When a sales kit component must be randomly assigned, manual selection of the alternate is not feasible. In the case sited, a component was added to the Sales Kit Bill of Materials as a placeholder, with the system assigning an alternate component as part of Order Entry, based on rules. Was the same component shipped to the Ship to previously? How long ago? What component has the highest inventory volume? All of this was taken into account, and a customization designed to replace the placeholder part number with an appropriate part number. A checkbox was added to the order entry form, so the custom logic could be bypassed, if necessary.
Text example:
Sales Order Line 1:
KitA has components K100 as part of the Bill of materials, qty per parent 3. K100 has 5 alternates, K200, K300, K400, K500, and K600.
Inventory available:
- K100 35 pcs
- K200 75 pcs
- K300 50 pcs
- K400 25 pcs
- K500 68 pcs
- K600 15 pcs
Prior Sales Order referencing the same ship to included K200.
Prior shipment to same ship to included K300.
(as this is line 1, no other lines reference the component)
Result: system evaluation replaces K100 with K500, as it has the highest available quantity not on immediately previous shipment, immediately previous sales order, or current sales order.
Sales Order Line 2:
KitB has components K100 as part of the Bill of materials, qty per parent 4. K100 has 5 alternates, K200, K300, K400, K500, and K600.
Inventory available:
- K100 35 pcs
- K200 75 pcs
- K300 50 pcs
- K400 25 pcs
- K500 68 pcs
- K600 15 pcs
(Note: available does not include demand- only current reserved/allocated, picking, and picked.)
Prior Sales Order referencing the same ship to included K200.
Prior shipment to same ship to included K300.
Current sales order includes K500
Result: system evaluation does not replace K100, as it has the highest available quantity not on immediately previous shipment, immediately previous sales order, or current sales order.
Screen examples:
Enter a kit part that has components with alternates and qty 10. Save.
System review available qty for component with alternates, assigns appropriate component alternate:
Inventory available:
As no prior SO and Shipment are referenced for the same Ship To, values are as follows:
