Getting started with IBM Sterling Order Management

What is IBM Sterling Order Management? ............................................................................... 1

What is the order fulfillment lifecycle? ..................................................................................... 2
What does the Distributed Order Management application do? ......................................... 3
What does the Inventory Visibility application do? ............................................................... 3

What is IBM Sterling Order Management?

IBM Sterling Order Management manages the complexities of business models

serving buyers that use multiple channels and those supporting many fulfillment
processes simultaneously. IBM Sterling Order Management consists of the
following business applications:
• Distributed Order Management
• Inventory Visibility
• Catalog Management
• Logistics Management
• Supply Collaboration
• Reverse Logistics
• Application Platform

Order management involves the tracking and processing of orders from inception to
fulfillment. It also manages the people, processes, and data that is connected to
the order as it moves through the order lifecycle. The order lifecycle includes:

• Inventory availability: Verification that inventory is available for a product

or services.
• Order created: Orders are initiated across a range of possible channels
such as web, mobile, call center, store, marketplaces, procurement
systems, and others.
• Order verification: A person or system verifies order initiation and collects
pertinent data for the order.
• Service availability: Includes appointment scheduling, installation,
delivery service, exchanges, and returns.
• Inventory promising: A system or person commits an inventoried product
or service to order.
• Order fulfillment: The promised order inventory is dispatched through a
distribution channel for shipping, pickup, service, or digital fulfillment.
Status of fulfillment process is managed and tracked through the
confirmation of fulfillment completion.
What is the order fulfillment lifecycle?

IBM Sterling Order Management includes all of the activities from draft order to
shipped order. An order document can be a sales order or a service order.

Here are the definitions of each of the states:

• Draft order state: Orders are created through one of channels such as web,
call center, or store. The Draft order is the first stage of the order until it is
confirmed. An order can be modified until it is confirmed.
• Created order state: After the order is confirmed, the order status moves
to the Created state. The Distributed Order Management application picks
up the order for fulfillment when the order is in the Created status. At this
stage, the order contains all the necessary information that is needed to
process, such as the customer address, order lines (containing items and
the required quantity), and the payment information.
• Scheduled state: As soon as it is determined which Nodes have sufficient
inventory or capacity to fulfill an order or service request, the order is
Scheduled. Order Management provides robust scheduling rules to
determine where to source the inventory. Based on this information, a
delivery date is applied to the Order and conveyed to the customer. After
the delivery date is applied, the order marked as Scheduled.
• Released state: After determining the Nodes to fulfill an order, the order is
released to that Node. If the order contains any provided, delivery, or value-
added services (such as kitting and labeling), that can also be fulfilled by
the Node. When the Order is released to a Node, it is marked as Released.
• Sent to Node state: The order is sent in the form of an order release to the
node.
• Shipped state: The order is shipped to the customer from a specific node.
The Node that is selected for order fulfillment creates the shipment for the
 order. Based on the mode of fulfillment - delivery, shipping, or pick up, the
Node fulfills the order. After the order is shipped to the customer, the order
is marked as Shipped.

What does the Distributed Order Management application do?

The Distributed Order Management provides the capabilities to configure all types
of customer orders (products and services). The business rules are tied to the
pipelines and the order fulfillment processes. As the sales order flows through the
application, you to manage the lifecycle of sales orders by:
• Managing and monitoring orders from all channels and coordinates
fulfillment processes across the Enterprise.
• Checking inventory availability and providing rule-based, dynamic
allocation across all internal and external fulfillment locations.
• Providing a single order repository that enables customers, channels, and
suppliers to access real-time order information throughout the order
fulfillment lifecycle.
• Providing flexibility to handle multiple order fulfillment processes in a
single instance and handling order processes with event-driven and rule-
based order coordination.

A sales order is one of many document types. You can configure the order
management capabilities for all types of customer orders (products and services).

What does the Inventory Visibility application do?

The Inventory Visibility application coordinates inventory across multiple Sites,

Enterprises, and Participants. You can track inventory at internal and external Ship
Nodes. The application:
• Provides real-time inventory availability picture by synchronizing multiple
demand and supply types.
• Identifies shortages and allows inventory planners to resolve problems by
balancing inventory, through the allocation of Sales Orders, execution of
Purchase Orders, or movement of inventory.
Learn about sales orders

What are sales order?........................................................................................................................ 1

What makes up a sales order?......................................................................................................... 2
What is a line relationship? .............................................................................................................. 2
What's a sales order-specific rule? ................................................................................................ 2
What order attributes can you create? .......................................................................................... 3
What are special instruction types?............................................................................................... 3
When to use reason codes? .............................................................................................................. 3
What order validation methods are available? ........................................................................... 4

What are sales order?

A sales order refers to a document that is used to sell items or services, either
from business to business (B2B) or business to customer (B2C). Sales orders are
created through one of these channels, call center, or store. A sales order can
contain order lines. Order lines are the component lines in an order split logically
by fulfillment method, schedule, item, etc.

Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) and CSR Managers can view order
information, such as:

•Order details
•Alerts
• Releases
• Invoice details
• Order shipments
CSRs use the application to:

• Check the status of an order and order shipments

• Modify or cancel an order
• Perform product, price, and availability checks
• Review and act on alerts
• Ensure on-time execution of orders
What makes up a sales order?

An order can be broken down into:

• Order header: The order header contains all the Order Lines in an Order.
The order header information pertains to attributes such as billing address
and payment information. It also pertains to attributes, such as order
identification, order creation, shipping, and financial information.
• Order line: The order line contains information about each individual order
line.
• Order release: The order release contains all of the lines that were
released to a ship node.

What is a line relationship?

A line relationship helps logically group order item lines together in an order. A
line relationship can be used to group:
• Order item lines with the same items but different fulfillment rules
• Order items that are closely related to each other in a kit

For each relationship type you create, you need:

• Relationship name
• Short description
• Long description
• If you want to enable sorting on this relationship type

What's a sales order-specific rule?

Order-specific rules and attributes pertain only to the order document type, such
as sales order or transfer order. You can define different configurations for
individual order document types without impacting other applications or order
document types. You can configure the following order-specific rules:
• Order attributes
• Order validation
• Instruction types
• Modification reasons
• Backorder reasons
 • Note reasons
• Line relationship type
• Purge criteria

What order attributes can you create?

An order attribute is a code that defines a condition for an order. These attributes
are used by IBM Sterling Order Management to track orders under specific
conditions and or process orders specific to the conditions defined by the
attribute.

The attributes that you can define are:

• Order types
• Order sources
• External references for the order level
• External references for the order line level
• Order address types
• Line types
• Other

What are special instruction types?

You can add special instructions to an order document. You can create your own
special instructions codes or use the default instruction type codes provided:
• Gift
• Ordering
• Other
• Pick
• Pack
• Ship

When to use reason codes?

There are three types of reason codes. You can define your own codes for each of
these reason codes:
• Backorder: These codes describe why an order was back-ordered. The
default backorder reason is no stock.
• Modification: These codes define why a modification was made by a user.
Modifications reason codes are also used as Hold reasons when you put an
order on hold. For modification codes, you have one more option, Reprice
 order with reduced quantity. If you select this option, it means that if this
modification reason code is applied, the order is repriced.
• Note: These codes define why a note was entered.

