Inventory Management Troubles

[Brian F.]

I need some help. Maybe someone who is currently doing what we want to do can give me some advice or work-arounds.

 

We are using FusionPro Web to set up store fronts where our client's dealers can order the client's marketing materials. We have versioned, variable, and pick (inventory) products available in the store.

 

The problem we are having is with the inventory items. There does not seem to be any useful data in any of the reports for keeping track of back orders.

 

Also, in the dashboard, a pick ticket for quantities over the quantity available will let you create a packing slip if you change the quantities shipped to match what you have on hand. The order then moves to the Invoice status and there is no other ticket or anything that indicates the whole quantity ordered was not shipped. It seems like the only way to avoid the back order issues is to not create the pick ticket until the inventory is replenished.

 

I'd like to know how others are getting around or dealing with these issues.

 

Thanks for any help.

[Aislinn.FitzGerald]

Hi Brian,

 

When an item goes into "back order" a refill notification will be triggered. You can set up where the refill order goes in the SKU for the product.

 

Also, as we discussed earlier this week, if you are only going to ship a partial order, I recommend not creating the packing slip until the entire order has been shipped.

 

I also recommend using our refill orders, I've had customers in the past who didn't use them and it caused them issues in the past. If you use the refill orders, then you will save yourself some headache and keep the system accurate and up-to-date.

 

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Thank you,

 

-Aislinn

[Dadburne]

But there are NO backorders created when a product is shipped short. So if 20 are ordered and you only ship 10 then create the packing slip - no backorder is created or follows those unshipped items into a new sales order or pick ticket.

What is very frustrating to me about Printable is that you often only get half of the story/answer. With all due respect, the example that Brian gave in his question is not what Aislinn answered.

The correct answer is that there is no process in Printable to account for items that are :backordered" due to not being able to ship all that were ordered .

The only "backorder" functionality that I see in Printable is where the customer actually chooses to have the "available" inventory shipped now and a separate order created for the items that were not available in the system when the order was placed in the storefront.

Not the worst issue with Printable but certainly one that has caused us a lot of trouble lately.

Byron Boyd

Cenveo-Nashville

[FreightTrain]

If a customer orders 20 and there are only 10 available for sale, the customer has a choice to make:

1) Ship 10 now and 10 when the refill order has been fulfilled

2) Ship all 20 after the refill order has fulfilled

3) Change the order quantity to the amount available

 

With regard to using Refill Orders, if you have this set up in a way that the orders are Automatic vs. a Customer or Sales approval, you get notified via the Refill order at the DB so you know when you are low.

 

If the customer selects option 1 above, the order is broken into 2 parts (same order #): One for the amount that can be fulfilled immediately and a second for the amount in backorder.

 

If they select option 2, only one order for the full amount is created. If you then create a Packing Slip for an amount less than the full amount, there is no way to create another Packing Slip for the pending amount. It does show on the Packing Slip, what the original order amount was.

 

So what Aislinn was getting at is that the use of Refills with regard to inventory is an important process, which is also dependent upon what the customer indicates when they order.

 

Cheers