Order blocking

The Sales Control module enables you to block sales orders or sales order (component) lines.

Blocking occurs for one or more of the following reasons:

  • The open order balance exceeds the customer's credit limit.
  • The invoice to business partner has overdue invoices.
  • The invoice to business partner is a doubtful customer.
  • The sales order is entered by an inexperienced operator.
  • The invoice to business partner's credit review period is overdue.
  • The sales order has an invalid or doubtful zip code.
  • The sales margin of one of the order lines is exceeded.
  • The gross margin of the order is exceeded.
  • The sales order is received through electronic data interchange (EDI).
  • A user-defined general reason.

Blocking only gives a rough indication of the situation at that particular moment. For example, the customer's overdue invoices during the order entry procedure may have been paid by the time the deliveries are entered into LN.

The procedure for order blocking
Step 1. Hold Reasons (tdsls0190m000)

Define the reasons for blocking a sales order or sales order (component) line and the reason categories in the Hold Reasons (tdsls0190m000) session.

Step 2. Sales Order Parameters (tdsls0100s400)

Define when orders must be blocked and the reasons for blocking. If an order is to be blocked for one of these reasons, LN blocks the order automatically when it is created.

Step 3. Sales Order Types (tdsls0594m000)

Define the step at which the procedure is interrupted in the Block As of Activity field. When an order order (component) line is blocked, the procedure for this order can only be partially carried out. If a blocking step is not defined in this session, the order procedure is not interrupted.

Sales orders and sales order (component) lines can also be blocked manually in the following sessions:

  • Sales Order - Lines (tdsls4100m900)
  • Sales Orders (tdsls4100m000)
  • Sales Order Lines (tdsls4101m000)
  • Sales Order Line Components (tdsls4163m000)
Step 4. Blocked Sales Order (Lines) (tdsls4520m000)

Blocked orders and (component) lines must be manually released in the Blocked Sales Order (Lines) (tdsls4520m000) session.

In the User Profiles (tdsls0139m000) session, you can define whether a user is authorized to unblock orders based on the type of hold placed on the order. You can define whether a user:

  • Can Release Credit Held Orders
  • Can Release Margin Held Orders
  • Can Release Promotion Check Held Orders
  • Can Release Generally Held Orders

An order (component) line can be released in two ways:

  • Soft Release
    If the order (component) line is blocked due to a credit check and you select the soft type of releasing, the order is blocked again at the next phase if the criteria for that reason are still applicable to the sales order or order (component) line. If the order is blocked for another reason, you can only use this option to release the order.
  • Firm Release
    If a sales order (component) line is firm released, the order (component) line is released and is not blocked again for the same reason.
Note
  • LN can block sales order (component) lines for several reasons during order entry. However, if an order is blocked due to a credit check, you can define various phases for blocking an order in the Credit Ratings (tcmcs0564m000) session. As a result, the difference between the firm and soft type of releasing only applies to credit checking. For the other blocking reasons, these types of releasing give the same results.
  • You can display all blocked orders, and select a range of orders to be displayed in the Blocked Sales Order (Lines) (tdsls4520m000) session. The selection criteria for a range of blocked order (lines) is defined in the Select Blocked Sales Order (Lines) (tdsls4220m000) session.
  • Use the Print Blocked Sales Order (Lines) (tdsls4420m000) session to print a range of blocked order (lines). Use the Print Released Sales Order (Lines) (tdsls0492m000) session to print a range of released order (lines).
  • The Blocked Sales Order (Line) History (tdsls0592m000) session and the Order (Line) Blocking History (tdsls0192s000) session list a log file that contains information about sales orders and (component) lines that were previously blocked and/or released.
Credit rating

The continuation of a sales order can also depend on the credit checking of the business partner. For details, refer to Credit rating.

LN asks you whether you want to change the credit rating of the invoice-to business partner if:

  • The Hold Reason Category is set to Credit Check in the Hold Reasons (tdsls0190m000) session.
  • The credit rating of the invoice-to business partner differs from the Pre-Defined Credit Rating Code in the Sales Order Parameters (tdsls0100s400) session.
  • The Change Customer's Credit Rating field is set to Interactive in the Sales Order Parameters (tdsls0100s400) session.
Note

If the Hold Reason Category is Credit Check and the order (line) is Firm Released, the released amount (which is the total net amount of the sales order) is recorded in a blocking history record.

Margin control

If the Margin Control check box is selected in the Sales Order Parameters (tdsls0100s400) session, LN checks whether the sales price of an item on an order line or quotation line differs too much from the target price.

You can determine the action to be taken (blocking, signaling, or logging) in the Margin Control Parameters (tdsls0120m000) session. The target price is determined by the Target Price for Margin Control field in the Sales Order Parameters (tdsls0100s400) session.

Note

For margin control, the allowed deviation from the target price by upper and lower margins can be defined in the Items - Sales (tdisa0501m000) session.

For details, refer to Overview of margin control.

Related topics