Capacity workflow

Order fulfillment often involves a sequence of tasks, much like an assembly line, where each step must be completed before the product is shipped. For example, an item might need to be picked from the shelf, packed into a box or bag with a shipping label generated. Certain products might require extra tasks such as engraving or gift wrapping, each consuming more capacity.

The Capacity Workflow enables fulfillment managers to define the required sequence of these tasks. By establishing a sequential task flow, Sterling Intelligent Promising helps ensure that fulfillment estimates account for each stage in the correct order.

If any capacity category within the defined workflow lacks availability, the system treats the entire workflow as unavailable for that day. Then, fulfillment is deferred to the next date with sufficient capacity across all required tasks.

Capacity workflow overview

A capacity workflow defines the sequence of tasks that are required for fulfillment and is assigned to a specific node, node type, and delivery method. The following components make up a capacity workflow configuration:
Enablement
The workflow can be enabled or disabled. This allows fulfillment operations to suspend a workflow temporarily to address critical issues or operational constraints.
Max consumption days
Defines the maximum number of days over which capacity can be consumed. If the fulfillment process exceeds this limit, the product is considered unfulfillable within the current workflow.
Workflow sequence
Represents the ordered set of tasks that are called capacity categories, which must be completed. For example, a fulfillment process might include Pick → Pack → Label preparation.
Key considerations for the workflow sequence include:
  • A workflow consists of one or more capacity categories, arranged in a specific sequence.
  • A capacity unit of measure (UOM) governs each stage. The capacity category’s UOM must align with the workflow UOM, otherwise, the constraint is invalid and it is not applied.
  • Valid UOMs such as UNITS or RELEASE.
  • A single stage can include multiple capacity categories. This allows redundancy, for example, both a primary and backup team might be configured to complete the same item retrieval task.
  • A workflow can be single-stage or multistage.
  • If a category is not assigned or a stage is not defined for a workflow, then the capacity constraint is not applied. This denotes that it has infinite capacity.

To configure the capacity workflow, see Configuring capacity workflows.

maxConsumptionDays

The maxConsumptionDays setting defines the capacity window that is used during the availability lookup. It specifies the number of days to consider for capacity, starting from the lookup date. For example, if the value is set to 2 and the lookup occurs today, the system evaluates capacity for today and tomorrow. If the lookup is from tomorrow, it considers capacity for tomorrow and the following day. This setting must be greater than zero and it influences the fulfillment planning horizon directly.

To enable the Max Consumption Days setting, for more information, see Tenant settings.

Workflow association with the fulfillment process

Workflow association eliminates the need to pass workflow information in every API request and it is mandatory for capacity-based availability. For more information, see Capacity-based availability.

The system supports the following four levels of workflow association that are listed in order of granularity from least to most:
  1. By node type

    Applies to all nodes of a specific node type. This node type is the least granular.

  2. By node type and delivery method

    Applies to nodes of a certain node type with a specific delivery method, such as PICK or SHIP.

  3. By node

    Applies to a specific node, regardless of delivery method.

  4. By node and delivery method

    Applies to a specific node and delivery method combination. This is the most granular.

By associating the capacity workflow to any of the levels, the system automatically selects the workflow for capacity-based availability evaluation.

As a rule, configure at the least granular level to allow later overriding capability at specific node and delivery method.

Example setup 1

For a typical STORE node, the order processing flow can include the following capacity categories across three key stages:
PICK:
Defines the maximum number of items that can be picked from the backroom for same-day shipment preparation.
PACK:
Represents the capacity for packing items into boxes, including label printing or stamping.
LOADING_AREA:
Specifies the capacity for packages that are staged in the truck loading area, ready for dispatch.

Example setup 2:

Defining different workflow for shipping and pickup
  • STORE – Delivery Method: PICK → PICK → PACK
  • STORE – Delivery Method: SHIP → PICK → PACK → LOADING_AREA

To configure the capacity workflows, for more information, see Configuring capacity workflows.