This guide explains how to configure features for managing backorders and schedule them to run effectively. It is intended for system administrators.
When shipments are short due to low inventory, aACE can help you manage backorders. After you set up this feature, your system watches for incoming inventory replenishment shipments, then automatically creates outgoing shipments to fill waiting backorders.
Setting up backorder management requires:
- Enabling the preference
- Configuring the automation schedules
1. Enabling the Backorder Management Preference
Because effective backorder management hinges on accurate inventory records, this feature is typically not enabled when aACE is first deployed. Once your organization is ready, you can easily activate this feature:
- Navigate from Main Menu > Internal > Management Preferences > Order Entry.
- Click Edit, then mark the flag to Enable back order management.
- Click Save.
2. Configuring the Automation Schedules
The aACE scheduling engine helps things run smoothly for your team members while accomplishing tasks on the time-frame best suited to your organization. It provides two schedules you can set to determine when aACE checks for and processes backorders.
- Navigate from Main Menu > System Admin > System Preferences > Automation Schedules > Schedule Setup.
- Mark the flags for these two options:
- 7792 — Primary Backorder Process
- 8050 — Secondary Backorder Process
- Configure the schedule settings (e.g. Run Every..., On Days..., etc) so each process runs at an appropriate time.
Note: aACE automatically saves updates you make in the Schedule Setup tab.
Understanding the Backorder Processes and Scheduling Effectively
The Primary Backorder Process evaluates changes in your available inventory from incoming shipments and it generates outgoing shipments for backordered items. You can run this process frequently (e.g. every 30 minutes).
The Secondary Backorder Process evaluates changes in available inventory from inventory adjustments, voids, and returns. Then it generates outgoing shipments for backordered items. This process should run less frequently (e.g. at the end of the day). This is because it evaluates updates that happen less often through a typical work day.
For example, a team member might void an existing order, releasing inventory back into the the Available count. However, that increase in Available product might only be momentary because the team member intends to create a new order using that same product.