Material Allocation

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When adding material to a service or install order, you must make sure stock is reserved from your inventory to keep your inventory levels accurate. You can reserve stock using the Material Allocation window shown below.

The Material Allocation window can be access a few different ways:
1. Allocate material for a particular order (in Service or Install order, click Actions > Inventory Allocation)
2. For a specific inventory item, see all orders item is on and allocate (In Inventory item, click Actions > Inventory Allocation)
3. Allocate all material on all orders in SME (Tools > Inventory Allocation)

Item Status

When adding material to the order, there are three basic scenarios.
1. Stock is available in the default warehouse for that item
2. Stock is available, but not in the default warehouse for that item
3. Stock is not available and you need to place a purchase order for the item

The default warehouse is either the warehouse called "default" or another warehouse you assigned as default. To set the default warehouse to a warehouse other than "default":
1. Go to Setup module > Company > Lists and select Warehouse.
2. Select default and click Edit at the bottom.
3. Uncheck Default Warehouse.

4. Select the warehouse you want as the default and click Edit at the bottom.
5. Check Default Warehouse and click OK.

Each material on an order has an Item Status. The Item Status will tell you if the stock is available and has been allocated to the order, if stock has been reserved for the order or if no stock is available for the order.

To see the Item Status on an order:

1. Go to the Service or Install Order.
2. Click Actions > Inventory Allocation.
3. In the Material Allocation window, locate the Item Status column (circled in screenshot below)

Below are the Item Status values you will find for the three basic scenarios for serialized and non-serialized items.

• • Before closing an order, you need to make sure the item status is Reserved. **

	Stock Available in the default warehouse	Stock Available, but not in the default warehouse	No stock available
Serialized Item	Link Status = Allocated In Material Allocation window, click to select specific serial number. Once serial number selected, Link Status = Reserved	Link Status = Has JIT Items In Material Allocation window, click to select specific serial number in the warehouse you want to use. Once serial number selected, Link Status = Reserved	Link Status = Has JIT Items Must click Actions > Create PO for JIT-Only Items Once PO items received, Link Status = Reserved
Non Serialized Item	Link Status = Allocated In Material Allocation window, click to select the stock you want to use. Link Status = Reserved	Link Status = Has JIT Items In Material Allocation window, click to select stock in the warehouse you want to use. Link Status = Reserved	Link Status = Has JIT Items Must click Actions > Create PO for JIT-Only Items Once PO items received, Link Status = Reserved

Reserve Stock for Material on an Order

1. Go to the Service or Install Order.
2. Click Actions > Inventory Allocation.
3. Click in the Select column.
4. The Select Inventory Items window opens (image below). Here you can select the items you want to reserve for the order.
If it is a serialized item, you will see a list of all serial numbers. Also, see which warehouse the stock is in.

5. Double click on the material to reserve on the order.
6. Once stock is selected, notice the Item Status changes to Reserved.

Item Status	Next Steps
Has JIT Items	Click to select stock. If no stock available, close the Material Allocation window and click Actions > Create PO for JIt-Only Items in the order.
Allocated	Click to select stock.
Reserved	Don’t need to do anything, stock is already reserved.

Reserve Stock for All Material on All Orders

Click Tools > Allocate Inventory to allocate material on all open orders in SME. Accessing the Material Allocation window this way provides a quick way to see what inventory is needed across all orders.

In the Material Allocation window that opens, locate the Item Status column.

Item Status	Next Steps
Has JIT Items	Click to select stock. If no stock available, close the Material Allocation window and place a purchase order.
Allocated	Click to select stock.
Reserved	Don’t need to do anything, stock is already reserved.

Reserve Stock for a Specific Inventory Item

Go to an inventory item and click Actions > Inventory Allocation. Accessing the Material Allocation window this way provides a way to see all orders the inventory item is on. Here you can reserve stock for this particular item.

Setup the Material Allocation Window

Click in the upper left corner to rearrange the order of the columns or remove columns from the Material Allocation window.

Click on the column title and drag up and down the list. As you drag the title, green arrows will appear. Drop in the location you want. \