Operations guide · Order management
Order Allocation and Picking Priority
Order allocation assigns available stock to a specific demand or order according to rules. Allocation answers “do we have the stock?”; picking priority answers “which task should run first?”.
Reservation, allocation and task creation
- Reservation: a stock quantity is logically linked to the order; the physical source may not be chosen yet.
- Allocation: the source stock is chosen by rules such as lot, expiry, location, stock status and unit.
- Release: the order is released to operations by a wave or workload rule.
- Task: an executable picking job is assigned to a user or to automation.
Terms differ between systems. In design workshops, write down clearly how each status affects stock availability and the cancellation process.
How is picking priority set?
Priority should not be a single sequence number. Shipping cut-off, carrier appointment, customer service level, order age, item holding conditions and consolidation links can be assessed together. Constantly pushing urgent orders to the top must not starve older work.
- Hard constraints first: stock status, lot/expiry and customer eligibility.
- Then time: cut-off, planned loading and delay risk.
- Then productivity: same aisle, handling unit and wave fit.
- Record manual overrides with authorisation, reason code and timestamp.
Short stock and re-allocation
With partial allocation, the system can release the ready part of an order or hold the whole order. If a count difference, damage or a short pick occurs, define from which stock, how many times and with what approval re-allocation happens. Otherwise the same stock may appear to exist in two different workflows.
Continue with WMS picking methods for picking styles and the lot, expiry and serial number guide for traceable stock selection.
Test allocation rules in product demos with real orders and exception scenarios.