Bottleneck's Sales Order feature allows for efficient management and monitoring of customer orders through production, invoicing, and shipping. Sales orders can be created through Incoming POs or manually, and progress can be tracked through different stages. The feature includes invoicing and status monitoring functions, and serves as a starting point that enables a smooth conversion to a Production Order and seamless progress of customer requests through the manufacturing pipeline. The shipping function provides oversight and control, allowing for scheduling multiple shipments to different locations. Invoicing can be drafted and sent directly from within each sales order, eliminating the need for separate drafting and data retrieval. The status function enables monitoring the progression of sales orders, with statuses such as DRAFT, OPEN, COMPLETED, CANCELED, and DELETED.

The accepted Sales Order in Bottleneck acts as a record of agreement between brand and manufacturer and allows manufacturers to manage the Sales Orders journey from start to finish. This centralized view allows one to keep track of manufacturing operations related to a single sales order as they move through different stages.

A sales order is created by one of two methods. The first and most efficient way is through the conversion of an incoming PO sent by a customer utilizing Bottleneck’s brand platform. If the manufacturer approves the request, they can simply approve and convert it to a sales order. In the second case, if the customer does not yet use the Bottleneck platform, a sales order can be manually added through the sales order module and the manufacturer can input the requested items, pricing, and other necessary details.

The Sales Order serves as the starting point that will eventually be converted to a Production Order and can be used to track progress of customer requests through the manufacturing pipeline. With the customer requests already captured in the sales order, the production order will be automatically populated using the most up to date BOMs, allowing for rapid deployment to production. However, it's crucial to note that this does not hinder the ability to modify or split a specific production order. This flexibility ensures efficient production management while still accommodating any necessary adjustments or customization.

After completing some or all of the production process, the Sales Order lets the Manufacturing Org facilitate an outbound shipment of the product. The user will have the flexibility to schedule several shipments individually or a single shipment. Additionally, for sending shipments to multiple locations, you can schedule multiple shipments with different shipping addresses. This function allows you to streamline the shipping process, enabling efficient management of multiple shipments and ensuring prompt delivery to the intended destinations.

The invoicing feature allows you to conveniently draft and send invoices directly from within each Sales Order. This eliminates the need for separate drafting and data retrieval, saving time and effort. This feature includes the options to select payment terms, specify a due date, and track the status of invoice collection. By utilizing this feature, you can efficiently manage your invoicing process and maintain a clear record of payment status for each invoice.

Bottleneck provides a status field to monitor the progression of your Sales Order. A Sales Order begins in the DRAFT status, indicating it's still editable and not finalized. Once it is done being planned, it moves to the OPEN status, meaning the product is at some stage of production. Lastly, when the products have been shipped/delivered to the customer, the status updates to COMPLETED. Bottleneck also accommodates changes in plans with the option to shift the status to CANCELED if the order is called off, or DELETED if it needs to be removed from the system.