When you define a new reason code, include reason code, long description, and a
short description.

What order validation methods are available?

You can select from the following validation methods:

• Verify the seller on the order document by same as enterprise, which is
defined in enterprise hierarchy, customer of enterprise or none
• Verify the buyer on the order document by same as enterprise, which is
defined in enterprise hierarchy, customer of enterprise or none
• Validate that the customer ID on an order is defined for the enterprise
• Validate that the vendor ID on an order is defined for the enterprise
• Validate that the product items on the order belong to the enterprise
catalog
Learn about order modifications

Why modify an order? ................................................................................................................1

What are order modifications rules? .........................................................................................1
Can order modification rules be overridden?............................................................................2
What happens when an order is on hold? .................................................................................2

Why modify an order?

Most documents flow through the process without requiring any intervention by a
customer service representative (CSR). However, there are times when
modifications are required, such as changing credit card information or item
quantity. It is necessary to decide the modifications allowed for each modification
type, modification level, and status combination. Order modification requests
include:
• Order cancellation
• Quantity and or product changes
• Payment changes
• Inventory shortage
• Address changes
• Date changes
• Special requests

By default, an order can be modified at any time until that order is in a fulfillment
process.

What are order modifications rules?

You can configure modification rules that determine:

• What parts of an order document can be modified?
• When in the order’s lifecycle the modifications can be made?

Modification rules are defined for each document type within process type. You
determine which modifications are allowed for each document type:

• Modification type indicates that the type of modification carried out on the
order document type. An example of a modification type is adding an order
line to an order.
 • Modification level indicates the level at which a particular modification type
is carried out. Levels include header, line, release, release line, negotiation,
negotiation line, shipment, and receipt.
• Modification status is applied to a particular level and a particular
processing status. For example, if modifications are requested for an order
document type at the header level or at the line level, then the order lines
and the order release lines are picked up for validating whether
modifications are allowed for those order statuses. If modifications are
requested at the release or release line level, then order release lines are
picked up for validating whether modifications are allowed for those order
statuses.

Can order modification rules be overridden?

You can override the modification rules only if you are part of the System User
Group. This feature is generally made available to users at a supervisory level only
so that they can consider the implications of overriding the system settings before
proceeding.

What happens when an order is on hold?

Orders can be placed on hold, preventing them from being processed by certain
transactions, and preventing certain modification types from being applied. Using
the Applications Manager, you can configure which transactions and modification
types are disallowed for orders on a particular hold type. Hold types can be
created at either the order or order line level. Orders and order lines can be placed
on hold manually or automatically, by applying a particular hold type.
Learn about order scheduling

What is order scheduling? .........................................................................................................1

What are order scheduling rules? .............................................................................................1
How do scheduling rules get assigned? ....................................................................................1
What is the schedule order transaction? ..................................................................................2

What is order scheduling?

Order scheduling is a process that helps balance customer demands with your
ability to fulfill that demand. Scheduling rules are set up at the enterprise level.
The rule defined by the enterprise of the order transaction. You can define two
types of order scheduling rules:
• Manual - You can run the scheduling rule manually at the time it is needed
• Time triggered - You can define the time at which the scheduling rule must
run

Scheduling considers all possibilities and constraints such as:

• Inventory availability
• Resource availability
• Geographical location of nodes
• Customers to fulfill an order

What are order scheduling rules?

Scheduling rules are used to:

• Determines node preferences
• Checks inventory availability
• Controls driving date and lead time
• Adheres to the defined optimization types and priorities
• Reserves inventory at the nodes (if defined)

How do scheduling rules get assigned?

Scheduling rules are assigned to orders by using one of these methods:

• The scheduling rule is passed as part of the order data when creating an
order.
 • A customer service representative selects a scheduling rule when creating
an order.
• The order uses the default SYSTEM Scheduling Rule if a scheduling rule is
not assigned.

When you are creating scheduling rules for Enterprises, there must always be one
scheduling rule that is named SYSTEM to be used as a default scheduling rule
throughout the system.

What is the schedule order transaction?

The Schedule Order transaction typically follows a create Order transaction. When
the Schedule Transaction runs, the following statuses can be achieved:
• Back Ordered (1300)- When there is not enough inventory in any of the
Nodes to fulfill an Order.
• Work Orders (2140) - If some additional work needs to be performed to
fulfill an order. Example - Gift Wrapping or Provided Services.
• Scheduled (1500) - When the supply is met (on hand or future inventory)
and the Nodes have adequate inventory to fulfill an order.
• Released (3200) - Based on the inventory considerations, the Order is
moved to the Release state.
• Awaiting Service Completion (2150) - If the Order has a Service Item, and
Work Order is not generated, the Order moves to Awaiting Service
Completion status.
• Procurement PO/TOCreated ( 2130/2160)- When the inventory is not
available in the shipping Node and must be procured from another Node,
the Order moves to the Procurement PO/TOCreated status.
• AwaitingChainedOrderCreation (1600) - When the inventory is unavailable
in a shipping Node or any Nodes within an Enterprise and must procure
inventory from an external Node, a Chained Order is created, and the Order
moves to AwaitingChainedOrderCreation status.

Here is an example of the schedule transaction:

Learn about order sourcing

What is order sourcing? .............................................................................................................1

What to consider before creating sourcing rules? ....................................................................2
How to define a sourcing rule? ..................................................................................................2
What is level of service? ............................................................................................................2
What is a distribution group? .....................................................................................................3
What are notification types, times, and dates? .........................................................................4
What basic sourcing configurations need to be set up? ...........................................................5
What to know before configuring sourcing rules for products being shipped? ........................5
What to know before creating a sourcing rule for products being delivered? .........................6
What to know before creating provided services sourcing rules? ............................................6
What to know before configuring procurement sourcing rules? ..............................................6

What is order sourcing?

Sourcing is a process of determining the location from which a product is shipped

or delivered. Sourcing is also used to determine the locations from which product
can be replenished to a particular delivery node from which the final delivery can
be made. The selection of the shipping location can be based on:
• What product is being shipped
• Ship to location
• Product availability at different locations
• Total number of shipments that are required to complete the request (one
or multiple shipments)
• Prioritization of Nodes, based on geographical locations
• Customer specified constraints, such as ship together dependencies and fill
quantities being met from the selected Node
• Ability to perform services for a Work Order (Provided and Delivery
Services)
• Ability to perform Value Added Service (VAS) such as gift wrapping
• A customizable Order Sourcing classification (for example, customer
attribute as a sourcing parameter)
Example

A customer places an order for 10 units of a TV and all 10 units of this item are
available at Node1. The process of procuring these items from Node1 to fulfill the
order is sourcing.

What to consider before creating sourcing rules?

Here is a list of items to considers before you create sourcing rules:

• Are there any existing sourcing rules?
• Is inventory information available to the system?
• Is inventory maintained externally?
• Have you defined a default distribution node group?

If you can answer all of the questions, then you are able to configure a smooth
process for both sourcing and fulfilling orders.

How to define a sourcing rule?

You can define specific sourcing rules for sourcing products that are being
shipped, delivered, or procured. A sourcing rule can be created by specifying one
or more of these key parameters:
• Item classifications or item ID
• Geographical region of the Ship-To location or Ship-To Node
• Fulfillment type
• Seller organization
• Sourcing criteria

For each sourcing rule, you can specify a sequence of node or distribution group to
be used for sourcing the product.

What is level of service?

You can define different levels of services for your customers. These levels must
be configured at the hub and are administered only by the hub user. At an
Enterprise level, you can schedule and define the notification time for each level
of service. The levels of service can be defined at both the order header and the
order line level. Based on the selected level of service, different delivery or
shipping dates are promised to the customer. You can search the order header or
order line to determine notification schedules, based on the level of service on the
order, and then uses the specified notification schedule to calculate the expected
ship date. Order lines with different levels of service are never a part of the same
release whereas the bundled items always have the same level of service.

For rush orders, the minimum notification time can be configured only at the node
level and overrides the item and the node’s regular notification time.

Example: Rush order

Sometimes a customer can want an order to be shipped quickly. The customer can
opt for a Rush Order Level of Service, which ships in less time and has a fee that is
associated with it. For rush orders, the minimum notification time must be less
than the minimum notification time for normal orders. In addition, the node
notification schedule must be modified to handle the rush orders. For rush orders,
the minimum notification time can be configured only at the node level and
overrides the item and the node’s regular notification time.

What is a distribution group?

A distribution group is a set of nodes or organizations that are defined for

distributing products or services. These distribution groups are then associated
with sourcing rules to fulfill orders. Nodes can be in multiple distribution groups.
You can group nodes based on:
• The proximity of shipping locations
• Grouping all nodes belonging to the enterprise
• Grouping all supplier nodes into one distribution group

Additionally, distribution groups can be used to group:

• Product items
• Service items
• Procured items
IBM Order Management also uses an optimization model for making a node
selection. A priority number is specified for each node or organization and that is
used for node selection based on the optimization mode being used for
scheduling. If you do not define sourcing rules for an organization, the application
uses the Optimization login such as distance to ship location to determine the
appropriate node to use.
Example: Distribution group

In this model, the distribution groups are named West Coast, Central, East Coast,
Southern, and Mexican. Each distribution group contains multiple nodes. Some
nodes belong to multiple distribution groups.

You have three distribution groups:

• Distribution group D1 is based on all of the nodes in Southern and Mexican.

• Distribution group D2 is based on the East Coast.
• Distribution group D3 is Central and West group.

When the sourcing rule is applied, it searches on D1 first. If the inventory is not
found in D1, then it searches on D2, then D3.

What are notification types, times, and dates?

Notification types include:

• Organization level notification: You can define your own notification
schedule when you create an organization. The organizational level
notification is the number of days before the expected ship date that you
want the order to be scheduled to a node.
• Node level notification: Order notification and promising rules can be
defined for individual nodes. When scheduling an order, if the notification
 time is defined at a node level, this notification time takes precedence over
the organizational level notification.
• Item level notification: The notification time can be defined at an item
level for every node. When scheduling an order, if the notification time is
defined at the item level, then item level notification takes precedence over
the node level and the organization level notifications.

Notification time

Notification time represents the minimum number of business hours or days it

takes to ship an order after it has been scheduled to a node. You can create
various notification schedules based on calendar timeframes.

Notification date

Notification date is calculated as Expected shipment date - Maximum working

hours (including the shipping Node’s calendar) - Advanced notification days.

What basic sourcing configurations need to be set up?

You must set up some basic sourcing configurations, such as determining whether
an organization uses the defined sourcing rule or not. You do not need to define
complex sourcing rules if an organization deals with just a node or two. However,
if an organization deals with multiple nodes within itself and some external nodes,
you might want to define sourcing rules to ensure that the optimal nodes are used
to handle shipping and service fulfillment. Basic sourcing needs to be configured
for:
• Default fulfillment type
• Products being shipped
• Products being delivered
• Services being delivered

What to know before configuring sourcing rules for products

being shipped?

Before you configure a sourcing rule for products being shipped, you need to know
this information:
• Fulfillment type
• Order sourcing classification (associates this rule with an order sourcing
classification)
 • Seller organization is this organization or all sellers
• Product characteristics are item ID and sourcing rule or all items and a
sourcing rule
• Product is being shipped to this region, this node, or this node type or any
address

What to know before creating a sourcing rule for products being

delivered?

Before you configure a sourcing rule for products being delivered, you need to
know this information:
• Fulfillment type
• Order sourcing classification (associates this rule with an order sourcing
classification)
• Seller organization is this organization or all sellers
• Product is being shipped to this region, this node, or this node type or any
address

What to know before creating provided services sourcing rules?

Before you configure a sourcing rule for provided services, you need to know this
information:

• Fulfillment type
• Order sourcing classification (associates this rule with an order sourcing
classification)
• Seller organization is this organization or all sellers
• Product characteristics are the service and item ID
• Product is being shipped to this region, this node, this node type or any
address

What to know before configuring procurement sourcing rules?

Before you configure a sourcing rule for procurement, you need to know this
information:

• Fulfillment type
• Order sourcing classification (associates this rule with an order sourcing
classification)
• Seller organization is the organization
• Product characteristics are item ID and sourcing rule or all items and a
sourcing rule
• Product is being shipped to a node
Learn about order monitoring

What is order monitoring? .........................................................................................................1

What is a status monitor? ..........................................................................................................1
What is a process monitor? .......................................................................................................2
Why put an order on hold? ........................................................................................................2
How do alerts work? ..................................................................................................................3
What are alert queues?..............................................................................................................3
What is date type monitoring?...................................................................................................3
What is milestone monitoring? ..................................................................................................3
What is a monitor event? ...........................................................................................................4
What is a pipeline monitor rule? ................................................................................................4

What is order monitoring?

Order monitoring is defined as the monitoring components that are used to

measure and report unexpected conditions and delays in an order document’s
lifecycle. A scheduled background program monitors orders, order lines, and order
releases as they move through their respective pipelines. There are two types of
order monitors:
• Status monitors
• Process monitors

What is a status monitor?

A status monitor is a type of order monitor that monitors orders that stay in a
particular status for a set amount of time. When the configured time is reached,
the actions you define in the status monitoring rule definition work area are
performed.
Example

A status monitor is configured to monitor orders in the back-order status.

• If an order stays in the back-order status for more than 1 hour, an alert is
sent to the Level 1 Customer Service Group.
• If the order continues to stay in the same status for more than 2 hours, then
an email is sent to the Level 2 Customer Service Group.
 • After 3 hours, an email is sent to the manager.

What is a process monitor?

A process monitor performs proactive monitoring of orders within a business

process workflow. Process monitors are set up for a specified pipeline within a
process. When a process monitor background program runs, it analyzes each
document against the pipeline’s rule set to determine whether the document
meets the conditions that are specified in the ruleset. If an order is found that
matches the conditions in the ruleset, then the system runs the associated action
or service for that condition. The different monitoring components of a process
type are:
• Date type
• Milestone
• Monitor events
• Pipeline monitoring rules
Example

Monitor orders that are not released 48 hours before their requested delivery.

Why put an order on hold?

