Estimate Availability for Order Lines

Get an estimate of whether Order Management can fulfill each order line.

In this example, get an estimate for an order line you create for customer Computer Service and Rentals for item AS54888.

1. Go to the Order Management work area, then click Tasks > Create Order.

2. On the Create Order page, set the Customer attribute to Computer Service and Rentals.

3. On the catalog line, search for AS54888, then click Add.

4. Click Shipment Details.

5. Click Estimate Order Availability.

6. Examine the value in the Availability Status column.

   Availability Status	Description
   On Time	Order Management can fulfill the order line on time.
   Delay of x Days	Order Management can fulfill the order line, but only after a delay. For example, a status of Delay of 5 Days means Order Management can fulfill the order line five days after the Requested Date.
   Supply Not Available	Order Management can't fulfill the order line.
   No Data Was Retrieved	An error exists in the data or in the application setup. For details, ask your order administrator.

Adjust Attributes That Affect Availability Status

If the status displays a delay, and if the customer can't accept the delay, or if the status indicates Order Management can't fulfill the order line, then adjust one or more of these attributes to reduce delay.

Attribute	Value to Set
Request Type	Arrive On
Requested Date	Set to a later date.
Shipping Method	Set to a faster method. For example, change it from standard ground shipping to overnight priority shipping.
Ship Lines Together	No For details, see Ship Order Lines in Shipment Sets.
Latest Acceptable Date	Set to a later date.
Allow Partial Shipments of Lines	Yes For details, see Specify Shipping Details for Sales Orders.
Shipment Priority	Yes For details, see Specify Shipping Details for Sales Orders.
Warehouse	Set to a warehouse that's physically closer to the ship-to address, or who maintains a superior fulfillment performance.
Supplier	Set to a supplier who maintains a superior fulfillment performance.
Supplier Site	Set to a supplier site that's physically closer to the ship-to address.
Demand Class	Set to a higher priority.
Allow Item Substitution	Yes
Ship-to Address	Set to an address that's physically closer to the warehouse or the supplier. Make sure your customer can accept the new ship-to address.
Shipment Set	Leave empty.

Click Estimate Order Availability again after you adjust attributes. Order Management updates and displays the status according to your adjustments.

Example

Assume you discover the transit time is long for some reason. You can set Request Type to Ship On to reduce or remove the delay.

Value	Description
Ship On	Use the date when order fulfillment expects to ship the order line from the fulfillment source, such as the warehouse or a supplier.
Arrive On	Use the date when order fulfillment expects the carrier to deliver the order line to the ship-to address.

The Request Type attribute affects how Order Management calculates availability status. Order Management will attempt to reduce or remove the delay according to the value you select.

Another Example

Set the Ship Lines Together option to one of these values.

• Yes. Calculate availability status according to the order line that causes the longest delay. Use this setting when your customer must receive order lines in one shipment.

• No. Calculate availability status differently for each order line. Use this setting when your customer can accept receiving order lines in more than one shipment. It might reduce delay for some lines.

Points to Consider

• Availability status provides an estimate according to the fulfillment environment that exists when you click Estimate Order Availability.

• Order Management fulfills each order line according to the environment that exists when you click Submit.

• The fulfillment environment is constantly changing. Another sales order might reserve inventory that was available to fulfill your order line, the carrier might experience variation in their delivery time, and so on.

• The actual delivery date might be different than the estimate.

How Order Management Calculates Availability Status

Here's how Order Management gets availability status.

1. Determines the total inventory.

2. Subtracts the committed inventory from the total inventory.

3. Subtracts the expected ship date from the expected arrival date.

4. Calculates the time required to ship the item from the warehouse to the customer.