Process: Order management
Flow
Legend

Objective
Order management provides end-to-end visability to merchants and customers
of the current state of an order and its components.
Description
Available to promise (ATP) inventory and the order management subsystem
include:
- Inventory management
- Order release
- Fulfillment processing
- Returns processing
ATP inventory can answer the following questions using real time tracking of
inventory, expected inventory records, and store business rules:
- How much inventory is currently available for customer orders?
- If there is no inventory available, when can we reasonably expect to be
able to ship the item to the customer?
Order management includes inventory functionality and order processing:
- Verify ATP inventory for inquiries
- Allocate inventory for a customer's order in real time
- Create backorders and provide expected ship dates
- Orders can be split, if some inventory is not available
- Allocate new inventory to backorders
- Release orders with inventory & a valid authorization to
fulfillment
Release to fulfillment is the core of order managment. Release to fufillment
should only occur when all the various components of an order (orderitems,
inventory, payment) are simultaneously in the correct state.
- An order is ready to release to fulfillment when payment has been
authorized and all orderitems are allocated.
-
- Concept of a release
- A release is a grouping of order line items on an order that
are shipping to the same address, from the same fulfillment center, via the
same carrier, at the same time. Conceptually it groups together all items on
the order that could conceivably be put in the same box.
- An item can be set to be 'released separately'. If this
condition is true then any order for this item will be on its own
release.
Fulfillment processing is shipping the customer's order (pick, pack, ship,
confirm).
- Create a picking list for released items for a fulfillment center
- Print packing slip(s) for each order's release(s)
- Track package shipping information
- Confirm the shipment
- Backend systems integration using WebSphere MQ XML messages
-
- Pick batches
- Creates a batch of orders to be picked at the same time
- Creates pick ticket & packing slips for released
orders
- Generates pick ticket & packing slips in XML
format.
-
- Releases Ready to Ship
- Enter package tracking data
- Confirm shipment.
Returns pProcessing handles inventory for returns, and credits customers
appropriately.
- Customer or Customer Service Representative (CSR) creates a returns
request
- System or CSR approves, and the returns number displays
- Items may be returned and received
- Returned items may be dispositioned to return to inventory or dispose
- Select items to be returned from list of orders and items
- Calculated credit amount based on ordered item and taxes
- View and receive items against a returns request
- Returns processing manages amount, credits
Features
- The merchant can
- Manage the business rules associated with inventory and
order processing
- Use expected inventory records to provide customers more
accurate estimates of when backordered items will be in stock
- Receive inventory for items either via an expected inventory
record or an adhoc receipt
- Make adjustments to inventory
- Manage customer returns
The customer can:
- Check availability of inventory before submitting an
order
- Check expected shipping date for out of stock items before
submitting an order
- Submit an order and reserve available inventory or create a
backorder for out of stock items
- After submitting an order, customer will be given estimated
ship dates for all items, whether available now or on backorder
-
- Scheduled tasks
- Release orders to fulfillment
- Allocate inventory to backorders
- Redistribute backorders against expected inventory
- Release expired allocations
-
- Order processing
- Order approval (B2B)
- Quote expiraton handling
- Payment validation, authorization and capture
- E-mail notification
- Support for static and dynamic kits
-
- Fulfillment integration messages that accomplish the following
functions
- Create an expected inventory record
- Create a pick batch
- Request pick tickets and packing lists
- Create a receipt
- Adjust the inventory receipt level of a product
- Issue shipment confirmation by the fulfillment center
- Item fulfillment attributes
- Track/non-tracked inventory
- Backorderable
- Force backorder
- Returnable
- Creditable
- Versioned items
- Release separately
- Returns
- Return merchandise authorization (RMA) process
- Business rules for approval
- Automatic and manual approval
- Dispostions including return to inventory and dispose
- Return from original order
- Refund amount calculation including taxes
Customization
- Integration with external inventory systems
- Integration with fulfillment systems
- Integration with accounting systems/ERP systems
- Shipping instructions
- Drop ship items
- Expedited handling
- Specialized batching and picking algorithms
- Extend approval process to include new business rules or
multiple levels of approval.
- Refund using payment method other than purchase payment
method or line of credit (B2B).
- Specialized disposition process
Edition
Professional, Business Edition
Subprocesses
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