NS sales order · Path 3 dropship

What this is

Drop-ship via PO · vendor side runs in parallel

Path 3 covers SO lines where the vendor ships product directly. For each dropship_line, a PO is created FROM the SO (purchaseorder.createdfrom = so.id). Customer PO# threads via PO.bodyFields.memo = SO.otherrefnum and PO.lineFields.links[].tranid = " / " (the SO/customer-PO combo string).

After Item Receipt closes the PO line and Item Fulfillment ships to the customer, the Vendor Bill is entered carrying three fields with the customer PO# thread: memo, tranid, and initialtranid. This is the path with the richest threading — the customer PO# appears in 7+ field positions across 5 NS records.

Diagram: ns-sales-order-path-3-dropship.html.

When to use it

Trigger conditions

SO entered; one or more lines have items.dropship = true or items.special_order = true.
Vendor is active (vendors.status = 'active').
Master dispatches into so_lifecycle_dropship_path.

★ The handoff

After Item Fulfillment, the automation alert fires to Finance for the customer-side invoice cycle. The vendor-side cycle runs in parallel (vendor bill entered + paid per vendor terms).

Worked example

Driscoll 3 dropship lines via Cardinal Foods

Scenario

Driscoll's SO 1217 (PO# 72622) includes 3 dropship lines totaling $4,800 via Cardinal Foods vendor #891.

PO-7833 created FROM SO 1217: createdfrom = 1217, bodyFields.memo = "72622", lineFields.links[].tranid = "1217 / 72622", entity = 891. Manually transmitted to Cardinal Foods (email PDF; EDI 850 outbound is STUB).

Cardinal ships direct to Driscoll. Item Receipt closes PO line. Item Fulfillment posted: createdfrom = 1217, otherrefnum = "72622". ★ Finance alert fires.

Customer side: CustInvc with otherrefnum = "72622", $4,800, Net 30. Driscoll pays day 24.

Vendor side (parallel): Cardinal sends invoice; Finance enters VendBill memo = "72622", tranid = "1217 / 72622", initialtranid = "1217 / 72622", createdfrom = "PO-7833". Paid per vendor terms.

Step-by-step what happens

PO create → ship → receipt → fulfillment → Finance · vendor bill parallel

01
Create PO FROM SO
NS PurchOrd: createdfrom = so.id, memo = customer_po_number, lineFields.links[].tranid = " / ", entity = vendor_id.
PO# threads SO.otherrefnum → PO.memo
02
Transmit PO to vendor
Manual today (email PDF). EDI 850 outbound is STUB.
03
Vendor ships
Direct to customer or to GFS crossdock. Tracking + ETA captured.
04
Item Receipt against PO
NS ItemRcpt: createdfrom = po.id, status = "Received". PO line closes.
05
Item Fulfillment to customer
NS ItemFulfill: createdfrom = so.id (the SO, not the PO), otherrefnum = "72622" from SO.
06
★ Finance alert (STUB)
Fires events.so.finance_alert_fired.
07
Customer Invoice
Same Finance steps as Path 1. CustInvc.otherrefnum = "72622".
08
Customer Payment · SO closes
09
Vendor Bill entered (parallel)
NS VendBill: memo = "72622", tranid = "1217 / 72622", initialtranid = "1217 / 72622", createdfrom = po.id, entity = vendor_id.
PO# threads memo + tranid + initialtranid all carry "72622"
10
Vendor Bill paid per vendor terms
NS VendPymt: appliedto = vendor_bill.id.

Outcomes

What's different after the cycle

Closed

paid + applied

Vendor side

Bill paid

parallel cycle

PO# trace

5 records

7+ field positions

Inventory

Untouched

(crossdock transient)

Failure modes

What can go wrong

PO sent but vendor never shipped

PO transmitted, no Item Receipt after expected lead time. Customer-side SO blocked. Vendor outreach required.

Vendor bill prematurely entered

Sign of receipt confusion. Pause and reconcile against PO state.

PO.memo missing customer PO# thread

Customer PO# threading broken. Vendor can't reference the customer order. Patch PO.memo to SO.otherrefnum; resync to NS.

VendBill tranid/initialtranid don't match expected combo

Expected: " / ". If different, reconcile vs originating PO.

