Ordering is the process of purchasing stock from Suppliers, Agents and Wholesalers to stock your store with the products you are going to be providing to your customers.
Below you will find steps on how to get items onto a Order, Send them to your Supplier, Book them into Stock and all of the other ordering functionality available in your system.
Put items onto an Order List
If you want to order stock from your supplier, you're going to need to tell them what you want. While it is possible to write down or call out the products you want and order them manually your TouchStore system provides a number of ways to help you quickly get the products you need to order onto a list for the relevants suppliers and get it sent to them.
The way we achieve this is through what's called a Reorder Method e.g. how do we reorder more stock of this product?
- Reorder Methods
The four methods of reordering are:
- Sales Replacement Method
- The Reorder Level Method
- The Replenishment Level Method
- Manual
The first two methods, Sales Replacement and Reorder Level are product based.
Replenishment ordering is supplier based.s
Products assigned to a Replenishment supplier are always assigned the Replenishment method of automatic ordering.
Products assigned to suppliers that are not Replenishment suppliers can be assigned either the Sales Replacement or the Reorder Level method – or can be assigned to only be ordered manually.
Therefore, another way of looking at this is that a supplier may either be a
- Replenishment Level Method Supplier or
- Not a Replenishment Level Method Supplier
The Sales Replacement and Reorder Level methods can be applied to products that are not assigned to a Replenishment Supplier.
If a supplier is not a Replenishment supplier, then the individual products assigned to that supplier may be automatically ordered either by The Reorder Level Method or Sales Replacement.
They can also be set to be ordered manually, in which case the system will not automatically put such products on order.
Products assigned to suppliers that are not Replenishment suppliers are given a default reorder method in Product Maintenance – that is either, the Reorder Method, Replacement Method, or Manual.
When setting up a product, one of these methods is allotted automatically based on the default method assigned to the supplier of that product.(The default method is assigned to a supplier in the supplier configuration menu option of Rx 365.)
- Sales Replacement Ordering
Sales Replacement Ordering is used for suppliers whose individual goods do not sell in large quantities and to whom orders are sent on a pretty frequent basis.
A Sales Replacement Order works as follows:
- As products are sold they are placed on a "pending" order for their assigned supplier.
- The individual products are kept on "hold" until such time as the quantity on order is equal or greater than the quantity in stock.
- Then the "hold" is removed, and they are included in the next order to that supplier.
The logic the Sales Replacement ordering system uses for placing a product on order is:
If the product has sold since the last order was generated then order the quantity that has sold since the last order was generated – if the quantity being ordered is equal or greater than the quantity in stock at the time of placing the order.
The Sales Replacement system is extremely simple and has the advantage that accurate stock levels are not required to generate orders.
At the same time, this method has some limitations in that products are ordered much more frequently than with the other methods.
There may also be a tendency to have a stock quantity on hand surplus to that which is actually required.
Therefore this method is most suitable for products which are both slow moving and are ordered on a frequent basis. For instance:
- Case quantities must always be "1". In this way it would NEVER be suitable for certain products where it is required that minimum case quantities must be purchased from the supplier. Take for instance a colour cosmetic such as a lipstick where the minimum case quantity is "3". In this situation, if one product is sold between orders, then the product is placed on an order. As the minimum quantity that can be purchased is "3", then the shop will end up with a stock of "5" of what may be a really slow moving item. And it can get worse. The next time one of these products is sold – it might be six months – then 3 are ordered in again. The stock will then jump to "7"!!
- It can be pretty inefficient as a method of ordering items that are sold every day. Say if a product sells once daily – and an order is sent to the supplier of that product every day. Then that product is ordered 30 times each month.
- The product is part of thirty deliveries per month and must be checked off 30 times
- The product is part of 30 invoices each month - obviously adding to the accounting overhead
- The product is placed on the shelves – and possibly labelled or priced - 30 times per month
- Sales Replacement is most useful for slower moving items – and Pharmacy has many such products. In other retail sectors really slow items are usually not stocked at all. However, in Pharmacy there a multitude of products which MUST be stocked even though they sell really slowly – probably a few times per month at best. These products must be stocked for strategic purposes because customers expect pharmacies to stock these products.
