If the item being received needs to be inspected prior to being available for use, there are two schools of thought.

The first is to receive the item to a QC hold location. The downside is the item will show up in on hand inventory.

A better method would be to do a PO receipt to inspection. Both Inv500 and Pur550 support this method. Now you have received the item without showing it in inventory. Only the PO quantity in inspection is updated. This method also allows you to create an Inspection Dispatch Report. After the QC process for the item is complete, then the transaction Receipt from Inspection to Stock is processed. That transaction then updates the PO quantity received field and the Item on hand field in inventory.

In Baan IV Purchase Control, the purchase inquiry procedure enables the user to:

• Request a specific supplier to submit a quotation on the purchase inquiry for the delivery of an item.
• Compare the prices and discounts of the quotations that are submitted by different suppliers.
• Copy the inquiry data to a purchase order.

In LN, you can:

• Request multiple business partners to submit a quotation on a specific request-for-quotation for the delivery of an item.
• Compare the received quotations based on the following criteria:

1. Price
2. Quantity
3. Vendor rating
4. Delivery dates
5. RFQ subjective criteria

• Copy the quotation data to a purchase order, a purchase contract, or a price book.