Procurement

Goods Receipt Agent

Monitors open POs for expected deliveries, chases suppliers in advance, and escalates late shipments — so nothing arrives untracked or overdue.

Tracks every open PO line against its confirmed delivery date, proactively contacts suppliers for shipment status before the due date, flags deliveries that are at risk or overdue, and escalates late cases to the buyer or planner.

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The Goods Receipt Agent monitors all open purchase order lines with outstanding deliveries. It reads confirmed delivery dates, shipment tracking data, and supplier acknowledgements from the ERP and connected logistics systems. As delivery dates approach, it proactively contacts suppliers to confirm shipment status, request tracking details, and flag any risk of delay. When a delivery is overdue or a supplier signals a delay, the agent escalates to the responsible buyer, planner, or category manager with the PO details, financial exposure, and production impact. For partial deliveries, it tracks the outstanding balance and chases the supplier for the remaining quantity.

KPI it moves

  • +10–20 pts

    On-time delivery rate

    The share of PO lines delivered on or before their confirmed date, improved by proactive chasing and early escalation of at-risk shipments.

What it does

  • Monitors open PO lines for upcoming and overdue deliveries

    Continuously tracks all open PO lines against their confirmed delivery dates in the ERP, surfacing deliveries that are approaching, at risk, or overdue.

  • Chases suppliers for shipment status before the due date

    Proactively contacts suppliers ahead of the delivery date to confirm shipment status, request tracking information, and identify potential delays before they happen.

  • Escalates late or at-risk deliveries to the responsible owner

    When a supplier signals a delay or a delivery passes its due date without confirmation, escalates to the buyer, planner, or category manager with PO details, financial exposure, and downstream impact.

  • Tracks partial deliveries and chases outstanding balances

    After a partial delivery is receipted by the warehouse, tracks the remaining outstanding quantity and continues chasing the supplier for the open balance until the PO line is fully delivered.

How it works

  1. Trigger 1

    PO line delivery date approaching

    An open PO line's confirmed delivery date falls within the configured lead-time window, triggering proactive outreach to the supplier.

  2. Trigger 2

    PO line delivery becomes overdue

    An open PO line passes its confirmed delivery date without a corresponding goods receipt in the ERP, triggering escalation.

  3. Trigger 3

    Supplier signals a delay or revised delivery date

    A supplier responds to a chase with a revised delivery date or notifies of a delay, triggering re-assessment and possible escalation.

  4. Step 1

    Scan open PO lines and assess delivery risk

    Reads all open PO lines from the ERP, compares confirmed delivery dates against today's date, and categorises each line as on-track, approaching, at-risk, or overdue. Checks for any shipment tracking data or supplier acknowledgements already on file.

  5. Step 2

    Chase suppliers for shipment confirmation and tracking

    For PO lines approaching their delivery date, contacts the supplier to confirm the shipment is on schedule, request tracking details, and flag any expected delays. Records the supplier's response against the PO line in the ERP.

  6. Step 3

    Escalate overdue or at-risk deliveries

    For PO lines that are overdue or where the supplier has confirmed a delay, calculates the financial exposure and downstream impact (e.g. production schedule, customer order at risk), and escalates to the assigned buyer, planner, or category manager with full context for intervention.

  7. Step 4

    Track partial delivery balances and continue chasing

    After the warehouse posts a partial goods receipt, reads the outstanding quantity from the ERP and continues the chase cycle for the remaining balance until the PO line is fully delivered or formally closed.

  8. Resolution

    Delivery completed or escalated for intervention

    The PO line is fully delivered and receipted by the warehouse, or an overdue/delayed delivery has been escalated to the responsible owner with financial exposure and impact details for direct supplier intervention.

Why it matters

  • Late deliveries caught before they disrupt operations

    so that buyers and planners get early warning of at-risk shipments and can act before production lines or customer orders are affected.

  • Supplier chasing handled without manual follow-up

    so that procurement teams don't spend time emailing suppliers for delivery updates — the agent handles the routine outreach and only escalates genuine problems.

  • Partial deliveries tracked to completion

    so that outstanding balances on split PO lines are not forgotten and working capital committed to open orders is recovered on schedule.

What it needs

Read access to the ERP for open PO lines and delivery dates
Connects to the ERP (e.g. Infor LN/M3/CloudSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365, IFS Cloud, or SAP S/4HANA) to read open PO lines, confirmed delivery dates, goods receipt postings, and shipment tracking data. Without this connection the agent cannot monitor delivery status.
Outbound email access for supplier chasing
Connects to the organisation's email platform to send delivery status requests and follow-up messages to suppliers, and to read their responses. Without this the agent cannot proactively chase.
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