Suggested purchase orders for building-supply dealers.
Lunica works out what to buy from each vendor this week and says why, so your buyer spends Monday deciding, not pulling reports.
Purchasing & inventoryUpdated Oct 202620 ERPs
See it work.
Click through the steps. Fictional data; the real thing runs on your ERP.
| Vendor | Lines | Cover | Lead time | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tamarack Forest Products | 14 | 6 days | 10 days | Buy this week |
| Lakeside Roofing Supply | 6 | 4 days | 7 days | Buy this week |
| Summit Fasteners | 9 | 11 days | 5 days | Under freight min |
| Cascade Millwork | 0 | 23 days | 21 days | Nothing needed |
Worked out from your ERP that morning: on-hand, committed, on PO, lead time, season. Three vendors need a buy this week.
The problem.
Buying at a dealer is the min and max on the item file, set once and not touched since, and a buyer who knows the yard well enough to ignore them. The reorder report in your ERP lists everything under minimum with no idea that forty units are on PO 11874, due Thursday, that two hundred are committed to an order for the Maple St duplex, or that it is April and decking is about to move.
So the buy gets made from memory, on the phone with the rep, and the yard lives with the result: a stockout on 2x4 studs in the middle of framing season, and three pallets of ice melt in May. Nobody tracks the lines the counter couldn’t fill, or what the rush freight cost to fix it.
How it works.
- 1
The week’s need is worked out
Each Monday Lunica reads on-hand, what is committed to open orders, what is already on open POs and when it lands, each vendor’s lead time and the item’s sales for the season, all from your ERP. The need is the gap, by item, by branch.
- 2
A suggested PO per vendor
The lines are grouped by vendor into one suggested PO each, rounded to the vendor’s pack and unit, with the reason beside every line: six days of cover, lead time ten, the Elm Ridge phase 2 order ships Friday. A line with no reason is not on the list.
- 3
The buyer edits it
The buyer opens on the vendor with the shortest cover first. Change a quantity, drop a line, add one the numbers couldn’t know about, hold a vendor until the rep calls back. Every edit is kept with the PO, so next week starts from it.
- 4
The PO goes into your ERP by a person
The finished PO is laid out in your ERP’s own terms: vendor, item, quantity, unit, cost, ship-to. It is keyed into your ERP by the buyer, or imported where your ERP takes a file, and Lunica sees it as an open PO the next morning and takes those lines off the list.
How it connects to your ERP.
Lunica reads the item file, on-hand and committed quantities by branch, open orders, open purchase orders and their due dates, receipts, vendor lead times and sales history through its database or data warehouse, under an account that can only read. The need is worked out each week from what your ERP has that morning and is not stored between runs. Special-order and non-stock items are left out unless you add them by rule.
Nothing is sent to a vendor and nothing is posted to your ERP on its own. The suggested PO is a draft the buyer edits; the finished one goes back as an import file where your ERP takes one, or keyed by your team from what Lunica prepared, and the vendor gets it the way they always have, from your buyer. A line that is cut, held or changed keeps the reason beside it, so the next suggestion starts from the edit.
What a week looks like.
- One suggested PO per vendor on Monday, every line with a reason.
- Nothing bought that is already on a PO or committed to a job.
- Cover measured in days of sales for the season, not a min set three years ago.
- The buyer’s edits kept with the PO, so next week starts from them.
Questions
Does it create the PO in your ERP?
No. The suggested PO is a draft. Your buyer edits it, and it is keyed into your ERP or imported where your ERP takes a file. Nothing is placed with a vendor or posted on its own.
Where do the suggestions come from?
The numbers in your ERP: on-hand, what is committed to open orders, what is on open POs and when it lands, each vendor’s lead time, and the item’s sales for the same weeks last year. A line is there because the cover runs out before the next delivery would land, and the reason is printed beside it.
What about our min and max?
They are read from the item file and respected as a floor. Where the season says you need more than the max, the line says so and leaves the decision with the buyer.
Can it handle a vendor’s minimums and pack sizes?
Yes. Lines are rounded to the vendor’s unit of purchase, and a vendor whose order is under its freight minimum is flagged so the buyer can fill the truck or wait a week.
What about special orders and job stock?
Special orders are left out; they are bought against the customer’s order, not against stock. Stock committed to a job on an open order counts as gone, so it is not bought twice.
Can we run it per branch?
Yes. The need is worked out by branch, and a transfer from Route 9 is suggested before a buy when Route 9 has the cover and Main St doesn’t.
What does it need from your ERP?
A read-only connection through its database or data warehouse, under an account that can only read, running on one server inside your network, beside your ERP. Nothing is installed on the your ERP server.
Available for.
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