Purchase & Suppliers

The daily routine this module replaces

The morning starts with the store in-charge scribbling a list of shortages on a ruled pad. The list is handed to a clerk who types it into an email and sends it to the buyer. The buyer prints the email, walks to the purchase manager’s desk, and the two argue over which supplier to call. Once a rate is agreed, the buyer writes a purchase order in a spreadsheet, prints three copies, and sends one to the supplier, one to the gate, and keeps one in a file.

When the lorry arrives, the gatekeeper checks the delivery note against the printed PO copy. If the quantities match, he signs the supplier’s challan and lets the lorry in. The material is unloaded onto the QC table. The QC inspector flips through a ring binder of old test reports, picks the last one for the same item, and scribbles today’s date and lot number on a fresh sheet. If the fabric passes, the inspector initials the challan and hands it to the store clerk. The clerk updates a stock register in a ledger book, then files the challan in a cardboard box.

At month-end, the accounts clerk receives a stack of supplier bills. Each bill is matched to the filed challan and the PO copy. If all three match, the bill is entered into the payables spreadsheet. If they don’t, the clerk walks to the gate, the store, and the buyer’s desk to find the missing paper. Payments are scheduled in a separate diary, and the ageing report is typed manually every Friday.

How a document moves through the module

Purchase Requisition

The store in-charge raises a requisition on the tablet at the rack. The system checks current stock and open purchase orders; if the shortage is genuine, the requisition is posted. It appears instantly on the buyer’s dashboard. No paper is printed.

Purchase Order

The buyer opens the requisition, negotiates the rate, and converts it to a PO. The PO is posted and emailed to the supplier. The system locks the requisition so it cannot be used again. The PO also appears on the gate dashboard and in the QC queue.

Goods Receipt Note (GRN)

The gatekeeper scans the supplier’s delivery note against the PO on a handheld terminal. If the lot matches, the GRN is posted. Stock is updated in “QC hold” status; the ledger shows no liability yet. The QC inspector sees the GRN in his queue and begins the test.

Incoming QC

The inspector records test results on a tablet. If the lot passes, he posts the QC pass; stock moves to “available” and the liability is booked in the ledger. If it fails, he posts a QC reject; the GRN is reversed, stock remains zero, and the buyer is notified to raise a debit note.

Purchase Bill

The accounts clerk receives the supplier’s bill. The system matches it to the GRN and PO. If all three match, the bill is posted and the liability is updated. If they don’t, the bill is parked in an exception queue until the discrepancy is resolved.

Payment

The accounts manager schedules the payment. The system generates a payment voucher, updates the supplier ledger, and sends a remittance advice to the supplier. The payment is posted and the liability is cleared.

The reports it produces and the decision each one supports

What usually goes wrong when a plant runs without it

The store runs out of dyestuff because the buyer never saw the requisition. The gatekeeper lets in a lorry without a PO copy, so the material sits in QC for days while the buyer scrambles to find the paperwork. QC tests the wrong lot because the inspector wrote the wrong number on the sheet. The accounts clerk books a bill for 500 kg when only 450 kg passed QC, so the ledger shows a liability that doesn’t exist. At month-end, the ageing report is three days late and full of arithmetic errors, so the accounts manager pays suppliers based on guesswork.

Suppliers call the buyer every week to ask when their bill will be paid. The buyer has no record of what was ordered, received, or paid, so he tells the supplier to call accounts. Accounts tells the supplier to call the buyer. The supplier stops supplying, and the plant runs out of yarn.

When the auditor arrives, the files are missing GRNs, QC sheets, and PO copies. The auditor disallows the input credit, and the plant pays tax on material it never received. The owner asks why the same supplier is always late, but no one can show a report of on-time performance. The buyer leaves, and the new buyer starts from scratch, negotiating rates from memory because there is no rate history.

Where software is not the answer

If the gatekeeper does not scan the delivery note, the GRN will never be posted. If the QC inspector does not record the test results, the lot will stay in “QC hold” forever. If the accounts clerk does not match the bill to the GRN, the liability will be wrong. The module only works if the people who post the documents do their jobs. It cannot replace discipline.