Flagging Orders for Special Handling 

Use

You can flag schedule lines for special handling; for example, high priority customers, promotions, limited internal distribution, early allocation, hold orders, or other situations you wish to define. You create flags in Customizing for each of these situations, along with priority information and special release fillrates for schedule lines.

In the ARun release phase, the system checks schedule lines first for any special handling instructions as defined by the Customizing flags. Depending on the configuration, the schedule lines could have a priority field for ARun sorting purposes, or the quantity to be allocated could be restricted to a certain maximum. If there are no special fillrates for a schedule line, the system uses the standard ones.

Flagging goes all the way down to the schedule line level, so all schedule lines for a flagged line (for example, on each level and path) automatically inherit the flag.

You can limit an ARun based on these flags; for example, perform allocations only for high priority customers. To do this, go to the ARun Selection Screen and choose the Flagging field on the Sales 2 tab page.

 

Prerequisites

To set up special handling flags:

...

       1.      In the IMG, choose AFS Allocation Run  ® ARun Optimizer ® ARun Optimizer Control ® Special Handling (Flag Orders).

The ARun: Allocation Priority Screen appears.

       2.      Choose New Entries.

       3.      Enter a new 2-character flag and a description (for example, HP for High Priority Customer).

       4.      Enter the parameters you want to assign to the flag rule.

       5.      Choose Save.

Indicating a priority here does not imply that orders with this flag will be allocated before other orders.

Example

·        You have new ski boots that you want to market in your retail outlets. You want to provide each store with one pair of boots as a sample. You have 20 stores and 40 pairs of sample boots. If each store requested two pairs of these boots, the orders would be filled. However, you want to hold some back in inventory in case some of the boots become damaged or lost in the stores.

To do this, create a limitation rule with 1 in Maximum Quota and drop in Open Quantity. The system allocates a total of 20 pairs of boots (one for each store), drops the remaining requirements and keeps the remainder in inventory.

·        Your customer requires a minimum fulfillment of 75% of an order, with a minimum of 60% in the heart sizes. However, you have a new jogging outfit that is expected to be a hot item. For this material, the customer will be satisfied with a fulfillment of 50% of the order provided out of which at least 80% are in the heart sizes.

To do this, create a limitation rule with 50 in Min. Quota (Size) and 80 in Min. Quota (Heart Size). This special release check rule overrides the normal 75% and 60% quotas for this specific material. Other materials that the customer has ordered will still be subject to the normal 75% and 60% quotas.