Inventory Allocation - Sales Order Entry

The sales order entry program is a central component of the scheduled shipping system.  As each line item is entered on a sales order, the system compares the scheduled shipping date of the item to the scheduling window entered into the system.  If the inventory item on the order is to be shipped within the scheduling window, the system reserves (allocates) available on hand inventory to the order line and the allocated to line is saved with a status of "O" (open).  If there is not enough available inventory to complete a line on the order and the order falls within the scheduling window, the system allocates the available inventory quantity to the sales order line.  The balance of the order line is then backordered (saved with a line item status of "B") at the time that the partial shipment is invoiced.  

The Sales Order Line Item file stores a scheduled shipping date for each sales order line item entered into the system.  The scheduled shipping date indicates when each order line item should be shipped out to a particular customer.  The scheduled shipping system makes use of the schedule dates stored in the sales order file so that the user can fill sales orders on the dates that they are scheduled to be shipped.  By using the system to fill only orders that will be shipped out in the near future, the user is able to keep a minimum amount of inventory in stock.  The user is also able to print picklists for only the orders that need to be shipped immediately, reducing the amount of paperwork in the warehouse to a minimum.

If the sales order line items being saved do not need to be shipped within the scheduling window, the Sales Order Entry program backorders the total amount of each inventory item (regardless of the available quantity on hand) and adds the quantity being backordered to the total reserved quantity for the item in the Inventory Master file.

During the order entry process the operator may enter the following "default" dates on the first (Order Header) screen.  These dates are used as "defaults" during line item entry, as each line item can have different dates associated with it.

Required Date The date the customer needs the item(s).

Scheduled Date        The date the items should be shipped.

Cancel Date   The date that the order should be canceled if not shipped yet.

Note: The default cancel date can be set using the system control parameter F248: XXXXXXXX.

As each order line item is entered the system stores the scheduled, required and cancellation dates with each sales order line item in the sales order line item file (SOLINE).  The following text describes the operations and procedures used to process orders based on the scheduled shipping date.

The scheduled shipping system makes use of the schedule dates stored in the sales order file so that the user can fill sales orders on the dates that they are scheduled to be shipped.  By using the system to only process orders that will be shipped out in the near future, the user is able to keep a minimum amount of inventory in stock.  The user is able to print picklists for only the orders that need to be shipped immediately, reducing the amount of paperwork in the warehouse to a minimum.

The sales order entry program is a central component of the scheduled shipping system.  As each line item is entered on a sales order, the system compares the scheduled shipping date of the item to the "scheduling window".  If the item on the order is to be shipped within the scheduling window, the system performs the following when the line item is saved:

Updates the RESERVED and TOTAL RESERVED fields in the inventory master.

          2.  Allocates available on hand inventory to the line item.

          3.  Saves the item with STATUS = "O" (open)

If there was not enough available inventory to completely fill the line the system allocates the available inventory quantity to the sales order line.  The item is saved with STATUS="O". Then at invoicing time, the balance of the order line is backordered (saved with a line item status of "B").

Note: See Ship Complete documentation for information on ship complete orders.

If the sales order line items being saved do not need to be shipped within the scheduling window, the order entry program does the following:

          1.  Updates the TOTAL RESERVED field in the inventory master.

          2.  Saves the item with STATUS = "O" (open)

Based on system control parameters the system will only print picklists for items scheduled for shipment within the scheduling window.

Note: See the documentation on Sales Order Entry for information as to how the system determines whether or not to print a picking list.

On a regular basis, your company can use the information entered in the Sales Order and Inventory files to produce a report of the items and quantities required to fill orders through a particular scheduled shipping date.  By comparing the order quantities and schedule dates for  each item to the inventory on hand quantities, lead times (amount of time it takes to reorder the item), and safety stock levels, the Purchasing Department is able to order only the quantities of each item that will be required to fill current orders.    This is done automatically by the "Purchasing Requirements Report".