Sending Electronic Orders

You can send purchase orders electronically in either the EDIFACT or BISAC format to vendors who are equipped to receive them. BISAC orders are sent via electronic mail and EDIFACT orders are sent via FTS (File Transfer Software).

When you queue orders to print, Sierra notes whether the vendor you have chosen is coded for BISAC, EDIFACT, or print orders. For those orders with a vendor coded for electronic ordering, the system places the orders in separate files in the BISAC or EDIFACT formats as indicated by the code. The system holds those orders until you select the option to send those orders electronically.

For more information, see the following sections.

Sending EDIFACT Electronic Orders
Sending BISAC Electronic Orders
Printing Purchase Orders from Electronic Orders

Sending EDIFACT Electronic Orders

To send purchase orders via FTP:

1. Select Print/Send Orders from the Function drop-down list.
2. Select the x purchase orders to FTP option from the drop-down menu. The current list of purchase orders to send via FTP appears.
3. You can Limit by Location or Limit by Vendor or select the check box for each purchase order you want to send electronically. If you do not select check boxes or otherwise limit the list of purchase orders, the system sends all purchase orders displayed in the table.
4. Click Ftp.
5. In the Ftp Setup dialog, confirm if you want to Ftp all or Ftp selected purchase orders, and click FTP. The system displays the Transfer Files screen.

   Status Bar Message

   The status bar on the Transfer Files screen displays the vendor to whom you are transferring a file, as well as the relative position in the list of vendors. For example, if the purchase orders you selected to FTP contain four different vendors, with the first one being baker, the status bar would display the message Vendor: baker (1 of 4).

   This message can help to ensure that you process all vendor files before closing the FTP window and inadvertently deleting queued purchase orders that were not sent.

6. Enter the IP address for the vendor's remote host, or select a value from the drop-down list. IP addresses are added to this list after you successfully connect to a remote host.

7. Click Connect. The Login dialog appears.
8. Enter the Username and Password, and click OK.

When you are connected, the Remote list of files appears, as well as the file path for the remote source (if there is one). The system also displays the file to be transferred in the Local list of files.

9. To FTP the file, highlight the file in the Local list, and click Put. The system moves the file to the Remote list of files and changes the status bar display to 1 file(s) transferred.
10. Click Disconnect to clear the screen and prepare the next vendor file to FTP. Note that the status bar displays the next vendor and the relative file position (for example, Vendor: bro (2 of 4)).
11. Repeat steps 6 through 9 to transfer each vendor file.
12. Once you have sent all the files, the status bar displays Vendor: NONE, All processed. Click Close to return to the Send queue.

    When you choose Close, you exit the Transfer Files screen and the system displays the following prompt: FTP completed. Delete processed FTP entries? If you choose Yes, the system deletes the purchase orders from the queue, regardless of whether they were sent or not. If you accidentally choose Close before transferring all of the vendor files, choose No at the prompt to retain all the purchase orders in the Send queue. Then manually delete the entries in the queue for those purchase orders that you have already sent.

The buttons on the toolbar allow you to edit order records and delete queued purchase orders from the same screen you used to send them electronically. As in any table, you can sort the purchase orders by clicking the column header by which you want to sort.

Sending BISAC Electronic Orders

To send purchase orders by email:

1. Choose Print/Send Orders from the Function drop-down list.

The drop-down menu default option is x purchase orders to PRINT, so the current list of purchase orders to print appears.

2. Select the x purchase orders to send via EMAIL option from the drop-down menu. The current list of purchase orders to send by email appears.
3. You can Limit by Location or Limit by Vendor or select the check box for each purchase order you want to send electronically. If you do not select check boxes or otherwise limit the list of purchase orders, the system sends all purchase orders displayed in the table.
4. Choose the Send button. A progress dialog displays while the orders are being sent. Choose Cancel on this dialog to cancel sending all of the orders. Note that if you are sending relatively few orders, the dialog might not appear long enough for you to cancel.

The buttons on the toolbar allow you to edit order records and delete queued purchase orders from the same screen you used to send them electronically. As in any table, you can sort the purchase orders by clicking the column header by which you want to sort.

Printing Purchase Orders from Electronic Orders

Whether you have selected the x purchase orders to send via EMAIL or x purchase orders to FTP option in the drop-down menu, you can always choose to print these purchase orders rather than sending them electronically. Select Move All to Print File and respond YES to the prompt Are you sure you want to move all to the print queue? Then continue with the procedure for Printing Purchase Orders.

See also:

Electronic Ordering Overview

Preparing for Electronic Ordering

Printing Purchase Orders

Printing Claims and Cancellations