Manual or Automatic Allocation?
Whether manual or automatic allocation is used in a transaction is determined by the settings in the Item Master, the Sales or Movement Type and the Inventory Business Setup.
These setup records are searched in the following order for manual or automatic allocation settings.
Item Master - Allocation Type field
| Option | Not Defined | No Allocation | Manual Allocation as Part of Order Entry | Manual Allocation after Order Entry | Automatic |
| Result | Go to * Sales/Movement Type | Neither | Manual Allocation | Go to ** Sales/Movement Type | Go to ** Sales/Movement Type |
* Sales/Movement Type - Manual Allocation field
| Option | No | Not Defined | Yes |
| Result | Automatic Allocation | Go to Inventory Business Setup | Manual Allocation |
** Sales/Movement Type - Manual Allocation field
| Option | No | Not Defined | Yes |
| Result | Automatic Allocation | Follow settings in Item Master record - Allocation Type field | Manual Allocation |
Inventory Business Setup - Manual Allocation Used check box
| Option | No | Yes |
| Result | Automatic Allocation | Manual Allocation |
Two methods are used to determine whether a transaction is allocated manually or automatically: a hierarchy search and an override search.
Hierarchy Search
The Item Master is searched for a setting. If it is set as Not Defined, the Sales or Movement Type is searched (marked with * above). If this is set as Not Defined, the Inventory Business Setup is searched.
Override Search
The Item Master is searched for a setting. If it is set as Manual Allocation after Order Entry or Automatic, the Sales or Movement Type is searched (marked with ** above). This enables you to set up a transaction type to override the Item Master settings. For example, if an item set as Automatic in the Item Master, it will always be allocated automatically. You may need to allocate it manually in certain circumstances, and so can set up a Sales or Movement Type with a setting of Manual.
The Sales or Movement Type Manual Allocation field can be set to: No - Automatic Allocation; Yes - Manual Allocation; Not Defined - in this instance, the original setting in the Item Master is used.
That is, if the Allocation Type field on the Item Master is set as Manual Allocation as Part of Order Entry, then Manual Allocations are performed; if it is set as Automatic Allocation, then Automatic Allocations are performed.