Availability Explained

• Overview
• Example: Pre-Prep Scenario (no scans, no Manifest)
• Example: Prep Scenario
• Example: Return Scenario

Overview

For the most part, Availability relies on three things: a date range, Status, and Scan Records.

Note that throughout this and other date-related material, Start Date and End Date are the parameters involved with calculating availability. They can be captioned in several parts of the system and re-captioned in a Header Block.

To start, the date range must be current (i.e., not in the past). Once the End Date has passed, availability it moot, so Flex will not show availability.

Assuming the date range is in the present, the next factor is the Status Option of an Element (i.e., the Quote, Pull Sheet, Manifest, etc.). The Status Option must Create Conflicts (see Status Options for details).

This is where things can get confusing. With a typical Quote->Pull Sheet->Manifest setup, you will often be making changes to the Quote while the warehouse staff is prepping the Pull Sheet and scanning to the Manifest. To accommodate this situation, Flex uses the Locks Availability setting of a Status Option and Scan Records to determine what's going on.

If a child Element has a Status that Creates Conflicts and Locks Availability, it will remove its parent Element from availability calculations for any line items that are linked to it. In other words, if you create a Pull Sheet, then add new lines to a Quote, the Quote will only calculate availability for the new lines, not the ones on the Pull Sheet. This is because links exist between the Quote's pervious line items and those on the Pull Sheet (and we're assuming that the Pull Sheet's Status Creates Conflicts and Locks Availability).

Finally, if any line items have a Scan Record associated with them, whether it be an inbound or outbound scan, it will take precendence over everything else.

Example: Pre-Prep Scenario (no scans, no Manifest)

• If the line item in question was on the Quote before the Pull Sheet was created, availability will be locked to the Pull Sheet.
• If the line item did not exist on the Quote before the Pull Sheet was created, availability remains with the Quote until the Pull Sheet is updated.

Example: Prep Scenario

• If the line item in question has no Scan Record, then availability for the item will fall to the Pull Sheet.
• If the line item in question has a Scan Record, then availability for the item goes to the Manifest.

Example: Return Scenario

• If the line item in question was scanned during Prep and has not yet had a Return Scan, then availability is locked to the Manifest.
• If the line item in question was not scanned during Prep, then it was not added to the Manifest and is no longer calculated in availability.
• If the line item in question was scanned during Prep and has received a Return Scan, it is considered on-hand again and the Element chain no longer affects its availability.