Review the information on various sourcing models, and how Sterling Selling and
Fulfillment Foundation
handles each one of them.
So far, sourcing
discussions have been related to system determination of the sourcing
location and expected dates for determining product availability.
Depending on the sourcing model used for sourcing the product, however:
- Inventory may need to be looked up in a different
manner
- Shipping notifications may need to be handled differently
- Inventory supply and demand updates may need to
be done differently
The following section discusses the sourcing models and how they are handled:
Sourcing model A
If
you ship from stock in one of the locations owned by your organization
(or the same legal entity or node marked as "3PL location"), Sterling Selling and
Fulfillment Foundation handles
inventory lookup, shipping notification, and inventory updates as
follows:
- Inventory lookup
- The inventory organization of seller is searched
for availability
- Shipping instruction notification
- Shipping instruction is done through an Order release
- Inventory updates
- Controlled through the status movement of the order
Sourcing model B
If
you drop ship from a partner. (Shipping location belongs to a different
legal entity and not marked as "3PL location"), Sterling Selling and
Fulfillment Foundation handles
inventory lookup, shipping notification, and inventory updates as
follows:
The partner organization (vendor) requires
a purchase order.
- Inventory lookup
- If inventory information from the partner is available:
- The inventory organization of seller is searched
for availability if the partner's inventory organization is the same
as the seller.
- If the partner organization keeps inventory externally,
a user exit is called to get the inventory information.
- Note that if the partner organization keeps inventory
within Sterling Selling and
Fulfillment Foundation as
part of another inventory organization that inventory is NOT accessible.
- If inventory information from the partner is NOT
available:
- Shipping instruction notification
- A "drop ship" chained order is created. This chained
order is created in "created" status. Notification can be send to
the vendor based on the order that was created at an appropriate step
in the pipeline.
- Inventory updates
- All buyer supply updates are controlled through
the parent order only.
- Seller supply and demand updates are done from
parent order.
- The partner organization does not require a separate
purchase order
Note that the only inventory model supported
for this type of organization is "Inventory maintained as part of Sterling Selling and
Fulfillment Foundation".
- Inventory lookup
- Inventory is searched in the inventory organization
of seller.
- Shipping instruction notification
- Shipping instruction is done through an Order release.
- Inventory updates
- Controlled through the status movement of the order
Sourcing model C
If
you procure inventory from a partner and ship from your own location, Sterling Selling and
Fulfillment Foundation handles
inventory lookup, shipping notification, and inventory updates as
follows:
- Inventory lookup
- If inventory information from partner is available:
- Inventory is searched in the inventory organization
of the seller if the partner's inventory organization is the same
as the seller.
- If the partner organization keeps inventory externally,
a user exit is called to get the inventory information.
- Note that if the partner organization keeps inventory
within Sterling Selling and
Fulfillment Foundation as
part of another inventory organization that inventory is NOT accessible.
- If inventory information from the partner is NOT
available:
- No inventory checks are done.
For calculations of shipping dates, see Procurement purchase order. Sterling Selling and
Fulfillment Foundation includes
the transit time between the procurement location and shipping location
to calculate the final ship date. Sterling Selling and
Fulfillment Foundation also
takes into consideration the receiving calendar and receipt processing
time for the final shipping node.
- Shipping instruction notification
- A "procure to ship" chained order is created immediately
at the time of scheduling the order. This chained order is created
in "reserved" status.
- Notification can be send to the vendor based on
the order that was created at an appropriate step in the pipeline.
A separate release process could be configured that can control notification
times through the "advance notification days" setting.
- Inventory updates
- Inventory updates are done on both orders for both
the buyer and the supplier. If the partner organization does not maintain
any inventory information, the seller inventory updates for the procurement
orders are not be carried out.
Sourcing model D
If
you procure inventory from another location owned by you and ship
from another owned location, Sterling Selling and
Fulfillment Foundation handles
inventory lookup, shipping notification, and inventory updates as
follows:
- Inventory Lookup
- Inventory is searched in the inventory organization
of the seller.
For calculations of shipping dates, please
see Procurement transfer order. Sterling Selling and
Fulfillment Foundation includes
the transit time between the procurement location and shipping location
to calculate the final ship date.
- Shipping instruction notification
- A "procure to ship" chained order is created immediately
at the time of scheduling the order. This chained order is created
in "reserved" status. The document type to be used for this chained
order is controlled through a separate document type configuration
and, by default, set to 'Transfer order'.
- Notification can be sent to the node based on the
order that was created at an appropriate step in the pipeline. A separate
release process should be configured that can control notification
times through the "advance notification days" setting.
- Inventory updates
- Inventory updates are done on both orders for both
the buyer and the supplier.