Supply Allocation matches inventory supply sources to demand sources. Enable Supply Allocation to meet demand requirements with the right product, amount, and location, by the required date. The Supply Allocation feature can expand inventory commitment calculations to consider future inventory on supply orders in addition to current, on-hand inventory.
To enable supply allocation:
- Go to Setup > Company > Enable Features.
- Click the Items & Inventory subtab.
- Check the Supply Allocation box.
- To initiate the required data check, click Save.
- On the Supply Allocation Migration page, click Submit.
6. click Refresh to update the status of the data check. After the data check is complete, the system informs you if the check was successful. The allocation migration page is used to validate existing inventory data.
7. If the data check is unsuccessful, a message indicates that we need to contact NetSuite Customer Support.
8. If the data check is successful, return to Setup > Company > Setup Tasks > Enable Features. Check the Supply Allocation box on the Items & Inventory subtab and then click Save.
Features Additions on the Sales order– New column were added
Allocated Supply– Will show any future supply allocated to this order(drillable to details)
Supply Required bye date– this is an Input (This is the day to ship out to customer)
Expected ship date– when supply allocation is on, this becomes auto-calculated and is not editable.
Days late- shows the difference between supply required by date and expected ship date.
Other new changes are
| Before Enabling | After Enabling |
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This feature allows an end-user to allocate products from open purchase orders, transfer orders, work orders, or inbound shipments (future inventory) to sales orders as sales orders are placed. NetSuite adds a new record called “Order Allocation Strategy”. This record defines the allocation rules the system follows when a sales order is entered for this item. The allocation strategy is selected on the sales order transaction line and determines the allocation logic.
When we enable the Supply Allocation feature, two predefined allocation strategies are available by default. Note that these default strategies only consider inventory that is currently on-hand, not future inventory.
- Predefined Available Allocation Strategy – this strategy uses available inventory quantities in the system to allocate them to the orders. The allocation may be partial.
- Predefined Complete Allocation Strategy – this strategy will only allocate the inventory quantities to the order lines if they can be completely fulfilled with the inventory that is available.
To create an allocation strategy:
- Go to Setup > Order Management > Order Allocation Strategies > New
- The available options for the strategy record can be seen in the screenshot above. This includes the types of future transactions to include, allocation method, allocation period, and allocation method, etc.
- Save it.
Set Supply allocation preferences:
Once we have determined the strategy, next to adjust our ‘Supply Allocation Preferences’. To do this,
- Go to Setup > Order Management > Supply Allocation
- On the ‘Demand Preferences,’ adjust the sorting options and check the ‘Perform Supply Allocation After Transaction Entry, Update or Delete’.
Sorting Option (How demand order should be prioritized for allocation)
Allocation timing ( when allocation should occur)
(Note, when we clear this box, we will be reallocating inventory through a manual process)
3. In the ‘Supply Preferences’ tab, we can select the default strategies that were created in the previous step. Note, the strategies affect only the transaction types defined below.
This strategy set appears as the default selection of on-demand order lines. we can change the default to another strategy on an individual order.
- Click Save
Once an order is entered, the system allocates according to the allocation strategy. It will look at available inventory in stock, as well as the transactions outlined above, to allocate future inventory to the sales order and system automatically calculated the Expected shipping date.
When we click on the allocated supply link, a popup window will appear and that shows the allocated supply details.
