Allocation process in SAP FMS

Order Allocation Run

Use

Order allocation run (ARun) ensures that stock is assigned to orders according to the changing requirements in
fashion. The special situation in the fashion industry requires an optimization of the assignment of existing stock to
open requirements. In a stock shortage situation, order allocation run ensures an optimal assignment of stock to the
open requirements and distributes the stock currently available to the respective sales orders or stock transport
orders (STO) according to certain calculation logic at a specific time. If the ordered quantities are larger than the
available stock, you can use ARun to achieve the best level of customer satisfaction under the given circumstances
in your business. You can use the order allocation run workbench to view and correct results of allocation if
required.
 Features

You use ARun to ensure that specific stock is assigned to an order and is not consumed by any other order.

You can choose articles for which you want to carry out an order allocation run before the delivery of the stock. You
can make this setting in the Logistics: DC Fashion tab of the article master using the transactions MM41,42,or
43. You can deactivate this feature if you do not want to carry out an allocation run for an article at a plant level. The
allocation type always determines the allocation run. The allocation type forms a framework and contains all
allocation rules and checks that have been defined for a certain business process.

In the fashion industry, there is a difference of several weeks or months between the date of order creation and
delivery date of goods to the customer. During this time period, the quantity of the ordered material or the available
stock can be reduced for various reasons. The ARun tool helps you decide how this insufficient quantity should be
distributed among the existing orders.

Receipts and issue documents that are a part of retail merchandise distribution are not included in the ARun
process. If the Storage location MRP Indicator is set as 1: Storage location excluded from MRP(under Article
Master >> Logistics DC 2), then the stock from the storage location will not be considered during order allocation
run.

More Information

 Steps in Order Allocation Run

 Order Allocation Run Workbench

Steps in Order Allocation Run

Use

The allocation process begins with the creation of sales orders and stock transport orders (STO) along with the
availability check. Only STOs with Sales and Delivery (SD) delivery as a follow-on document are considered for
allocation. The allocation run is executed in normal and simulation modes. You can carry out the allocation with all
functions both online and in the background.

Process

The following steps are involved in the ARun process:

1. Selection

In this step, you determine the stock that allocation run accesses. The system considers the physical stock (stock at
the storage location and batch stock) and future receipts (purchase orders and shipping notifications) when it
allocates the stock. For more information, see Selection Rules.

2. Requirement Filter

In this step, you can verify if the selected orders have the following checks:

o Checks for sales orders

 Header Credit Check: The system checks credit at the order header level.

 Cancel Date: The system checks the order cancel date at the order item level.

 Season: The system checks that items within an order have a valid season assigned.

o Checks for stock transport orders

 Season: The system checks that items within an order have a valid season assigned.

Depending on the result of these checks, the orders can then be excluded from the allocation process. For more
information, see Requirement Filter

3. Requirement Grouping

In this step, you define conditions for grouping requirements that fulfill the same criteria during an order allocation
run. Grouping the requirements is a prerequisite when you use spread distribution allocation logic. For more
information, Requirement Grouping.

4. Stock and Requirement Sorting

In this step, you define a rule to sort requirements and stock. Depending on your settings, you can override the
original sequence of incoming orders for the allocation process. This sorting rule enables optimal distribution of an
insufficient quantity of stock among the existing orders according to specific criteria. For example, customers with
high priority due to their sales volume or their importance in the market are given preference and are supplied with
goods first. For more information, see Requirements and Stock Sorting.

Note
If you do not define any sort rule or the sort rule does not contain a sorting parameter, the requirements and stock
are sorted in a random sequence.
5. Allocation

In this step, the system allocates the available stock to the selected orders according to the defined allocation logic.
Allocation is possible using the FIFO (First-In-First-Out) principle or the principle of proportionate distribution based
on the requirement quantity (spread logic). Requirement grouping is a prerequisite when you use spread allocation
logic. When you use FIFO logic with the Only Up To Release Quantity checkbox selected and if you have defined
a maximum quota for a schedule line in the release rule, the system allocated only up to that quantity. For more
information, see Allocation.

6. Release Rules

In this step, the system checks whether the minimum percentage of quantities that are defined at different levels of
release rules are fulfilled. If not, the allocated quantity can either be reserved for a certain order or the stock is used
for the next selected order. For more information, see Release Rule.

Result

In the next step, you can create a delivery for the articles that have passed the release checks and then post the
goods issue.

Selection Rules

Use

When you start the order allocation run, you must enter the Open-To-Delivery date for sales orders and stock
transport orders in the respective requirement tabs of the allocation run. You can also enter a Open-To-
Delivery date for future receipts in the Future Receiptstab of the allocation run. This time window depends on the
date fields you have defined in the allocation type.

For example:

 For a sales order, you have selected the Confirmed Delivery Date (EDATU) as the open-to delivery date in the
allocation type. When you execute ARun, only those sales orders that have confirmed delivery dates within the date
range of the Open-To Delivery Date (specified on the screen) are considered for allocation.
 For a STO, you have selected the Confirmed Delivery Date (EINDT) as the open-to delivery date in the allocation
type. When you execute ARun, only the STOs that have confirmed delivery dates within the date range of the Open-
To Delivery Date (specified on the screen) are considered for allocation.
 For future receipts, the Open-to-Delivery date depends on the goods receipts date defined in the allocation type. If
you choose Item Delivery Date (EINDT) and execute ARun, only those receipts that have item delivery dates within
the date range of the Open-To Delivery Date (specified on the screen) are considered for allocation.

For more information about Open-to-Delivery date adjustment and related example, see Dynamic Open to Delivery
Date Adjustment.

Prerequisites

You have defined a stock selection rule in Customizing under Logistics - General SAP Fashion
Management Order Allocation Run (ARun) Online ARun Selection Maintain Rules for Stock Selection .
You can then assign the relevant rule in the allocation type to decide which stock can be used to cover
requirements.

Features

Requirement Selection

You can decide which requirements should be selected when you execute order allocation run using the
transaction ARUN. Only those articles which are ARun-relevant are considered for allocation. The types of
requirements available are:

 Sales orders

The sales orders are created when you enter sales documents in Sales and Distribution (SD). Only those sales
orders which fulfill the following criteria are considered for allocation:

o Items with ARun-relevant articles

o Schedule lines with a confirmed quantity greater than zero
o The delivery-related status at header and item level is complete
 Stock transport orders

Only the STOs that have the SD delivery as a follow-on document and which fulfill the following criteria are
considered for allocation.

o Items with ARun-relevant articles from the supplying plant

o Schedule lines with a committed quantity greater than zero
o The shipping data is complete
 Purchase-to-order
 To ensure that the PTO sales orders are allocated, select the Order Allocation Required checkbox in Customizing
under Logistics - General SAP Fashion Management Order Allocation Run (ARun) Cross-
Applications Shipping Maintain Order Allocation Run for Special Sales Documents .

Stock Selection Rule

The stock selection rule determines how the system selects stock elements during an order allocation run. For each
stock selection rule, you must specify which stock elements that the system uses for requirements during an order
allocation run. Stock elements can be of the following types:

 Batch stock for articles that are batch managed

 Storage location stock for articles that are not batch managed
 Customer consignment stock for stock available at the customer site
 Purchase-to-order (PTO) and make-to-order (MTO) stock or a specific sales order
 Future receipts that include purchase orders, shipping notifications and production orders.
 Vendor Consignment

For physical stock, you must enter segments for each stock type and activate the corresponding stock segment to
be used for allocation.

More Information

 Steps in Order Allocation Run

 Dynamic Open to Delivery Date Adjustment
 Execution of Order Allocation Run