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AI agent · Purchasing

Purchase order agent: drafts POs when stock runs low

The purchase order agent watches stock against the reorder points you set. When an item runs low, it drafts a purchase order to your preferred supplier, with the quantity, price and lead time worked out and the reason shown. A buyer checks it, adjusts it if needed and approves.

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Purchase order agentWaiting for you

Purchase order PO-1187 to supplier S-207

300 × M8 anchor bolts at S$12.40
S$3,720.00
100 × M8 washers at S$7.90
S$790.00
Subtotal
S$4,510.00
GST 9%
S$405.90
Total
S$4,915.90

Bolts at Tuas: 140 boxes on hand, 60 due out, reorder point 200. Supplier lead time is 5 working days.

RejectEditApprove

Sample data. Harbourline Supplies Pte Ltd is not a real company.

The job

What it does, and what it never does

What it does

  1. 1Checks stock on hand, stock on order and open sales orders for each item and location.
  2. 2Works out the quantity from your reorder point, reorder quantity and the supplier's minimum order.
  3. 3Groups lines by supplier, so one PO covers everything due from the same supplier.
  4. 4Uses the supplier's current price and lead time from your price lists.
  5. 5Drafts a follow-up for the buyer when a supplier has not confirmed by the time you set.

What it never does

  • Send a PO without a person's approval
  • Change reorder points or supplier prices
  • Order items you mark as discontinued or made to order
  • Pay a supplier

Purchase order agent

Spec sheet
Job
Drafts POs when stock runs low.
Module
Purchasing
Starts when
An item falls below its reorder point.
Default control
Draft for approval
Approved by
The buyer or operations manager, and a director above the value you set.
Always a person
A PO is a message to a supplier, so it always stops at a person, whatever control level you choose.
Logged
Every draft, edit and approval, in your own system.
Off switch
Yes. Switch it off and the work goes back to your team.

Trigger

When it starts

An item falls below its reorder point.
  • A stock check at a time you choose, for example 7am every day.
  • A stock movement that takes an item below its reorder point.
  • An approved purchase request from a department or a site.

Data

What it reads and what it writes

Least access: the purchase order agent reads only the records this job needs, and it writes only drafts. Some things it never touches, whatever the settings.

Access is set per agent in the system we build, so you can see exactly what it can reach. Changing it goes through the same tests and review as any other release.

Access

  • Reads
  • Drafts
  • Never

  • Stock by location

    On hand, on order and due out

    Reads

  • Reorder points and quantities

    Set by you

    Reads

  • Supplier prices, lead times and minimum orders

    From your price lists

    Reads

  • Open sales orders

    To see demand coming

    Reads

  • Purchase orders

    Drafts only, sent on approval

    Drafts

  • Reorder settings and supplier prices

    A person changes these

    Never

  • Payments

    Always a person

    Never

Control level

Draft for approval by default, with limits you set

A PO is a message to a supplier, so it always stops at a person, whatever control level you choose.
  1. Level 1

    Suggest

    The agent recommends. A person does the work.

  2. Level 2 Default

    Draft for approval

    The agent prepares the record and waits. Nothing changes until a person approves. This is the default.

  3. Level 3

    Act within limits

    Opt in per action, under a S$ limit you set. Payments, deletions and messages to customers or suppliers always stop at a person.

    For the purchase order agent

    Off for POs. A PO goes to a supplier, so sending it always waits for a person.

Sample data. Harbourline Supplies Pte Ltd is not a real company.

Always stops at a person, at every level

Payments, deletions, and messages to customers or suppliers. No setting turns this off.

Limits you can set

Set in the scoping call, changed whenever you need, and logged when they change.

  • Approval by value

    POs above a S$ amount you set go to the operations manager or a director.

  • Approved suppliers

    Only suppliers on the approved list for each item.

  • Quantity cap

    Orders above a multiple of the normal reorder quantity are flagged and need a note.

  • Never reorder

    Items you mark as discontinued, made to order or under review.

Approval

The approval step

The buyer or operations manager, and a director above the value you set.

What the approver sees

  • Each line with stock on hand, the reorder point and open demand
  • The supplier, unit price, minimum order and lead time
  • The expected delivery date
  • Anything unusual, such as a supplier price that has expired

After approval

Once approved, the PO is sent to the supplier from the system, and the quantity shows as stock on order. If the supplier has not confirmed by the time you set, the agent drafts a follow-up for the buyer.

What each choice does

  • Approve

    The change is made exactly as drafted, and the approval is logged with your name and the time.

  • Edit, then approve

    Your changes are logged as yours, next to what the agent first drafted.