Orders can be placed on hold, preventing them from being processed by certain
transactions and preventing certain modification types from being applied. You
can configure which transactions and modification types are disallowed for an
order on a particular hold type. Hold types can be created at either the order or
order line level. Orders and order lines can be placed on hold manually or
automatically by applying a particular hold type.
How do alerts work?

An alert is a message that is directed to a user or an alert queue about a

transaction that needs manual intervention. An alert can come in different formats
such as emails and faxes. Alerts are generated due to:
• Failures in order, shipment, load, or inventory management.
• Informational checkpoints in order, shipment, load, or inventory
management.

An alert can have any one of the following statuses:

• Open - Unassigned: Alert is created but not assigned to a specific user ID or
Queue.
• Open - Assigned: Alert is created and assigned to specific User IDs or
Queues.
• WIP: Alert resolution is in progress.
• Closed: Alert is addressed and needs no further resolution.

What are alert queues?

Alert queues are set up to distribute alerts to users. You can determine which
users receive different alert types by assigning them to queues. You can also set
up alert priorities and which action to raise when certain conditions are met for
the alert.

What is date type monitoring?

Date type monitors store the requested shipment date. You can define custom
date types. These dates automatically appear in the configuration screen and the
order or shipment dates.

What is milestone monitoring?

Milestone monitoring is a type of date that determines when an order moves from
one status to another. A milestone represents a significant point in the processing
lifecycle that can be used as a criterion for monitoring. Milestones can be defined
at the:
• Order
• Order line
• Order release
• Order release line level
What is a monitor event?

A monitor event starts a service when the monitoring rule conditions are met.

What is a pipeline monitor rule?

Pipeline monitoring rules are configured by using the monitoring rule components
to monitor orders and shipments throughout their lifecycle in fulfillment and
shipment process-type pipelines.
Learn about order fulfillment

What is order fulfillment? ..........................................................................................................1

What happens when part of an order cannot be fulfilled? .......................................................1
What is a chained order? ...........................................................................................................2
When does an order have a derived order? ..............................................................................2
When does an order have a work order? ...................................................................................2
How is the node determined for a work order? ........................................................................3
How do orders get released?.....................................................................................................4
How is a schedule release different from order release? .........................................................5

What is order fulfillment?

An order is said to be fulfilled when the shipment is shipped from a ship node.
Order fulfillment has three states:
1. Released: All the orders are requested to be released to their respective
shipping node
2. Sent to Node: The order is sent in the form of an order release
3. Shipped: The order is shipped to the customer from a specific node

What happens when part of an order cannot be fulfilled?

Sometimes, a regular order flow can take deviations to fulfill an order. Therefore,
more order types are supported:
• Chained orders
• Derived orders
• Work orders, for example, orders provided or delivery service lines or may
have special requests for gift wrapping from customers
What is a chained order?

Chained orders are created when some portion of the order cannot be fulfilled by
the system and must be fulfilled through external systems (third party). The
chained order must be fulfilled first for the complete order before the order moves
to the fulfilled status. Any modification that is made to the parent order after the
chained orders are created might be propagated to each chained order.
Example

Assume that an Order SO1 is placed for five units of a TV. The inventory available
in the Enterprise is three units. To fulfill the order, you might want to create a
purchase order for two units of a TV with an external supplier. This purchase order
becomes a chained order to the parent order, SO1.

When does an order have a derived order?

Derived orders are subordinate orders that are created from a parent order. After
a derived order is created, it follows an independent lifecycle from their parent.
Any changes made to the parent order do not affect the derived order. A derived
order does need not be completed for the parent order to be fulfilled and vice-
versa. A link is maintained between a derived order and parent order only for
tracking the progression of the parent order into other various order documents.
There are two types of derived orders:
• Generated, even when the parent order is fulfilled. Example - Creating a PO
from a planned order.
• Newly created, for parallel processing. Example - Creating an exchange
order for return even before a return disposition is done.

When does an order have a work order?

A work order captures the activity that is required to perform a service. The Work
Order is created that uses one of these methods:
• Manual - User initiates a work order.
• Automatic creation based on inventory levels - After a minimum or a
maximum SKU level is reached, the inventory monitors raise a work order
request.
• Automatic creation based on an order - A request is issued by a sales
order for an item on the order.

There are two types of work orders:

 • Service Work Orders - provided and delivery services that are performed at
the customer location.
• Value Added Services (VAS) - Gift wrapping, and labeling are performed in
the warehouse.

The work order is considered complete when all the provided service lines are
completed and all products are delivered. The delivery line is never marked as
complete, but the status is delivered. Work order cancellation depends on the
status of the service lines. If any of the service lines were completed or any of the
product lines were delivered, the work order is marked as completed. Only open
service appointments can be canceled and then associated capacity reservation is
removed.

How is the node determined for a work order?

Each work order is created for the specific node, which owns the work order
execution. The node determination is based on the following criteria:
• If a node specified during work order creation is used.
• If a node is specified on any of the service lines, that node is used as the
work order node.
• If capacity is blocked by an order line, the node of the resource pool that
was used to block the capacity is used.
• If there is no predefined node on the work order or the service lines, the
sourcing rules for either provided service (for a provided service work
order) or delivery service (for a delivery service work order) is used. In this
case, the primary node is used as the work order node.

A node cannot be changed on the work order. If you must change the node, the
Work Order must be canceled and re-created.

The work order is considered complete when all the provided service lines are
completed and all products are delivered. The delivery line is never marked as
complete but the status is delivered. Work order cancellation depends on the
status of the service lines. If any of the service lines were completed or any of the
product lines were delivered, the work order is marked as completed. Only
appointments that are open are canceled and the associated capacity reservation
is removed.
How do orders get released?

Orders can be released in two ways. You can:

• Manually release orders that are in the scheduled status by using the
release options in the order details.
• Schedule release orders by using time-triggered transactions that run at
scheduled intervals.

The order release transaction has various drop statuses:

• Backorder indicates that there was insufficient inventory. For example, if

inventory was available during scheduling but in the period between
schedule and release the inventory became unavailable, then the order
release becomes back-ordered.
• Released indicates that there is enough inventory to schedule the order for
fulfillment. The order is released to the Application Console or another
third-party warehouse management system.
• Awaiting shipment consolidation - indicates that the order is to be grouped
and consolidated with other shipments before it continues through the
pipeline.
• Awaiting WMS interface indicates that the order must interface with the
WMS before continuing in the pipeline.
How is a schedule release different from order release?

Schedule transactions schedule orders to specific ship nodes making sure that the
scheduled ship nodes have enough inventory to process the order. It checks
inventory, fulfillment dates, the Node from where the Order can be fulfilled and
confirms Order fulfillment. This transaction follows the order creation process.
Release transactions release orders to specific ship nodes by breaking an order
into order releases. It maps between order fulfillment and shipment creation. This
transaction is started after the scheduling process.
Learn about order shipments

What is a shipment? ..................................................................................................................1

How do shipments get released? ..............................................................................................1
What is a ship advice order? ......................................................................................................2
What shipment consolidation methods are available? .............................................................2
What are economic shipping parameters? ...............................................................................2
What are buyer parameters? .....................................................................................................3
What is a shipment routing? ......................................................................................................3
What is a routing guide?............................................................................................................3

What is a shipment?

