A detailed run through the fields in the Assign Quantity Setup

The Assign Quantity app in Business Central uses a central setup that controls how the system calculates assigned quantity across your company. You find it by searching for the Item Availability General Setup List and selecting the availability type called Assigned Quantity. This setup is company-wide, not per user, so everyone follows the same rules.

The start date formula and end date formula define how far ahead the system looks when drawing an inventory profile to decide whether it can assign a quantity. If the inventory profile drops below zero within the end date formula, the system will not assign the full quantity. The first date available buffer controls how far the system tries to move orders to make an assignment possible, with a default of two months if you leave it blank.

If you enable auto push, the system automatically moves the shipment date when it cannot assign everything now but could assign it later. This is useful for web shops where you do not want the ERP system to interact with the user.

Where to find the Assign Quantity setup

When you enter a quantity and want to calculate the assigned quantity, there is a lot of setup you can change. To reach it, search for the Item Availability General Setup List. On that list, find the availability type called Assigned Quantity.

This setup is not per user. It applies overall in the company, so everybody follows or uses this availability type for assigned quantity. From the list you open the Item Availability General Setup Card, where you see all the setup that applies when working with assigned quantity.

Header fields and inventory profile calculation

The header information and the fields that determine what to include control how the math is calculated. These are the same fields used by the Graphical Inventory Profile app, which is a free app. Because they are shared, the fields are explained in the documentation and videos for Graphical Inventory Profile, so you can look there if any field does not explain itself.

Working with expiration dates

On the Dates tab you can use the Show Item That Expire checkmark. This determines whether the assignment works with expiration dates or not. You can also set the remaining shelf life percentage if you use remaining shelf life on your expiration date items.

Automatic and manual assignment

The Assignment tab holds most of the fields specific to the Assign Quantity app. You can choose to automatically assign on sales lines. When this is enabled and you enter a quantity on a sales order, the system assigns automatically if possible. If you deselect it, you use the action on the sales order to do the assignment manually.

The same logic applies to transfer lines and production component lines, where you can also make the assignment automatically or manually.

Date formulas and how the system decides to assign

The start date formula and end date formula are the two date formulas the system uses to draw an inventory profile and figure out whether it can assign or not. If the inventory profile gets below zero within the end date formula from the sales shipment date, the system will not assign the full quantity.

If it is possible within that period to move the sales shipment date so the quantity can be assigned, the system suggests that. The end date formula depends on how far ahead you want to look when doing the assignment.

Reassignment report settings

When you run the report to automatically reassign, the setup includes suggestions to delete soft assignment and delete locked assignment. These options are set up here by default.

Assigning by dimension

You can assign using a dimension code, either global dimension one or two. If you check this, the assignment respects the dimension code on the sales order line. When you assign within a specific dimension value, that value is filtered, and the system only looks at the orders, items, and inventory on that dimension value.

Campaign handling fields

The reclassification and post reclassification fields are used with the Campaign Handling app, where you can reclassify per dimension and move items automatically. This is not part of Assign Quantity. Similarly, the Snatch functionality belongs to the Campaign Handling app and is used to reallocate within dimensions.

Messages, buffers, and auto push

The Display Messages checkmark determines whether a message pops up when you are out of inventory or when the order date should be moved.

The first date available buffer controls the period in which the system tries to reassign an item. If you leave it blank, the default is around two months. If you enter, for instance, one week, the system only tries to move orders one week ahead.

The auto push functionality decides whether the system asks before reassigning the shipment date. When it cannot assign everything now, it can move the date and assign later. By default it asks before doing that. If you set the checkmark, it does not ask and just moves the date automatically. This is useful for web shops where you do not want the ERP system to interact with the user.

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