Blanket orders¶

Blanket orders are long-term purchase agreements between a company and a vendor to deliver products on a recurring basis with predetermined pricing.

Blanket orders are helpful when products are consistently purchased from the same vendor, but in different quantities, and at different times.

By simplifying the ordering process, blanket orders not only save time, they also save money, since they can be advantageous when negotiating bulk pricing with vendors.

Important

Two different blanket order implementations may be present in this database:

The one described on this page, part of the standard Purchase Agreements feature (purchase_requisition), reachable at Purchase app ‣ Orders ‣ Purchase Agreements, with the Agreement Type set to Blanket Order.
The Purchase Blanket Orders module (purchase_blanket_order), an independent feature with its own Blanket Orders and Blanket Order Lines menus, further down in Purchase app ‣ Orders. See Alternative implementation: the Purchase Blanket Orders module below for how it differs.

Check which menus are visible in this database’s Purchase app ‣ Orders to know which one applies.

Create a new blanket order¶

To create blanket orders, enable the Purchase Agreements feature from the Purchase app settings. Navigate to Purchase app ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings, and under the Orders section, click the checkbox for Purchase Agreements. Then click Save to implement the changes.

Note

In addition to creating blanket orders, the Purchase Agreements setting also allows users to create alternative requests for quotation (RfQs).

screenshot: purchase-blanket-orders-enabled-setting

menu: Purchase ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings
shows: Settings page scrolled to the "Orders" section, with the "Purchase Agreements" checkbox enabled.
highlight: The "Purchase Agreements" setting (red frame).
data: Demo company "YourCompany".
module: purchase_requisition
notes: English UI, light theme, 1440px width, crop to the setting block.

To create a blanket order, go to Purchase app ‣ Orders ‣ Purchase Agreements, and click New. This opens a new purchase agreement form.

Configure the following fields in the new purchase agreement form to establish predetermined rules for the recurring long-term agreement:

Vendor: the supplier to whom this agreement is tied, either once or on a recurring basis. The vendor can be selected directly from the drop-down menu next to this field.
Buyer: the user assigned to this specific blanket order. By default, this is the user who created the agreement; the user can be changed directly from the drop-down menu next to this field.
Agreement Type: the type of purchase agreement this blanket order is classified as. Use the drop-down menu to choose Blanket Order if not already selected.
Currency: the agreed-upon currency to be used for this exchange. If multiple currencies have been activated in the database, the currency can be changed from the drop-down menu next to this field.
Agreement Validity: the date range this agreement should be valid for. If this blanket order should not expire, leave this field blank.
Reference: the source purchase order (PO) that this blanket order is tied to. If this blanket order should not be tied to any existing PO, leave this field blank.
Operation Type: the operation type that should be applied to this order once it is delivered.
Company: the company assigned to this specific blanket order. By default, this is the company that the user creating the blanket order is listed under. If the database is not a multi-company database, this field cannot be changed, and defaults to the only company listed in the database.

screenshot: purchase-blanket-orders-new-agreement

menu: Purchase ‣ Orders ‣ Purchase Agreements ‣ New
shows: A new purchase agreement form with the Agreement Type set to "Blanket Order", a vendor selected, and two product lines added.
highlight: The Agreement Type field (red frame).
data: Demo company "YourCompany"; vendor "Azure Interior"; two products with quantities and unit prices set.
module: purchase_requisition
notes: English UI, light theme, 1440px width.

Once all relevant fields have been filled out, click Add a line to add products under the Product column. Then, in the Quantity column, change the quantity of each product, and set a price in the Unit Price column.

Important

When adding products to a new blanket order, the pre-existing prices of products are not automatically added to the product lines. Instead, the prices must be manually assigned, by changing the value in the Unit Price column to an agreed-upon price with the listed vendor. Otherwise, the price will remain 0.

Click Confirm to save this new purchase agreement.

Once confirmed, the blanket order’s stage changes from Draft to Confirmed, meaning this agreement can be selected and used when creating new RfQs.

Tip

After creating and confirming a blanket order, products, quantities, and prices can still be edited, added, and removed from the purchase agreement.

Create a new RfQ from the blanket order¶

After confirming a blanket order, new quotations can be created directly from the blanket order form. RfQs using this form are pre-populated with information based on the rules set in the form. The total quantities of products ordered through linked RfQs are automatically updated in the Ordered field on the agreement.

Additionally, new quotations are automatically linked to this blanket order form, via the RFQs/Orders smart button at the top-right of the form.

To create a new quotation from the blanket order form, click the New Quotation button. This opens a new RfQ, that is pre-populated with the correct information, depending on the settings configured on the blanket order form.

From the new RfQ form, click Send by Email to compose and send an email to the listed vendor. Click Print RFQ to generate a printable PDF of the quotation; or, once ready, click Confirm Order to confirm the PO.

screenshot: purchase-blanket-orders-new-quotation

menu: Purchase ‣ Orders ‣ Purchase Agreements ‣ (open a blanket order) ‣ New Quotation
shows: A new RfQ pre-populated with the vendor and product lines copied from the blanket order.
highlight: The Products tab, pre-filled from the blanket order.
data: Demo company "YourCompany"; RfQ for vendor "Azure Interior".
module: purchase_requisition
notes: English UI, light theme, 1440px width.

Once the PO has been confirmed, click back to the blanket order form (via the breadcrumbs, at the top of the page). From the blanket order form, there is now one RfQ listed in the RFQs/Orders smart button at the top-right of the form. Click the RFQs/Orders smart button to see the PO that was just created.

screenshot: purchase-blanket-orders-rfq-smart-button

menu: Purchase ‣ Orders ‣ Purchase Agreements ‣ (open a blanket order)
shows: A confirmed blanket order form with the "RFQs/Orders" smart button showing a count of 1.
highlight: The "RFQs/Orders" smart button (red frame).
data: Demo company "YourCompany"; blanket order with one confirmed PO.
module: purchase_requisition
notes: English UI, light theme, 1440px width.

Replenishment¶

Once a blanket order is confirmed, a new vendor line is added under the Purchase tab of the products included in the order.

This makes blanket orders useful with automated replenishment, because information about the Vendor, Price, and the Agreement are referenced on the vendor line. This information dictates when, where, and at what price the product should be replenished.

screenshot: purchase-blanket-orders-product-form

menu: Purchase ‣ Products ‣ Products ‣ (open a product) ‣ Purchase
shows: The Purchase tab of a product form, with a vendor line referencing the blanket order in the "Agreement" column.
highlight: The "Agreement" column (red frame).
data: Demo company "YourCompany"; product with a vendor line linked to a confirmed blanket order.
module: purchase_requisition
notes: English UI, light theme, 1440px width.

Alternative implementation: the Purchase Blanket Orders module¶

Some databases instead use the Purchase Blanket Orders module (purchase_blanket_order, an OCA community module), which is not built on the Purchase Agreements feature described above, and works differently:

Blanket orders live on their own model, with dedicated Blanket Orders and Blanket Order Lines menus under Purchase app ‣ Orders, separate from Purchase Agreements.
A blanket order line has an Original quantity, and Odoo tracks its Ordered, Invoiced, Received, and Remaining quantities automatically.
Its status is computed automatically: Draft, Open, Done (all quantities ordered), or Expired (past the Validity Date).
Regular purchase order lines are automatically matched to an open blanket order line for the same product, vendor, and currency with enough remaining quantity — there is no need to create the RfQ from the blanket order form. Confirming a PO whose line is linked to a blanket order line with no remaining quantity is blocked.
A Create Purchase Order button, on the blanket order form (or a selection of blanket order lines), generates a PO for the remaining quantities instead.
The Disable adding more lines to POs setting, under Purchase app ‣ Configuration ‣ Settings ‣ Blanket Orders, can restrict purchase orders generated from a blanket order to only the products already on that blanket order.

screenshot: purchase-blanket-orders-oca-form

menu: Purchase ‣ Orders ‣ Blanket Orders ‣ (open a blanket order)
shows: An open Purchase Blanket Order form (purchase_blanket_order module) with its order lines, the Original/Ordered/Received/Remaining quantity columns, and the "Create Purchase Order" button.
highlight: The "Create Purchase Order" button and the quantity columns (red frame).
data: Demo company "YourCompany"; open blanket order with two lines.
module: purchase_blanket_order
notes: English UI, light theme, 1440px width.