Process: Order management

 

Flow

Legend

 

Objective

Order management provides end-to-end visability to merchants and customers of the current state of an order and its components.

 

Description

The order management subsystem include:

• Order capture
• Order processing
• Fulfillment
• Inventory
• Payment
• Return

In WebSphere Commerce there are two types of inventory:

ATP

allows for estimation of ship date for each order item

Non-ATP

only provides information on whether the given item is in stock at this time

Only when using ATP inventory, the customer may make use of additional facilities:

• Order Processing
• Returns

There are a number of scheduled jobs that are used by the order subsystem, their use is shown in the context of each business process, and also they are summarized under 'Background order processes'.

 

Features

The merchant can

• Manage the business rules associated with inventory and order processing
• Use expected inventory records to provide customers more accurate estimates of when backordered items will be in stock
• Receive inventory for items either via an expected inventory record or an adhoc receipt
• Make adjustments to inventory
• Manage customer returns

The customer can:

• Check availability of inventory before submitting an order
• Check expected shipping date for out of stock items before submitting an order
• Submit an order and reserve available inventory or create a backorder for out of stock items
• After submitting an order, customer will be given estimated ship dates for all items, whether available now or on backorder

• Scheduled tasks

• Release orders to fulfillment
• Allocate inventory to backorders
• Redistribute backorders against expected inventory
• Release expired allocations

• Order processing

• Order approval (B2B)
• Quote expiraton handling
• Payment validation, authorization and capture
• E-mail notification
• Support for static and dynamic kits

• Fulfillment integration messages that accomplish the following functions

• Create an expected inventory record
• Create a pick batch
• Request pick tickets and packing lists
• Create a receipt
• Adjust the inventory receipt level of a product
• Issue shipment confirmation by the fulfillment center
• Item fulfillment attributes
• Track/non-tracked inventory
• Backorderable
• Force backorder
• Returnable
• Creditable
• Versioned items
• Release separately
• Returns
• Return merchandise authorization (RMA) process
• Business rules for approval
• Automatic and manual approval
• Dispositions including return to inventory and dispose
• Return from original order
• Refund amount calculation including taxes

 

Customization

• Integration with external inventory systems
• Integration with fulfillment systems
• Integration with accounting systems/ERP systems
• Shipping instructions
• Drop ship items
• Expedited handling
• Specialized batching and picking algorithms
• Returns
• Extend approval process to include new business rules or multiple levels of approval.
• Refund using payment method other than purchase payment method or line of credit (B2B).
• Specialized disposition process

 

Edition

Professional, Enterprise

 

Subprocesses

• Background order processes
• Manage inventory
• Manage orders
• Manage returns
• Process order end to end

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