Duraflex International — Purchasing Operations

Current State

What's Happening Today

Critical

No automated reorder alerts. Approximately 740 active purchased parts are tracked through manual review only. Infor N4 has the capability to send low-stock notifications but it has not been configured. Reviews take 2+ hours and happen inconsistently.

Critical

No PO tracking system. Once a purchase order is placed there is no centralized log or alert to monitor delivery status. Late orders are discovered when the shop floor runs out of parts — not before.

Critical

Order Action Report cannot be trusted. The Infor N4 report used for purchase planning contains duplicate lines, erroneous quantities, and lead times that are not calibrated. It requires manual interpretation before any action can be taken.

Gap

Dual-system dependency. Reorder points, vendor part numbers, and contact data were not fully migrated from legacy E2 into Infor N4. The Purchaser must switch between both systems to complete routine tasks.

Note

No vendor price negotiation process. Pricing is accepted as quoted. Secondary vendors exist for some parts but are not systematically leveraged. Bandwidth has prevented this from being addressed.

Next Steps

Sequence of Work

1

Clarify what can be trusted in Infor N4 today

Confirm with the Infor implementation contact what the Order Action Report is actually telling us — duplicate lines, erroneous quantities, lead time behavior. This determines what we rely on versus what we manage independently in Microsoft 365.

2

Export reorder and vendor data from legacy E2

The Purchaser still references E2 daily for reorder points and vendor part numbers. A clean export is a prerequisite for building the Vendor Registry and Inventory Tracker in SharePoint.

3

Build the PO Tracking Log first

This is the highest-impact near-term deliverable. A shared SharePoint log with automated alerts for approaching and overdue due dates addresses the most disruptive gap — late delivery surprises — without depending on ERP data quality.

4

Build Inventory Accuracy Tracker and Vendor Registry

Once E2 data is exported, build a consolidated tracker with reorder point visibility and a vendor registry that eliminates the dual-system dependency. Infor N4 reorder alerts can be layered in once data quality is confirmed on the ERP track.

Tasks

Track 1 Task List

Task	Owner	Phase	Status
Confirm Order Action Report behavior with Infor contact	M. Walsh	Immediate	Open
Validate active purchased parts count (~740)	Purchaser	Immediate	Open
Export reorder points and vendor data from E2	Purchaser / M. Walsh	Immediate	Open
Stand up SharePoint Purchasing Operations workspace	AO Solutions	Phase 1	In Progress
Build PO Tracking Log with automated due-date alerts	AO Solutions	Phase 1	Open
Build Inventory Accuracy Tracker	AO Solutions	Phase 2	Open
Build Vendor Registry (consolidated from E2 + N4)	AO Solutions	Phase 2	Open
Configure reorder alerts in Infor N4 once data is validated	Infor Contact	Phase 3	Blocked

Current State

What's Happening Today

Critical

No formal intake process. Purchase requests for tools, supplies, one-off parts, and services arrive verbally or via email with no consistent structure. There is no standard form, no defined path, and no record of what was requested or why.

Critical

No approval routing or spend controls. There are no defined dollar thresholds that determine who needs to approve a purchase. Requests are handled ad hoc, creating inconsistency and spend visibility gaps.

Gap

No pre-approved item catalog. Every request — including routine, recurring purchases — is treated as a new decision. There is no reference list of items that are pre-cleared for purchase within a defined spend limit, which slows down common requests unnecessarily.

Gap

Estimated 5 hours per week in manual overhead. Without a structured intake system, the Purchaser absorbs the coordination burden of tracking down context, chasing approvals, and managing follow-up outside of any system.

Next Steps

Sequence of Work

1

Define approval tiers and dollar thresholds

Before any form is built, leadership needs to define what purchases can be made autonomously, what requires one level of approval, and what requires escalation. This is a business decision, not a technology decision — it drives everything downstream.

2

Identify pre-approved items and categories

Work with the Purchaser to define which recurring, routine purchases should be catalogued as pre-approved — items that don't require a new approval every time. This becomes the seed data for the Pre-Approved Item Catalog.

3

Build the Pre-Approved Item Catalog

A searchable SharePoint reference for standard, recurring purchases. Requestors check here first — if the item is listed, they can proceed within the defined spend limit without a full approval cycle.

4

Build the tiered Procurement Request Form

A Microsoft Forms-based intake form that routes automatically based on purchase category and dollar amount. Approval notifications, status tracking, and a submission history are handled by Power Automate — no manual coordination required.