- Re-order Level Ordering or "Just in Time" Ordering
This is used where deliveries are received from that supplier on a continuous or daily basis.
You only order the products that are low in stock at the time you are ordering.
Reorder Level Ordering works as follows:
- Products are placed on the "pending" orders once the current stock quantity is equal to or less than the reorder level.
- The quantity placed on order is always equal to the reorder quantity.
Using this method, the purchase of each product is based on three parameters:
- The Current Stock Quantity
- The Re-Order Level
- The Re-Order Quantity – the quantity that is always placed on order
Say if the Stock Quantity is 3 and the Re-Order Level is set to 2 then the product is not placed on a "pending" order.
However, if the Stock Quantity is 1 and the Re-Order Level is 2 then the Re-Order Quantity of product is placed on a "pending" order.
Therefore, the logic used when processing a Reorder Level order is:
If the Stock Quantity is less than or equal to the Re-Order Level then the Reorder Quantity is ordered
This method is the method that is recommended for use where
- The quantity of products sold on a monthly basis is reasonably high – say more than 6 to 12 per month and
- The products can be ordered from wholesalers from which the shop is ordering on a daily basis
This method of ordering maintains excellent control of stock quantities, while at the same time having the efficiencies of only ordering these products at intervals that can be controlled by the level at which the re-order quantity is set.
For instance, if the re-order quantity is set at a quantity that equates to 14 days sales, then the product will be, on average, ordered every two weeks
On the other hand, if the product is perishable, then the re-order level can be set at one or two day's stock.
Products are ordered - and only ordered - when they are running low thus, not alone, minimising stock levels but also ensuring against stock outages.
- Replenishment level ordering
This method is used for suppliers who supply you on a set periodic basis.
With such suppliers you order all their products at the same time and you do not usually reorder them until the next order is given to that supplier.
With this method, if a product is out of stock you are not usually in a position to order that particular product on its own.
Note that with Replenishment Suppliers, in the manage orders tab you have a "Generate Order" option once the supplier has been selected.
On clicking this button the system then generates a purchase order as follows:
- The system searches all products assigned to the supplier in question and any products which have a replenishment level greater than zero and whose current stock is less than the replenishment level is placed on the order. The quantity ordered is equal to the replenishment level less the stock level rounded up to the nearest case quantity.
- There are many suppliers from which shops can only order from on an order cycle basis – once per month or indeed once every two months. When this is the case, then the only suitable method is the replenishment level method.
- The logic behind this method is that each product is ordered in sufficient quantity to bring the stock levels up to the quantity which will be sufficient to ensure that there will be sufficient in stock until the next order from that supplier arrives on the shop floor.
Send an Order
- Manage & Send Orders
To access the Orders module open RX 365
- Select the orders module
On the left-hand side of the page that opens we can see the selection tabs for orders.
Once the manage orders Tab is selected, we can see Items that have been dispensed populating on the order list to the supplier
To select a different supplier, select the X next to the chosen supplier and enter in the desired Supplier.
- To Hold an item ie. not send it to the supplier, select the square radio button located on the left-hand side of the item and then select Hold located above the order.
- Items in Blue are items on hold.
- To take the items Off Hold, again select the square radio button next to the item(s) and select the Button Unhold.
- To select all the products at once, select the Qty button located on the top left-hand side of the order.
- To deselect all items, untick the Qty button
- To change the quantity of the item that is to be ordered select the Qty field next to the item and enter in the desired amount.
- The Arrow keys on the keyboard can be used to quickly navigate up/down the items to enter in the quantities.
- To delete an item(s) for the order, select the square radio button next to the item and then select the Bin icon to select it.
Alternatively, change the Quantity to order to Zero.
Adding an item to the order can be done in two ways
- Scanning in the product
- Manually entering the product in the Add product to this order
To send the order select the transmit order button.
- Manage Orders Tab
In this tab, once a supplier has been selected, different options and functions are available depending on the type of supplier selected.
If we select a Re-Order level supplier,
- It displays all the products that have been placed on order since the last order was sent. In other words, all products where the stock quantity has reduced down to the Reorder Level are shown to be on order.