A shipment refers to a group of items, from one or multiple customer orders, that
are collected and sent to the same ship-to address. Shipments are created to
optimize shipping and reduce costs. Each shipment must have the same:
• Ship-to and Ship-from combination
• Seller
• Buyer
• Currency
• Enterprise
• Document type

How do shipments get released?

Shipments can be released in two ways. They can be:

• Automatically released when order lines are released for shipment. This
requires an agent to be running in the background.
• Manually released without order releases by using the create outbound
shipment. After creating such a shipment, you can add order releases to the
shipment.
What is a ship advice order?

Ship advice order configuration refers to advice that is given to a warehouse

regarding order shipments. You can configure the rules that are used when a ship
advice number or order release is generated.

What shipment consolidation methods are available?

You can establish conditions that control the consolidation of shipments. These
conditions are established for the Enterprise and for each Buyer Organization.
Some shipment consolidation methods are:
• Shipment Consolidation Criteria: In addition to the mandatory criteria for
shipment creation, there are optional criteria that can control how a
shipment is created.
• Do Not Mix Constraints: Do Not Mix Constraints are used to create
separate shipments for items that have different values for some common
attributes.
• Economic Shipping Parameters (ESP): ESPs are used in shipping
consolidation. ESP support consolidation of shipments until a weight or
volume threshold is met, or until a certain time elapses. By consolidating
shipments, shipping costs can be reduced.

What are economic shipping parameters?

Economic Shipping Parameters (ESP) settings are used to assess the tradeoff
between:
• Holding a shipment until many items are available to ship together
• Shipping in a timely fashion

Shipments can be held in two ways:

• An existing order is held in anticipation of another order to enable

consolidation.
• Multiple orders are available at the same time and the orders are
consolidated into a single shipment to reduce costs.
o Multiple orders with the same ship date
o Multiple orders with different ship dates
What are buyer parameters?

Buyer parameters are certain conditions that the buyer specified for shipping and
routing.

What is a shipment routing?

Shipment routing is the process of selecting a carrier for a shipment. Carrier

selection is determined by:
• Ship from
• Ship to
• Carrier service level
• Various other shipment characteristics

There are three ways routing can be performed:

• Dynamic routing is based on an external resource, such as a Transportation

Management System or a customized interaction with the buyer.
• Manual routing is established by the console operator.
• Routing guides are based on the Buyer or Enterprise routing guides.

What is a routing guide?

Routing guides are a list of conditions that determine how a shipment is routed
and what carrier and service is used. If a Buyer’s routing guide fails to determine a
carrier, the Supplier’s Routing Guide is used. While routing shipments, the ship-to-
city and ship-from-city influence the carrier determination. Routing guides:
• Are published by either a Buyer or an Enterprise.
• Help you determine the carrier for a shipment.
• Can be maintained externally or internally.
• Can also influence freight terms and ship-to-designations.

A single organization can have multiple routing guides to support varying

requirements.
Learn about payments

What is payment processing?....................................................................................................1

What is a payment status? ........................................................................................................1
What are payment rules?...........................................................................................................2
How do payments get authorization? .......................................................................................2
What is payment settlement? ...................................................................................................3
Example: Create order to payment settlement ........................................................................3
What is payment collection? .....................................................................................................4
What is the difference between asynchronous and synchronous payment processing? ........4
What are payment authorizations at release? ..........................................................................5
What are charge transaction request identifiers? .....................................................................5

What is payment processing?

The payment processing module is one of the major components of IBM Sterling
Order Management. It carries out critical payment-related processes during order
processing. It enables integration with external payment systems. Payment
processing involves three main processes:
• Payment authorization - Verifies the amount to be paid on a payment
method. For credit cards, the payment processing module contacts an
external payment system and blocks the required amount of funds against
the credit card.
• Settlement - Involves the collection of funds for the amount that is
recorded for an order. For credit cards, the payment processing module
contacts the external payment system and collects the required amount of
funds against the credit card.
• Invoicing - Initiates the settlement process in the order lifecycle. Invoicing
can be done either through time-triggered transactions or APIs.

What is a payment status?

Besides the order status, each order is also assigned a payment status. Here is a
list of the payment statuses and their definition:
• AWAIT_PAY_INFO: The payment information was not available at order
creation or during authorization or charging. An order goes to this state if
 the provided payment methods are insufficient to cover the order amount
or the amount to be refunded.
• AWAIT_AUTH: Part of the order amount is pending authorization.
• REQUESTED_AUTH: The authorization request is sent, but a reply has not
been received from the payment system. This status occurs in
asynchronous environments.
• REQUESTED_CHARGE: A charge request is sent, but a reply has not been
received from the payment system. This status occurs in asynchronous
environments.
• AUTHORIZED: The order amount is less than or equal to the authorized
amount. When delayed reauthorization is configured, a status of
AUTHORIZED indicates that the order can move through the Pipeline, but
does not indicate full authorization.
• INVOICED: The order is invoiced completely and there is no open order
amount.
• PAID: The payment was collected for the order.
• FAILED_AUTH: An Authorization Request failed.
• FAILED_CHARGE: A charge request failed.
• NOT_APPLICABLE: Either the document type of the order does not require
payment processing or the seller organization does not require payment
processing.

What are payment rules?

You can configure multiple payment rules per Organization and set one of the
rules as the default payment rule. The default payment rule is applicable for all
the orders unless another payment rule is selected when the order is created. For
example, the payment rule specifies whether payment processing is done through
accounts receivable or IBM Sterling Order Management, the type of payment
processing to be done by the IBM Sterling Order Management – Authorization or
Settlement or both. Payment rules also specify when to publish the invoice. That
is, either at the time of creation or collection.

How do payments get authorization?

Authorization requests can be created by the payment collection time-triggered

transaction by analyzing an order. Also, the payment execution time-triggered
transaction monitors request created for authorization and provides user exits to
process the authorization. After an authorization is received, the payment
collection transaction changes the payment status to AUTHORIZED.
The request collection transaction analyzes orders to create authorization
requests or to flag orders as authorized if the orders were pre-authorized
externally. If an order already has a valid authorization, the request collection
program changes the payment status of the order to authorized. If an order does
not have a valid authorization, the request collection program creates an
authorization request. The authorization request includes buyer information,
payment information, and the amount needed for the authorization.

What is payment settlement?

Payment settlement involves collecting funds for the amount that is recorded for
an order. If an order requires payment processing, it is not purged unless
settlement is completed and order is in PAID status. Here is an example of the
payment settlement process:
1. The payment collection transaction analyzes orders to see whether
collections are needed and generates requests for collection if needed.
2. The payment execution transaction picks up collection requests and calls
external programs to get collections.
3. The request collection transaction analyzes orders to create authorization
requests or to flag orders as authorized if the orders were pre-authorized
externally.
4. If an order already has a valid authorization, the request collection program
changes the payment status of the order to authorized.
5. If an order does not have a valid authorization, the request collection
program creates an authorization request.
6. The authorization request includes buyer information, payment information,
and the amount needed for the authorization.

