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Substitution and Allocation Options

The Fulfillment Engine uses the following inventory-specific fields for substitution and allocation:

• Auto Allocate. If you select the check box in this field, then the Fulfillment Engine can allocate the product.
• Auto Substitute. If you select the check box in this field, then the Fulfillment Engine can substitute another product when the product is unavailable in inventory.
• Allocate Below Safety. If you select the check box in this field, then the Fulfillment Engine allocates from the available quantity even if the allocation creates available stock that is below the safety level. If you do not select the check box in this field, then any allocation that can create available stock that is below the safety level is not completed.

You can set allocation and substitution options for the following information:

• Products. For more information, see Setting Up Product Fulfillment.
• Inventory types. For more information, see Setting Up Product Fulfillment.
• Inventory locations. For more information, see Adding Products to Inventory Locations (End User).

  For products, the attribute values are Yes or No. But for inventory types or inventory locations, the attribute values are Yes, No, or Default. A Yes or No value means override the value for the product and use this value. A Default value means use the value for the product.

Conditions for Auto-Substitution

If the Fulfillment Engine is running and any of the conditions in this topic is met, then the Fulfillment Engine attempts to allocate a substitute product from the inventory sublevel, then from the parent inventory, and then from the fulfillment center using the order priority.

The following conditions must apply for auto-substitution to occur during fulfillment:

• The Inventory Location and Product 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 order line item exists.
• The value for the AllocationRule system preference is 1. For more information, see Component Parameters for the Fulfillment and Part Locator Engines.

  NOTE:  FS_PROD_ALLOC_RULES can have values of Yes, No, and Default. Administrators can specify these values in the List of Values view of the Administration - Data screen. These values are not related to the AllocationRule values.

After an internal order for a substitute is automatically generated to replenish a product that has an inventory amount below its minimum quantity, internal orders for the substitute continue to automatically generate because the inventory amount of the product remains below its minimum quantity. Consequently, auto-substitution is not supported for internal orders.