If we select a Sales Replacement supplier,
- We can view all products that have been sold since the last order was sent. Products where the quantity on order is less than the quantity in stock are put on "hold". Such products are marked in blue. Products where the quantity placed on order has become greater than the quantity in stock are no longer on hold and will be ordered when the next order is sent.
If we select a Replenishment supplier,
- This screen operates differently, as detailed below
From this screen we can also create Ad-Hoc orders
- Create an order for all non Replenishment Suppliers
- Select the Manage Orders tab in the orders module
- Select the supplier you wish to order from the Supplier(s) drop down list
- As explained in the introduction, Rx 365 will have automatically generated an order using the sales information, for each supplier. As displayed below, this order will load once the supplier has been selected
- In this screen we can also add any products manually to the order by searching for them in the search box highlighted in the screen displayed above. Once the product has been selected the screen displayed below will appear. You can now enter the relevant information and click Add to Order to add the product to the order
- You can place products on hold by selecting the box beside them and clicking the
button. This product will appear (in blue) the next time you load an order from this supplier - You can also click
which will save any changes you may have made to the order, allowing you to return to it at another time before sending the order. - Note that for all broadband purchase orders, in the barcode field, the IPU code is displayed, if an IPU code is attached to the product. Otherwise the highest barcode is displayed. However, for a non-broadband (Postal or Email) purchase order, the Supplier Reference Field will be displayed if a supplier reference has been added to the product. Otherwise the highest barcode is displayed.
- To move a product to another order click
, which will allow you to select a new supplier for the product - Once you are satisfied with your order click the Create Order/Transmit Order button. (For broadband suppliers the transmit order button will be displayed. For non- broadband suppliers the create order button will be displayed)
- Create an order for Replenishment Suppliers
As explained in detail in the introduction, Replenishment Suppliers supply stores on a set periodic basis and therefore ordering products from them works slightly differently
- Select the Manage Orders tab in the orders module
- Once the Replenishment Supplier has been selected the screen displayed below will appear. This screen is similar to that for non replenishment Suppliers except for thr fact that there is now a
button - By clicking this button the system will then generate a purchase order from this supplier
- The remainder of this screens functions work in the exact same manner as those explained in How to Create an order for all non Replenishment Suppliers
- Once you are satisfied will the order click Transmit Order/Create Order
Important to note
In the configuration module, under supplier, we can configure any supplier, when being used in a multi store organisation, to request approval from Head Office before sending the order to the wholesaler in question.
- To do this tick the box highlighted below in the Supplier Maintenance screen.
- When this is set to "on" for a particular supplier, the branches are not allowed to send the order without Head Office approval.
- With all orders except "Ad Hoc" orders, the orders must be approved at Head Office before sending.
- When you click Transmit order/Create order under a supplier which has been configured to request approval the notification displayed below will appear.
You can view these ordered items that have been sent to Head Office for approval from the Manage Orders screen also.
- When you select a supplier, if there are items awaiting approval for this supplier, a message will be displayed and you can view the items on this screen:
Create an Ad Hoc Order
Ad Hoc orders are orders that can be sent on an ad hoc basis to suppliers as an additional order to any orders that may be "pending" for sending to that particular supplier.
So what happens is that you may have a number of products on "pending" for a particular supplier.
You may wish to send an urgent order to that supplier prior to sending the order that is pending.
This is the reasoning behind "Ad Hoc" orders.
One other use of "Ad Hoc" orders is where an order that has not been set up on the Rx 365 system lands on the shop floor.
In order to keep the stock quantities correct and to keep a record of all purchase orders, it is a useful tool to be able to set up an "Ad Hoc" order on the spot.
Note that Ad Hoc orders will never be sent to Head Office for approval
- In the Orders module select the Manage Orders tab
- In the screen that appears click the
button - The screen displayed below will then appear, allowing you to select a supplier and add products to the order
- You can tick the "Do not transmit this order automatically" box to ensure that the order is not transmitted if it is a broadband or email order. This is used when orders have already arrived and just need to be checked in and recorded.
