Postponing item creation

One approach to providing DSS (Delivery Service and Scheduling) services at the warehouse or other facility is to delay customization processes until an order is received. This is referred to as 'postponement'.

The warehouse stores generic product awaiting the customer demand to customize the product. After receiving an order, additional services are performed on the generic inventory to convert the generic inventory into customer requested specific inventory. This increases the order cycle time while reducing the risk of unusable inventory. An example of a postponement process is shown in the following figure.

Figure 1. Postponement process
Flow chart of a postponement process

In Sterling Order Management, DSS services are executed by creating a work order. A work order is initiated automatically based on a demand, or manually by a user. The Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation manages the execution of a work order through retrieval of inventory to the DSS department, recording of completion towards the final inventory, and putaway of the product to appropriate departments.