Purchase Order Smart Link Overview

Smart Link lets a shop send purchase orders to vendors via the internet, rather than via fax.

Normally, a shop has to print the purchase order, then fax it to the vendor, then call to get the confirmation number and estimated ship date.

With Smart Link the purchase order is issued, and then sent directly to the vendor for immediate confirmation. The confirmation number and estimated ship date are then inserted directly into the Purchase Order in the ProfitSystem. When the purchase order prints it will already include the confirmation number and estimated ship date.

Smart Link is enabled for a vendor if the Smart Link username and password are entered on the Integration tab of the Vendor form. If a vendor supports Smart Link, they will provide a username and password to the shop.

The Smart Link PO process works as follows

A style is purchased and the status is set to Order on the Ticket. Extra charges can be added to the style. However, only extra charges with a SmartLink code set up on the Extra Charges form will be sent to the vendor via SmartLink.

User goes to the Purchase Order Issue form, selects items to issue, and presses Issue button.

If any vendor has a Smart Link username/password or a PO email set up, the program prompts 'Send/Email PO's if possible?'

If No, the ProfitSystem will simply issue and print and purchase orders.

If Yes, and only a PO email is set up, the program will generate a PO number and issue the PO. It will then convert it to a PDF and attach it to an email. The user is prompted to type the text for the email body, and the email is sent.

If a Smart Link username is entered for the vendor, it will generate a PO number and issue the PO.For each PO, it will prompt for the requested ship date, shipping method, and shipping speed (Rush or Regular)

It will then send each PO in turn to the correct vendor. The vendor will validate the requested ship date, vendor styles, sizes, and colors. If the PO is not accepted, an error message from the vendor is shown, stating what needs to corrected before the PO can be accepted. If the PO is accepted, no message is displayed. In either case, the PO is issued in the ProfitSystem.

Once all the POs have been sent, a final summary report is shown, indicating which POs were accepted and which were not. This report can be printed using the Print button.

If a PO was not accepted, the style, size, and/or colors can be changed on the ticket, which will update the PO itself. The user can then go to View Purchase Orders and either re-print to PO and fax it in, or re-send it via Smart Link.

Technical Details

Each PO sent is logged under the code EORDERD. The log entries can be viewed at Switchboard: Main->Housekeeping->General Setup->Log or Menu: Setup->System Maintenance->Log The complete XML sent and received is logged.