Manually creating purchase orders (POs) is one of the biggest time-wasters for procurement and inventory teams. You check stock levels, calculate how much to order, draft a PO, email the supplier, and wait. If you are doing this daily, you are losing valuable time. Fortunately, ERPNext has powerful built-in tools to completely automate your procurement process. Here is how TheboNext configures automated purchase orders for our clients.
The Problem with Manual Procurement
Relying on manual checks leads to two inevitable outcomes: you either order too late and suffer costly stockouts, or you order too much and tie up your cash in excess inventory. Automated procurement solves this by letting the system do the math and the drafting for you, based on pre-defined rules.
3 Ways to Automate POs in ERPNext
ERPNext offers a few different ways to handle procurement automatically. Here are the three most effective methods we implement:
1. Set Reorder Levels
In the Item Master, you can define a “Reorder Level” and a “Reorder Quantity”. When the actual stock of an item drops below this threshold, ERPNext automatically generates a Material Request for the exact quantity needed to replenish it.
2. Auto-Submit Material Requests
Using the Frappe Framework’s automation rules, you can tell ERPNext to automatically submit these drafted Material Requests to the Purchase Manager, skipping the manual data entry step entirely.
3. Drop Shipping Rules
If you sell an item you don’t keep in stock, ERPNext can be configured to automatically generate a Purchase Order the moment a customer places a Sales Order, sending the goods directly from your supplier to your customer.
4. Sales Order Triggers
For manufacturing or assembly items, a confirmed Sales Order can automatically trigger a Production Plan, which in turn generates automated Purchase Requests for the missing raw materials.
How the Automated Workflow Looks
A completely hands-off procurement pipeline.
Once configured by TheboNext, your workflow looks like this:
1. Stock drops below the reorder level.
2. ERPNext auto-drafts a Material Request.
3. The system auto-submits it to the Purchase Manager.
4. The Manager clicks “Create Purchase Order”.
5. ERPNext emails the PO directly to the supplier.
Let TheboNext Configure Your Automation
Automation is powerful, but it requires careful initial setup. If your reorder levels are wrong, or your supplier data is incomplete, automation will just create errors faster. You need an experienced ERPNext partner to map your procurement rules correctly.
At TheboNext, we analyze your historical sales data, calculate accurate reorder points, and configure the Frappe automation scripts to ensure your supply chain runs like a well-oiled machine.
Ready to automate your procurement?
Stop wasting hours on manual purchase orders. Let TheboNext configure your ERPNext workflows.