Understand Orders for Suppliers

The Orders page (Menu > Orders) is used to manage order requests sent to suppliers, including orders for concrete deliveries, materials, and spoil transport.

This page allows suppliers and head contractors to communicate with one another through Virtual Superintendent until the scheduled date of an order, allowing both to confirm, track and plan for upcoming orders.

Permissions

Suppliers with Subcontractor Admin permissions have read-only access to orders shown on the Orders page (Menu > Orders) but to accept and manage orders, you must have the following permission:

• Subcontractor Order Admin

Understand the Order Process

When an order is first sent to a supplier:

• The new order appears on the Orders page (Menu > Orders) with a status of Requested.
• An email summarizing the order details and containing a link to view the order in Virtual Superintendent is sent to the supplier.

Suppliers then review the request and choose whether to accept or reject it.

When an order is accepted, it can be updated or cancelled until the scheduled date of the order. Any changes made to the order automatically trigger email notifications and changes must be accepted or rejected. This back-and-forth notification and confirmation process ensures that everyone remains aware of any changing order requirements.

Order types

Orders sent to suppliers can be of four types:

Order status

Orders change state as they are submitted, accepted, modified, withdrawn or rejected by the order supplier and a head contractor.

Available order states are:

Review and Manage Orders

Suppliers can accept or reject orders that are submitted to their organization and confirm cancellation requests when an order is cancelled by a head contractor.

Review order requests

To review new order requests:

1. Sign in to Virtual Superintendent.

2. Click Menu > Orders. The Orders page opens.

   

   Click or tap to expand image

3. Locate orders using the filter options to the left of the page. You can filter by order type, order number, scheduled date, and order status. Suppliers typically work with Requested, Amended and Cancellation Requested statuses.

   

   Click or tap to expand image

   Select the Hide sub orders checkbox to show only parent orders (hiding all concrete test sub-orders) or Only show orders assigned to you to show only orders assigned to you (that is, orders where you are the assigned supplier contact).

4. Click an order in the grid. The Order Details page opens, showing the details of the order.

   

   Click or tap to expand image

   These details include the:

   
   
   • Order number
   • Order status
   • Order creation date and time last updated
   • Reason supplied for the most recent update (when cancelled or withdrawn)
   • Scheduled date of the order and scheduled end
   • Scheduled start and end times, if a concrete order
   • Order location that will be used on the docket
   • Order quantity
   • Supplier name
   • Head contractor who created the order
   • Supplier contact used for the order
   • Supervisor who will appear on the docket
   • Engineer who will appear on the docket
   • Cost code that the order will be charged against
   • External order number
   • Notes supplied by the supplier
5. Choose whether to Accept or Reject the order or confirm an order cancellation.

Accept an order

To accept an order:

1. Click Accept. The Accept Order dialog opens.

   

   Click or tap to expand image
2. Type an order number into the External Order Number field. This is an optional identifier that can be used by an internal order order tracking tool.
3. Type any relevant notes about the order into the Notes field.

4. Click Accept. The status of the order is updated from Requested to Accepted on the Orders page and an email notification is sent to the head contractor notifying them that the order was accepted. Any informational text written in the Notes field is visible to the head contractor.

   

   Click or tap to expand image

When an order is accepted, its note text can be updated by clicking Update. Only the most recent note is shown on the order summary, but all previous notes are recorded in the order history (View changes link).

The order can still be rejected at any time by clicking Reject which changes its status to Rejected.

If an order has been accepted and is then is edited by a head contractor, its status changes to Amended. The supplier must then accept or reject any changes.

If an order has been accepted and is then cancelled by a head contractor, the supplier must confirm the cancellation by clicking Confirm Cancellation. This updates the order status from Cancel Requested to Cancelled.

Reject an order

To reject an order:

1. Click Reject. The Reject Order dialog opens.

   

   Click or tap to expand image
2. Type a reason for your rejection in the Reason for rejection field.

3. Click Reject. The order status changes to Rejected on the Orders page and an email is sent to the head contractor notifying them that the order was rejected.

   

   Click or tap to expand image

When an order is rejected, the head contractor can Cancel the order, or Update the order by modifying it (for example, by changing load types, quantities or the date of the order).

If an order is updated, its status changes to Requested and the review process resets. If it is cancelled, the order's status changes to Cancelled immediately.

Confirm cancellation of an order

If a head contractor wants to cancel an order that was rejected or accepted by a supplier, the supplier must confirm the cancellation request.

To confirm the cancellation of an order:

1. Sign in to Virtual Superintendent.
2. Click Menu > Orders. The Orders page opens.
3. Filter the order requests by clicking the Cancellation Requested link in the filters column. The order grid updates.
4. Click an order in the grid. The Order Details page opens, showing the details of the order.
5. Click Confirm Cancellation. The status of the order is updated to Cancelled and the head contractor is notified.

Additional order actions

Use the More actions menu to access additional order options. To open this menu, click the hamburger menu icon (three vertical dots) in the upper-right corner of the Order Details page.