Backlogs

Backlog is a critical concept utilized whenever capacity booking is leveraged within your network. In general, any capacity booking with a past due date that has not reached a COMPLETED status is tracked systemically as backlog.

During high volume sales events, capacity is often booked well ahead of time. However, warehouses are susceptible to real world disruptions. If a facility experiences unexpected staff absences or a packing machinery failure, the orders allocated for that specific operational slot cannot be fulfilled on time.

Incomplete capacity bookings from past due days automatically roll over into the next available capacity booking days until all past due bookings are resolved. This means that any new incoming orders or bookings will be restricted or postponed at that specific location until the existing backlog is either completed or explicitly canceled. This rollover mechanism provides the congested fulfillment node the necessary opportunity to catch up on assigned tasks, while simultaneously forcing the Promising module to discover and utilize alternative nodes for new fulfillments.

Example scenario: Carry forward backlog

Suppose a fulfillment node operates with a daily capacity limit of 50 units.

On Monday, 50 capacity units are booked, but the warehouse only manages to complete 40 units. This leaves 10 capacity units unresolved.

When operations resume on Tuesday, the node begins with its standard initial capacity of 50 units. The system automatically subtracts the remaining 10 unresolved capacity units rolling over from Monday. Effectively, the node only has 40 units of available capacity remaining to accept new bookings on Tuesday.

The system continues to roll over this backlog to each forward operational day until all the delayed bookings successfully reach a COMPLETED status.