Orders

This table is used within the simulation-based experiments only (Simulation, Variation, Comparison, Safety Stock Estimation, and Risk Analysis).

Here you can define orders (and their statuses) that are available in the supply chain at the beginning of the initial state.

These orders are not associated with the shipments defined in the Shipments table.

Once the required amount of product(s) is available for the received order, the stock is reserved. At this point the order becomes a shipment, i.e., it is loaded into a truck and is taken to the delivery destination.

The logic of the order is divided into two parts, thus forming two independent categories of orders in the initial state:

The first category belongs to the Orders table. Here you can define the order's logic up to reserving the required stock. The shipping in this case is done automatically once the relevant conditions are met, if any (defined in the scenario tables e.g. batches, FTL/LTL policies, etc.).
The second category belongs to the Shipments table, which allows you to define the shipping logic. This presupposes that the orders of this table are already formed (the available stock has been reserved).

All the default dates in the initial state tables reflect the date of the initial state.

Column	Description
Source	Defines the source for the specified product. It can be any supplying facility (defined in the DCs and Factories, Suppliers and Groups tables), except for a Customer.
Delivery Destination	Defines who the product is shipped to. It can be any facility (Customer, DC, or Factory) except a Supplier.
Product	The product for which the initial stock is defined. Double-click the cell and select the required product from the list (it lists all products defined in the Products table).
Quantity	The demanded by a customer quantity of products in this order.
Ordered on	The exact order creation time.
Order Status	The current status of the order: Processing at destination - if selected, the experiment will consider the processing time defined in the Processing Time table. For more information on calculating the processing time refer here. Processing at source - if selected, the experiment will consider the processing time defined in the Processing Time table. For more information on calculating the processing time refer here. Waiting - the order is waiting for the required products to be in stock. Reserved - the required amount of product(s) is in stock, and it has been reserved for this order. The order is expected to be shipped.
Started / Ends	[Not available if Order Status is set to Waiting] Defines if the action specified in the Order Status has started before this initial state, or will end some time in the future: Started at - if defined, the action specified in the Order Status column started at the time define in the Date & Time column. This means that the action (e.g. Processing at destination) started before this initial state, and by the time we run the experiment it may be partially or completely done. Ends at - if defined, the action specified in the Order Status column will end at the time define in the Date & Time column.
Date & Time	[Not available if Order Status is set to Waiting] Defines the beginning or end time (depending on the Started / Ends column value) of the process defined in the Order Status column.

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