Reorder and purchase
Run the reorder report and turn low-stock parts into a purchase order in a couple of clicks.
Do this as part of your regular ordering rhythm — daily or a couple of times a week. The reorder report rounds up every stocked part at or below its reorder point, groups them by vendor, and pre-fills a PO so you don't have to key in lines by hand.
Open the reorder report. In Parts & Inventory, click Parts Catalog, then click the amber Reorder button in the top-right (it shows how many parts are low). The Reorder Suggestions page opens.
Check the location switcher. The report is per location — it lists parts that are low at the location you have selected. If you're on "All locations", suggestions come from your primary location.
Review the suggestions. Parts are grouped by their preferred vendor, with on-hand, on-order, the reorder point, the suggested order quantity, and estimated cost per line. Out-of-stock parts are flagged with a warning triangle.
Click Create PO on a vendor's group. A New Purchase Order form opens with that vendor selected and every low part pre-filled as a line — quantity from the part's reorder qty, cost from the vendor's price.
Adjust the lines. Change Qty or Unit Cost on any line, click Add Line to add something extra (search by part number), or click the trash icon to drop a line. Set an Expected Date and Ship Via if you know them.
Click Create PO. Meridian saves the order as a Draft and opens its detail page with a PO number.
Send it to the vendor. Click Print PO to print or save a copy for the vendor, then click Actions and choose Mark Submitted. Submitted means the order is out the door — and it unlocks receiving when the parts show up.
What happens behind the scenes
- Creating a PO doesn't touch your shelf counts or your books — it's a plan, not a receipt. Stock and money move when you receive the PO.
- Once the PO is submitted, each part's On Order count goes up when received against, and the catalog shows "+N on order" so the counter staff know more is coming.
- The suggested quantity comes from each part's Reorder Qty; the cost comes from the vendor's supplier-source price when one exists, otherwise the part's cost price.
- The PO moves through statuses: Draft, Submitted, Partially Received, Received. You can cancel a Draft or Submitted PO from the Actions menu.
Troubleshooting
Three usual suspects. First, the part has no Reorder Point set — open the part, click Edit, and set one on the Stock tab. Second, it's low at a different location than the one you're viewing — check the location switcher. Third, the part isn't marked Stocked Item or isn't Active.
Parts with no supplier source land in a "No Vendor Assigned" group, which can't create a PO by itself. Click New Purchase Order at the top instead, pick the vendor, and add those parts as lines.
In the vendor dropdown on the New Purchase Order form, click Create new vendor at the bottom of the list. Enter the name and short code and click Create Vendor — the PO form selects them automatically.
A Draft PO can't be received. Open the PO, click Actions, then Mark Submitted. The Receive Items action appears once the PO is Submitted.