How the Approval Processes Work
Requisition Approvals & States
- When a new REQ is created the status commences as "OPEN", the REQ remains in this state until such time as it has been "Submitted" using the Submit button which appears once there is a line item added to the REQ.
The action of hitting the "Submit Button, changes the status in the REQ to "Submitted" and writes a record to the Audit Trail including the following information,
- the Date and Time
- The User Name of the Person Who Submitted the REQ, and
- the Status (Submitted) - A "Submitted" Requisition is displayed in the Originators "My Requisition's Report" and appears in the "Requisition's Awaiting DM Approval" report of the Departmental Manager for the Business Unit registered in the Requisition. The Departmental Manager(DM), may Reject the Requisition, in which Case it goes back to an Open Status, and the DM is required to enter a comment in the Audit Record. The Status is back at OPEN. The Requisition may be re-submitted.
If the DM is happy with the Requisition and wishes to approve the Requisition, he clicks on the "DM Approval" button which appeared because the user is in the role of DM, and the Status was "Submitted".
The action of hitting once again changes the status on the Requisition and writes a record to the Audit file as before. - A "DM Approved" Requisition is now displayed in the Warehouse Managers(WHM) screen "Requisition's Awaiting Verification" Before the Verify Button will appear the WHM has got to ensure that all items are included in the Catalogue, i there are no Non Cat Items on the Requisition.
Once this is the case the Verify Button appears and the WHM is able to change the status to "VERIFIED"
The action of hitting the button once again changes the status on the Requisition and writes a record to the Audit file as before - The "VERIFIED" Requisition is now listed on the Supply Chain Manager's(SCM) screen "Requisition's Awaiting Allocation of Buyer". The SCM is then able to reject the Requisition to either one of the three previous states, once again Audit records are written, and a reason for rejection needs to be given.
Alternatively, if he is happy with the contents, then he edits the Requisition Header record, and allocates a Buyer to the Requisition. Saves the record, and the "Approve" button appears. This can then be clicked and the Status is changed to Approved.
The action of hitting once again changes the status on the Requisition and writes a record to the Audit file as before
The Requisition then Remains in this state until it is fulfilled by the issuing of the items listed once the goods have been received.
RFQ Approvals & States
The RFQ approval process follows basically the same process however there are only twoi steps in the Process.
- Once the RFQ has been completed and the Buyer has made his recommendation, He "Submits" the RFQ to the SCM for final review, the Status at this point will be "Submitted for Review"
The action of hitting the button once again changes the status on the RFQ and writes a record to the Audit file as stated above. - The "Submitted" RFQ then appears in the SCM's screen "Awaiting Review". He is able to review the RFQ, alongwith the quotes and attachements and depending on the results of his review, he can Reject or Submit the RFQ to the DM for Approval. the RFQ is now in the state "Submitted for Approval"
The action of hitting the button once again changes the status on the RFQ and writes a record to the Audit file as stated above. - At this point the RFQ reappears on the DM main screen stating that it has been submitted for approval. The DM is in the same way as the SCM able to review, view all attachments, and depending on the results either reject or approve the RFQ.
The action of hitting the button once again changes the status on the RFQ and writes a record to the Audit file as stated above.
The RFQ is now "Approved" and remains this way until PO's have been created for all Approved line items, when the Status changes to RFQ Completed.
PO Approvals & States
The Purchase Order(PO) approval process is a little different as the Delegation of Authority is involved.
- Once a PO has been raised by the Buyers and is ready for Approval, the buyer has a button "Submit for Approval" which appears when the PO has line items which are drawn from the RFQ. The Action of clicking on this button Creates an Approval Record. This approval record is used to determine the level of DOA, based on the $ Currency Conversion of the month and the value of the PO. The Buyer then "saves" the Approval Record, and this action triggers the PO and it's Approval record displaying for the first person named in the appropriate DOA. This is determined by the System from a list of users added to a "Positions" table.
- This person is then requested to approve PO. On clicking the Approve Button, the systems creates an "Approval Detail" record and the Approver is requested to Confirm the Approval. The Approver may also add notes at this time to his approval. The record is then Date and Time Stamped along with the Recording of the User Name Approving.
The process then is repeated for the next person on the DOA, until the required number of electronic signatures are obtain. The Status changes from Submitted for Approval, to LVL1 Confirmed, LVL 2 Confirmed and LVL 3 Confirmed, once the highest required level is confirmed the PO status changes to "Approved" - Once the PO is approved it moves back to the Allocated Buyer, who then Issues the PO. The Action of "Issuing the PO" captures the "Order Date of the PO, and sets the Rate of Exchange at that time for future conversion should the PO not be in USD.