There was a case when an Engagement Manager was on vacation, his project manager sent out an urgent PO request.
The related quotation and cost documents had already been approved. However, I learned that the final version of the contract had not yet been counter-signed. The internal policy requires that all contracts be fully executed with a signature from both parties prior to committing the company to any related third-party costs such as the issuance of a PO.
Although all the line items were keyed into the ordering system, the back-up Engagement Manager was able to use the information I provided to hold back approval of the PO. He was then able to raise the concern of unsigned contract and helped to communicate with the project manager.
The project manager worked hard to get all the documents settled. The PO was released quickly and the resulting shipment of equipment to the customer site arrived on time.
