Jira code: ME-32
Recommend alternate item at the time of sales order entry. Does not cover item substitution at the time of picking for manufacturing or shipping. When creating an item there will be an item substitution tab only for inventory and assembly item. In sales order, there will be an icon showing available item substitution
Prerequisite
Before setting up Item Substitution, be sure to enable the Multi-Location Inventory feature in your account. For instructions, see Enabling the Multi-Location Inventory Feature.
Feature
The feature uses two icons that describe the conditions about the inventory for a line-item on the sales order record.
The Alert icon indicates that there is not enough stock for the line-item. Refer to the procedure below to use a substitute item.
The Transposition icon indicates that there is enough stock for the line-item. However, you may still opt to use item substitution at your discretion. For example, the current quantity on-hand is enough to meet the current order but it is nearing depletion. You know you have some other orders in the queue that need the item. After fulfilling the current sales order, you may not have enough for the others.
With Item Substitution on Sales Orders, you can create substitute items for supported Item types. During the sales order entry process, you can then review available substitute items on the sales order record. This capability allows you to address situations of inventory shortage of items during the sales process.
Item substitution is supported for the following item types:
- Inventory Item
- Lot and Serial Numbered Inventory Item
- Assembly Item
- Lot and Serial Numbered Assembly Item
Availability: The Item Substitution on Sales Orders feature is available in the Supply Chain Management SuiteApp. For more information about this SuiteApp, see the Availability section of Supply Chain Management Reports. You may also contact your NetSuite account manager.
Limitations
- The feature supports sales orders only.
- The feature does not support item substitution at the time of item selection for manufacturing or shipping.
- The feature does not support Web Store Features.
Use of Item Substitution requires that you check the Enable Item Substitution box for both standard and custom roles. This means that you must customize standard roles who want to use item substitution, to be able to check the box on each role record. For more information, see Roles and Permissions for Item Substitution.
To substitute items during sales order entry:
Click the Item Substitution column for the line-item.
Click the item substitution icon for the line-item.
In the Item Substitution pop-up window:
Under Primary Information, view the original item details. The values are read-only.
View the list of substitute items. The list includes on-hand inventory values across available locations where the quantity available is greater than zero.
Check the Select box for the substitute item you want to use.
Click Submit.
When you have completed the sales order, click Save.
Original Items in Item Substitution
When substituting items, limitations might require the user to select another substitute for a substitute item. For instance, Item A is substituted by Item B. During the sales process it turns out that Item B cannot meet the quantity requirement after all, and is replaced by Item C.
To allow you to keep track of original items and their substitutes, the original item is retained on the sales order record under the Original Item column.
Enabling Item Substitution on Sales Orders
After the Supply Chain Management SuiteApp has been installed, you must enable the Item Substitution feature in your account.
To enable Item Substitution:
Go to Transactions > Management > Supply Chain Management.
On the Supply Chain Management page, click the Preferences link.
On the Supply Chain Preferences page, click Edit.
On the Features subtab, check the Item Substitution box.
Click Save.
When you have enabled the feature in your account, set up the roles records of those who will use Item Substitution. For more information, see Roles and Permissions for Item Substitution.
Roles and Permissions for Item Substitution
You must enable Item Substitution for all standard and custom roles who are going to use the feature. Go to Setup > Users/Roles > User Management > Manage Roles. Edit or customize the role to set up the following:
On the role record, under the Authentication section, check the Enable Item Substitution box.
Note Administrators and full access users can access Item Substitution records.
For standard and custom roles that need to be able to set up item substitution on item records,
Script Deployment
After you have customized a role to access Item Substitute records, an administrator must also add the role to the Item Substitute Transactions CS script deployment.
To add access to item substitution records for a role:
Go to Customization > Scripting > Script Deployments (Administrator).
Locate the Item Substitute Transactions CS script.
Click the Edit link for the script.
On the Audience subtab, in the Roles field, select the roles you want to have access to item substitution records.
You can select multiple roles by holding down the Ctrl button while selecting each role.
When you have finished, click Save.
Adding Substitute Items to Item Records
On assembly and inventory item records, you can set up substitute items directly on the item record.
Note Setting up of substitute items through import using CSV files, or web service is not currently supported.
To add substitute items to an item record:
Go to Lists > Accounting > Items.
Search for the item you want to add substitutes for.
Click the Edit link for the item.
Click the Item Substitution subtab.
In the Substitute Item dropdown list, select an item and then click Add.
Repeat to add more substitute items.
When you have finished, click Save.
There is currently no limit to the number of substitute items you can add for an item. You can go back to the item record anytime to edit the substitute items.
Note If you add Item B as a substitute of Item A, it does not follow that Item A is also a substitute of Item B. You have to go to Item B’s record to add Item A as a substitute.
Customizing the Sales Order Form for Item Substitution
To work with item substitution on a sales order, you have to create a custom sales order form.
To customize the sales order form for item substitution:
Go to
Click Customize at the top of the form and then select Customize Form.
in the Name field, enter a name to identify the form.
Click the Sublist Fields subtab.
Under the Label column, locate Item Substitution and Original Item. Select the Show box for each.
Click Save.