Understanding Backorders in techOMS [Information]

Understanding how backorders are processed is critical for warehouse managers and system administrators alike. techOMS supports two distinct backorder management modes: 

• Managed in WMS:
  The Warehouse Management System (WMS) is assumed to have the most up-to-date inventory. techOMS allocates items based on the assumption of adequate stock in the WMS, without real-time verification. Negative inventory values are treated as zero when syncing with sales channels. This mode is ideal for environments where the WMS is the primary system for inventory tracking.
  
  

• Managed in techOMS:
  When techOMS manages inventory directly, it calculates stock levels and handles order fulfillment based on its own data. This mode provides direct control over inventory levels and order fulfillment within techOMS.

The rest of this article will focus on how backorders are defined and processed when managed in techOMS. To guide you through the content, this article is divided into the following sections:

1. Backorder Definition
2. Backorder Life Cycle
   1. Creation
   2. Management
   3. Closure

I. BACKORDER DEFINITION

A backorder occurs when an order line lacks sufficient inventory for fulfillment within an order that is in approved or fulfilling status. When this happens, the entire order is marked as containing at least one backordered line.

NOTE: This definition excludes orders in other statuses, such as draft, short shipped, or cancelled. 

This straightforward rule helps automate the order management process by clearly identifying items that require inventory replenishment.

II. BACKORDER LIFE CYCLE

i. Creation

As per the definition above, an order can be marked as backordered when an attempt is made to allocate insufficient stock, either:

• Manually, or
• Automatically, during a shipment splitting process (if a specific rule is configured for it).

NOTE: To learn more about the shipment splitting feature, refer to How to Split Shipments Automatically [Guide] and Rules Conditions and Actions Guide [Information].

ii. Management

When inventory is positively adjusted, techOMS re-evaluates backorders following the FIFO (First In, First Out) methodology:

• For each backorder:

  • If the inventory becomes sufficient for all the order's items, techOMS automatically allocates them.

  • Otherwise, the order remains backordered until more inventory is received.

NOTE: To illustrate how this works, consider an order with SKU A and SKU B on backorder. If the inventory for SKU A is positively adjusted, triggering the allocation process, but SKU B still lacks sufficient inventory, the entire order will be skipped. This is because both SKU A and SKU B need to be available for the order to be fulfilled.

Once backorders are processed, any remaining available inventory is adjusted and synced with the connected sales channels.

iii. Closure

A backorder is closed either:

• Manually, by cancelling it; or
• Automatically, when it is fully fulfilled as described above.