Scenario 3: Using the Fulfillment Workbench to Handle Exceptions
In this scenario you look at some ways that the Fulfillment Workbench can be used to keep orders moving smoothly through demand fulfillment; including the ability to quickly:
Process large orders.
Fulfill backorders.
Exclude lines from a group.
The Fulfillment Workbench can be used to quickly process large orders without loading the data into the component's queue. For example, let us assume that the order MSR0000027 has 2,000 demand lines. You want to ship this order.
An authorized user can navigate to the Fulfillment Workbench page (Inventory, Fulfill Stock Orders, Fulfillment Workbench) and enter the following:
In the Action field, select the option Ship.
Enter the search criteria in the Selection Criteria group box to identify the large order. For this order you select the check boxes for the fulfillment states of the demand lines (Select Unfulfilled, Select Releasable, Select Released, Select Confirmed). You enter specific information in the Source, Source Bus Unit, and Order No fields in order to pick up just this order.
Click the Process button to write the transaction request to the staging tables. The transaction request can now be processed by the fulfillment engine using the Fulfillment Requests process. If you have selected automatic schedule processing on the Processing Defaults page of this workbench (use the Process Default link) or the Setup Fulfillment - Fulfillment Engine page, then the Fulfillment Requests process is launched when you click this button.
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Fulfillment Workbench page . You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
Use the Transaction Maintenance page (SCM Integrations, Transaction Error Handling, Maintain Transactions, Transaction Maintenance) or the Message Log to monitor the status of your transaction.
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Transaction Maintenance page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
In order process this transaction. The system must have been properly setup. For more information on the setup of the Fulfillment Workbench, see the "Utilizing the Fulfillment Engine" topic.
See Understanding Fulfillment Engine Processing Groups and Commit Levels.
The Fulfillment Workbench is a good vehicle to quickly process backordered demand lines when available stock arrives in the warehouse location. For example, let us assume there is one order with 10 lines. You originally used scenario 2 to process the order (see the above section: Scenario 2: Using Direct Processing in Demand Fulfillment). The Reserve Materials process was run; 2 lines were backordered and 8 lines were moved to the Releasable state. You then used the Front-End Shipping process to move the 8 demand lines to the Shipped state. Right before you ship the 8 lines, you receive a shipment from our vendor that enables us to fulfill the 2 backordered lines. You want to ship the entire order together. Currently, 2 lines are backordered in the Unfulfilled state and 8 lines are on the shipping dock in the Shipped state.
An authorized user can go into the Fulfillment Workbench and create a transaction to take the 2 backordered demand lines, fulfill them with the stock from the inventory business unit and place the demand lines in the Shipped state. In the process, you can assign the same shipping ID as used on the 8 demand lines on the shipping dock.
Keep in mind that you need to reproduce any shipping documents that you might have printed for this shipment before you decided to add the 2 demand lines .
Once the new supplier shipment is received and putaway into the inventory business unit, you can use the Fulfillment Workbench to bring the 2 backordered lines to the Shipped state. First, an authorized user navigates to the Fulfillment Workbench page (Inventory, Fulfill Stock Orders, Fulfillment Workbench) and enters the following:
In the Action field, select the option Front End Ship.
Enter the search criteria in the Selection Criteria group box. For this order, select the Select Unfulfilled check box, and enter the correct values in the Source, Source Bus Unit, and Order No fields. Note that the Front End Ship launched by the Fulfillment Workbench can pick up Unfulfilled demand lines whereas the Front-End Shipping Requests process page can only pick up Releasable demand lines. This is possible because of the settings for the workbench are different from the process page.
Select the Demand Lines link to access the Demand Lines page of the workbench.
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Fulfillment Workbench page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
On the Demand Lines page of the Fulfillment Workbench, view all the lines of the order that meet our search criteria. On this page:
Select the demand lines using the Select check box on each demand line row.
Click the Add to Queue button.
Click the Fulfillment Queue link to access the Fulfillment Queue page of the workbench.
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Demand Lines page of the Fulfillment Workbench. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
On the Fulfillment Queue page, see both our demand lines that are currently backordered. Click the Ship Defaults link to access the Picking/Shipping Overrides page.
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Fulfillment Queue. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
On this Picking/Shipping Overrides page, enter the Ship ID that was used for the other 8 demand lines of this order. Using this page, the Shipping ID override is applied to the entire transaction request. Click the OK button to return to the Fulfillment Queue page.
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Picking/Shipping Overrides page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
On the Fulfillment Queue page, click the Process button. The entered request is written to the staging tables to be processed by the fulfillment engine using the Fulfillment Requests process. If you have selected automatic schedule processing on the Processing Defaults page of this workbench or the Setup Fulfillment - Fulfillment Engine page, then the Fulfillment Requests process is launched when you click this button.
Use the Fulfillment Workbench to process a group while excluding part of that group. For example, let us assume that you want to ship all the orders within a particular load ID except one demand line. The group level is defined as a particular load ID (in this case, the load ID 0000000002), the detail level can be used to exclude a specific order or line in that load (in this case, order MSR0000029, line 2). Any demand lines being excluded at the detail level must exist within the selection criteria entered at the group level.
Creating the Group
First, create the group. An authorized user can navigate to the Fulfillment Workbench page (Inventory, Fulfill Stock Orders, Fulfillment Workbench) and enter the following:
In the Action field, select the option Ship.
In the Search By field, select the option Group.
Enter the search criteria in the Selection Criteria group box to identify the group. For this group, enter load ID 0000000001 that contains 4 demand lines. All the demand lines are in the Released state, so you can select the Select Released check box.
Click the Add to Queue button.
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Fulfillment Workbench page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
Click the Orders link or the Demand Lines link to view the data within the queue.
Excluding Part of the Group
Exclude one demand line in this Load ID from the shipment. Once the group is created, select the Demand Lines link to access the Demand Lines page of the workbench. To exclude line 3 of the MSR0000011:
Select the Exclude check box on the demand line row. This action also selects the Select check box.
Click the Add to Queue button to add the exception to the fulfillment queue.
Click the Fulfillment Queue link to access the Fulfillment Queue page.
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Demand Lines page of the Fulfillment Workbench. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
You can also exclude an entire order using the Orders page of the workbench. If the order is very large, you will want to avoid loading the order into the Fulfillment Queue by using the Fulfillment Workbench page to create an exclusion using the Detail option of the Search By field.
Viewing the Fulfillment Queue
Click the Fulfillment Queue link to access the Fulfillment Queue page where you can view the group and detail levels. On the Fulfillment Queue page:
Notice that the Group ID 1 selection criteria are listing in the Fulfillment Queue Group section.
Notice that the Fulfillment Queue Detail section displays the excluded order line.
Click to Process button to write the transaction request to the staging tables to be processed by the Fulfillment Requests process.