Automatic supply replenishment: the e-automate checks to set up first

For teams using FMAudit, alerts can be configured to automate the ordering of supplies for managed equipment. If customers can also request toner by phone, teams may need to check whether an order already exists before adding another one.

e-automate documents several controls that bear on this. There is an availability check against warehouse stock, a duplicate-order warning, and an Inventory Management task that can add needed items or quantities to an existing purchase order that is not yet locked. Each one depends on how your system is set up. This guide covers what each one does and the order to set them up in.

What e-automate checks when an item goes on a sales order

When you add an item to a sales order, e-automate pre-populates the providing warehouse on the order, and you can change it. When automatic backordering is enabled, the system checks that warehouse for available quantities of the ordered item. e-automate’s sales order documentation gives a simple case: with automatic backordering on, if a warehouse has three of an item and the order asks for five from that warehouse, e-automate backorders two.

That behavior is controlled by a setting. In the Sales options window, the box labeled Enable the auto availability checks and back order calculations on sales orders tells e-automate to check the specified warehouse for sufficient quantities on hand. If there are enough, e-automate adds the item to the order and allocates it. If none is on hand, it backorders the entire quantity. If some is on hand, it backorders the difference. When the box is clear, the sales order documentation says e-automate makes no check.

Catch the repeat order

Checking stock doesn’t address a second order for the same item. The same Sales options window has a Duplicate sales order check. When it’s on, a user who enters an item on an order linked to a piece of equipment and a contract gets an “Item on Previous Orders” window, if that item is already on another order linked to the same equipment and contract. You set how many days back the system looks.

The page describes this check for items entered on an order. It doesn’t say whether orders created automatically pass through it, so ask ECI before you rely on it for DCA orders.

How the Inventory Management task handles needed items

The Inventory Management task, in e-agent, can create or update purchase orders for needed items. Its documented checks run in this order.

1. If no un-received purchase order has the item, the task checks whether the item has a default vendor.
2. If there is no default vendor, you must create the PO by hand, and the task stops for that item.
3. If there is a default vendor, the task looks for POs not yet locked, meaning POs not yet printed or emailed to the vendor. If there are none, the documentation says the task creates the PO, adds the line item, and links it to the original transaction.
4. If a PO not yet locked exists for that vendor, the task checks whether the item is already on it. If it is, the task adds the needed quantity to that existing line. If it isn’t, the task adds a new line item and links it to the original transaction.

Set it up in this order

1. Correct the on-hand quantities first. e-automate’s sales order documentation says that if the inventory system is inaccurate and backorders stock you actually have, you can use the release backorder functionality. Inaccurate counts can therefore lead to backorders on stock the warehouse already holds.
2. Turn on the auto availability checks and backorder calculations in the Sales options window.
3. Set the duplicate check and the number of days to look back. Choose the window with your service and supply team, based on how long a toner order usually stays open.
4. Define how purchasing will handle backordered items. The documented task can add to an existing PO that is not yet locked. An item with no default vendor needs a manual PO, and the task stops for that item.
5. Release or resolve every backorder before the order is fulfilled. e-automate won’t let a backordered sales order be fulfilled until all of its backordered quantities are released or resolved.

Where Auralis fits

On the supply side, Auralis checks coverage and recent supply history, then places or updates the reorder within your thresholds. Auralis writes supply orders into e-automate through our ECI partner integration, via the ESN API. Confirm with ECI which e-automate controls apply to those automatically created orders before you go live.

Book a 30-minute walkthrough with your IT lead on access, hosting and the audit log at auralis.ai/demo.

Sources

• ECI, e-automate online help (version 250): Sales Options, Sales Orders List Window, Inventory Management task, Integrating FMAudit with E-automate.
• Auralis product information (internal).