Purchase releases

A purchase release is used to send out, under one release number, several schedules with similar characteristics.

These characteristics must be the same:

Ship-from business partner
Ship-to address
Release type (material release, shipping schedule, or sequence shipping schedule
Shipment based schedule or receipt based schedule
Communication method
Warehouse

Header statuses

In the Purchase Releases (tdpur3120m000) session, purchase release headers are displayed. Each header contains a release status that indicates which steps in the release procedure are already completed and what the next step must be. Naturally, the next step also depends on the schedule type (push schedule, pull forecast schedule, or pull call-off schedule).

A purchase release can have these statuses:

Created
The purchase release contains lines that all have the release status Created, or lines of which some have the status Created and some have the status Scheduled.
Scheduled
The purchase release is approved and contains lines that all have the release status Scheduled.
Sent
The purchase release is printed/EDI messages are sent and contains lines that all have the release status Sent.

Line (detail) statuses

In the Purchase Release Line (tdpur3121m000) and the Purchase Release Line - Details (tdpur3522m000) sessions, these statuses represent the following:

Created
The purchase release line in the Purchase Release Line (tdpur3121m000) session and the linked release line detail(s) in the Purchase Release Line - Details (tdpur3522m000) session, which can contain clustered schedule lines, are not approved.
Scheduled
The purchase release line and the linked release line detail(s) are approved.
Sent
The purchase release line with the status Scheduled and the linked release line detail(s), are printed in the Print Purchase Releases (tdpur3422m000) session with the Final Report check box selected, or EDI messages are prepared and sent by Electronic Commerce.

Note:

For nonreferenced schedules, you can approve the purchase release line, and consequently the linked release line detail(s), in the Approve Release Lines (tdpur3222m100) session. For referenced schedules, LN automatically converts the schedule lines to a purchase release line and a release line-detail with the status Scheduled. The schedule lines are not clustered.
For nonreferenced schedules, you can cluster schedule lines in the Generate Release Lines (tdpur3222m000) session.
EDI messages are automatically prepared when a purchase release receives the status Scheduled and the Release EDI Message Directly check box is selected in the Purchase Contract Line Logistic Data (tdpur3102m000) session or the Items - Purchase Business Partner (tdipu0110m000) session.

Generating releases

When running the Generate Release Lines (tdpur3222m000) session for nonreferenced schedules, or when generating schedule lines for referenced schedules, LN first checks whether a purchase release exists in the Purchase Releases (tdpur3120m000) session for the combination of buy-from business partner, ship-from business partner, release type, shipment based/ receipt based schedule, and communication method.

Purchase release does not exist

If no purchase release exists:

A new purchase release is created in the Purchase Releases (tdpur3120m000) session with a release revision number of zero and a release status of Created for nonreferenced schedules, or Scheduled for referenced schedules.
A purchase release line is created in the Purchase Release Line (tdpur3121m000) session with the release status Created (nonreferenced), or Scheduled (referenced).
(A) purchase release line detail record(s) is/are inserted in the Purchase Release Line - Details (tdpur3522m000) session with the status Created or Scheduled. If the schedule is a nonreferenced schedule, the records in the Purchase Release Line - Details (tdpur3522m000) session can be clustered schedule lines.

Note: If the referenced schedule is a sequence shipping schedule, only a purchase release header is created. No purchase release lines and purchase release line detail records are created. The reason for this is that, usually, a release is sent by item. Items in a sequence shipping schedule, however, are required for a combination of vehicle number (VIN), line station, and assembly kit. For this reason, a link exists between the release header in the Purchase Releases (tdpur3120m000) session and the release lines in the Purchase Release Lines - Sequence Shipping Data (tdpur3523m000) session. For details, refer to Sequence shipping schedules.

Purchase release does exist

If a purchase release already exists, when running the Generate Release Lines (tdpur3222m000) session for nonreferenced schedules, or when generating schedule lines for referenced schedules, these actions are performed:

If the purchase release's highest revision in the Purchase Releases (tdpur3120m000) session has the status Created, the release lines in the Purchase Release Line (tdpur3121m000) session, which can have the status Scheduled and/or Created, and the release line details in the Purchase Release Line - Details (tdpur3522m000) session, are simply updated.
If the purchase release's highest revision has the status Sent, a new release revision is created with the status Created or Scheduled.
If the purchase release's highest revision has the status Scheduled, you must either send the purchase release or run the Approve Release Lines (tdpur3222m100) session with the Rebuild Release check box selected. If you choose the last option, the release lines are generated again for the specific purchase release. The purchase release keeps the same release revision number as the previous one and receives the status Scheduled.

Note:

Rebuilding the release in the Approve Release Lines (tdpur3222m100) session is only applicable for nonreferenced schedules.
Even if the status of the purchase release's highest revision is not Sent, LN can still generate new revision numbers when generating release lines. This occurs if schedules with various schedule issue dates are stored under one purchase release. Any schedule with a schedule issue date different from the issue date of the last release, receives a new revision number.
Pull call-off schedules, for which no schedule issue dates are defined, are automatically stored under the last purchase release revision with the status Scheduled. Because call-off schedules are not released based on schedule issue date, it is recommended to select the Release EDI Message Directly check box in the Purchase Contract Line Logistic Data (tdpur3102m000) session and/ or the Items - Purchase Business Partner (tdipu0110m000) session. If you select the Release EDI Message Directly check box, LN automatically generates EDI messages for Scheduled purchase release lines, which Electronic Commerce sends to the supplier.

Additional information

Buyers can use the Purchase Releases (tdpur3620m000) session to display a selection of releases and release lines and to execute the required action on the lines.
The process to handle schedule lines in a purchase release, also depends on the value of the Tax Level Release Line field in the Purchase Schedule Parameters (tdpur0100m500) session.
If, after sending a release, the released requirements of the nonreferenced schedule are deleted, you can run the Generate Release Lines (tdpur3222m000) session to create a release with no requirements. Because no lines are available for clustering, LN creates a release line for the item with a quantity of zero in the Purchase Release Line - Details (tdpur3522m000) session. Consequently, the supplier is informed about the cancellation of the previously communicated requirements. For referenced schedules, LN automatically communicates the cancellation to the supplier. For more information, refer to Zero required quantity for sales schedule lines.
For nonreferenced schedules that must be sent in a purchase release, LN retrieves a purchase schedule's warehouse from the Purchase Schedules (tdpur3110m000) session. For referenced schedules, however, LN retrieves the purchase schedule's warehouse from the Purchase Schedule Lines (tdpur3111m000) session, which can differ from line to line. Consequently, schedule lines of the same pull call-off schedule can be stored under different purchase releases.
You can print the differences between two release revisions of a purchase release in the Print Purchase Release Variance Reports (tdpur3422m100) session.
You can delete purchase release revisions in the Archive/Delete Purchase Revisions (tdpur3222m200) session.