Reservations, Lots and Genealogy
Two questions get confused in stock systems: how much is here, and how much can I promise. Reservations separate them.
Where to find it
Architect Panel → ERP - Operations:
- Stock — the console showing on-hand, reserved and available
- Stock Lots — batch and serial identity, with expiry where relevant
- Stock Genealogy — the movement trail linking lots to what they became
Reservations are movements in a reserved state
A reservation does not change what is physically present — the goods are still on the shelf — but it does change what is available to promise to the next customer.
Recording reservations as movements rather than as a separate mechanism means the same ledger answers both questions, and a reservation is as auditable as a despatch.
On-hand versus available
- On hand — physically in the location.
- Reserved — committed to orders not yet despatched.
- Available — on hand less reserved, and the figure a salesperson should be shown.
Showing on-hand where you meant available is the direct cause of overselling. Ten in stock with ten already reserved is not ten to sell.
When to reserve, and to release
Reserve at genuine commitment — usually order confirmation. Reserving at quotation ties up stock against speculative demand and manufactures shortages; reserving at despatch is too late to prevent what it exists to prevent.
Reservations must be released on cancellation and converted on fulfilment, or availability drifts downward and the system reports a shortage that does not exist. Confirm both paths work before going live — an unreleased reservation is much harder to notice than a missing one.
Lots and genealogy
Stock Lots gives a batch or serial its own identity, with expiry where that applies. Stock Genealogy is the trail linking a lot to what consumed it and what it became.
This is the recall question. When a supplier tells you a batch shipped between two dates was defective, genealogy tells you which of your outputs used it and which customers received them. Without it the honest answer is that you cannot tell, and the practical answer is to recall everything.
Capture the lot at receipt
Not later. A lot reconstructed after the fact from delivery notes is a guess, and a recall is precisely the situation where a guess is worthless.
Worked example
A food producer receives an ingredient in lots. Each production run records which lots it consumed. When a supplier issues a withdrawal notice for one lot, genealogy identifies four production runs, the finished batches they became, and the six customers who received them — in minutes, and defensibly.
Recommendations
- Show available, not on-hand, anywhere a promise is made.
- Reserve at confirmation, and test the release path.
- Capture lots at receipt or do not claim lot traceability.
- Rehearse a recall query once before you need it for real.