Example: Create order to payment settlement

Here is an example of a create order to payment settlement. Order status and

payment status states are included in the diagram.
What is payment collection?

Payment collection analyzes the orders and determines the amount for which an
authorization or charge requests is created. Payment collection occurs at two
levels: at creation and at settlement. This transaction requests credit validation
for orders that are pending authorization or charging. You can use this transaction
for creating authorization and charge requests. This transaction works in
combination with the payment execution transaction. Although this transaction
can run independent of that transaction, authorization and collection occur only
after the payment execution dependencies are met. Here are the payment
collection attributes and values for sales orders:
• Base Transaction ID - PAYMENT_COLLECTION
• Base Document Type - Order
• Base Process Type - Order Fulfillment
• Abstract Transaction - No
• APIs Called - requestCollection()

What is the difference between asynchronous and synchronous

payment processing?
IBM Sterling Order Management transactions and user exits can be configured to
communicate asynchronously with external payment processing systems. The
requests for authorization and charge then can be dispatched in a batch mode and
updates can be made immediately, based on the results of the request. The
payment status shows whether the request is still outstanding or is processed.

IBM Order Management transactions and user exits can be configured to contact
an external payment processing system synchronously and wait for the result of
the authorization or charge request. Depending on the success or failure of the
request, the payment status of the order is updated immediately.

What are payment authorizations at release?

Authorizing payments at release controls the number of payment reauthorizations

that can occur when scheduling orders against back-ordered or pre-ordered
inventory. While waiting for the ship date to approach, payment authorizations can
expire and reauthorize several times, locking up the customers’ credit lines. This
costs money when interfacing with a payment gateway. Two delayed
reauthorization configuration options limit the number of reauthorizations to
configurable points in the order cycle. This feature offers the flexibility to
authorize customer credit card transactions at the time of order creation and
during order release.

What are charge transaction request identifiers?

The charge transaction request identifiers feature provides a mechanism to

control when payment authorizations occur on an order and the amount of the
authorization. Instead of authorizations processed automatically at the order
level, this feature provides a finer granularity of control for authorizing payments
pertaining to orders. Authorizations are tied to identifiers, which represent an
entity or a group of entities in an order. For example, payment authorizations are
processed at the order release level or the order line level, instead of only at the
order level, by creating request identifiers for either of the entities. When you
select the charge transaction request for authorization option, it triggers
authorizations by these entities instead of the order’s book amount.
Learn about resource pools

What is a resource pool? ...........................................................................................................1

What is resource pool capacity organization?...........................................................................2
Can resource capacity be maintained externally? ....................................................................2
What is a service slot and slot group? .......................................................................................3
What is a region?........................................................................................................................3
What is a region schema? ..........................................................................................................3
What is a region level? ...............................................................................................................4
How are region schemas defined? ............................................................................................4
What is a service capacity?........................................................................................................4
What is service promising? ........................................................................................................5
What is a capacity rule? .............................................................................................................5
Can capacities be overridden? ..................................................................................................6

What is a resource pool?

Resource pools are a set of individual resources that perform similar operations
such as delivery service and provided service. Resource pools are defined by the
Organization that is providing the capacity. Each resource pool is associated with a
single node. The delivery service resource pool is tied to a physical ship node,
while a provided service resource pool can be provided by a node that is not
necessarily a physical ship node. Resource pools define the service capacity that
is available for delivery and provided services by geographical area and time slots.
Each resource pool owns a certain type of activities and has one or multiple
resources that are associated with it. Many times a single operation requires the
involvement of multiple resource pools.
Example

Craig & Track provides installation services for electrical appliances. The resource
pool at their Denver Node consists of electricians who service the Denver region
and nearby cities. Additionally, the Denver Node maintains another resource pool
for plumbing activities. When Craig & Track receives a request for installing
washing machines, resources from the plumbing and electricians resource pool
jointly complete the service request.
What is resource pool capacity organization?

The capacity organization is the organization that plans the service capacity and is
solely responsible for defining resource pools. The capacity organization is
defined at the time of installation and must not be updated. All resource pools
must belong to one, and only one, capacity organization. The capacity
organization:
• Determines when a single physical location is shared across multiple
organizations without creating multiple logical locations
• Defines multiple slot groups and if slot groups contain multiple service slots
• Provides capacity break up, allowing all Organizations (that are part of the
Capacity Organization) to have visibility to the capacities of all of the other
Organizations that are part of the same Capacity Organization

Can resource capacity be maintained externally?

If you have administrator permissions, you can determine whether an organization

maintains its own resource capacity or if the resource capacity is maintained
externally. If an organization decides to maintain resource capacity externally,
then the resource capacity for all resource pools is gathered in real time during
slot availability checks.

External resource capacity

When the resource capacity is maintained externally:

• It must be defined at the capacity organization level

• User Exit needs to be configured to provide the information between the
external system and this application
• Even though capacity can be kept externally, resource pools must still be
defined in IBM Order Management

If you cannot configure the User Exit, you can flag the resource pool to indicate
that the capacity information is not available. IBM Sterling Order Management
treats this similar to infinite capacity but still takes care of the day-of-week and
regions served considerations.

Example

Craig & Track uses a third-party fleet management tool for defining the slot
capacity for each resource pool. When checking for slot availability, the
application makes a real-time User Exit call to find the slot availability of the
resource pool. This information is passed from the fleet management software to
this application.

What is a service slot and slot group?

Before providing delivery or provide service, an appointment with the customer is

required. An appointment is set up during a specific time slot. A service slot is
identified by a start time and an end time. The capacity organization can define
multiple slot groups, each containing multiple service slots. Only one slot group
can be associated to a resource pool.

What is a region?

Regions are the most basic building blocks for defining geography. Each region is a
set of other regions or a set of postal codes which form a region. Here are some
examples of regions:
• A region US consisting of 50 other regions - the 50 states
• Each state might consist of a varying number of regions - the counties in the
state
• Each county might consist of cities or towns

What is a region schema?

A region schema represents the complete set of regions that define a specific
geographic area. You can define regions in a hierarchical manner so that collected
regions might be defined easily with the least amount of data entry. You can
define as many region schemas as your business requires. While only region
schemas can be defined at the Hub level, they can be associated at the resource
pool level. If a region schema is associated at the resource pool level, it overrides
the region schema at the provider Organization level. Organizations can associate
the region schemas with:
• Shipped product region schema
• Delivery region schema
• Provided service region schema
• Analytics region schema
What is a region level?

Region levels manage the region schemas effectively. Region levels classify
regions into distinct categories to facilitate easier searches later. Region levels
also help to prevent data entry errors. One time setup defines what level can be a
child of which level. This setup helps in prevention of data entry errors such as
adding a country to a state inadvertently.
Example

A city is part of a state. A state is part of a country. You cannot assign a city to a
country.

How are region schemas defined?

Only region schemas can be defined at the Hub level, but they can be associated
at the resource pool level. If a region schema is associated at the resource pool
level, it overrides the region schema at the provider Organization level.

What is a service capacity?

