Ingram PO Numbers Explained

Ingram PO Numbers Explained

An Ingram PO number is 8 characters in length and contains the following information:

1. Facility ID: the Ingram facility the order is for.  This is where the order should be shipped.
2. Format(s) of the book(s) on the order
3. The order date (the date the PO was created) expressed as the Julian date
4. The order type

Sample PO Number:

The Ingram PO number can be broken down like this:

•      The first character in the PO number is the facility ID:
•      Note that a 1-character facility ID is standard in a PO number but there is an also a 2-character ID used in some applications.

• The second character of the PO number describes the format of the items on the order

The next three digits of the PO number are the date the order was created, expressed as the Julian date.  Please note exceptions to this rule:

•  Manual POs created for stock offers might contain a Julian date of “888.”
•  In the unlikely event that we exceed a maximum allowed number of POs created in a single day, overflow POs might contain a Julian date greater than 365 (“500,” for example.).

The next two characters of the PO number (characters 6 and 7) are random letters or numbers used to define internal sequencing. These characters can be used internally to aid in identifying the creator of the PO.

• Transfer POs are an exception to this rule.  Ingram uses these two characters to display the “from” distribution centers (example: DZ034CIT identifies a transfer to “D” from “CI”).

The final character in an Ingram PO is referred to as the PO suffix.  This character describes the order type.  Valid PO suffixes are:

How long do POs remain open?

PO cancellation dates vary by PO suffix