Article Contents
Introduction
In some multi venue setups, one venue acts as a central supplier/distributor for all other venues / outlets.
This central supplier is typically a stockroom or warehouse. It can be on the same property as all the outlets / venues or in a different location.
Venues place order requests, and the central supplier either accepts them and begins preparation, or rejects / declines them.
Accepted orders are prepared and the stock is transferred from the supplier to the requesting venue when ready. The requesting venue then receives the order.
Learn more about different venue setups:
The “Venue Transfers” feature allows you to perform and track these movements in WISK.
Venue Transfers are broken down into the following steps:
Requesting venue creates and sends transfer request / order to the central supplier
Central distributor receives the request and accepts or rejects it
Central distributor views all active transfer requests and begins preparation
Accepted orders are prepared, either from existing stock, ordering product or making items on-site. When prepared, orders are sent from the central distributor to the requesting venue (in the form of a "transfer out")
The requesting venue receives the order on either the WISK Web Portal or the iOS app.
Note: The flows are slightly different between Web and iOS. If a transfer contains items that were not part of the initial order(substitutions) it must be received via the web.
Initial Setup
Before you can use Venue Transfers, your venue(s) needs to be configured for it.
Based on your requirements when speaking with the WISK Team, this will most likely be done during your initial account setup.
There are 3 components:
Set Partner Venues - Any venues where stock is transferred between them need to be designated as partner venues
Enable Venue Transfers - The central supplier venue needs to have the "Venue Transfers" feature enabled. This is how you manage requests / orders from other venues
Determine Item Format - The relationship between the central supplier venue and the requesting venues determines whether your items list is centralized across all venues, or decentralized. This impacts how items are ordered from requesting venues.
Centralized vs Decentralized Items List
Centralized
Item lists are typically centralized when the central distributor venue and the requesting venues / outlets are located on the same property.
This is usually a hotel or other complex that has a central area that places orders to external suppliers. The majority of stock flows through this central area to the individual outlets / venues.
If a property could theoretically function as a single account/venue in WISK, it makes sense for the items list to be centralized.
When an venue / outlet orders to the central distributor venue they will only see that venue when generating orders through the shopping cart.
Decentralized
Item lists are typically decentralized when the central distributor venue and requesting venues are in different physical locations.
This could be a central warehouse or kitchen that the requesting venues order from. Each outlet / venue may be its own concept and they don't normally interact with each other.
In this setup, any items ordered by the requesting venue need to have the central distributor venue assigned as the distributor.
Note: The requesting venue can only order items with the same WISK ID as the central distributor venue. The WISK ID confirms that it's the same item in both the requesting and central distributor venues.
Create & Send Transfer Request
As we go through the process from end to end, we’ll be using two venues:
Central Supplier - “Hotel - Central Stockroom Example”
Requesting Venue - “Hotel - Outlet 1 Example”
Hotel - Outlet 1 Example gets all new stock from Hotel - Central Stockroom Example, and needs more stock after completing an inventory count. To start the process, you’ll need to generate a purchase order from Hotel - Outlet 1 Example's account.
Generating a Purchase Order
When generating your purchase order, you’ll need to select the supplier venue as the distributor. Since it’s a partner venue, it will appear as “Linked with (Venue Name)”. To learn more about generating purchase orders, please see:
Note: If your venue has a Shared/Centralized items list you will only see the central supplier as an option when generating orders.
Sending the Transfer Request / Purchase Order
You can send the transfer request / purchase order to the central supplier, using the WISK Web Portal or mobile app.
Note: You can also send the purchase order at the time it is generated, if you created it manually.
WISK Web Portal
In the requesting venue:
On the “Purchase Orders” page, click the “Details” button beside the order
If needed, you can make any changes to the quantity requested by clicking in the “Quantity” column beside an item. You can make changes up until you send the order.