  • Reject

    Nothing changes. The draft and your reason stay in the log.

Log

What is logged

Every step is recorded in your own system, with who proposed it, who approved it and what changed. For the purchase order agent, that means:

  • The stock figures it used at that moment
  • The reorder rule that started it
  • The draft PO as prepared
  • Edits, with who made them
  • Who approved, and when it was sent
  • The supplier's confirmation
action_log1 entry
event
purchase_order.approved
record
PO-1187
trigger
M8 anchor bolts below reorder point, Tuas
inputs
on hand 140, due out 60, reorder point 200
prepared_by
Purchase order agent, 07:01
edits
bolts 300 → 250 boxes
approved_by
Operations manager, 08:45
total
S$4,240.10 incl. GST

Sample data. Harbourline Supplies Pte Ltd is not a real company.

Testing

How it is tested before go-live

The purchase order agent goes live only after it has been run against agreed cases and you have signed it off.
  1. 1

    We agree the cases with you

    The everyday cases, plus the awkward ones your team already knows about.

  2. 2

    It runs on a test copy

    On sample data or a test copy of your system, never on your live records.

  3. 3

    Two people check it

    Our tester runs the test plan. Our ERP controller checks the business rules: prices, GST, tolerances and who approves what.

  4. 4

    The release is reviewed

    Lester Law, our founder, runs the AI coding agents and reviews every release before it reaches you.

  5. 5

    You sign off

    You check the results against the agreed cases. It goes live when you are satisfied.

Cases in the test plan

Each one is run and checked before go-live, with your own cases added.

  • Item below its reorder point at one location only
  • Supplier minimum order larger than the shortfall
  • Two items due from the same supplier
  • Supplier price that has expired
  • Item with no preferred supplier
  • Discontinued item still below its reorder point

Sample run

A sample run, start to finish

One run on sample data, as it appears in the activity log. The draft itself is shown at the top of this page.

  1. 07:00 · Purchase order agent

    Daily stock check. 2 items at the Tuas warehouse are below their reorder points.

  2. 07:01 · Purchase order agent

    Drafted PO-1187 to supplier S-207 for both items: S$4,915.90 including GST.

  3. 08:45 · Operations manager

    Cut the bolts to 250 boxes (new total S$4,240.10). Approved and sent PO-1187.

  4. Next day, 16:00 · Purchase order agent

    No confirmation from S-207 yet. Drafted a follow-up for the buyer to send.

  5. 16:12 · Buyer

    Sent the follow-up. S-207 confirmed delivery for Monday.

Sample data. Harbourline Supplies Pte Ltd is not a real company.

What to notice

  • The agent prepares and explains. It does not decide.
  • A named role approves, edits or holds, and that choice is logged.
  • Anything unclear is left for a person rather than guessed.

Where it fits

Part of Purchasing

Start with the purchase order agent on the tools you run today, or inside our purchasing software, one part of the AI ERP we build.

Industry

Wholesale and distribution

Account pricing, stock across locations, purchasing and credit control.

Learn more about Wholesale and distribution

Other agents

Price

The purchase order agent on your data, as a quick build from S$15k

2 to 3 days of build. You own the code, with no per-user licence fees. After go-live, Run (hosting, support, AI usage) and Evolve (monthly build capacity) are priced in the phase plan.

Book a scoping call See pricing

FAQ

Questions about the purchase order agent

Does it send purchase orders by itself?

+
No. A PO is a message to a supplier, so it goes out only after a person approves it. That holds whatever control level you choose.

How does it decide how much to order?

+
From the numbers you set: the reorder point, the reorder quantity and the supplier's minimum order, against stock on hand, stock on order and open sales orders. The working is shown on every line.

Can it choose between suppliers?

+
It uses the preferred supplier you set for each item. Where you have more than one approved supplier, it can show their prices and lead times side by side, and the buyer chooses.

What if our reorder points are out of date?

+
The agent follows your reorder points; it never changes them. We review them with you during the build, and you can change them at any time.

Does it work across several warehouses?

+
Yes, if your stock is tracked by location. Each location is checked against its own reorder points.

Can it chase suppliers who have not confirmed?

+
It drafts a follow-up when a supplier has not confirmed by the time you set. A buyer reads it and sends it.

Can a large PO need a second approver?

+
Yes. You set a S$ amount above which a second person, such as a director, must approve.

See the purchase order agent on your kind of data.

Bring one workflow that hurts. In 30 minutes we show you how it would run as an approval queue on sample data, and what a quick build would cost.

Book a scoping call See pricing