How to Understand Backorder Processing in APO
Executive Summary
- Backorder processing is how orders can be processed without stock availability for the requested date.
- Backorder processing connects to order confirmation in SAP, and there are important specifics with how the order management process stays apprised of new supply planning runs.
The Normal Process of Order Confirmation
There are programs like SAP GATP that act as routing programs. They mostly take sales orders and use the planned stock on hand to confirm back on these order documents. GATP, as with other order promising applications, does not control the supply plan but represents the supply plan for the order management system.
Supply Planning Plan Rerun Frequency and the Order Promising System
GATP presents the on hand position as of the last supply planning run. Of course, things change after new supply planning runs, but a sales order that has not been confirmed will not be continually resubmitted; for this reason, GATP has a functionality called backorder processing. Backorder processes take unconfirmed sales orders and rechecks with the most recent supply planning run, and if the planned on hand picture changes such that a previous sales order that could not be confirmed can be confirmed, it will do so.
Conclusion
GATP’s backorder processing provides the ability to keep customers continually apprised if their sales orders can be confirmed. This, of course, allows a customer to open an order and leave it in backorder status for as long as they wish. If, after whatever amount of time they deem sufficient, they can withdraw the sales order and look to possibly another source for the product. Sales order confirmations sound very official. However, they are only as goods as the quality of the supply plan. This gets into the order promise horizon of GATP, which is covered in this article.