Purchase requests go in before stock runs out, based on what you actually use

The AI works out how long each item will last at every plant and drafts the purchase requisition in SAP in time. Your planner releases it.

Used day to day by
  • Production planners
  • Purchase team
  • Plant heads

How it runs with AI

Every morning the AI reads stock, open orders and recent use for each item at each plant in SAP. It works out how many days each item will last against the supplier's lead time and drafts a purchase requisition for the ones running short, or a transfer when another plant holds spare stock. Your planner checks the quantities and releases them.

Step by step

Where the work happens, what the AI does, and where it hands over to a person.

  1. Step 1, AI

    Reads stock, open orders and recent use from SAP

    Needs to know: Materials planned per plant

    In SAP S/4HANA

  2. Step 2, AI

    Works out how many days each item will last

    Needs to know: Supplier lead times, Safety margin per item

    In SAP S/4HANA , Power BI

  3. Step 3, AI

    Drafts a purchase requisition for each item running short

    Needs to know: Order quantity rules, Preferred suppliers

    In SAP S/4HANA

    Exception to step 3

    Drafts a transfer when another plant holds spare stock

  4. Step 4, AI

    Sends the planner the day's list on Teams

    Needs to know: Planner for each plant

    In Microsoft Teams

  5. Step 5, Person

    Checks the quantities and releases the requests

    In SAP S/4HANA

What stays with a person

  • Checks the quantities and releases the requests

Apps in this example

  • SAP S/4HANA
  • Power BI
  • Microsoft Teams

The same flow works with the apps you use.

This fits you if

  • You hold stock at more than one plant or warehouse
  • The reorder levels in SAP were set once and seldom revised
  • Planners build the reorder list in Excel from SAP exports
  • A line has stopped, or an order has gone by air, because an item ran out

What to watch for

  • Your planners mark seasonal items, new launches and one-off bulk orders, where recent use is a poor guide to the weeks ahead
  • The timing depends on the supplier lead times in SAP. Your purchase team keeps them current
  • Releasing a requisition and placing the order stay with your planners and buyers. The AI drafts, and people commit the spend
  • Run it alongside your planners for a month and compare its list with theirs before they rely on it

Read more

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