Multiple fulfillment items for one ordered item
Sterling Order Management System Software provides the ability to check inventory availability of an item on an order across multiple fulfillment items in a catalog.
In this scenario, "fulfillment items" are items, supplied by one or more vendors, that are used to fulfill demand for an "ordered item", which is the item on the order.
Sterling Order Management System Software uses the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) to identify the fulfillment items and the ordered item. The same GTIN is assigned to the ordered item and the corresponding fulfillment items. Additionally, the ordered item and fulfillment items must use the same unit of measure and the same organization code. However, unique ItemIDs are assigned to all items.
When an order is placed for an item, inventory availability is checked against all fulfillment items sharing the same GTIN. Orders are scheduled against the ordered item, not the fulfillment item. However, anytime Sterling Order Management System Software notifies an external source for fulfillment purposes, the system refers to the fulfillment item and not to the ordered item.
Notification of an external source occurs during order release, drop-ship orders, and procurement orders. The parameter "Use Fulfillment Item When Order Is Created as Chained Order" enables inventory tracking on procurement orders and drop-ship orders.
Demand is placed against fulfillment items, not the ordered item. If a fulfillment item of a specific ItemID is not available, demand is placed against another fulfillment item that uses a matching GTIN. If no fulfillment items with the same GTIN are available, the item is backordered against the ItemID on the order.
- The ordered item and the fulfillment items belong to the same catalog.
- All organizations belong to the same inventory organization.
- The same GTIN is assigned to the ordered item and the fulfillment items. The ordered item and fulfillment items must also share the same unit of measure, organization code, and inventory parameters.
- The "Read Availability Across Items Sharing the Same" parameter in the Global Inventory Visibility application is set to "GTIN".
If you want to use the Multiple Fulfillment Items for One Ordered Item functionality, you cannot use the same GTIN across catalog organizations for inventory consignment.
Multiple fulfillment items for one ordered item
The following table provides information about the fulfillment items that can be used to fulfill demand for the ordered item, Paper.
| Vendor | Fulfillment item | GTIN | Onhand quantity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vendor A | PaperA | 1234 | 10 |
| Vendor B | PaperB | 1234 | 11 |
| Vendor C | PaperC | 1234 | 20 |
In this example, when a customer places an order for Paper, Sterling Order Management System Software checks the availability of all the fulfillment items with a GTIN of 1234. In this case, Sterling Order Management System Software reports the onhand quantity for Paper as 41 items. When the order is placed for Paper, any one of the items with a GTIN of 1234 can be used to fulfill the order. Thus, PaperA, PaperB, or PaperC can be used to fulfill the order.
The order is scheduled against the item Paper; however, the release order is made against any one of the corresponding fulfillment items, such as PaperA.