Adjacent flows + diagrams

For developers

Code paths + invariants

Concern	Where
Workflow contract	so_lifecycle_dropship_path
PO ↔ SO link	purchaseorder.createdfrom = transactions.id
VendBill ↔ PO link	vendor_bills.createdfrom = purchase_orders.id
PO# thread on PO	PO.memo = SO.otherrefnum
PO# thread on PO lines	PO.lineFields.links[].tranid = " / "
PO# thread on VendBill	memo = tranid (parsed) = initialtranid (parsed) = customer PO#
EDI 850 outbound	STUB — manual email today

// Path 3 threading invariant — verify across customer + vendor side SELECT po.memo, so.otherrefnum, vb.memo, vb.tranid FROM purchase_orders po JOIN transactions so ON po.createdfrom = so.id LEFT JOIN vendor_bills vb ON vb.po_id = po.id WHERE so.id = ? // expected: po.memo = so.otherrefnum AND vb.memo = so.otherrefnum // AND vb.tranid LIKE '%' || so.otherrefnum

Changelog

Dated trail

Date	Round	Change	Touched by
`2026-05-26`	`R592`	Split into master + 3 path-detail docs; added Customer PO# threading schema (including VendBill memo/tranid/initialtranid).	Mike + Claude

Schema · data contract

The machine-readable spec

workflow_type · so_lifecycle_dropship_path · risk_level · 3.

Customer PO# threading (Path 3 · PO + vendor side)

NS record	Field	Sample value
Sales Order	`bodyFields.otherrefnum` (thread origin)	`"72622"`
Purchase Order	`bodyFields.memo`	`"72622"`
Purchase Order	`lineFields.links[].tranid`	`"1217 / 72622"`
Item Receipt	inherits via NS std linkage from PO	traces via `createdfrom = po.id`
Item Fulfillment	inherits via NS std linkage from SO — `createdfrom = so.id`	carries `otherrefnum = "72622"`
Customer Invoice	`bodyFields.otherrefnum`	`"72622"`
Vendor Bill	`bodyFields.memo`	`"72622"`
Vendor Bill	`bodyFields.tranid`	`"1217 / 72622"`
Vendor Bill	`bodyFields.initialtranid`	`"1217 / 72622"`

D1 tables touched

Table	Operation
`purchase_orders`	INSERT (createdfrom, memo, lineFields)
`item_receipts`	INSERT (createdfrom = po.id)
`item_fulfillments`	INSERT (createdfrom = so.id, otherrefnum)
`customer_invoices`	INSERT (otherrefnum threaded)
`customer_payments`	INSERT
`payment_applications`	INSERT
`vendor_bills`	INSERT (memo, tranid, initialtranid all carry PO#)
`vendor_payments`	INSERT
`transactions`	UPDATE (SO + PO + Invoice status changes)
`events`	INSERT (purchaseorder.created, so.finance_alert_fired, vendor_bill.paid, order.closed)

Runbook · when it breaks

It broke at 2am

Scenario · PO sent but vendor didn't ship

Path 3 stalled.

Check PO status: SELECT id, status, trandate FROM purchase_orders WHERE createdfrom=?
Vendor outreach: contact vendor with PO + customer PO# combo (e.g. "1217 / 72622").
Check premature vendor bill: SELECT * FROM vendor_bills WHERE po_id=? — if present, pause + reconcile.
Alternate source: close original PO, post Item Receipt against the new source.

Scenario · PO.memo missing customer PO# thread

Threading invariant broken on customer side.

Verify: SELECT po.memo, so.otherrefnum FROM purchase_orders po JOIN transactions so ON po.createdfrom=so.id WHERE po.id=?
Patch: UPDATE purchase_orders SET memo = ? WHERE id = ? with SO.otherrefnum value.
NS push back: stage proposed_action to update NS PurchOrd.memo.

Scenario · VendBill tranid/initialtranid don't match expected combo

Vendor-side threading broken.

Verify: SELECT memo, tranid, initialtranid FROM vendor_bills WHERE createdfrom=?
Expected pattern: memo = customer_po_number, tranid = initialtranid = " / ".
Patch all three fields: threading depends on all three carrying the same combo.

Logs to check

workflow_run_log
events · purchaseorder.created + so.finance_alert_fired + vendor_bill.paid
proposed_actions · HITL for PO/VendBill creation

Backlog · open questions

What's not done

STUB
Finance automation alert — NS workflow build
Platform fires events.so.finance_alert_fired. NS workflow build pending next round.
STUB
EDI 850 outbound PO transmission
Today: manual email of PO PDF. EDI 850 outbound would auto-transmit the PO + threading to EDI-enabled vendors.
OPEN
Auto-match VendBill on receipt by tranid combo
When vendor invoice arrives referencing the " / " combo, auto-match against the originating PO without manual keying.

Drop-ship via PO · vendor side runs in parallel

Trigger conditions

Driscoll 3 dropship lines via Cardinal Foods

PO create → ship → receipt → fulfillment → Finance · vendor bill parallel

Create PO FROM SO

Transmit PO to vendor

Vendor ships

Item Receipt against PO

Item Fulfillment to customer

★ Finance alert (STUB)

Customer Invoice

Customer Payment · SO closes

Vendor Bill entered (parallel)

Vendor Bill paid per vendor terms