Click "Email / SMS order to distributor"
A window opens where you can add recipients for the order email or text message. For orders to central suppliers, these fields are optional. This is because the order request appears in the central supplier automatically when sent. This is if you want to send a notification for the order. When ready, click "Send"
Note: You can add an email address and phone number for this distributor on the "Distributors" page so it populates automatically
The purchase order is sent to the central supplier venue. The following statuses on the order update:
Email sent status: Changes from Not Sent to Sent
SMS sent status: If at least one phone number was entered it changes from Not Sent to Sent
Invoice Status: Changes from Not Sent to Requested.
Important: At this point you cannot make any changes to the order. If you need to make changes you should cancel the order as soon as possible and generate a new one. If you try to send the same order again after making changes you get an error message.
Mobile App
In the requesting venue:
Tap “Orders” on the bottom menu bar, then “Orders History”
Tap a purchase order to the central supplier venue with the message status “Not Sent”
You can make any changes to the quantity of an item requested by tapping the - or + icons and then "Update order". When ready to send, tap the “...” icon on the top right
Tap “Email / SMS order to distributor”
A page opens where you can add recipients for the order email or text message. For orders to central suppliers, these fields are optional. This is because the order request appears in the central supplier automatically when sent. This is if you want to send a notification for the order.
Note: On iOS the email of the user sending the order populates in the email field by default.
When ready, tap “Send email / SMS”
The purchase order is sent to the central supplier venue and is marked as sent
When viewing your purchase orders the status of the sent order shows as "Requested"
Important: At this point you cannot make any changes to the order. If you need to make changes you should cancel the order as soon as possible and generate a new one. If you try to send the same order again after making changes you get an error message.
Canceling an Order
If you send an order to the central supplier but then need to cancel it, you can do this as long as the invoice status remains as "Requested".
Note: You can only cancel an order on the WISK Web Portal at this time.
To cancel an order:
On the WISK Web Portal, open the purchase order
Click Actions > Cancel
Click "OK" on the confirmation message
The order is marked as "Canceled" in both the requesting venue and the central supplier
Distributor Approves or Declines the Transfer Request
After sending the purchase order, it appears in the central supplier's WISK account. At that stage, they can either approve, modify, or decline the order in the WISK Web Portal or mobile app.
WISK Web Portal
In the central supplier account:
Click “Multivenue” then “Venue Transfers” on the left-hand menu bar
Note: This option only appears if "Venue Transfers" are enabled in the central supplier account. If you don't see this option contact WISK Support.
On this page, you’ll see all orders requested from other venues / locations. By default it only shows requests with the status "Requested" or "In Preparation". To approve or decline a request, click the “Details” button beside an order with the status of "Requested"
Note: To view requests with other statuses, click the "Predefined Filters" drop-down menu on this screen. The following options appear:
Completed - Transfer requests that have been prepared, sent and then received by the requesting venue
Declined - Transfer requests declined by the central supplier venue
Canceled - Transfer requests canceled by requesting venues
In Transit - Transfer requests that have been prepared and sent but not yet been received by the requesting venue
Archived - These are archived transfer requests. This is a legacy feature and it is better to cancel or decline requests than archive them.
In the order, you’ll see all of the items requested, and the amount
If you need to change the quantity of an item, click into the “Quantity” column and enter the new amount. You can also remove an item by hovering over it and clicking the arrow button.
Note: You can change the quantity at any point prior to sending the order to the requester. If something happens during preparation and you need to modify the quantity, you can.
After reviewing the order, click “Actions” to either accept or reject it
Accept Order
When you accept the order, the status changes to “In preparation”, and will appear under “Active Transfer Requests” on the WISK Web Portal. An email notification is sent to the requesting venue.
Note: In the requesting venue, the "Invoice status" changes to In preparation as well.
Decline Order
When you decline an order, a confirmation window appears to enter the reason why the order couldn’t be fulfilled. Click “OK” after entering the reason.
The status of the order changes to “Declined”
The requesting venue receives an email about the change in status and the reason why.
