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A Material Request is an internal document that says: “We need more stock of this item.” In a medical retail store, it is the formal trigger that kicks off the purchasing process - it tells your procurement team that a medicine or product needs to be ordered. Material Requests create a clear, auditable record of who requested what and when, so nothing falls through the cracks between the person managing the shelf and the person placing orders with distributors.
Material Request form showing request type Purchase, items, required date, and status

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Who Uses This Feature

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Types of Material Request

For a medical retail store, you will almost always use Purchase.

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How to Raise a Material Request

  1. Go to Stock workspace → Material Request → New
  2. Set Material Request Type to “Purchase”
  3. Set the Required by Date - when you need the stock
  4. Add items to the Items table:
    • Select the item (medicine)
    • Enter the quantity required
    • Select the target warehouse
  5. Save and Submit
Material Request items table with item, quantity, warehouse, and required date fields

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Field Guide

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Status Flow

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Converting to a Purchase Order

Once the procurement team is ready to act:
  1. Open the Material Request (status = Pending or Ordered)
  2. Click Create → Purchase Order
  3. Select the supplier for each item
  4. Review quantities and prices
  5. Submit the Purchase Order
The Material Request status automatically updates to “Ordered” when a Purchase Order is created against it.

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Automatic Material Requests

If you have set Reorder Levels on your item records, the system can automatically generate Material Requests when stock falls below the minimum level. This is triggered by the reorder check process. To enable: set Reorder Level and Reorder Qty on the Item’s reorder table (see Items Catalogue).

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Monitoring Pending Requests

  • Go to Stock workspace → Material Request and filter by Status = Pending
  • Or use the Requested Items to Order and Receive report (Buying workspace) to see all unfulfilled requests

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Best Practices

  • Raise Material Requests before stock runs out. The Material Request → Purchase Order → delivery cycle takes time. Request when you hit the reorder level, not when the shelf is empty.
  • Set the required by date. This helps procurement prioritise urgent requests and tells you if a supplier is likely to meet your timeline.
  • Use one Material Request per replenishment cycle. Do not raise dozens of single-item requests - group them into a weekly or twice-weekly request to make purchasing more efficient.
  • Do not bypass Material Requests. Even if the procurement team places orders informally (by phone), always create the Material Request and Purchase Order in the system so the trail is complete.

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Common Mistakes

  • Raising a Material Request after stock has run out. At this point, customers are already being turned away. Set reorder levels to get ahead of this.
  • Not specifying the required by date. Procurement cannot prioritise without this.
  • Raising a Material Request for items that are not in the Items Catalogue. The item must exist in the catalogue before it can be requested. Add the item first.
  • Closing requests manually before the stock arrives. If you stop a Material Request prematurely, the pending quantity tracking breaks. Only close a request if the need is genuinely cancelled.