Purchase Demands & Backorders

The Purchase Demands queue consolidates all unallocated stock requirements across the enterprise — unifying customer sales order backorders and manufacturing work order component shortages into a centralized procurement and allocation workbench.

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Demand Generation & Resolution Architecture

flowchart TD
    A[Sales Order Confirmed with Stock Deficit] --> C[Purchase Demands Queue]
    B[Work Order Created with Component Deficit] --> C

    C --> D{Resolution Strategy}
    D -->|Supplier Sourcing| E[1. Generate Vendor-Grouped Draft POs]
    D -->|Inter-Facility Stock| F[2. Initiate Internal Warehouse Transfer]
    D -->|Existing Pipeline| G[3. Link to Open Purchase Order]
    D -->|Inventory Redistribution| H[4. Reallocate Available Stock]

    E & F & G --> I[Inbound Goods Arrive at Dock]
    I --> J[Auto-Resolve Linked Backorder Demands]

1. Demand Sources

Shortage records enter the queue through two primary operational channels:

• Customer Sales Orders: When confirming a Sales Order where Quantity Ordered > Available Stock, the unallocated balance is logged as an active backorder demand.
• Manufacturing Work Orders: When a production job requires component parts or raw materials exceeding available storage stock, component shortages (workOrderComponentId) enter the queue tagged with the parent work order.

2. Sourcing & Allocation Options

Operators can resolve demands using four built-in fulfillment actions:

1. Vendor Sourcing (Generate Purchase Orders):
   • Selected demands are automatically aggregated by Preferred Supplier.
   • Vendor SKU, supplier currency, and contracted unit costs are populated directly from supplier mappings to generate draft Purchase Orders.
2. Inter-Warehouse Transfers (Internal Transfer):
   • The Stock Elsewhere indicator highlights stock availability across other company warehouse locations.
   • Operators can launch an immediate Transfer Order to move stock from a surplus warehouse to the demanding fulfillment location.
3. Link to Open Purchase Order (Link to PO):
   • If a Purchase Order is already on order with a supplier, operators can bind open demand lines directly to the pending PO.
4. Stock Reallocation (Reallocate):
   • If limited stock is available or priorities change, operators can reassign committed stock from lower-priority orders to urgent customer demands.

3. Inbound Dock Receipt & Auto-Resolution

When goods are received at the warehouse dock against a linked Purchase Order or incoming Transfer Order:

• Inbound items increase physical warehouse stock and update inventory ledgers.
• The system executes automated demand resolution (resolveOpenDemands), clearing the matched backorder records and committing the newly arrived stock directly to the waiting Sales Order or Work Order.

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Step-by-Step Workflows

1. Generating Purchase Orders from Demands

1. Go to Purchasing → Demand (/purchase-orders/demands).
2. Review the shortage list. Filter by fulfillment warehouse location or supplier.
3. Select the checkboxes for the lines you wish to order from suppliers.
4. Click Generate Purchase Orders.
5. The system generates draft Purchase Orders grouped by vendor, automatically populating vendor costs and quantities.
6. Review the created draft orders in Purchasing → Purchase Orders (/purchase-orders).

2. Transferring Stock from Another Warehouse

1. In the Demands queue, locate an item displaying available units in the Stock Elsewhere column.
2. Click the item row or select the line, then click Internal Transfer.
3. Select the Source Warehouse with available stock and specify the Transfer Quantity.
4. Click Create Transfer. A new Transfer Order is created in draft or requested status.

3. Linking Demand to an Existing Open PO

1. Select a demand row in the queue.
2. Click Link to PO.
3. In the slide-over drawer, select from active, on-order Purchase Orders that have unallocated incoming line capacity.
4. Confirm the linked quantity.

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Field Reference

Field	Description
Order	Linked Sales Order number (ORD-...) or Work Order number (WO-...).
Product	Product SKU / Item Number.
Description	Product title and specification.
Quantity	Unallocated shortage quantity required.
Status	State of linked purchase order or transfer order (e.g. Draft, Ordered, Awaiting Receipt).
Supplier	Preferred vendor configured on the product record.
Cost Price	Purchasing unit cost in supplier currency.
Fulfillment Location	Target warehouse facility requiring stock.
Stock Elsewhere	Summary of available stock residing in other company warehouses.