Note: The central supplier can decline an order at any stage of the process, even if preparation has already begun. If for any reason the order can't be fulfilled it should be declined to close it out in both venues.
Mobile App
In the central supplier account:
From the “More” menu, tap “Multivenue”
Note: This option only appears if "Venue Transfers" are enabled in the central supplier account. If you don't see this option contact WISK Support
Tap “Venue Transfers”
On the “Venue Transfers” page, you’ll see all of the orders that have been requested from other venues / locations. Orders with the status “Requested” require your attention. Tap an order.
In the order, you’ll see all of the items requested, and the amount. If you need to change an amount, use the - or + buttons. If you need to remove an item, swipe it to the left and tap delete.
Note: You can change the quantity at any point prior to sending the order back to the requester. If something happens during preparation and you need to modify the quantity, you can.
After reviewing the order request, tap “Accept” to prepare the order, or “Decline” if it can’t be fulfilled
Accept Order
After tapping “Accept”, tap “Confirm” on the confirmation pop-up.
The status of the order changes to “In Preparation”, and the requesting venue receives an email notification.
Decline Order
After tapping “Decline”, enter a reason why and tap “Decline” on the confirmation pop-up.
The status of the order changes to “Declined” and the requesting venue receives an email notification.
Alternate Method - Distributor Adds Transfer Request
If the Requesting Venue is unable to generate the purchase order for some reason, the Central Supplier venue can add it manually.
The Central Supplier can then accept or decline the order to insert it into the standard flow.
To create a new transfer request:
Click the "New venue transfer request" button
Select the requesting venue from the drop-down menu
Note: This only displays venues that are partners with the Central Supplier venue. If you're filling orders for venues external to WISK, speak to your account representative about adding a placeholder partner venue
Click "OK"
The venue transfer request is added, and has the status of "Draft". Add the requested items as needed using the "Add WISK Item" field, then click "Actions" to send it to In Preparation
Note: If a venue transfer request is added this way it can only be received in the requesting venue through the WISK Web Portal. This is because there's no purchase order to initiate receiving from on iOS.
Venue Transfer Status Email Notifications
Accepted Order Email Notification
When an order is accepted, the requesting venue receives an email notification saying that their order is being prepared:
Rejected Order Email Notification
When an order is rejected, the requesting venue receives an email notification and includes the reason why it couldn’t be fulfilled (if provided).
Active Transfer Requests
View all Active Requests
As orders come in and are accepted, they need to be prepared. To view all active transfer requests on the WISK Web Portal:
Click the “View active transfer requests” button on the top right
Active transfer requests are grouped by venue by default. It displays the requesting venue, the request #, the item, and the quantity
You can use the preset views to change how the items are grouped, including by item, or by request #. You can also create your own views
In the example below, the “By item” view has been toggled on. It shows the total quantity required per item across all active requests in preparation.
For more information on creating your own views, see:
Note: Active transfer requests can only be viewed on the WISK Web Portal at this time. On iOS you will need to go into each individual request to get the total amount required.
Active Transfer Request PDF
On the top right there are buttons to download PDFs of the active transfer requests.
Download venue transfers - by item
This PDF has a breakdown by item, showing the total quantity requested
Download transfer details - by venue
This PDF has each venue as a column, with the requested amount of each item in a row.
Transfer Prepared and Ready to Send
After the transfer/order has been prepared, you can send it to the requester via the WISK Web Portal or mobile app.
WISK Web Portal
Click the “Details” button beside the request on the “Venue Transfers” page
Verify you are sending the requested quantity for each item. If you aren’t able to provide the full amount click into the “Quantity” column and enter the new value. You can also remove an item by clicking the arrow on the far left and "Remove"
Click Actions > Send Items when ready
Important: Double check you are sending the correct quantities. Once this has been sent you cannot modify it.
Before sending you can add any notes to the email notification. Click "OK"
The status of the request changes to “In Transit”
The venue that requested the order receives an email notification saying that their order is now In Transit, and a draft invoice appears in their account.
