In the Purchasing and Receiving window, if you have the advanced buyers options enabled, the central distribution options are available on the screen. These options tell the system how to process multi-store orders that may be coming into a central location and then being sent to other stores.
N – Normal purchase order. The store that ordered the merchandise will be receiving the merchandise. No transfers will be automatically generated for this order.
Y – Central Distribution P.O. A single location will be receiving a multi-store purchase order, and once received into the store listed on the header of the PO, transfers are automatically generated to move the merchandise to other stores. If you are using a warehouse management system, this type of order will not be common for you.
S – Split Purchase Order. This is an order where the merchandise will be brought into a distribution center (DC) and then split out to the stores based upon need. Items on the purchase order may or may not be DC stocked items. Split quantities to individual stores are based upon the values on the PO at the time it was written.
A – Split Order with Automatic Reallocation. This is the same as S, with the exception that when the purchase order is received, the received quantities need to be allocated to the stores based upon the store needs at the time of receiving. Coding a purchase order with this value allows another program to automatically change the quantities being received to go to the stores that need it most as the purchase order is nearing receiving.
P – Pass Thru Order. This type of order is treated by the system as a direct ship, except that all of the stores' merchandise should be delivered to the distribution center (DC). These types of orders are normally prepackaged by the vendor by store; the merchandise comes to the DC and then be sent to the individual stores via your trucks and not the vendor’s. Selecting this option generates a separate purchase order for each store on the order when finalized in POW.
D – Direct Ship. This type of order allows you to work on a large purchase order with multiple stores on it, and then when you tell the worksheet you are done; it splits out the individual locations to individual purchase orders.
R – Replenishment. This type of a purchase order is used to send merchandise from the distribution center (DC) to the individual store locations.