Retail replenishment that sends stock to the branch that needs it

Bollard is configured around branches, a distribution centre and the people who run them. A store manager raises a replenishment order, the area manager approves it when it goes over the branch limit, and the regional director signs off larger amounts. Stock comes from the distribution centre, another branch or a supplier.

This is a configuration Safock sets up for retailers that buy and stock across sites. Branch names, item ranges and limits are mapped during discovery, so the screens match what your store teams already say. Bollard covers the whole loop: reorder alerts, replenishment orders, approvals, receiving, transfers and invoice matching.

Branches run out because the stock figures they order from are out of date or held somewhere the store manager cannot see. Ordering from bad numbers sends stock to the wrong places.

Bollard keeps a live balance for each branch and the distribution centre. Stock updates the moment goods are accepted at the door, and a transfer reaches a branch's balance when that branch confirms receipt. Store managers order from figures tied to recorded deliveries and transfers. A manager who can see spare stock at the distribution centre raises a transfer before a new supplier order.

Each branch has its own reorder point for each item, and Bollard raises an alert when stock reaches it. A flagship store and a small concession can carry the same gift boxes at very different levels, so one group-wide figure would leave one short and the other overstocked.

Reorder points are set by the people who know each branch's range and adjusted as it changes. A store manager responding to an alert can raise a replenishment order in under a minute. Orders inside the branch limit go through without approval, and the rest route to the area manager.

A store-to-store transfer is dispatched by one branch and confirmed by the other when the goods arrive. Both ends record the movement, so a box that leaves Store 12 does not vanish before Store 28 counts it.

Transfers between branches even out stock before anyone buys more. Head office and area teams see balances across the network. Each branch sees only its own records, enforced with row-level security in the database.

Spot buys are capped by a tight spend limit for each branch. A store manager can buy till rolls or display risers locally inside that limit. Anything above it routes to the area manager with its budget code, reason and estimated total on one screen.

Every request is limited to items approved for that branch, and every decision goes into an append-only audit trail. Rejections need a remark, so the store knows why and what to try instead.

Each supplier invoice is matched line by line against the purchase order's price and the quantity the branch accepted. A short delivery fails on quantity, and a padded price fails on value. Payment can only be raised against a matched invoice, a rule enforced in the database.

For a chain receiving deliveries at dozens of doors, that check replaces someone comparing invoices with delivery notes by hand. Partial deliveries stay open with their balance, so the rest of the order is still tracked after the first boxes arrive. Finance spends its time on the invoices that fail.