The default is 14. |
Default Lead Factor | The number of most recent purchase orders the system uses to calculate the median lead time. The default is 0. |
Minimum Sample | The minimum number of purchase orders the system uses to calculate the median lead time. If the minimum number of purchase orders does not exist, the system uses the lead time set in the control maintenance record Default Lead Time Days If Product & Buy Line Have None. The default is 0. |
In the Suggest On All field, type one of the following:
Yes - The buy line is included when the Suggest PO program runs for all buy lines. Use Yes for fast moving items or products you want to monitor closely and always have appear on the suggested PO.
No - The buy line is excluded when the Suggest PO program runs for all buy lines. Setting this to No is useful when you have created a test buy line and do not want the products included for purchasing.
This flag is set generally for a buy line that is included in a super buy line to limit the system considering demand or an order for the items on the buy line.
You can delete a buy line if it is no longer needed.
To delete a buy line:
On the Purchase > Maintenance menu, select Buy Line Maintenance to display the Buy Line Maintenance window.
In the Buy Line ID field, enter the name of the buy line you want to delete and press Enter.
From the File menu, select Delete. Confirm the deletion at the prompt.
See Also: