When you create a sales order in Business Central and let your supply company ship the items directly to your customer, you can check the projected inventory across your intercompany partner before you commit to a location. This lets you see what is actually available to pick from at the supply company’s locations.
You access this from the sales line by choosing Line, then Item Availability by Intercompany. There you see the projected inventory, the remaining quantity on stock, the gross requirement from other orders, and the scheduled receipts from production and purchase orders.
You can pick different locations for different lines on the same order. This means two items on one sales order can be shipped from two separate locations at your supply company.
Checking intercompany inventory directly from the sales line
Say you have a sales order with two sales lines, and you want both items shipped directly to your customer from your supply company. Before you choose where each item ships from, you can look at the available stock in the supply company.
Open the sales line and choose Line, then Item Availability by Intercompany. This opens a view of the projected inventory from your supply company. You can see your intercompany partner and the locations that the supply company has set up to allow you to pick from.
Understanding the projected inventory figures
The Item Availability by Intercompany view breaks the stock situation down into several columns so you know exactly what you are working with:
- Remaining quantity is what is actually on stock at the supply company at the moment.
- Gross requirement is what other requirements exist in the supply company right now. That could be other sales orders.
- Scheduled receipt is whatever is planned to come into stock at the supply company. That could be production orders or purchase orders.
- Projected inventory pulls all of this together so you can see what is genuinely available.
In the example, both the Available location and the Basic location have stock to pick from, so you can choose either.
Selecting a location for each sales line
Once you pick a location and click OK, the Buy-from Vendor Location Code on the sales line is filled in with that location. You then repeat the process on the next line.
The second line shows its own projected inventory, and you can pick a different location for it. The result is that the two items on the same sales order get shipped from two different locations at your supply company.
Q&A
How do I see what stock is available at my supply company before shipping a sales order?
Open the sales line and choose Line, then Item Availability by Intercompany. This shows the projected inventory from your supply company, including remaining quantity, gross requirement, scheduled receipts, and projected inventory for each available location.
What does the projected inventory figure tell me?
It combines the remaining quantity on stock, the gross requirement from other orders, and the scheduled receipts from production and purchase orders. The result shows what is genuinely available to pick from at the supply company.
Can I ship items on the same sales order from different locations at my supply company?
Yes. You select a location for each sales line individually, so two items on one order can be shipped from two separate locations at your supply company.
What happens when I select a location in the Item Availability by Intercompany view?
The location you choose is written to the Buy-from Vendor Location Code on the sales line, so the supply company knows where to ship that item from.