Skip to main content

How do I order missing parts from the spare parts to be provided?

Nina BENDERAC
Updated

Available for

  • Roles: Administrator
  • Plans: Premium, Advanced, Enterprise — networks using purchase orders

Spotting an upcoming shortage is pointless if ordering means re-entering quantities elsewhere. Missing parts can be added to a purchase order directly from the forecasts screen (which opens via the Consult stock to be provided button on the spare parts search page), with the quantity already calculated.

⚠️ This feature only appears if your network uses purchase orders, and only for network administrators. If you don't see the column described below, one of these two conditions isn't met.

The "To order" column

An additional To order column appears in the list of spare parts to be provided. It shows the quantity that is actually missing.

Its calculation subtracts everything that is already covered:

quantity to be provided − current stock − quantities already ordered

Quantities already ordered include confirmed and in-progress purchase orders. A need that is already covered therefore shows a quantity to order of zero: there's nothing to buy again.

This is the key difference from the Quantity to be provided column: that one gives the gross need, To order gives what's left to buy.

Example. You need 10 units of a part over the period displayed. You have 4 in stock, and 3 are already on order.

10 − 4 − 3 = 3: the To order column shows 3, which is what's left to buy.

If you had 6 in stock and 4 already on order, the calculation would give 10 − 6 − 4 = 0: the need is covered, there's nothing to buy again.

Ordering a single part

  1. Go to the Spare parts to be provided screen and select the period you're interested in.
  2. Find the row of the part concerned.
  3. Click the Add to a purchase order button on its row.
  4. The missing quantity is already filled in — change it if needed.
  5. Choose the destination: a new purchase order, or an existing purchase order selected from the list (only draft orders are listed).
  6. Confirm.

Ordering several parts

  1. Check the parts concerned in the list.
  2. An action bar shows the number of parts selected.
  3. Click Add to a purchase order.
  4. Check the proposed quantities, adjust them if needed,
  5. Choose the destination: a new purchase order, or an existing purchase order selected from the list (only draft orders are listed).
  6. Confirm.

The Clear selection button empties the current selection.

Things to know before confirming

  • A need that is already covered still proposes a quantity of 1. A purchase order line can't be empty: if you add a part whose need is already covered, the proposed quantity is 1, not 0. Adjust it before confirming.
  • Quantities can be changed at any time before confirmation. The proposed value is a suggestion, not a constraint.
  • Only draft purchase orders are offered. A confirmed order no longer accepts new lines, so it doesn't appear in the list.
  • The confirmation message states the quantity actually added, which may differ from the one you had in front of you if you adjusted it.

Why the quantity to order changes from one day to the next

Three things make it vary, independently of your actions:

  • the period displayed — a wider window includes more interventions, therefore more needs;
  • the current stock, changed by every receipt or consumption;
  • orders in progress, which cover the need as they come in.

A quantity to order that drops to zero therefore doesn't mean the need has disappeared: it is covered.

Going further