## Send an outside process out on a PO

1. In the procedure, turn on **Outside Processing** for the step.
2. Start a run that uses the procedure. The run step’s right rail shows an **Outside Processing** section.
3. In the **Outside Processing** section, open the **Select a Purchase Order** dropdown and pick an existing purchase order, or click **Create PO** to make a new one. Either way ION links the purchase order to the run step.
4. Track the PO’s live status from the run. The PO line’s description records the run step it came from.

To swap the purchase order, clear the linked one first, then link another. Clearing the link leaves the purchase order and its line in place.

Run steps flagged as an outside process are not batched: a sign-off or redline on one does not propagate to sibling runs.

When the run is part of a batch, linking, clearing, or creating a purchase order prompts **Apply to Batch?**. Choose **Just this run** to change only the current run, or **All runs** to apply the same purchase order to the matching step across every run in the batch.

## Add an outside process step to a running run

To add an outside process to a run already in progress, add the step with a redline:

1. On the step you want to add the outside process after, open the **More actions** menu and choose **Add Step After**.
2. Enter a **Step Title** and turn on **Is Outside Processing**. You can also switch to **Copy from Library** to select an existing step.
3. Click **Put in redline and create** to redline the parent step and add the new step. If the parent is already in redline, the button reads **Create**.