Mobile App
On the “Venue Transfers” page, tap an order with the “In Preparation” status
Verify that you are sending the requested quantity for each item. If you need to change an amount, use the - or + buttons. If you need to remove an item, swipe it to the left and tap delete. When ready, tap “Send Items”
Important: Double check you are sending the correct quantities. Once this has been sent you cannot modify it.
Tap “Confirm” on the prompt
The status of the request changes to “In Transit”
The venue that requested the order receives an email notification saying that their order has been sent, and a draft invoice appears in their account
Order Sent Email Notification
Transfer Out Created
After sending the transfer / order, a "Transfer out" is created in the Central Supplier venue (in this case, Hotel - Central Stockroom Example).
Note: The timestamp of this action is the moment that the "Send items" button is pressed.
At that moment, the items in the transfer/order are subtracted from the stock of the Central Supplier.
To view the transfer out:
In the Central Supplier venue, click Inventories > Transfers on the side menu
In the description column, you'll see actions marked as "Transfer out to...". Click the "Details" column to view the items in the transfer
Receiving the Transfer
With the transfer request prepped and sent, the last step is to receive the transfer in the requesting venue.
The flow for receiving the transfer is slightly different on web versus the mobile app.
WISK Web Portal - a draft invoice is created that needs to be converted to receive the transfer
Mobile App - the transfer must be received from the purchase order
The differences between both flows is explained below.
Note: If a transfer contains items that were not part of the initial order(substitutions) it must be received via the web.
WISK Web Portal
To receive the transfer on web, you must convert the draft invoice:
In the requesting venue’s account, click “Orders” > “Draft Invoices”. The number beside draft invoices indicates how many need to be reviewed and converted
Click the “Details” column beside the draft invoice
Note: You can also access the draft invoice from the purchase order. In the "Actions" menu there is an option to "Open Draft Invoice" if the status is "In Transit"
The "Date" on the draft invoice has the same timestamp as the transfer out in the central supplier venue. If there was a delay in receiving the order, click the "Date" field and adjust the date/time to reflect when the items actually arrived. The invoice number is a combination of the central supplier's venue ID, and the ID of the transfer out from the central supplier's venue
Review the draft invoice, and address any items that require attention, then click “Convert to invoice”.
Note: The draft invoice gives you an opportunity to review what is going into the venue before the stock is updated. Please see the article below on processing draft invoices:
Click “OK” on the confirmation window
The order has been received and the stock is added to the venue. If you return to the “Purchase Orders” page, the status displays as “Received”
From the invoice there are links to the initial purchase order and the draft invoice. The transfer is officially received and closed out.
Mobile App
To receive the transfer on the mobile app, you must go through the purchase order. You can access the purchase order through 1 of 3 ways in the mobile app:
Orders History
On the Orders screen, tap Orders History
Tap an order with Invoice Status “In Transit”
Draft Invoices History
On the Orders screen, tap Draft Invoices History
Tap a draft invoice from the central supplier that says "Ready to Review"
Tap "View Purchase Order"
Add Invoices
On the Orders screen, tap Add Invoices
Tap an open purchase order from the central supplier
Once you have gotten to the purchase order:
All items on the order appear. For each item it shows the quantity ordered and then the amount sent by the central supplier. This could be the same as the ordered quantity, fewer, or even 0
Tap "Generate invoice"
Note: If the transfer contains items from the central supplier that were not on the initial order (for example, they were out of stock of one item and substituted it with another) you will be directed to receive the transfer on the web. The draft invoice flow is better suited to either creating new items/variations in the requesting venue.
