Blog Post

Sales Order Entry Import & Allocation Workflows (Automation Process) – Epicor ERP Custom Software Solution

A common requirement by Customers is to be able to automate SO (Sales Order) processes; for this reason, Standard Epicor Software includes an Epicor Service Connect WF (Workflow) that gives the user the ability to import Sales Orders from an XML file into E9. For this custom software solution certain steps were taken to best optimize the SO automation process. This solution is divided into three sub-processes:

  • SO Import process: Epicor’s standard Service Connect Workflow will be modified and adapted to best suit the customer’s needs.
  • SO Allocation: A new Epicoe Service Connect Workflow was created to handle the allocation process. This SO Allocation WF is executed from two different places:
    • SO Import process
    • A Daily BAQ export process which is executed based on a schedule defined by the user.
    • Company screen customization: The allocation rule defined by the user is maintained in the Company Maintenance application, the number of days that are to be validated is saved in a UD (User Defined) field

For the first step, the tasks required by the customer to be executed by the Workflow are as follow:

  1. Create Order Header / Lines
  2. Set Order as “Ready to Process”
  3. Check for Credit Limits and send an e-mail notification, set Task for Approval
  4. Send an acknowledgement e-mail to the dealer
  5. Allocate/Reserve Inventory

If an order is not immediately allocated at the moment of being imported, or if an existing order needs to be allocated, the SO Allocation Workflow can be executed:

XML file to import through SC.

XML file formatted for easy import into Epicor ERP

Sales Order created has Order Totals.

Sales Order Entry Summary in Epicor ERP

Line 1 – Quantity and Price List assigned is correct.

Black Paint Order Quantity and Price List in the Sales Order Entry Detail of Epicor Erp

Line 2 – Quantity and Price List assigned is correct.

Blue Paint Order Quantity and Price List in the Sales Order Entry Detail of Epicor ERP

Line 3 – Quantity and Price List assigned is correct.

Yellow Paint Order Quantity and Price List in the Sales Order Entry Detail of Epicor ERP

Line 4 – Quantity and Price List assigned is correct.

Green Paint Order Quantity and Price List in the Sales Order Entry Detail of Epicor ERP

Line 5 – Customer Part is populated, Quantity is correct.

No price list is assigned, which is correct.

Magenta Paint Order Quantity and Price List in the Sales Order Entry Detail of Epicor ERP

Sales Order Comments in the sales order entry of Epicor ERP

Sales Order is allocated correctly.

Data from Part Allocation exported from Epicor ERP to Notepad

Exported Inventory Data from Epicor ERP

The Company Configuration Screen has also been modified to include a UD field (Allocation days) which limits the amount of days to review in order to decide whether or not the order should be allocated and compare such order to the current ship date:

Company Configuration screen in Epicor ERP