Complex sequencing of order lines

Controls are provided so that you can sequence various product deliveries and associated services. You may want to complete certain pre-delivery services before a product is delivered and then perform some post-delivery services ensuring that these are scheduled only after the product has been delivered.

When setting up a product-to-service association, an offset can be specified. A -ve offset denotes that the service must be performed at least offset number of hours before the product delivery. A +ve offset denotes that the service must be performed at least offset number of hours after the product has been delivered. The hours specified are treated as elapsed hours and not business hours. For this discussion, whenever a service line is sequenced before the product line, it is referred to as a pre-sequenced line, otherwise it is referred to as a post-sequenced line.

Combined with the offset hours, line dependencies explained earlier create a complex sequencing situation where a line should not be scheduled before or after a certain time. Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation calculates two constraining dates:

Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation highlights an order line if it has an appointment or delivery schedule that does not meet the above constraints.

Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation also calculates an indicator called "Cannot schedule". This indicator denotes that an order line that has this indicator set to "No" cannot be scheduled. Reasons for this are caused by one of the following:

Even though a line may be marked as "cannot schedule", Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation lets you inquire for the best possible appointment availability. You can also record the desired appointment. However, you cannot schedule the line unless the constraints preventing the line from being scheduled have been removed.

Using the above parameters you can effectively record appointments for lines requiring complex sequencing and then schedule them at appropriate times.