Outside processing
Follow each lot through its supplier order, outbound custody, partial return and quality acceptance.
7 stages · 2 approvals
Roles and responsibilities
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Step 1Plan the service
Work CenterJobOperation NumberDescription
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Step 2Purchase order
Purchase Order NumberSupplierPOTypeOrder DateOutside Processing
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Step 6Inspect
Inspection NumberInspection TypeJobJob OperationIn Process
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Step 7Cost and resolve
Work CenterJobOperation NumberDescription
Process steps
Follow the process from start to finish. Select a step to see who acts and what changes.
Plan the service
Estimator includes the outside operation, specification, supplier and per-unit or defined lot price in the offer. Its instructions and inspection requirements follow the accepted job snapshot. Production Manager allows for the outside span between eligible upstream and downstream work.
Approval required
Purchase order
Buyer prepares the job-operation purchase line and submits its complete commitment, including known freight and tax. At or below the protected gross USD limit, the explicit automatic path may approve it. Above the limit, Shop Owner decides before Buyer sends the frozen order. Missing inputs block either path.
Send out
Buyer records an actual dispatch of eligible production lots against the approved supplier, order and operation. The slip retains quantity, part revision, process requirements, original promise and price scope. Dispatch transfers those pieces into outside custody once; another send needs its own remaining eligible quantity.
Track
Buyer follows each dispatch's sent, returned, accepted and outstanding quantities. A new supplier promise retains its evidence and the original date. Production Manager reviews proposed downstream changes rather than treating a supplier call as automatic confirmation of the shop schedule.
Receive
Buyer records physical returns against the exact dispatch with their units, quantities and process certs. Returned quantity is separate from accepted quantity. Missing required evidence or a failed check leaves the affected pieces held, while the unreturned balance stays visible in outside custody.
Approval required
Inspect
Quality Inspector checks the returned scope and required certs, records accepted and rejected quantities and raises an NCR where needed. A permitted cert deviation needs its actual authority and customer agreement where required. Accepting part of the dispatch releases only that part; unresolved work keeps the operation open.
Cost and resolve
Buyer checks that the accepted service follows its frozen billing basis. The acceptance action posts per-unit cost or the agreed cumulative lot allocation once. Quality and custody obligations must be resolved before closure. Any supplier-invoice difference becomes a separate evidenced manual cost for Shop Owner approval in the costing process.
Approvals and exception handling
2 approvals required in this process
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Purchase order
Shop Owner signs above the limit · send out waits
PurchaseOrders, PurchaseOrderLines, ShopPolicies, ApprovalDecisions -
Inspect
Quality Inspector signs · cost and resolve waits
Inspections, ApprovalDecisions, NonConformances, ProductionLots - Dispatch, returnAcceptance have separate identities and quantities. Accepting twenty of a hundred sent does not complete the remaining eighty.
- Rejected goods that came back are held locally; they are not still outside merely because they failed. Sending them again records another custody transfer of the same cohort.
- A lot price names its covered quantityFull-acceptance or proportional-acceptance rule. Multiple receipts cannot repeat the full lot charge.
- A late cert must be reviewed with the receiptAttaching it does not automatically accept the parts, and an owner note cannot waive a customer requirement.
- Frozen order revisions retain their approvalChanged price or scope needs renewed authority, and repeated receipt or delivery messages cannot create new cost.
- Supplier payables remain in the accounting packageManual differences preserve the supplier invoice and avoid duplicating the original service charge.
When the process needs attention
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reject
Receive
Missing required evidence or a failed check leaves the affected pieces held, while the unreturned balance stays visible in outside custody.
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reject
Inspect
Quality Inspector checks the returned scope and required certs, records accepted and rejected quantities and raises an NCR where needed.
Records and postings
| Stage | Records | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Plan the service | QuoteOperationsJobOperationsJobSnapshots | Retain outside scope and price |
| 2 Purchase order | PurchaseOrdersPurchaseOrderLinesShopPoliciesApprovalDecisions | Authorize the supplier commitment |
| 3 Send out | OutsideDispatchesProductionLotsProductionEvents | Transfer exact pieces to supplier custody |
| 4 Track | OutsideDispatchesPurchaseOrderLinesScheduleSlots | Retain promises and proposed schedule impact |
| 5 Receive | ReceiptsOutsideDispatches | Record actual returned quantity |
| 6 Inspect | InspectionsApprovalDecisionsNonConformancesProductionLots | Accept eligible returned pieces |
| 7 Cost and resolve | JobCostEntriesReceiptsOutsideDispatchesJobOperations | Reconcile accepted cost and remaining obligations |
Process reports
All reportsWork Centre Load
Confirmed ScheduleSlots remaining occupied machine/work hours by named resource and week divided by actual available calendar hours, rolled up without multiplying machine count twice. Zero capacity shows unschedulable work, proposed slots shown separately; outside supplier spans are lead time, not internal capacity.
Outside Processing Status
Each posted OutsideDispatches lot: sent, physically returned, accepted/rejected, still-outside and unresolved quantity, original/current promised instant and elapsed days. Partial returns do not mark the whole operation complete; LOT cost/billing basis and unknown promise remain explicit.
Run by an agent
Agent support
An agent cannot turn preparation into a required human approval. Margin exceptions, controlled purchases, production release, ticket approval, quality decisions and job close follow their configured authority. Automatic policy paths must be explicitly defined; an agent role does not create a bypass. Access to a record does not permit changing a released traveler, spending reserved stock or rewriting a posted amount.
# Example after configuration
$ curl -fsSL https://www.erp.ai/skill.md | paste into your agent
› outside processing · plan the service on QuoteOperations, JobOperations, JobSnapshots
✓ Estimator includes the outside operation, specification, supplier and per-unit or defined lot price in the offer.
› outside processing · purchase order on PurchaseOrders, PurchaseOrderLines, ShopPolicies, ApprovalDecisions
⏸ approval above the limit · waiting for the shop owner
# 5 more stages after approval: send out, track, receive, inspect, cost and resolve
Other processes
5 moreQuote to job
Turn the customer RFQ into a reviewed offer and a released job with the right drawing, traveler and material plan.
7 stages · 2 approvals
Release to ship
Move released work through production, reviewed time and quality checks into a traceable customer shipment.
9 stages · 3 approvals
Change orders
Review changes against the work already done, authorize their cost and customer impact, and release a clear revised traveler.
6 stages · 1 approval
Non-conformance and rework
Contain affected pieces, authorize the recovery plan and keep quality, quantity and cost evidence connected.
7 stages · 3 approvals
Job close
Reconcile completed work and remaining obligations, authorize the final cost review and preserve a useful benchmark for repeat quotes.
6 stages · 2 approvals