How To Guide

Purchase Planning

Table of Contents

OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................................... 2
SETUP .......................................................................................................................................................... 2
ADDITIONAL ADDON PARAMETERS - ADPVAL .............................................................................................. 2
PRODUCT DIMENSIONS AND SUPPLIER COST - GESITM ............................................................................... 3
SUPPLIER INFORMATION - GESBPS ............................................................................................................ 3
GROUPING W ORKBENCH ENTRY TRANSACTION GESMRL & GESMRLA ................................................... 4
FUNCTIONAL ............................................................................................................................................... 4
GROUPING W ORKBENCH - FUNPICKA ........................................................................................................ 4
Products by Supplier ............................................................................................................................ 6
Product History ..................................................................................................................................... 7

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Overview
Sage ERP provides the ability to quickly generate purchase orders based on suggestions created by the
planning systems (MRP, Reorder Point, etc.). There are several workbenches that provide access to
these suggestions but the one typically used by the buyer is the Grouping Workbench. The workbench
allows you to view, maintain and act (firm) suggestions for several time periods and supplier at once.
The functionality within this workbench has been extended to provide totals by weight, volume and
reference cost. New inquiry options have been added to provide additional views by supplier and of
product usage.

The new totals allow you to select for a specific supplier. Using the information provided, you can
maximize your utilization of your transportation (purchase in full containers or trucks) dollars. If importing
goods, you may group/firm product based on the volume being consumed. This allows a buyer to fill
containers and reduce the landed cost associated with the purchase. If it is a domestic purchase, you
can manage purchase to ensure that you are meeting weight minimum or a threshold required to get
free freight or buying enough to meet required purchase minimums.

Setup
Additional Addon Parameters - ADPVAL
In order to provide totals in the grouping workbench, the data that is displayed must be consolidated into
common units of measure. Parameters XAVOLUNT and XAWGTUNT allow you to define the units used
for the totals.

To set these parameters, go to Parameters > General Parameters > Parameter Values using the
ADMIN menu profile. Key in the STO (Inventory) module, and tab to see a list of parameter groups. Select
the XANA group; right click and choose Detail from the selection side bar. Set XAVOLUNT as the
volume unit and XAWGTUNT as the weight unit. These values will be used as the default units when
setting weight and volume measurements on the Product Master and on workbench calculations.

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In additional to these parameters, you need to make sure that the UOM Conversion between the units is
defined. Weight-to-weight conversions may already be present in your X3 folder as a standard
conversion but you may have to define the volume-to-volume conversion factors.

Product Dimensions and Supplier Cost - GESITM

In order to calculate volume within the grouping workbench, you must define the product dimensions.
Additionally, the grouping workbench provides a cost based on a new supplier cost field. This value is a
reference value intended to put you in the ball park when reviewing planned purchases to see if you are
meeting minimum order requirements. This field is not tied to the supplier price books and must be
maintained independently.

Common Data > Products > Products

Supplier Information - GESBPS

New fields have been added to the supplier to allow for the definition of a Planner/Buyer, Free Freight
Threshold and Review Period. These new fields appear in the new grouping workbench options. The
standard Sage X3 functionality allows you to define a planner/buyer by product and product/site but not
by Supplier. This definition is informational and does not change the selection functionality in the
planning workbenches.

Common Data > BPs > Suppliers

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Grouping Workbench Entry Transaction GESMRL & GESMRLA

The display of the detail fields within the Grouping Workbench is controlled by the entry transaction. You
must define a sequence number in the entry transactions to enable the new fields. This needs to be done
for each transaction code for which you wish to view the new fields.
Parameters > Purchasing > Entry Transactions > Grouping of Sites

Functional
Grouping Workbench - FUNPICKA
The Grouping workbench has been modified to display totals for weight, volume and cost in the upper
right corner. Columns have also been added to the detail display so that a buyer can see the impact of
each line being suggested/planned.

Purchasing > Ordering > Grouping

The new totals have several applications. The manner in which you view data and use the totals may
vary based on the application. For example, a buyer who is trying to limit their expenditures may be
viewing the requirements for a time period to see the total dollars required to meet the suggested

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purchases. Another application is to filter the results by supplier. When using this view you can make
sure that you are meeting the supplier minimum order requirements. The weight and volume totals may
provide you with information required to meet a supplier free freight threshold or to maximize the cube
on an import shipment.

Purchasing > Ordering > Grouping

New options have been provided to assist the buyer with reviewing options for increasing buys to meet
minimums or to minimize freight expenditures. Right click on any row of the Grouping table to see these
options. This first is a Products by Supplier view. This view allows the buyer to see other products that
are purchased from a supplier in order to add some non-suggested products into the mix. The window
displays products that are not showing in the main window. This may be due to there being no
suggestions, or none that meet the selection criteria.

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Products by Supplier

The Products by Supplier options not only provide you with visibility of the requirements but also the
ability to specify a quantity to buy. This creates a record and returns it to the grouping workbench for
inclusion on the purchase order.

If you decide to purchase any of the additional items listed for the supplier, you can modify the qty
ordered. The Tot columns will update to reflect the additional value.

After returning from this window, the main grouping window is updated to include the additional product(s)
that are to be purchased.

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Product History

The product history tool allows you to view the historical usage in monthly buckets for a rolling 36-month
view. This history allows you to view a product for seasonality and also make a better decision in
determining addition purchases.

Note: The product history option is also available from within the new Product by Supplier window.

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