The CTO functionality in IFS/Purchasing is primarily developed to support purchase of configured products throughout the internal order flow. This means that the configuration for the configured parts will be included in the message handling between sites and in the printout of purchase order related documents.
It is possible to view the configuration of the part through the purchasing flow, but it is not possible to change or create a configuration.
It is possible, however, to delete lines with configured parts, but you will receive a warning that there are other orders that will be affected by the deletion (these should also be deleted manually).
Subcontracted work in purchasing will not be modified to handle configured parts. The reason for this is that DOP (Dynamic Order Processing) supports only the charge/no charge functionality for supplier material shipping. Furthermore, consignment stock for configured parts is not allowed as a combination.
Configured parts in the procurement process are always created from some other component within IFS Applications. There are many different ways, e.g., via a sales quotation, a customer order, or DOP. Regardless of how the line with the configured part is created, you can view the connected configuration throughout most of the procurement process.
When there is a line (purchase requisition line, purchase order line, or request for order quotation line) with a configured part, it is possible to view the configuration by selecting the line and choosing View Configuration... or press the View Conf... button, depending on the window you are in.
The demand for a purchase requisition (which contains configured parts) can derive from either a customer order (OE) or a DOP order (DOP). When a purchase requisition is converted into a purchase order or a request for order quotation, this demand is inherited by the new order or request. The same applies for an order quotation that is converted into a purchase order: The demand that was inherited to the request for order quotation will appear on the converted purchase order as well. A purchase order can also be created directly from a demand in customer order or dynamic order processing.
The demand from a customer order will either create a purchase requisition or a purchase order. This depends on the supply code for the sales part. If the supply code for the sales part is PO direct or PO transit, a purchase requisition will be created. If the supply code for the sales part is internal PO direct or internal PO transit, a purchase order will be created.
It is not possible to copy a purchase order for a configured part. A replacement order for a configured part can be created if the demand originates from a DOP order.
When sending the purchase order (ORDER), or purchase order changes (ORDCHG) via MHS or EDI, the configuration information is sent to the supplier. If the supplier does not use configurations but sees the part as a standard part, it is possible not to send the information by disabling the Transfer Configuration Characteristics check box in Supplier per Purchase Part/General tab.
Both price and description are sent in the outgoing message for a purchase order. When the message is received in the internal order flow, however, this information is ignored, and the price is retrieved from the set up in the customer order module. Also, the sent price does not update the customer order line. If you want the price and description to update the data on the customer order, there is a Send Order Price check box on the combination of purchase part and supplier, which specifies whether the price and description should be updated. This check box is primarily used in the internal flow, but can be used for external EDI messages and as a flag to check whether the price and description in the customer order should be updated with the values in the sent purchase order or purchase order change.
The use of order response (ORDRSP) is mandatory when buying configured parts using ORDERS. There is a check in the purchase order arrival step that an order response has been received before the arrival can be entered. If no order response has been received, a warning is displayed, which you can override. The reason is that the purchase order line can have a price equal to 0 (zero) and in the order response the price will be updated with the correct price.
The check that an order response message has been sent is also performed when receiving dispatch advise and registering direct delivery.
In the receipt process, it is possible to view the configuration in all processes. You cannot change configuration, but you can view it.
When the configured parts have been received into an inventory location, it is possible to view the configuration in the Inventory Part/Configurations tab window in IFS/Inventory.
For each characteristic you can decide whether it should be printed on purchase orders, supplier return reports, and/or requests for order quotation. This is specified in the IFS/Configuration Characteristic, Configuration Language Characteristic/Display Information tab.
In IFS/Purchasing you can decide for each combination of supplier and purchase part whether the configuration, with characteristics and options, should be left out of the printed/sent document. This is done via the Transfer Configuration Characteristics check box.