- Enter the quantity of the product you wish to order
- Any bonuses and discounts, if not already added, should be inserted to the order at this point.
If you wish to have accurate average costs for products recorded on the system this is essential.
- The 'Book into Stock' button will then book the order straight into stock and will not transmit the order
- The 'Create Order' button will create the order and send it to the "Waiting to be Checked In" screen.
- Suppliers Tab
This tab displays a list of all suppliers and the quantity of all products that are at a certain status e.g. to send, to check in, exceptions and to return
It is a good way to identify any rogue suppliers or any products on any supplier that they shouldn't be assigned to
In this screen we can also add products to any order
- Manually Add Products to an Order
Note: Products can also be easily added to an order in the Manage Orders tab but this screen has the added advantage of allowing you to check if the product is already ordered or on order
- Search the product you wish to add from this screen using the search box highlighted in the screen displayed below. By doing this we can find out whether products are on a pending list for a certain supplier or whether they have been ordered at all.
- If we search for a product that is on a pending list for a certain supplier, a notification similar to that displayed below will appear
You now have two options
- Click Cancel once you have learnt that the product is already part of an existing order and there is no need to order it
- Click Add Anyway which will bring you to the 'Add Item to Order' screen displayed below, allowing you to add this product to the pending list for your chosen supplier. Note that the system will automatically select the default supplier; however you can change this if you wish.
- If the product is not part of a pre existing order you will automatically be brought to the screen displayed above, allowing you to add this product to the order. Once all the correct information has been entered click Add to Order.
- Please note that if there is an existing pending order for your chosen supplier then the product is added to that pending order. On the other hand, if there is no pending order for the chosen supplier then a new pending order is created for that product
- To view any order from the supplier screen click View Order beside the name of the supplier
- The screen displayed below will appear allowing you to add products to the order, delete products, put products on hold etc.
Handle Shorts
Auto reordering
- Shorts/ Exceptions Tab
This Tab allows us to deal with the exceptions from all the orders we have sent by broadband transmission.
When an order is sent and if certain products are not available from by the supplier, then they are instantly displayed in this tab
Resolve exceptions on your orders
- In the shorts/exceptions tab we have three options when dealing with shorts. We can either delete the product from the order, move it back to Pending in the Manage Orders tab or reorder it from another supplier
- These three options are visible at the top right hand corner of the screen
- To perform any one of these on a certain product select the box beside the product and click the appropriate button
- Once you click the Reorder button a dialog box will appear instantly allowing you to select a new supplier to order this product from. They will now be marked in green and in a resolved exception state
- Resolve Short Deliveries Tab
Once we have checked in any orders that have arrived into the store, all products where the received quantity was less than the expected delivery quantity will appear in the Resolve Short Deliveries tab.
We have two options when resolving with short deliveries
- Enter the additional quantity of the product that has been sent to the store since the original order was completed. Tick the box beside the product and click Resolve selected. The stock will now be updated for this particular product and it will be marked green in the list
- However if no additional products have been received into the store and the product will not be sent to the store in the future, we simply tick the box beside the product and click Resolve Selected again. Once Resolved these products will also be marked green and will no longer appear on this page when it is displayed again.
- Shorts / Exceptions
Any outstanding exceptions will be located on the bottom of the order and marked in red
From here you can go through each product in the order one by one and enter the amount received
The quantity in blue beside the received quantity is the quantity ordered
If these quantities are the same for all products click the autofill button, this will duplicate the ordered quantities into the received quantities.
- The exceptions ( shown in red ) can be re ordered in two ways.
- Select the square radio button next to the individual product(s)
- Select the Reorder button
- Select the supplier that you would like to reorder the items from
- Select Reorder
- Exceptions can also be reordered in the Shorts section.
- The Shorts Tab is located on the left-hand side of the order screen.
The page that opens will show all outstanding Exceptions from sent orders.
IMAGE GOES HERE No exceptions in test Rx365
- To reorder an Item(s) select,
- The square Radio button next to the product
- The supplier Radio button located above the products ( this will select all products)
- Select the Reorder Button located on the top right of the screen and select the desired supplier to reorder from.
