Global Sourcing provides users with an enviroment that is integrated with product development for working with contractors for full package and cut, make and trim production.
As a style progresses through the development cycle, it reaches a stage where it is ready to be sourced. Sourcing begins the process of requesting contractors to provide quotes to produce the styles. Developing the final cost to produce a style is an iterative process that is driven by changes in the BOM of the style and the negotiated price.
When a Style is set to a user specified status, an entry for the Style is inserted into the Sourcing Style table. At that time, a message is sent to Sourcing that the Style is ready to be sourced. Each entry in the Sourcing Style table has a Status assigned that shows where the entry is in the quote process. PolyPM automatically places entries in the Sourcing Style table; this ensures that all Styles in development will go through the sourcing process.
Users will be able to launch an Request For Quote (RFQ) transaction for a Style. In this step, Sourcing selects the contractors that the RFQ will be sent to. The selection can include multiple color categories. When this step is completed an entry will be added into the Sourcing Matrix table for each contractor and color combination. Sourcing will then generate an email to each contractor with the RFQ document and an attached Spec Kit document. PolyPM can generate the emails automatically.
The Sourcing Matrix table lists all quotes by contractor and color. Each quote is a separate record and has its own Status. There will be various statuses for each quote record. Late quotes will be highlighted, alerting Sourcing that a quote is outstanding. PolyPM will present several views of the Sourcing Matrix table and will support generating various reports in Crystal Reports.
When a quote is received back from a contractor, the cost is recorded in the Sourcing Matrix table. PolyPM will track the entire history of all quotes that have been received, along with notes relating to the various changes and revisions for each new quote. PolyPM can automatically record the quotes from a cost sheet and update the Sourcing Matrix table.
Once a contractor quote has been approved, Sourcing will set the Status of the Quote to Approved. When the Style is ready for production, Sourcing will set the Status to Production. This will generate data to a file that Production will be able to read. Usually a Style will be ready for Production once the Buy Ready workflow has been completed for the Style.
The Sourcing database calculates the landed costs from a variety of inputs including quoted price, shipping costs, duties and optional production operations. It tracks projected production for each contractor and even enables splitting production between multiple contractors.