GlossaryKind of term: Cost and economicsOrder confirmation
What is an order confirmation?
An order confirmation is your written acceptance of the customer's purchase order, stating price, quantity, drawing revision, delivery date and terms.
It refers to the customer's order number and to your own quote, and states line by line what you will make. For a call-off under a framework agreement you usually confirm only quantity and date, because price and revision are fixed in the contract; a call-off naming another revision is a change. Internally it is often the moment the order goes into the ERP and process planning starts.
How does an order confirmation work in practice?
A purchase order can differ from the quote: a quantity that was not in the quantity breaks, a new revision, an earlier date, certificate or inspection report requirements, or the customer's purchasing terms instead of yours. Confirming without comparing can turn such a difference into the deal, for example ten parts at the unit price for fifty, or revision D at the price of revision C. A confirmation with a different price, quantity or date from the order is, as a rule, a new offer the customer still has to accept. Which general terms apply when both sides refer to their own depends on the governing law and the order of the documents. A difference missed at confirmation often only surfaces at post-calculation.
What is an order confirmation often confused with?
An order confirmation is not a quote: the quote is your offer, the confirmation your acceptance of the customer's order. Nor is it the purchase order: the customer sends that, you send the confirmation back.
How do you see an order confirmation in Blake?
In Blake quote versions are kept as PDFs, with export to CSV and JSON, and each part keeps its revisions. When the purchase order arrives, you set it beside the version it was placed against.
Frequently asked questions
What should an order confirmation include?
The customer's order number and your quote number; per part the drawing revision, quantity, unit price and delivery date; which terms apply, and the certificates and inspection reports required. For subcontracted finishing, also the specification you priced.
What if the purchase order differs from my quote?
Do not confirm blind. State the difference, such as another quantity, a new revision or an earlier date, and confirm with the price and lead time that go with it, or recalculate first.