Hi all,
 
I have made a proposal to viart to include a purchase orders system in the viart system
 
Let me explain.
 
This is in 2 stages.
 
My first request was for the ability to add additional fields via admin to the va_iems table. This would allow additional fields at product level(and data) to be added and be upgrade proof in newer versions. + also the abily to choose the field type e.g text, numerical, currency etc.
 
The reason for the new fields would be to add data regarding stock re-order levels, re-order qty's and as an added bonus any other fields which are not now available. The benefit is that these fields would be stored at row level in the va_items table which would make data much more easy to manipulate (as opposed to if adding as features, specifications etc).
 
The next step I proposed was to add a supplier list (similar to users). This would mean that in addition to manufacturer details (already a feature) the details of each actual supplier can be added for each product.
 
With the combination of stock re-order levels and also supplier details the next step would be for the system to generate reports based on units in stock compared to re-order levels and units on order.
 
e.g re-order level = 29
units in stock = 10
re-order qty = 50
 
When clicking on the purchase order report generator for a particular distributor the system would generate an order (maybe in pdf format) for the goods which are below the re-order level. In the above example an order for 50 units.
 
This could be improved further by having a criticalstock level field
 
e.g Stock_critical_level
 
If set to "8" when the stock reaches this level a manual count of the products could be undertaken to check that the physical stock matches the database. This would ensure the integrety of all stores and hopefully prevent stock being marked unavailable when in fact stock is remaining and vice versa.
 
The process for purchase orders will work something like this.
 
1). Generate initial report (1 for each different supplier)
2). Count stock manually (optional, but i think necessary)
3). Update stock figures after counting
4). Regenerate the report and submit a purchase order by email which could be automatically sent to supplier using the email address stored for this supplier. (Maybe a pdf attachment). There would at this point be an option to alter the qty's if required due to seasonal demand alsthough this could easily be done at product level before the report is printed (either way would have the same effect)
6). Several statuses could be applied for the purchase order's items e.g After ordering the status would be "awaiting delivery" for all items.
7). As each item arrives into stock the status could be updated to "received"
8). Importantly the system will look at not only units in stock but also goods "awaiting delivery"
 
e.g
units in stock =29
re-order level =30
re-order qty = 50
goods "awaiting delivery" 50
 
so the report would not suggest ordering any more of these items.
 
9). Finally the system would add up the value of the order based on buying price so that admin could decide if to generate an order based on the minimum order requirement of each particular supplier. (this feature was not mentioned when Viart estimated the costings for the above)
 
The reason for this forum post is to get ideas on how this could be improved and hopefully if many people are interested combine resources to ensure this valuable feature is added.
 
Viart have quoted
$600 for additional fields functionality
$600 to add the full purchase order system
 
Which is a little too much for me on my own to be honest.
 
Regards
 
freezer

One thing I forgot was that when applying "received" status the goods are released into stock so no need to do this "manually"

Nice sys doc! Unfortunately this is not usable for us for this time, but will improove Viart shop in the stock maintance: make the most of the automatable tasks.

This sounds very useful. I would chip in if a lot of others would too.

I would like some stock management functionality - I would have to think more on your requirements spec first, but in principal would help support some improvements in stock mgt.