Delivery schedule

That, for what, when also who

The delivery schedule – the schedule of shipments of goods to the client. At the same time depending on needs of the customer and the arrangement with suppliers of shipment of the same goods can be performed in different dates. The diagram for fixing of obligations to the client, control of execution of these obligations^[1] is necessary].

The delivery schedule is a certain result of work on a request and selection of conditions of deliveries as reflects what goods in what quantities at what prices and to what time we can ship. Especially this tool is necessary when one order line for sale "breaks" into several components because a part of the goods required to the client will come to us on 7 rubles and in 8 days, and a part on 10, but in 5 days. Respectively on the basis of the delivery schedule it is possible to create the commercial offer for review it with the client then work with the transaction (purchase, shipment) will be begun.

Scheduling should be carried out just before sending the commercial offer to the client. So after the specification of the transaction will be created, reserves are set, delivery conditions are picked up. Responsible in this case the employee of sales department working with the transaction acts.

The delivery schedule is created on the basis of the specification of the transaction, i.e. its contents are defined by those goods which we want to sell to the client. The goods can have one, several delivery conditions or not to have them at all. The quotations meeting these conditions will also be base for the diagram: they will determine the shipped quantity and dates by every line. The diagram should be a starting point for approvals of the client, commission of purchases and shipments. Therefore at process automation of work with the diagram it is necessary to take all these three moments into account.

Figure 1 – Delivery schedule. Sources and results

Multiple creation of the delivery schedule

When implementing tools for the delivery schedule it is necessary to provide creation of the diagram for one goods and all lines in a management system for sales at once. With one goods everything is clear, and here the second opportunity requires additional consideration. Why? Because conditions of deliveries on temporary terms can disperse, be required partial shipment by the client in process of a goods receipt. From this it follows that when forming the diagram according to all specification at the same time, it is necessary to organize dialog with the user of the information management system for the choice of rules of work after creation of the diagram. For example, for selection of dates of shipment such settings can be used:

• Make shipment of all goods in one day. In this case a system will determine the maximum date from all delivery conditions which are available for the specification.
• Ship everything to the set date. Here the user just specifies in what date to the client most conveniently to receive all goods.
• Partial shipments. Shipments will be made by batches depending on a goods receipt on a warehouse.

Use of delivery conditions when forming the diagram

At execution of the transaction most likely the sequence of actions of the seller will correspond to a chain "the approval of the specification – reservation – a request of conditions of deliveries – the delivery schedule". Most likely, but it is not obligatory. At least because in a system conditions of deliveries for the necessary goods can be already picked up. Then it is necessary to give to the user an opportunity of the choice of quotation directly during creation of schedule lines.

But quotations can not be. For various reasons. Simply not. It will be convenient if automatic creation of requests for delivery conditions is provided in a system for such cases. At the same time if at the moment in the specification the zero price on goods is specified, it is possible to make automatic modification of the price after selection of delivery conditions.

Still probably we need some time for processing of goods at its acceptance. You should not exclude big load of a warehouse because of which there can be a shipment delay. Therefore it will be good if the user if necessary is able to specify the number of days required on processing of goods.

The organization of purchases on the basis of the delivery schedule

Purchases. Besides for that situation when the ideal chain of actions of the seller is for some reason broken, maybe so that we are so sure of the available quotations, we know all prices and terms that after formation of the specification passed to the diagram at once. And there are several options: the goods are present at warehouses in full, there are no stocks at all, the stock is, but covers requirement only partially. So the employee creating the diagram can not know a real situation. Therefore if it not always checks all information in advance, it is good to have the instrument of automatic reservation and generation of purchasing requests.

At the same time, as well as during selection of dates, it is possible to enter such settings:

• Not execute reservation.
• Reserve. As a warehouse to use what is specified at registration of the transaction.
• Reserve. Use any warehouses. Here it is necessary to control access rights for implementation of this transaction as in principle it is logical that not all users can put a reservation for goods in any warehouses, especially if we have a big branch network in the different cities and it is not necessary at all that the employee from Moscow took away stocks from Ryazan.

If the reserve covers not all quantity necessary to the client, then purchase of goods, the request for which can also be generated during creation of the diagram, is necessary. And it is good if it can be made both independently, and automatically, using settings of the user dialog.

Figure 2 – Delivery schedule components

Interface

As for the general interface of the tool of the delivery schedule, the main requirement here – accomplishment of all transactions in one window, and is even better associativity to the transaction: in a window of the transaction it is possible to add the page or any other element which will contain everything, belonging to the diagram. It is essentially important to have the diagram and the transaction in one place as the main participant of process of creation, change and control of schedule performance – the seller, and such structure of work will provide smaller costs of time for search of the necessary tools and services than if all necessary was located in different places.

During creation of the diagram it is convenient to see in one window the specification of the transaction, a schedule line for each goods, delivery condition of goods. There can be a need to browse the delivery schedule on all goods at the same time – such function too it is worth providing.

It was already said above that it would be convenient to tie quotation to a line of the specification during creation of the diagram. From this it follows that it would also be convenient to browse then this quotation, without switching to other windows, i.e. in the same place where there is a formation of the schedule of shipments. The goods route also should be displaid together with the diagram.

So on the basis of a schedule line it is possible to create the purchasing request, it is necessary and to trace the level of its accomplishment, for example, through the system of the statuses and also an output requested, which were purchased and already shipped quantities.

Control of accomplishment of stages of the delivery schedule

There is a schedule, it is necessary and to conduct some control of its execution for observance of the obligations and timely informing the client in case of the arisen force majeure. Therefore it is good if in a system there is, for example, a report allowing to trace by the specific order or the supplier or on all documents existence for goods of the delivery schedule, the ordered quantity, quantity at ways, the quantity shipped to the client.

In conclusion we will note that to use or to use the delivery schedule in work is defined by business processes of the company. But advantages of this tool are quite obvious – using the diagram control over accomplishment of obligations to the client is provided, effective and comfortable work with the transaction as in this case when using one tool it is possible at once both to reserve goods is reached and to create the purchasing request and to define other settings concerning purchase and shipments of goods. For conducting control of obligation fulfillment according to the transaction it is possible to connect also the diagram of shipment of the supplier (backlog) that will add one more point of control of activity of the trading company to a case in point.

Notes