Service capacity is the total amount of service that can be provided by a resource
pool for a particular time slot. Here is a list of the service capacity types:
• Standard capacity is defined on a day-of-the-week basis. It defines the
standard capacity that is serviced by a resource pool.
• Supplemental capacity is defined when an Enterprise has extra capacity
requirements. Supplemental capacity is the additional capacity that a
resource pool offers in addition to the standard capacity. Supplemental
capacity can be defined within each standard capacity period, for a day of
the week. You can consider supplemental capacity while taking an
appointment for a work order. Additionally, you can consider supplemental
capacity while viewing available capacity in the capacity console. For
example, a company with 10 delivery trucks can require a couple of third-
party trucks to deliver products to an important client on a certain date.
When creating a customer through Applications Manager, you can specify
that the customer requires default supplemental capacity.
• Extra capacity is defined for a service type and region-level combination.
For example, deliveries can take longer in the suburb than in the city.
Therefore, you might want to always add a certain amount of time per
delivery for a certain region, for a certain service type.
What is service promising?

A resource pool can either provide delivery services or provided services.

Additionally, a resource pool is associated with a single node. How is the node
that is defined for delivery or provide services:
• Delivery service resource pool represents the node from where products
are delivered
• Provided service resource pool represents the node responsible for
managing the resource pool capacity

When delivery or service requests are received, a number of parameters are

considered before promising the service request. You can associate product lines
with delivery or provided services.

Service promising for delivery service

When promising delivery services, the following points are considered:

• Checking for an available slot for product delivery and recording a customer
appointment based on that availability
• Scheduling the delivery based on the recorded appointment
• Notifying the delivering Node to make the delivery

Service promising for provided service

Typical steps in the promising provided services are:

• Checking for an available slot for the service and recording a customer
appointment based on that availability
• Scheduling the service based on recorded appointment
• Notifying the delivering Node to make the delivery

What is a capacity rule?

You can define rules to set capacity reservation expiration limits and to allow
resource capacity assignments to span across service slots.
Can capacities be overridden?

You can override capacities for:

• A single day
• Different slots in a day
• Multiple days
• All days in a week

You must mention the reason for overriding the capacity. Standard capacities are
defined for a long period and are based on assumptions.
Learn about inventory management

What is inventory management? ...............................................................................................1

What is an inventory item? ........................................................................................................1
What are tag identifiers .............................................................................................................2
What is the definition of supply? ...............................................................................................2
What is the definition of demand? ............................................................................................3
What is supply and demand? ....................................................................................................3
How is inventory adjusted? .......................................................................................................4
What is a segment type? ...........................................................................................................4
What is an inventory safety factor? ...........................................................................................5
How do inventory business rules work?....................................................................................5
What is an Available-To-Promise (ATP) rule?............................................................................5

What is inventory management?

You use the IBM Sterling Inventory Visibility application to manage inventory.
Here is a summary of what you can find in the application:
• Manage inventory across multiple sites, enterprises, and participants
• Track inventory at internal and external Ship Nodes
• Provide a real-time availability picture by synchronizing multiple demand
and supply types
• Identify inventory shortages and allow inventory planners to resolve
problems by balancing inventory (through the allocation of sales orders,
execution of purchases, or movement of inventory)
• Share data and information with external systems, customers, suppliers,
and Business Partners for demand and supply management

What is an inventory item?

An inventory item is a single article or unit of goods or materials available on hand

or in stock. An inventory item can have several attributes such as:
• Inventory Org - The organization that owns the inventory.
• Item ID - The unique identifier of the item.
• UOM - The Unit of Measure (UOM) of the item.
• Product class - The inventory categorization of the item such as irregular
and Factory Defects (FD). Typically, orders are placed for an item and its
product class.
What are tag identifiers

Tag identifiers are inventory identification numbers that differentiate the products
available in your organization. In addition, some products can have slight
variations that require you to differentiate them, physically and systematically,
using identification numbers such as lot numbers, revision numbers,
manufacturing batch numbers, or manufacturing dates. While a lot number
uniquely defines all characteristics of a product, a revision number differentiates
another product. The application uses the inventory tag number to rationalize the
unique product identification situations. The inventory tag number can also
represent a combination of identification numbers for cases where two inventory
identification numbers together uniquely identify the product.

What is the definition of supply?

Supply defines the inventory that is available for fulfilling orders. Supply for an
item is the entire quantity of the item that is received at a node. Supply includes:
• On hand supply is Purchase Orders (POs) or Advance Shipment Notices
(ASNs) received by a Node. It includes inventory that is in Held status or
physically available at the Node.
• Future Inventory includes all inventory is not at a Node or warehouse but is
in-transit.

Supply type is a mechanism that is used to classify different inventory statuses. It

is also used to calculate inventory availability. Supply type controls the inventory
that is made available for consumption. Inventory can move from one supply type
to another during its lifespan, such as from PO Placed to PO Released.

Example

Craig & Track wants to consider only 40% of the future Supply, created by a newly
placed Purchase Order, for Order Promising. The Enterprise speculates a
possibility that the purchase order can be back-ordered. If the supply is shipped
and is in-transit, Craig & Track is more confident that the supply will be received in
a timely manner. The Supply Types PO_Placed and Intransit help you to
distinguish between the different types of future supply (purchase orders that are
recently placed and purchase orders that shipped and are in-transit).
What is the definition of demand?

The demand for an item is the expressed desire to consume a quantity of the item.
It indicates that orders are placed but not fulfilled yet. Only demand can be
fulfilled if sufficient supply exists. Demand includes the following:
• Reservations - the quantity of an item that an Enterprise puts aside for a
customer who intends to purchase the items later.
• Allocated orders - the quantity of an item that an Enterprise puts aside for
orders that exist in the system.
• Future expected demand - the forecasted inventory that will be received
on a future date.

Demand type is used to classify requests for inventory to indicate the level of
commitment made for a request. A single request makes its way through many
demand types as it moves through the fulfillment process.

Example

The demand type of reservations is used to determine how many demands have
reservations against them. A reservation is the quantity of an item that the seller
puts aside for a customer who intends to purchase the items later. Reservations
take a number of inventories out of the available inventory to cater to a
customer’s specific demand. A reservation can be upgraded to order or it can be
canceled.

What is supply and demand?

The time window in which the current supply can be used to fulfill a demand is
referred to as the lifespan. The supply lifespan starts when a purchase order is
placed and ends when the inventory can no longer be shipped. The demand life
span starts when a demand is placed and ends when:
• Demand is fulfilled
• Customer no longer requires the items
• Demand is canceled as it can no longer be fulfilled

Demand can be fulfilled only when:

• The quantity of the supplies is sufficient to fulfill the demand.

• The lifespan of one or more supplies overlaps the lifespan of the demand.
How is inventory adjusted?

You can manually and automatically adjust inventory levels of a specific item
based on the supply type and node. Adjustments can be positive or negative
inventory. The inventory levels are automatically adjusted whenever:
• Purchase orders are placed
• Order lines ship
• A return order has a deposition code that restocks inventory
• WMS uploads inventory changes
• PO or transfer orders are marked as received
• Nightly resync based on a snapshot from an external system

Positive adjustments

Positive adjustments happen when:

• Receive incoming inventory

• Create a record of expected future inventory
• Returns
• Recovering of lost items
• Repaired items

Negative adjustments

Negative adjustments happen when:

• Items ship out

• Theft occurs
• Damage occurs
• Items expired

What is a segment type?

