Approval Process for Inventory Item Requests

Inventory item requests are required to go through an approval process.

Configuration

The approval process is based on an approval workflow that you set up and configure specifically for inventory item requests. The approval workflow identifies the steps in the approval process, the approvers assigned to each step, and the notification alerts to send for each step to keep the approval process on schedule.

You create and configure an approval workflow for inventory item requests in Configuration > Approvals > Approvals Configuration. You can create simple or complex, multitiered, conditional steps for approval workflows.

If you use organizations in Vision, you can specify approver roles at the organization level in Configuration > Organization > General.

In the Global Options section on the Inventory tab in Configuration > Purchasing & Inventory > Configuration Company Settings, you specify the approval workflow to use for inventory item request approvals.

Approving an Item Request

In Inventory > Item Requests, after you save an item request, you click the Submit option on the toolbar of a Item Requests form. This starts the approval process using the assigned approval workflow. If you are a designated approver for the current approval step, the toolbar on the Item Requests entry form displays an Approvals option. You use the options in Approvers drop-down menu to take action for an approval step, such as approving, rejecting, reviewing, and so on.

Alerts

Alerts that you set up in Approvals Configuration are automatically sent to notify approvers and others that inventory item requests are ready for their review, the due date for an approval step is near, a record has been rejected or approved, and so on.

Viewing the Progress of an Item Request Being Approved

You can see the progress of an item request going through the approval process in several places on the Item Requests entry forms: in the Request lookup dialog box (in the Search field), in the State and Step fields on the General tab, and on the Progress tab. These places show you whether or not the approval process has started, the record is in approval or in review, and the approval is completed. You can see the current approval step that the record is in and more details (on the Progress tab).

Assigning a Delegate to Perform Your Approval Assignments in Your Absence

If you normally approve inventory item requests, you can temporarily assign another person to perform approval duties in your absence. You assign delegates on the General tab of User Options.