Operate > WebSphere Commerce Accelerator > Order management
Order processing
Order processing refers to managing the order after it is captured, until it is fulfilled. A store can be implemented with or without Available-to-Promise (ATP) inventory capabilities.
Order processing type Description Order processing with ATP ATP capability allows you to predict future inventory based on expected inventory receipts, and to estimate future ship dates for back orders. With ATP capability, Commerce is able not only to capture an order, but also to process the order and release it to fulfillment. The ATP capability allows the store to verify available inventory quantities and display an expected shipment date. This enables the store to provide availability dates not only for inventory in stock but for inventory that has not yet been received. It allows for multiple release dates within one order. Order processing without ATP Without use of ATP inventory, Commerce order processing is limited to ensuring that the item is in stock, and authorizing payment.
Orders are processed with one of the following methods:
- As single orders that have one order ID and that are shipped only when the fulfillment is completed for each order item (ship-as-complete functionality). This means that if 'ship when complete' is selected, we ship the order when all order items are available. If ship when complete is not selected, we will ship the available order items, and will ship the other order items whenever they are available.
- As orders that are shipped before fulfillment is complete (when complete=false).
The subsets of the order are called releases, which are groupings of order items that have the following attributes in common:
- fulfillment center
- order item availability date
- ship date
- shipping carrier
- shipment method
- shipping address
Implement order processing requires the use of ATP inventory capabilities. This new ordering capability also allows customers to specify a date in the future when they want order items to be shipped. The orders that result are called future orders.
A shopper can request expedited handling for certain order items. Because these order items have a different handling method from non-expedited order items, a separate release is created. The pick packer can also request that pick batches be created for all order releases. In this case, expedited order releases will be placed in the beginning of the list of releases. Items that are expedited will be so indicated in the generated pick and packing slips. A store developer can also configure the store to include in the expedited release any non-expedited items in the same order that are available at the same fulfillment center and have the same shipping address.
A store processes payments using Payment Rule processing. The Payment Rule subcomponent determines what types of payment actions should be run at specific times or business events in the life cycle of an order or the return of a purchase. When a request for a payment action occurs, the payment rule that applies to the request is checked and the appropriate payment actions are taken. For example, the store could be configured to approve payment, make a deposit, or do nothing when the buyer specifies a credit card for payment. In other words, each method of payment has its own set of rules for processing payments, which the developer can configure to the needs of the store processes.
An example of releases: The following charts illustrate how one order is organized into various releases. In this example, the customer wants to send some clothing to his home in Boston, some office items to a district office in Atlanta, and some gifts to his niece and nephew in Orlando. Some of the order items have to be backordered. The customer has also requested some of the items to be expedited, and some of the shipment to be shipped at a future date. One order item has a special shipping carrier due to its larger size and weight.
Date of order: 07 February
Qty Order item Ship address Ship method Ship date Expedite? 3 Dress shirt, white Boston Ship company Backorder Yes 1 Belt, black leather Boston Ship company Now Yes 4 Undershirt, V-neck Boston Ship company Now No 1 File cabinet, 4-drawer Atlanta Ground Now No 1 Waste basket, office Atlanta Ship company Now No 1 Candy Valentine Orlando US Post Now Yes 1 Video game: Zapper3 Orlando US Post Now No 1 Science kit, child's Orlando US Post 22 April No
By the time the order is fulfilled and closed, eight separate releases have been created. Even though all the clothing items are going to Boston, each order item has been separated into a release (A, B, and C). The dress shirts were temporarily out of inventory and had to be backordered, so their ship date was different from other items going to Boston. And the belt was expedited and shipped with priority, so the shipment date was sooner than that of the undershirts.
The order items going to Atlanta were divided into two releases (D and E), each item shipping at the same time, but with different shipping carriers.
The order items going to Orlando were divided into three releases (F, G, and H). The customer wanted to get the Valentine's candy to his niece and nephew in time for Valentine's Day (February 14) so he requested expedited shipping. The video game for his niece was not expedited (her birthday is in March) so it was shipped a few days later. The customer requested that the science kit be shipped in the future (his nephew's birthday is early in May), so the kit was shipped much later than the other items, creating an additional release.
Release A
3 Dress shirt, white
shipped to Boston
on 21 February
using Shipping company
Priority
Release B
1 Belt, black leather
shipped to Boston
on 08 February
using Shipping company
Priority
Release C
4 Undershirts, V-neck
shipped to Boston
on 10 February
using Shipping company
Standard
Release D
1 File cabinet, 4-drawer
shipped to Atlanta
on 10 February
using delivery truck
Release E
1 Waste basket, office
shipped to Atlanta
on 10 February
using Shipping company
Release F
2 Candy valentines
shipped to Orlando
on 08 February
using US Post Priority
Release G
1 Video game: Zapper3
shipped to Orlando
on 10 February
using US Post
Release H
1 Science kit, child's
shipped to Orlando
on 22 April
using US Post
With order processing it is possible to configure the fulfillment process so that an expedited release could also contain any non-expedited order items that are ready to ship when expedited items are shipping. The two releases would have to share all common attributes except ship date and shipping method (expedited or non-expedited). In this example, if the store was configured to combine expedited items and non-expedited items into one shipment, releases B and C could be combined and shipped together if the undershirts were ready to ship when the belt was shipping. Again, releases F and G could also be combined and shipped together if the video game were ready to ship when the candy was shipping. In both instances, the order items can be combined into one release only because they have the same fulfillment center, the same shipping carrier, and the same order item availability date.
Related concepts
Available to promise (ATP) inventory allocation
Related tasks