The "Date" populates with the current date and time. If the items arrived in the venue earlier, tap "Date" to adjust it. The invoice number populates with a combination of the central supplier's venue ID, and the ID of the transfer out from the central supplier's venue. Tap the area it will be received in, then tap "Continue"
You’re now on the “List” tab. This shows you everything that was included in the order. Compare the items on the order to what was sent to make sure you received everything and make any adjustments if necessary
Received Items - If you received the item in full, swipe to the right
Different Amount Received than Ordered - If you didn’t receive the amount ordered (either more or less), tap the item, adjust the amount, and tap confirm
Items Not Received - If you didn’t receive the item or the quantity sent is 0 scroll past it and move on to the next
Note: For more info on receiving from Purchase Orders, see
When all items have been addressed, tap "Review item counts"
Confirm all item counts are correct and tap "Submit invoice"
Tap "Confirm"
You can choose to send an email confirmation
The order is closed out and shows as received
Note: When you receive the transfer through iOS, the draft invoice on web is closed out automatically. If you made any changes to quantities when receiving they are reflected in the draft invoice.
Movement Timeline Summary
For reporting purposes, each step of the process creates a movement/action in WISK with a timestamp. Using our two example venues, we'll summarize each step and how it appears in the system:
Requesting Venue - “Hotel - Outlet 1 Example”
Central Supplier - “Hotel - Central Stockroom Example”
Steps
Requesting Venue generates a purchase order with a timestamp of Aug 17, 4:30PM
Requesting Venue sends the purchase order to the Central Supplier at Aug 17, 4:37PM (Note: The time the purchase order is generated and the time it is sent are not always the same)
A venue transfer request appears in the Central Supplier venue with a timestamp of Aug 17, 4:37PM. The request is either declined, or approved and preparation begins. In this example we'll say it's approved, with the intent to be ready early next morning
The Central Supplier venue prepares the request and then sends it to the Requesting Venue. This generates a transfer out in the Central Supplier with a timestamp of Aug 18, 5:00AM (This date/time is the moment the "Send Items" button is pressed)
At the same moment the transfer out is generated in the Central Supplier venue, a draft invoice is created in the Requesting Venue with the same timestamp, Aug 18, 5:00AM (This is operating under an assumption that the item will arrive at the requesting venue not long after it is sent)
The Requesting Venue processes the draft invoice. If there was a delay, the "Date" field can be edited to reflect when the items arrived. In this example, we'll say there were no issues, and leave the timestamp as Aug 18, 5:00AM.
The draft invoice is converted into an invoice that appears in the Requesting Venue with a timestamp of Aug 18, 5:00AM
Actions / Movements by Venue
Requesting Venue | Central Supplier |
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Troubleshooting
Item Doesn't Exist in Central Supplier Venue (Decentralized Items Only)
As mentioned earlier, a requesting venue can only order items with the same WISK ID as the central distributor venue. The WISK ID confirms it's the same item in both venues.
If you try to order an item in a requesting venue that doesn't exist in the central distributor venue it displays an error message.
This typically happens if an item was created in the requesting venue manually, and wasn't added via searching the distributor venue's items.
Note: In most cases if you have venues that place orders to another venue, the WISK Team will help you when setting up the venues to make sure they have the same WISK IDs.
The error message triggers in the following scenarios:
Assigning the distributor: If you try to set the distributor of the item as the distributor venue it checks to see if an item with that WISK ID exists in the distributor venue. If it doesn't exist, it shows an error message and doesn't let you assign the distributor
Adding an item to the distributor's shopping cart: This mostly applies to existing venues that already added items and assigned them to the distributor venue before the item validation logic was added. If you try to add the item to the distributor's shopping cart and it doesn't exist in the distributor venue, the item is removed from the cart and the distributor is cleared from the item
Adding an item to a purchase order directly: If you skip the shopping cart and try to add an item assigned to the central distributor directly to a purchase order, if the item doesn't exist in the central distributor it throws an error and clears the distributor from the item
To resolve the issue you will need to search the distributor venue's item list and find the correct item and add it to the venue. You can then add it to the shopping cart to order.
It's also possible you may have duplicate versions of the item and were ordering the wrong one that doesn't exist in the distributor venue. In this case you would need to confirm the WISK ID of the correct one and then merge the items, making sure the WISK ID of the correct one is kept on the resulting item.