Purchase order: from fabric to contract manufacturing
Audio narration · listen first
A purchase order is the official business record in which the brand writes what it wants from the supplier, how much and when. Material needs come from the bill of materials (BOM) and order quantities. The work does not end when the order is placed; its status is followed until the delivery date.
In this part
- You learn the basic fields an order must have: order number, supplier, order and delivery date, description, lines.
- You see how material needs are calculated from the BOM and order quantities.
- You learn why it matters to write the scope of work in the description: cutting, sewing, pressing, quality control.
- You learn to read open lines and upcoming delivery dates from the list.
- You see that for an order going to an overseas supplier, the currency, unit and delivery terms must be clear from the start.
Terms in this part
- BOM (bill of materials)
- The list of all materials needed to make a product, with quantity, unit, supplier and price.
- Delivery date
- The date by which a task, material or order must be delivered.
- MOQ (minimum order quantity)
- The lowest order quantity a supplier accepts for an item, often per color.
- CMT
- Cut, make, trim: a way of working in which the workshop takes on cutting, sewing and finishing, while the fabric and materials usually come from the party placing the order.
- ERP
- Enterprise resource planning: the system that records the company's operations such as stock, sales, purchasing and accounting.
There are 3 questions at the end of the part; at least 2 correct answers open the next part. The questions open with your Academy account, after your Basic certificate.
Certificate 1 · Pimland