From Purchase Requisition to Purchase Order: A Clean, Simple Flow

How does a purchase requisition become a purchase order?

A department raises a purchase requisition (PR) that states what is needed, for which work order, how much is already in stock and the date it must arrive. Stores confirms the stock, the approver signs, and Purchase gets quotes where needed and issues the purchase order (PO) to the supplier.

In many plants, material requests reach Purchase by phone call or WhatsApp. The form exists, but it is not used. Then the same item is bought twice, or not at all, and nobody can say why stock is high.

A clean flow fixes this. It does not need software. It needs one form, one clear limit on who signs, and the habit of using it.

The flow in seven steps

1. Need is found. It comes from one of two places. A work order is released and the bill of materials shows a shortage. Or a stock item falls to its minimum level.
2. The PR is raised. The planner or the user department fills it in.
3. Stores checks the stock. Stores writes the stock in hand on the PR. The net quantity to buy is the required quantity minus stock.
4. The approver signs. The head of department or owner signs as per the approval matrix.
5. Purchase asks for quotes. For new or costly items, Purchase sends the same request to three suppliers and compares the answers.
6. The PO is issued. It goes to the chosen supplier within about two days of the approved PR.
7. The supplier accepts. Stores waits for the material with the PO in hand. Receipt is recorded on a GRN.

What the PR must contain

• PR number, date and department
• Required-by date
• Type: work order, or stock
• Work order number, if there is one
• Item, with specification and drawing number
• Required quantity, stock in hand and net quantity to buy
• Preferred supplier and approximate rate, if known
• Signatures: requester, stores, approver

One PR should carry one required-by date. If two items are needed on two dates, raise two PRs. This keeps follow-up simple.

What the PO must say

A PO fixes price, quantity, date and terms in writing before any money is committed. It should show:

• supplier name, address and tax number
• item, specification, quantity, rate, tax and total
• delivery date and where to deliver
• payment terms
• whether a test certificate must come with the material
• where inspection will happen
• the PR number and, where it applies, the quotation comparison number

If the PO is missing, Stores cannot check what arrives, and Accounts pays whatever is billed.

Who approves what

Not every purchase needs the owner. Make a short approval matrix, for example:

These are examples. Each plant sets its own limits. What matters is that the limit is written and the owner is not asked about every small purchase. This is a step from Owner-driven to system-driven.

How to stop WhatsApp buying

A message is a reason to fill the PR. It is not a PR.

When a request arrives by phone or message, Purchase should reply: "Please send the PR." After a few weeks, the habit changes. In the first month, expect complaints about delay. Keep the PR simple, one page, and let stores fill the stock figure the same hour.

For repeat items, such as consumables and standard bought-out parts, use a rate contract. The price and delivery time are agreed once. Each order is still a PO that quotes the contract number. This saves a new quotation for every small order.

Common mistakes

• No stock check before buying. The plant buys what it already has.
• Verbal changes to the PO. Any change after approval should be written, with the reason and the approver.
• One PR for many dates. Follow-up becomes impossible.
• PO after the material arrives. Then the PO is just a formality.
• No link to the work order. Nobody can tell why the material was bought.

How to start in your plant

1. Print a one-page PR and a one-page PO with the fields above.
2. Write the approval matrix on one page and put it in the purchase office.
3. Tell everyone: from a chosen date, Purchase accepts only a signed PR.
4. For the first month, check each PO against its PR.
5. In the second month, list the PRs still waiting and ask why.