Materials that are needed for a project begin their procurement process in a Material Request (MR).
Think of the MR as a ‘shopping cart’ that will be submitted to ‘Purchasing’ for procurement once you’ve added all the items you

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will need for your scope of work.

Once submitted, the person(s) responsible for purchasing can triage the list of items in the MR and determine whether they need to be placed on a Purchase Order, or whether the needed materials are already on-hand and available (i.e., not already allocated to another project/job).

Create a material request (MR)

Navigate to: Project->Material/Purchasing

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->MR tab.

1. From scratch: Click Add New MR in left panel and enter a description.

2. For a Project Phase : Click Add New MR for Phase and select a phase from the list.

3. To add from an existing MR template, click Add New MR from Template and choose from the list of MR templates.
   

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Add Items to your Material Request (MR)

Create an MR template

Open the “MR Templates” form:

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Project form > Materials/Purchasing tab > MR sub-tab

• left-click Add New MR from Template

• right-click MR template list, select “Edit”

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Once you’ve created the MR, you need to add the items that you need for your scope of work. This can be done using any of the four buttons:

Image Added	Add Item opens to a list of items in your parts library to choose from. This list can be filtered-down by part category, sub-category, vendor pricing, and parts already identified for the project found on the Project->Material/Purchasing->Parts tab. If you don’t find the part you are looking for, you can add it to your parts library without having to leave the MR form. Simply right-click in the list of parts and select ‘Add New’ from the pop-up menu.
Image Added	Add Item inserts a single ‘empty’ row in your MR. Before submitting your MR, you will need to identify the necessary attributes that will clearly identify the desired part/material. Use this button when you want to rapidly add several rows, then go back to each one and populate the attributes.
Image Added	Import will open a popup window prompting you to select a source to import from. Common examples of this are bill of materials from third-party engineering platforms such Cabinet Vision, Microvellum, and IMOS, to name a few.
Image Added	Import Template allows you to pull-in items that have been added to an MR Template. If your organization uses a list of the same materials over-and-over, adding them to an MR Template can be a huge time saver. Additionally, pulling from an MR template mitigates the chances of inadvertently failing to add a needed material to your MR. (Click here to learn how to add an MR Template)

Double-check your work

Once you’ve added items to your MR, ensure you have the correct quantity needed, desired material (combination of Part, Color1, Color2, and Modifier), correct unit of measure, and a ‘Needed’ by date.

Key Attributes to Check for Accuracy Before you Submit
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Qty	When you add an item to your MR, the default quantity is set to one (1). Be sure to double-check the quantity required to complete your scope of work and enter that value in the Qty field.
“Item” = Combination of: Part, Color1, Color2, and Modifier	The “Item” you are requesting can be as simple as a single part. Or, it can be a combination of ‘Part’, ‘Color1’, ‘Color2', and 'Modifier’ that all combine together to make the “Item”. As an example, the last item on the list above is a core of 11/16” Particle Board with Formica 6227-Amber Kashmire on face #1 and a White Liner on face #2. Use of the ‘Modifier’ field should be limited to materials that are procured in the same fashion as raw lumber and glass. Examples: Part = 1/4” Frosted (Acid Etch) Glass, Modifier = 24” x 18” Part = 5/4” Rift Sawn Lumber, Color1 = Black Walnut, Modifier = 12” x 96”
UOM	Ensure the accuracy of your desired unit of measure for the item/material you are requesting. Items such as pulls might be ordered as ‘Each’, a set of drawer glides might be ordered by the ‘Pair’, and a single box of screws may contain 1,500.
Needed	It’s best practice to enter a ‘Needed’ by date. As an organization, you can determine if you want to require a need-by date, warn when submitting, or not require a need-by date. This can be set in Settings->Options->Purchasing under the section MR Need By Date. Additionally, as in the example above, the need-by date can be automatically set by formula here as well.
Order By	The Order By date can be set to be calculated by formula. This can be set in Settings->Options->Purchasing under the section Calculate Dates.

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Submitting/Retracting your MR

Once you have your desired items added to your MR, and have verified your quantities and other attributes, it’s time to ‘Submit’ the MR to Purchasing.

1. Click the ‘Submit All’ button to submit your entire list of items to Purchasing, or;

2. Check the ‘Sub’ checkbox next to each item to submit them to Purchasing individually.

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3. Click the ‘Retract All' button to retract your MR items from Purchasing. Alternatively, you can deselect the ‘Sub’ checkbox on individual items, if necessary.

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Create an MR Template from the ‘Import Template’ Button

1. Left-click the ‘Add New MR from Template’ option.

2. Right-click in the MR template list and select “Edit” to open the MR Templates form.

3. Right-click in the “Select a Template” panel on the left and select “Add.”

4. Enter a description and click OK.

5. Select the

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1. newly created template from the list.

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1. On the “Edit Selected Template”:

   1. Add an item: right-click in the gray panel and select “Add.”

   2. Edit from a list: click on the blue underlined label.

   3. Edit a blank field: select a white field (active = yellow) and enter date or text.

All changes are stored automatically and will appear in MR template lists

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Add an existing part

Click the “Add Item” button and select from the parts list.

Go to > Add MR Item.

Add a new part

Click the “Add Item” button, right-click the parts list and select “Add New.”

“Select a Category” form

• Assign existing category: select a parts category from the list, or

• Create new category: right-click the category list and select “Add.”

“Add/Edit Part” window

• Enter description and edit part attributes as appropriate. Click OK.

Go to > Add MR Item.

Add MR Item

In the “Add MR Item” form, click the blue links to change them, and right-click a color to remove it.

Click OK to save the MR Item and add it to your MR.

You can edit most of the columns as desired. If a part is needed by a certain date, enter that in the “Needed” field.

Submit MR to purchasing

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