Creating Purchase Orders
The Multi-PO Creator ("Create Purchase Orders") turns a batch of shortages into purchase orders efficiently. Instead of raising POs one at a time, you add several shortage items, group them by vendor, review the result, and create every PO in a single action.
Where to Access
- Create Purchase Orders —
/sdi/multi-po. - Reached by selecting shortages on the SDI Dashboard or Shortage List and clicking Create N POs (the selected items are pre-loaded with a recommended order quantity, due date, and preferred vendor).
Building the order list
- Shortages panel (left) — every open shortage; click + to add one. Items already added show a check.
- PO Items — each line has the Item, an editable Qty, Unit Price, Due Date, and Vendor. Use the checkboxes to include/exclude lines, and the trash icon to remove one. Select All / Deselect All toggle everything.
When you arrive from selected shortages, lines are auto-filled with the item, a recommended order quantity, shortage date, and the item's preferred vendor. The order quantity covers the shortage but is rounded up to the item's reorder or minimum order quantity when one applies — the Qty field notes how many units were actually short whenever the two differ.
Grouping options
- One PO per vendor (consolidate items) — lines are grouped so each vendor receives a single PO covering all their items. Each line carries its own vendor (auto-assigned from the item's preferred vendor, editable per line).
- Single PO for all items — everything goes onto one PO to one vendor you choose at the top.
Purchase Orders Preview
Before creating anything, the Purchase Orders Preview shows exactly what will be generated — grouped by vendor, with each line's item, quantity, unit price, and due date, plus the per-vendor total. This is your last check that the right items are going to the right suppliers at the right prices.
Summary & create
The summary bar shows how many POs, how many items, and the total value. Click Create N PO(s) to issue them. On completion:
- Each created PO is listed with its document number, vendor, line count, and amount, with a View PO link.
- Shortages that fed a line are linked back to the new PO and moved to Resolving.
- Sales-order-driven lines keep their link to the originating sales order line.
- Blanket PO lines are matched automatically — if a shortage references a blanket agreement, the new PO becomes a release against that blanket with the agreed pricing.
- If some POs fail (for example, a line with no vendor assigned), you get a partial-success report listing what succeeded and what didn't.
Use Create More POs to start another batch, or Clear All to empty the list.
Validation notes
- In single-PO mode you must choose a vendor for all items.
- In per-vendor mode every selected line needs a vendor; lines without one are flagged before creation so nothing fails silently.
- Unit price falls back to the item's purchase cost (or the matched blanket price) when you don't enter one explicitly.
Tips
- Prefer one PO per vendor to consolidate freight and simplify receiving.
- Adjust Qty upward to meet MOQ or round to a pack size before creating.
- Set item preferred vendors so the creator can auto-assign suppliers and you only fix the exceptions.