The 5 steps to use a purchasing management software in the industrial manufacturing sector
In the industrial manufacturing sector, purchases have to be made. But procurement is time-consuming and sometimes stressful. That’s where the benefits of using purchasing management software come in. As its name clearly suggests, this is a tool that enables you to manage your purchasing efficiently. To help you, this article explains the steps involved in using purchasing management software.
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1. Understanding how the software works
First and foremost, it’s important to recognise that there are many different types of purchasing management software available for use in the world of industrial manufacturing. Of course, they don’t all work in the same way. In order to use the tool properly, you need to start by understanding its functions. As a general rule, this tool allows you to :
- Invoice and payment management, which allows you to enter invoices into the software. This is obviously the case for invoices that are due to be paid or that have already been paid. You can also monitor payments. This is the category that gives you the opportunity to carry out real budget control.
- Order management, which gives you the advantage of tracking orders in progress in real time. The software can be used as an extremely detailed dashboard. The tool also enables you to track incoming orders.
- Supplier management allows you to have all the data you need in one place. So it’s the best way todigitise your purchasing by sector.
Purchasing software can have many other functions. These differ from one tool to another. So it’s a good idea to always be familiar with the purchasing management software you have chosen, so that you can make the most of all its advantages.
2. Managing purchases
To manage purchases in your software, you first need to add a purchase. There’s nothing complicated about this. All you have to do is go to the dashboard and find the heading “Purchases”. You then need to enter the date on which the purchase was made. Other information must also be entered to ensure that the data is accurate. The clearer the information, the easier it is to manage your purchase. Don’t forget to save it!
You can do this by type. To do this, you need to create categories. You need to rename them according to the type of purchase you have made. You also need to be precise in the information you provide.
You can modify the status of the purchase in the event of a change. In most cases, the Purchasing module has a Modify icon which you will need to click on. To make the change, don’t forget to click Save. The purchase information can be modified as required. The purchase can also be deleted if necessary. To do this, simply click on the Delete icon.
3. Manage quotes
In principle, purchasing management software can be used to manage quotations in the world of industrial manufacturing. Fortunately, this operation is very easy. To do this, you need to start by filling in the customer details. Generally speaking, this is done in the same way as creating an invoice. You need to enter information such as the name, contact person, address, etc. You can even add a delivery address.
As with purchasing, you can easily change the options in the quote. You can change the contact person, the validity date and the model of the document itself. Some purchasing management software offers you the advantage of defining payment terms. This is the best way to be clear with your customers. In the quotation, you should mention the methods of payment they can use.
Before issuing an estimate, you shouldadd documents. The choice is yours. It is also advisable to add a production line. This consists of inserting the name of the estimate and the various information concerning it. Once the estimate has been edited, don’t forget to save it. Of course, you can change the status of the quote at any time before it is delivered to your customers. You can create a deposit from an estimate. You can even generate several deposits for a single estimate. This can be particularly useful in the retail sector.
4. Exporting purchases
In industrial manufacturing, as in the public sector, purchases can be made in large quantities. You therefore need to export them. In fact, classifying purchases according to the chart of accounts only makes your accountant’s job easier.
In some cases, you will need to set the parameters for the types of purchase. You can also fill in the supplier code field if you need to add a supplier. You can attach PDFs or Excel files summarising your purchases to the software.
5. Obtain information about purchases
What’s interesting about purchase management software is that you canobtain purchase-related information at any time. You can see, for example, the total amount of purchases or the number of invoices. You can do this quickly, without having to rack your brains.
How you obtain this information depends largely on the type of software. So it’s a good idea to know how it works.
Using purchasing management software is of great use in the industrial manufacturing sector. To benefit from all its advantages, it is important to choose the right software. Weproc can provide you with thehelp you need to manage your company’s purchasingas effectively as possible.It’s an effective solution for simplifying various tasks.
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Weproc is a SaaS software specialized in digitizing the procurement process of companies. From purchase requests to supplier invoicing, through the validation process, Weproc is designed to simplify the purchase management of SMEs and mid-sized companies by centralizing all purchase-related activities.