Segment types classify the inventory based on orders or based on customers.

Here is a list of the segment types:
• MTC - Made To Customer
• MTO - Made To Order
What is an inventory safety factor?

Safety factors are the amount of inventory that is excluded from inventory
availability for various purposes. You can define the percentage of current or
future inventory that is excluded during order promising. For the safety factors to
work, you must enable the option at two levels and configure it at three different
levels. Safety factors are applicable when:
• There are other channels for demands for the on-hand inventory.
• The inventory consumption is put on hold for future availability until a point
when the inventory is received and becomes on hand.

How do inventory business rules work?

Inventory business rules set up rules and common codes to calculate product
item availability and handle inventory. Using these rules, specific actions or events
can be configured when the inventory falls outside of a specified level. The
following types of inventory monitors are available:
• On-hand Inventory Monitor
• Event-Based Availability Monitor (Real-time Inventory Availability Monitor)
• Action Based Availability Monitor

What is an Available-To-Promise (ATP) rule?

Available-to-promise (ATP) Rules determine the availability of a product item for

current and future demand. It ensures that product items are not set aside for
future orders when they can be used to fulfill immediate demands. The availability
of a product item is based on current and future supply, lead days, and ATP rule
configuration. Parameters can be set for the amount of time a product item is
available for current and future orders. The application provides a default ATP
Rule, called DEFAULT, that is used when no other rule is used.
Learn about returns

What is reverse logistics? ..........................................................................................................1

What do the returns cycle look like? .........................................................................................2
What are the return order levels?..............................................................................................2
What are the stages of the return process? ..............................................................................3
What logistics attributes are defined for a return order? .........................................................3
What type of payment and payment rules apply to returns? ...................................................4
Order status based on return and received ..............................................................................4
How is service execution defined in the returns process? .......................................................5
How are customers defined in the return process? ..................................................................5

What is reverse logistics?

Reverse logistics is the strategy of managing and controlling orders that are
returned from customers to refurbish, if needed, and be placed back into the
status of a saleable product. Reverse logistics can be configured to track returns
from the moment a replacement order is submitted, throughout the entire reverse
logistics and repair cycle until the item is returned to stock or discarded.

The returns cycle refers to the lifecycle of a returned order.

What do the returns cycle look like?

The main returns cycle activities are:

1. Supplier creates return order - Usually, a Return Merchandise
Authorization number (RMA#) is required before a return can be processed.
The RMA# is generated after a buyer contacts the company that the items
are being returned to. The company then creates a return order with an
RMA# and instructs the buyer about how to proceed with the return.
2. Buyer returns items to supplier - The buyer ships the items back to the
company, seller, or warehouse or brings the items to a store specified by
the Enterprise.
3. Supplier inspects items - When the seller receives the returned items, they
inspect the items and decide what to do with the physical inventory being
returned.
4. Supplier issues credit - After items are inspected at the ship node, the ship
node credits the Enterprise for the returned items and the Enterprise
credits the buyer. These credits can or cannot be the same as the original
price paid for the items.

What are the return order levels?

A return order can be divided into three levels:

• Return order header level - contains all of the returned order lines
• Return order line level - contains each individual line that is returned.
• Return order release level - contains all of the lines that are released to a
return node.
What are the stages of the return process?

Here are the stages for the returns process:

Here is the definition of each stage of the returns process. Only Returns
Coordination, Returns Execution, and Settlement & Audit are handled by the
application.

• Returns Planning - Companies typically perform returns forecasting,

resource planning, and optimization and inventory management planning
activities as part of returns planning.
• Gatekeeping - Gatekeeping refers to returns policy definition and
adherence. For example, customers can return items within 14 days.
• Returns Coordination - Returns coordination refers to the process of
returning an item to the supplier. This process includes the creation of an
RMA, selection of a node that accepts the returned item, and notification of
the return authorization number to the customer.
• Returns Execution - Returns execution takes place at a warehouse at the
time of receipt of the returned items. This process includes receipt handling
activities, assignment of a disposition code to the items, creation of
exchange or repair order, and configuration of status and process monitors.
• Settlement and Audit - Settlement and audits deal with crediting the
customer for the returned items.

What logistics attributes are defined for a return order?

Logistics manages the flow of resources between customers and suppliers.

Logistics are divided into logistic attributes, delivery codes, and shipment modes.
Here is an explanation of the logistic attributes:
• Logistics attributes refer to the rules and common codes that are used
during the shipping of an order.
o Freight terms specify how transportation costs are calculated. You
can define common codes that are used when associating a freight
term to a carrier.
o Modify carrier reason are common codes that appear in the reason
code. You can define your own modify carrier reason codes.
o Other rules are more rules that apply to transit time such as distance
per day and default carrier service for transfers. You can define your
own other rules.
 • Delivery codes identify the entity that pays for the transportation costs. For
example, Enterprise or Supplier. Only a Hub administrator can add, modify,
or delete delivery codes.
• Shipment modes describe how an order is shipped. For example, Truck
Load (TL) and Less Than Truckload (LTL). Only a Hub administrator can add,
modify, or delete shipment modes.

What type of payment and payment rules apply to returns?

Financials define the type of payments that the system accepts for returns and the
rules around payment collection. Financials are divided into three subcategories:
• Payment processing rules, such as the type of payment or the order in
which multiple payment types are applied, can be determined at either the
seller or enterprise level. You can also specify whether payment processing
is performed for draft orders. Only a Hub administrator can set payment
processing rules.
• Payment types are the different methods of payment that can be used in
financial transactions between organizations, for example, credit card or
check.
• Payment rules refer to the rules that an organization uses at the time of
payment collection.

Order status based on return and received

This graphic illustrates how the order status changes for return orders.
How is service execution defined in the returns process?

Service execution specifies the service supervisor for a node and more information
about customers. Service Execution is divided into two subcategories:
• Service supervisor is the supervisor that is associated with a node for a
seller organization. You can assign a single supervisor for a node and seller
organization combination.
• Questions are a set of questions that the customer can be asked when it is
determined that additional address information is required. You can define
your own question set.

How are customers defined in the return process?

Customers define the customers that buy from an organization and their
attributes, such as their classification, primary information, and service
preferences. Customers are divided into three subcategories: customer rules,
customer definition, and contact types. Customer rules specify the different
attributes of your customers. Customer rules group customers based on common
attributes.

Customer rules

Customer rules can define:

• Customer classification codes are used to group customers and can be

specified when you define customers.
• Customer levels specify the rank of a customer. For example, platinum-
level customers.
• Relationship types specify the type of relationship the customer has with
your organization. For example, distributor and reseller.
• Vertical specifies the industry vertical the customer belongs to. For
example, telecommunications. Other rules specify miscellaneous rules
such as the preferred slot group for the customer.
• Customer definitions define a customer when establishing a relationship
with a buyer organization or an individual buyer. You can either define a
new buyer or select an existing buyer as a customer. When defining a
customer, you must assign a unique Customer ID to the customer.
• Contact types specify how a customer prefers to be contacted. For
example, by email. Only a Hub administrator can create, modify, or delete
contact types.