Running the Suggested Auto Transfer Program

The Suggested Auto Transfer program determines which branches should be replenished, according to the product procurement group assignments. The program determines the suggested transfers, stores the data, and creates a report. You can review the report and then convert a suggested transfer to an actual transfer. The data generated for a suggested transfer remains in the system until the next time the program runs for that transfer.

The program can suggest different types of return transfers between any branches. The report shows the suggested transfers from each selected branch to the others. In addition to the location, description, and unit of measure for each product, the report shows the quantity to be transferred to each branch and the projected inventory level in that branch following the transfer.

Scheduling the Run

You can run the program as needed or schedule it to run on a regular basis. How often you run the program for any transfer depends on the size and configuration of your company. We recommend you schedule return transfers to run less frequently than standard transfers. By running return transfers monthly, or even quarterly, you can avoid transferring items back and forth between parent and child branches when demand in a child branch fluctuates. You do not want to overwhelm the central warehouse with a sudden influx of items being returned from all of your child branches.

Note: If you run the program for multiple auto-transfers for the same warehouse, the system locks all needed branches for the warehouse it is processing before trying to process additional transfers. Therefore, the system waits to process the second job until the first one completes the task for all the branches in that warehouse.

System Determinations

By default, the system determines the amount of product to transfer from the parent branch to the child branch and does not transfer a quantity that takes the parent branch's on-hand quantity below the order point, unless there is an immediate need by the child branch. However, the parent branch must stay at least at line point. If the parent branch is at the line point, a transfer will not be suggested even in an emergency situation.

In addition, only the parent's stock quantities are considered when making the suggestion calculation. You can use the Percentage Of Mother Branch's OP Protected In Suggested Transfercontrol maintenance record to indicate if you want to protect a percentage of the parent branch's order point. The system will ignore package quantities if the baby branch's minimum is set to zero (0) or if there is no minimum and the transfer point is zero (0).

Note: The system does not automatically procure items from sales orders that are locked.  A locked sales order indicates that the user is editing it and it should not be selected for auto procurement.

To create Suggested Auto Transfer reports:

1. From the Xfers menu, select Suggested Auto Transfer to display the Add Transfer Branches initial dialog box.

2. In the From Branch/Territory/All and To Branch/Territory/All fields, enter the branches for which to create a suggested transfer report.

3. In the Transfer Type field, select the type of transfer for which to create the report: Click here to see a list of transfer types.

   • Normal

   • Return

   • Return (Emergency)

   • Return (Stock)

   • Return (NonStock)

   • Return (Short)

Note: If you select the Return Transfer Type, the system used the From branch as the To branch when creating the transfer order.

4. Click OK to display the report columns in the Suggested Auto Transfer window.

   The Suggested Auto Transfer window lists each combination of transfer branches and types a line items as follows:

   Column	Description
   From	Branch from which to make the transfer. Note: The From branch in the set up is the From branch used by the Suggested Transfer program when the system creates the transfer order.
   To	Branch to which to make the transfer.
   Transfer Type	Type of transfer for which to select products. For descriptions see, Transfer Types.
   Cycle	Default cycle for transfers between these branches. For example,  7 indicates a weekly transfer. If you override the default to 5, then an asterisk displays (5*) to alert you that the value is an override.
   Addl Lead	Default additional days required to transfer products from one branch to the other. If you override the default, an asterisk (*) displays beside the value.
   Ship Via	Default ship via for transfers between these branches. If you override the default, an asterisk displays beside the value.

5. Click Add Branches to display the Add Transfer Branches dialog box again and change the parameters or add to the current report.

Note: To delete a row, right-click on the row and select Delete Row.

6. Set options, if needed, and generate the report.

Note: You can modify this driver from the phantom scheduler program, if needed.

More Options

The following options are available for the Suggested Auto Transfer window:

See Also:

Transfers Overview