When you buy from a vendor, you often want to fill up an order to a certain size. Maybe you need to reach a minimum amount to qualify for a discount or free freight, or you want to fill up a container, ship, or truck before it leaves. This article shows you how to do that in Business Central using planning worksheets, so you end up with one well-filled purchase order per vendor instead of many small ones.
The key tool is the direct replenishment worksheet combined with a filter on the vendor number. This pulls in all items tied to that vendor, lets you see total customs amount, volume, and weight, and lets you adjust quantities until you reach the threshold you need.
You run the calculation in two steps. First you calculate your normal MRP to cover actual demand. Then you run a direct replenishment calculation filtered on the vendor to top up the order with additional items. The “skip if already planned” option makes sure you don’t get duplicate lines for items already in the worksheet.
Export the worksheet to Excel to check the total customs amount against your target. If you need to reach 200,000 for the vendor and you’re short, add more items or increase quantities directly in the worksheet. When the order is complete, carry out all lines at once to create a single purchase order for the vendor.
The business scenario: buying from vendors across the world
The setup in this example is a business operating worldwide. There is a main office and production in Europe, possibly a production site further east, and vendors and subcontractors in the Far East and elsewhere.
The demand comes from sales shops and customers, most of them in Europe. Supply flows in through transfer orders and production orders, and at the end of the chain you create purchase orders to your vendors.
When you buy from a distant vendor, you want each order to be as good as possible. Creating many separate orders is not practical, so the goal is to fill up each order properly to make the most of your freight and any volume-based discounts.
Step one: calculate MRP to cover demand
The first step is a normal MRP calculation that covers what you actually need to buy. In this example the calculation uses a template called “purchase items up to safety stock”. That template triggers replenishment based on safety stock in inventory.
The filter is set to all purchase items, which means it looks at the item card for every item with replenishment system set to purchase. The location code is filtered to the production location, which is the main location you buy to.
This calculates everything you need to buy. In the example there is just one line, for vendor number 87000. The item is a big tire, and the suggestion is to buy 40 pieces from the vendor, a factory that makes rubber parts.
Instead of carrying out the action directly from here (which would create a purchase order for that single line only), you accept the action messages and carry them into the planning worksheet, where the line is ready to be handled together with the rest of the order.
Step two: fill up the order with direct replenishment
Next you run a direct replenishment calculation. Here the template fills purchase orders up to reorder quantities. The point is no longer to cover demand, it’s to fill up a container, ship, or truck from this vendor so you gain a discount or free freight.
The template is set to purchase items only, the location code is the production location, and the important addition is a filter on the vendor number you are working with.
This pulls in all items that have this vendor assigned, except the items already in the worksheet. The “skip if already planned” check mark makes sure the tire you already planned in step one doesn’t get added a second time. When you open the worksheet, the tire is already there.
From the calculation result you select which additional items to add and adjust quantities as you like. You can look up the order quantity to see the reordering parameters for each item before deciding.
Checking total customs amount, volume, and weight
When you carry out the actions and transfer the lines into the planning worksheet, you see all the lines with total customs amount, total volume, and total weight.
Export this to Excel and it’s easy to see the total customs amount. If you know that this vendor requires a customs amount of 200,000 and you’re still short, you can add more items or change the quantities in the worksheet. Changing the quantities updates the customs amount automatically.
This way you build up the vendor order until it reaches the size you want. When you’re done, carry out all the lines at once, and Business Central creates one clean purchase order for the vendor.
Q&A
How do I fill up a purchase order to qualify for a discount or free freight?
Run a direct replenishment calculation in Business Central with a template that fills up to reorder quantities, and filter on the vendor number. This pulls in all items for that vendor so you can add quantities until you reach the order size needed for the discount or free freight.
How do I avoid duplicate lines when I add items to an existing planning worksheet?
Use the “skip if already planned” check mark in the calculation. Items already in the worksheet from your MRP run, such as the tire in this example, are skipped so they aren’t added a second time.
How do I see the total customs amount, volume, and weight of a purchase order before I send it?
After transferring the lines into the planning worksheet, you can see total customs amount, total volume, and total weight on the lines. Export the worksheet to Excel to check the totals against your target, for example a required customs amount of 200,000 per vendor.
How do I create a single purchase order from multiple worksheet lines for one vendor?
Once you’ve added and adjusted all the items in the planning worksheet, carry out the action for all the lines at once. Business Central creates one purchase order for the vendor instead of separate orders per line.
What’s the difference between running MRP and direct replenishment for purchasing?
MRP calculates what you actually need to buy based on demand and safety stock. Direct replenishment is used to top up an order to reorder quantities, so you can fill a container or truck and gain volume-based benefits even beyond your immediate demand.