Module: Orders in transit

Executive summary

The present module Orders in transit deals with orders that have already been ordered (i.e., we consider them to be goods in transit), but they still did not arrive at their destination – hence, they cannot be counted as stock on hand.

We work with them as with future stock.

Orders in transit can be used to all types of ordering: from suppliers, from a parent warehouse and from production (i.e., WIP).

Functional description

Using orders in transit

Orders in transit are used mainly as an input for the module Suggestion of orders. For the present module, they are important for us to know that the product is in transit – and thus does not need to be re-ordered.

At the same, an order in transit (under certain circumstances) prolongs supplier’s lead time. If the lead time is – say – 14 days, but there is an order in transit with a lead time of 30 days, it is clear that the product (even if we order the product right away) cannot come up before the ordered one. Therefore, the lead time of the supplier for the given product is set for 30 days automatically.

Orders in transit are loaded using the SIDI and except for basic data such as product, warehouse, order date, the expected date of receipt, and quantity, there are two more attributes that can be entered:

• Whether the order is “enabled”: If it is not enabled, it is only displayed, but it is not used in the module Suggestion of orders
• Whether it is allowed “to extend supplier’s lead time” by this order. Some orders, such as release orders, cannot get the supplier’s lead time extension, since the customer submits the order a year ahead – and the orders ‘in between’ are just to cover potential stockouts.

In case there is no date of an expected delivery filled, a date is filled in automatically as the date of ordering + supplier’s lead time (as the user filled it in the SIDI, as it was set in the Administration of suppliers – or as it was computed).

Displaying orders in transit

Orders in transit can be viewed in the module Detail, at the level of product (not category) in the section Suggestion of orders / Orders in transit.