Client
A global furniture distributor needed a controlled, reliable way to move purchase requisitions from their US operations to their vendor selection team in Vietnam. Their existing workflow depended on manual emails, exported PDFs, and inconsistent processes for determining which company brand or vendor group should receive each request. The back-and-forth created delays, slowed purchasing, and made it difficult to keep both teams aligned.
ERP
The company was running Sage 300 for purchasing, vendors, and inventory. While the ERP held the right information — requisitions, purchase orders, vendor records, and brand-specific customer data — there was no built-in workflow that connected the two teams. To establish a structured process, we installed Sage Alerts and Workflow and created several new Optional Fields inside Sage 300. These fields became the backbone of the automation, allowing users to indicate when a requisition or purchase order should be sent and which vertical brand it belonged to. With these additions, Sage 300 gained the data points needed for Sage Alerts to trigger and route documents automatically.
The Problem
Requisitions were entered into Sage 300, but everything after that point required manual effort. The US team exported requisitions, attached them to emails, and sent them to Vietnam for vendor selection. The Vietnam team reviewed the information and then emailed back their chosen vendors. Branding was inconsistent because different verticals required different logos and company names, all of which had to be updated by hand. Vendors were also emailed manually each time a purchase order was created.
The issues showed up clearly:
- No structured approval point existed between Requisition and Purchase Order.
• The Vietnam team had no automated notification when a requisition was ready.
• Vertical branding and document output varied from request to request.
• Vendor emails relied on manual attachments.
• Tracking and follow-up was informal, slow, and prone to oversight.
The organization needed a clean workflow that began inside Sage 300 and automatically extended across teams.
The Solution
To address these challenges, we designed a two-stage workflow powered by the new Optional Fields and Sage Alerts. Each stage introduced structure, routing logic, and automated communication without changing how the teams entered data.
Stage One: Requisition Submission to Vietnam
When the US team creates a requisition, they now select two optional fields:
- Send Requisition — indicating the requisition is ready for review
• Vertical — determining the brand and the matching group email in Vietnam
Once saved, Sage Alerts detects the requisition and automatically:
- Generates a requisition PDF with the correct logo and company name
• Emails the document to the appropriate Vietnam group inbox
• Provides immediate visibility that a requisition is ready for vendor selection
The Vietnam team receives the requisition and selects the vendors. When they complete their review, a return notification is generated, alerting the US team that vendor selection for Requisition XYY is finished and ready for PO creation.
Stage Two: PO Creation and Vendor Notification
The US team converts the requisition into a purchase order directly in Sage 300. At this point, they complete another set of optional fields:
- Send Purchase Order — signaling Sage Alerts to distribute the PO
• Vertical — ensuring correct branding and vendor routing
Sage Alerts then:
- Produces the PO PDF using the vertical’s logo and company formatting
• Sends the document automatically to the appropriate vendors
• Logs the event for visibility and compliance
This eliminates the manual effort of exporting, attaching, and sending purchase orders.
Impact
The new workflow transformed the company’s purchasing process into a structured, predictable system. Optional Fields define the intent, and Sage Alerts handles the routing automatically. As a result:
- Requisitions move instantly from the US to Vietnam.
• Vendor selection is clear, documented, and tied to the requisition.
• Branding is consistent across all requisitions and purchase orders.
• Vendors receive POs without manual intervention.
• Both teams follow the same approval path every time.
Most importantly, the company now has a reliable international workflow built directly inside Sage 300, without relying on external spreadsheets, emails, or workarounds. The process is faster, clearer, and fully aligned with how the organization operates across locations.
in your business right now?
