Understanding picking and inventory balances

After the initial allocation of an item, the item’s status is Normal or Allocated. The product reservation updates the quantity-allocated field in the inventory balances and the quantity is not available for further allocation.

After an item status changes from Normal to Picked, the quantity-allocated balance is reduced and the quantity-picked balance is increased. The total product available for further allocation remains the same as it was when the item was first allocated.

Additionally, as the pick occurs certain product activities occur:

• The product moves to the To Location specified during the pick.
• The product may move to a different license plate depending upon whether:
  • A full license plate is picked. If so, the original license plate continues to be tracked as part of the picked inventory.
  • A drop ID is assigned during the pick. If so, that becomes the license plate in inventory following the pick.
  • A drop ID is not assigned. If so, the Case ID that was created during allocation will become the license plate in inventory following the pick.
• A Move inventory transaction is created to track the move to the new license plate and location.

  The system uses this formula to determine available inventory:

Available = On Hand - [Picked + Allocated]

After the status of an item status changes to Shipped, on-hand inventory is reduced by the quantity that was shipped.

You can unallocate an item using any unallocate option or by deleting a pick record up to the point when the item is picked. However, after the pick is updated to Picked status, you must use the Unallocate Pick Details screen or delete the records from the Pick Detail tab on the Shipment Order to unallocate the item.