- Select Reorder to Send the Order
Book an Order into Stock
- Waiting to Check-In
Select the Waiting to check-in tab located on the left-hand side of the screen
Rx 365 will now display a list of all the orders that have been sent and that are waiting to be checked in
- Select the order that you want to book in.
A screen, similar to that displayed below, will now appear, displaying all the products that have been returned with the order
- Waiting to Check- In Tab
This tab allows us to check in the products that have arrived in store from a supplier, allowing you to update the stock.
It displays a list of all the orders that have been sent and that are waiting to be checked in.
- Select the order you wish to check in, a screen similar to that displayed below will now appear, displaying all the products that have been returned with the order and any outstanding exceptions
From here you can go through each product in the order one by one and enter the amount received.
Note The quantity in blue beside the received quantity is the quantity ordered.
- The unit Cost prices as charged on the invoice should be entered for each product
- If the received quantity is less than the ordered quantity, select the box beside the product and click the short button.
- The product is now marked in red.
- Once the order is completed any products marked as short will be moved to the Resolve Short Deliveries tab.
- Enter the invoice number associated with the delivery if required and any notes and click Complete
- From here you can go through each product in the order one by one and enter the amount received.
- Note that the quantity in blue beside the received quantity is the quantity ordered.
- The unit Cost prices as charged on the invoice should be entered for each product
- If the received quantity is less than the ordered quantity, select the box beside the product and click the short button.
- The product is now marked in red.
- Once the order is completed any products marked as short will be moved to the Resolve Short Deliveries tab.
- Any product that hasn't been received select the box beside the product and click the
button. - These products will appear in the history tab and will be marked in yellow
- Enter the invoice number associated with the delivery if required and any notes and click Complete
Advance Shipping Notices (ASN)
UNITED DRUG support a function known as Advance Shipping Notices (ASN) where they will provide an electronic listing of all items that will be provided nightly for orders sent to them via PIMS (broadband). The ASN file will allow for a user to automatically check in all of the products and quantities that arrive in the order without the need to count or scan the items. UNITED DRUG guarantee a 99% accuracy on these files.
If your UNITED DRUG supplier has ASN functionality enabled, then instead of booking in your stock through Waiting to Check-In, you will need to go to the ASN page in the Orders module.
N.B. if you look in Waiting to Check-In you will see the order but when you click into it, you will not be able to do anything with it and you will see a message at the top of the order advising you that the supplier is configured for ASN.
LOREM IPSUM
Return Stock to a Supplier
- Returns
The returns Tab is located on the left-hand side of the orders screen
- This tab allows us to return products back to the wholesaler
- To create a return in the orders module, select the Returns tab
- Begin by selecting the supplier who you wish to return the product(s) to
Once the supplier has been selected, a screen similar to that displayed below will appear
From here you can search for the product(s) you wish to return to the selected supplier using the ‘Add product to this return’ search box
Note that any pending items waiting to be returned to this supplier will appear at this time also
Once you select the product you wish to return, the dialog box displayed below will appear.
- Enter the quantity of the product you wish to return and click ‘Add to Return’
The window displayed below will appear temporarily confirming that the item has been added to the return successfully
Repeat the previous steps for any other products you wish to add to this return
- Once all the products you wish to return have been added click Create Return
A window will then appear allowing you to print out your return for your own records
Please note that before you click Create Return you can,
- Place products on hold by clicking the Hold button with the product(s) selected.
This will hold them until the next return is sent to this supplier
We can save any changes we have made to the return at any time, allowing us to leave the screen and return to it when we wish
We can also move products to a return for another supplier.
To do this,
- Tick the box beside the product(s) you wish to move
- Click the Move button
- Validate Returns
This tab allows us to view all the returns we have made that are waiting to be validated
- Once the wholesaler has compensated the store for the products they have received back, the store can simply select the return from the list displayed in this tab and click the Validate Selected button
- You can also edit a return before validating it by clicking the Edit Return button beside the return
- The return selected will appear in a manner similar to that displayed below allowing you to make any relevant changes
- If you wish to validate the return after making these changes, click the 'Complete Return(s)' button
- Alternatively, you can click the 'Save Return(s)' button which will save the changes made and keep the return in the Validate Returns tab until validated
Advance Shipping Notices (ASN)
Advanced Functions
- Backorders
Backorders is SOLELY used to deal with back ordered items from Stock Transfers Request In. Any back-ordered items from orders are displayed in the History and Flagged Delivery tab
IMAGE GOES HERE
To view backorders select the backorders tab located on the left hand side.
