Siebel Field Service Guide > Fulfillment > Parameters for the Fulfillment and Part Locator Engines >

Substitution and Allocation Flags

The Fulfillment Engine uses the following inventory-specific attributes in its logic:

• Auto Allocate. If this flag is set, the Fulfillment Engine can allocate this product.
• Auto Substitute. If this flag is set, the Fulfillment Engine can allocate substitute parts in lieu of this product.
• Allocate Below Safety. If this flag is set, the Fulfillment Engine allocates from available quantity even if this allocation takes the available stock to below safety level. If the value is No, then any allocation that can take the level to below safety is not carried out.

Allocation and substitution options are set at three levels in Field Service:

• Products. For more information, see Products View.
• Inventory types. For more information, see Inventory Options Subview.
• Inventory locations. For more information, see Product Inventory View.

  At the product level, these attributes are binary values, either Yes or No. But at the inventory type level or inventory location, they may be Yes, No, or Default. A Yes or No value means override the value defined at the product level and use this value. A Default value means use the value defined at the product level.

Conditions for Auto-Substitution

If the Fulfillment Engine is running and any one of the following conditions is met, the Fulfillment Engine attempts to allocate a substitute from the inventory's sublevel, then from the parent inventory, and then from the fulfillment center (based on order priority), assuming there are no exact products at any of these locations.

All of these conditions must be met for substitution to take place automatically during fulfillment:

• The Inventory Location and Product Level are set to Yes.
• The Inventory Location is set to Default and Product Inventory Types are set to Yes.
• The Inventory Location and the Product Inventory Type are set to Default and the Product is set to Yes.
• The Inventory Location, the Product Inventory Type, and the Product are set to Yes.
• A substitute product for the specified line item exists.
• AllocationRule = 1. For more information, see Parameters for the Fulfillment and Part Locator Engines.

NOTE:  FS_PROD_ALLOC_RULES can have the values Yes, No, and Default. These values can be specified in the Administration - Application screen > List of Values view. These values are not related to the AllocationRule values.