Tasks

Track 2 Task List

Task	Owner	Phase	Status
Define purchase approval tiers and dollar thresholds	Leadership	Immediate	Open
Identify pre-approved items and recurring purchase categories	Purchaser	Immediate	Open
Build Pre-Approved Item Catalog	AO Solutions	Phase 2	Open
Build tiered Procurement Request Form	AO Solutions	Phase 2	Open
Build Power Automate approval routing and notification flows	AO Solutions	Phase 3	Open

Meeting Cadence

Ongoing Rhythm

Bi-Weekly

Working Check-In

Attendees

Owen · M. Terwilliger · M. Walsh

Duration

30 – 45 minutes

Purpose

Review progress across both tracks, validate builds before sign-off, surface blockers, align on upcoming priorities

Format

Working session — screen share, live review of tools and flows

Monthly

Stakeholder Review

Attendees

Owen · Mark Pyatt

Duration

30 minutes

Purpose

Engagement health, milestone updates, decisions requiring leadership input, scope or priority changes

Format

Summary review — progress against plan, upcoming phase, decisions needed

Resources

Case Studies & Further Reading

Case Study

Frey & Weiss — Chicago Machine Shop (~25 employees)

90% Less Purchasing Labor

A multi-generational precision parts shop was spending 80 hours per week across two full-time staff on purchasing. After implementing structured procurement with centralized visibility, it became a 6–8 hour per week task for one person. The second purchasing staff moved into quality engineering.

Directly relevant: same profile as Duraflex — dedicated purchaser, manual processes, no centralized tracking.

proshoperp.com/case-studies/frey-weiss

Case Study

East Branch Engineering — Precision Machine Shop (~16 staff)

$32K Saved, Year One

A high-precision milling and turning shop came from E2 by Shoptech — the same legacy ERP Duraflex currently cross-references. After implementing structured procurement and job planning, on-time delivery improved from 70% to 100%, and $32,000 in expediting and shipping fees were eliminated in the first year.

Notable: East Branch ran E2 before this. The dual-system dependency and report trust issues they experienced mirror what Duraflex is dealing with today.

proshoperp.com/case-studies/east-branch-engineering

Article

Poor Procurement Processes Prevent Profitability — ProShop ERP

A practitioner-written breakdown of the three most common procurement failures in machine shops: reactive purchasing, over/under ordering, and lack of visibility. Each maps directly to a concrete fix. Includes references to East Branch and other shop-floor examples. Good foundational read for anyone on the team who wants context for why this work matters.

Good for: Purchaser and ERP/IT stakeholders. Frames the problem without being tool-specific.

proshoperp.com/blog/poor-procurement-processes

Article

Automating the Inventory Reorder Process — IOSCM

A supply chain-focused overview of how small businesses can automate reorder management through reorder point logic, safety stock, and automated alerts — without replacing their core systems. Covers the principles behind what the Inventory Accuracy Tracker will implement, written in plain language for non-technical stakeholders.

Good for: Leadership and anyone who wants to understand the "why" behind reorder point automation before the build begins.

ioscm.com/blog/automating-inventory-reorder-process

Future State

System Architecture & Automation Map

Track 1 · Inventory Parts

Reorder Detection & Inventory Visibility

ERP

Infor N4

Inventory records, reorder points, on-hand qty

SharePoint

Inventory Accuracy Tracker

On-hand qty, reorder point, part-vendor mapping

⚡ Power Automate

Low Stock Alert

Triggered when qty falls below reorder point

SharePoint

Vendor Registry

Vendor, part #, lead time — consolidated from E2 + N4

✓ Output

Purchaser Notified

Email with part, on-hand qty, vendor, and reorder qty

PO Placement & Lifecycle Tracking

Action

PO Placed

Purchaser issues order using Vendor Registry data

SharePoint

PO Tracking Log

Vendor, qty, order date, expected date, status

⚡ Power Automate

Mid-Cycle Check-In

Alert at 50% of lead time — prompt vendor follow-up

⚡ Power Automate

Overdue Alert

PO past due — alert Purchaser and Production

✓ Output

Proactive Communication

Production notified before shortage, not after

Track 2 · Non-Inventory Purchases

Request Intake, Approval Routing & Spend Control

Actor

Any Staff

Submits via Microsoft Forms

Microsoft Forms

Procurement Request Form

Category, description, amount, urgency, justification

⚡ Power Automate

Catalog Check

Is item in Pre-Approved Catalog within spend limit?

Yes

⚡ Auto-Approved

Pre-Approved Item

Purchaser notified. No approval cycle required.

No

⚡ Power Automate

Approval Router

Routes by dollar threshold to manager or leadership

SharePoint

PO Tracking Log

All approved purchases tracked in one place alongside T1 orders

Supporting Reference

SharePoint

Pre-Approved Item Catalog

Searchable list of standard recurring purchases. Items here bypass the approval cycle when within defined spend limits.

How It's Used

Requestors check catalog before submitting

If the item is listed and within the spend limit, the Power Automate flow auto-approves. If not, it routes to the appropriate approver based on dollar threshold defined by leadership.

Track 1 System Node

Track 2 System Node

Automated Trigger (Power Automate)

Escalation / Overdue Alert

Output / Notification