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This tab houses all the items from your store's Stock Transfer Requests In that have been marked as 'Backordered'
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- For example:
Your store (Store A) receives a Stock Transfer Request from another branch (Store B) . If you are unable to send the requested quantity of a specific item you can mark this item as 'Backordered' (in yellow)
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- Upon sending this transfer, these 'Backordered' items will appear in the 'Manage Backorders' tab of the orders module for your store
- Here we can do the following
-
Order the stock
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Attach the stock to an existing order that has already been sent and is waiting to be check-in. This order MUST contain the product that has been back ordered, at the required quantity
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Backorder
- Flagged Deliveries
Flagged Deliveries is used to handle checking in items that have a difference in the quantity sent and the quantity received
- This module is used to track missing products received from suppliers
- Show in red: The items shown in Red are partiality received orders
- Show in Yellow: The items shown in Yellow have not been received
- To resolve a Flagged Delivery correct the qty received /Cost price
- Select the Resolved Selected
- This will adjust stock levels for the stock
Flagged
Viewing previous Orders
- History Tab
This tab displays all checked in orders
Any orders that were marked as 'Backordered, in the Waiting to Check-In tab will appear here and will be marked yellow
You can filter this list by clicking the 
button at the top of the screen.
You may filter the list by supplier, date, store and order number
Once you filter the list you can then select orders and view them
- All orders that have been deleted also appear here and are marked in red
- All orders that failed to transmit to the wholesaler are marked in blue on this screen.
- All of the items were moved back to the Manage Orders screen.
Introduction to Ordering on Rx 365
On the Rx 365 system orders may be automatically generated/compiled or they may be entered manually.
As an introduction to this section of the 365 Help File, it is necessary to detail the manner in which purchase orders are automatically generated by the system.
- Additional Ordering Parameters
There is another useful facet to the automatic generation of orders whereby pre-set parameters are applied to the purchase orders.
These parameters are:
- Expected Discounts
- Expected Bonus Quantities
- Minimum Order Quantities – required to obtain discounts and bonuses are all automatically applied to the order when it is being generated.
These parameters are displayed, or edited, on the product maintenance screen – and can also be applied to multiple products using product updates.
The benefits of these parameters are:
- Shop staff are alerted to expected discounts and bonuses at the time of generating the order and at the point of delivery. This ensures that pre–negotiated bonuses and discounts are always checked for.
- The minimum quantities required to achieve the bonuses and discounts are always ordered
- The correct cost price of the goods is recorded, thus ensuring that correct profit margins are stored on the system
Products on Hold
- In the orders module, when managing orders any products highlighted in blue are on hold
- A Product is automatically put on hold if the product is set to replacement order method, it has been sold and the quantity in stock is greater than 0
- If a product is set to replacement order method, it has been sold and the quantity in stock hits 0. If it was already placed on an order and on hold due to stock being greater than 0, it will be taken off hold.
- This is a feature to ensure products are not ordered incorrectly.
- To order a product that is on hold, tick the product and press unhold
- To select all products press the Select All and press unhold
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- History
This tab displays all checked in orders
- Any orders that were marked as ‘Backordered' in the Waiting to Check-In tab will appear here and will be marked in yellow
- You can filter this list by clicking the Filter button at the top of the screen. You may filter the list by supplier, date, store and order number
- Once you filter the list you can then select orders and view them
- All orders that have been deleted also appear here and are marked in red
- All orders that failed to transmit to the wholesaler are marked in blue on this screen. All of the items were moved back to the Manage Orders screen.
- Suppliers
This Tab shows an overview of all suppliers broken down into the following,
- To order
- To Check In
- Shorts
- To return
- An order attached to a supplier can be viewed by selecting view Order located on the end of each supplier line.
- This will open the order
