Purchase Orders

In this post I want to discuss Purchase order's.

Firstly a definition from our old friend Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

A purchase order (PO) is a commercial document issued by a buyer to a seller, indicating the type, quantities and agreed prices for products or services that the seller will provide to the buyer. Sending a PO to a supplier constitutes a legal offer to buy products or services. Acceptance of a PO by a seller usually forms a once-off contract between the buyer and seller so no contract exists until the PO is accepted.[1] POs also usually specify additional conditions such as terms of payment, incoterms for liability and freight responsibility, and required delivery date.

Are they friend or foe.
They can save the business time but the main problem is the lack of flexibility.
This can be an advantage when dealing with hardnose suppliers.
let the buyer beware.
Are you using PO's? Let us know your views and ideas.
Thanks!