Glossary
Backorder
A backorder is an order line the warehouse accepted but cannot fill yet. The honest version names the shortage on the order and fills it when stock arrives; the dishonest version hides it in a total.
What it is
A backorder is a line the customer wants and the warehouse cannot fully allocate today. The order is real, the demand is real, and the units are not on the shelf yet. The line stays open with its shortage named, and it fills when the next receipt lands.
Why it matters
The alternative is to refuse the order or to fake it. Refusing loses the sale. Faking it, by allocating units that are not there or by rounding the shortage away, produces a pick task that fails on the floor and a customer who finds out last.
A backorder handled honestly is a queue: first come, first filled, visible to everyone.
A worked example
A wholesale order asks for 24 of a ceramic mug and 12 are available. Allocation reserves 12, names 12 short on the line, and the order shows partially allocated. A receipt of 48 arrives the next day. Allocation runs again; the line takes its remaining 12 and the order is ready for pick. The remaining 36 are available to the next order.
How DockingWare does it
Allocation is piece-exact: it reserves what exists and states the shortage by line and on the order, never rounding it into a total. When stock arrives, allocation can be run again and the open remainder is filled from the new units. The reservation and the shortage are separate numbers on the screen, so nobody mistakes an open line for a covered one.
Questions
- What is the difference between a backorder and a short ship?
- A backorder is decided before the goods move: the line stays open and waits for stock. A short ship is decided at the bench: the order leaves with less than it asked for and the missing part is closed or carried forward.
- Should a backorder hold a reservation?
- Only for the units that exist. Reserving units you do not have is a promise nobody can keep. The open remainder should be visible as a shortage, not as a reservation.
- What happens when the stock arrives?
- Allocation runs again, the oldest open lines take the new units first, and the order moves to pick when its lines are covered. Nobody re-keys anything.