Backorders Not Releasing

Note: These are common scenarios for the Non Order Management environment.

There are several reasons why a backorder might not release:

Not Enough Stock
If using OE61-Release All and there are more backorders than what has been received then stock will be allocated per the customer's B/O Fill Priority code - the higher the code the higher priority given to that customer. If all customers are coded with the same Priority code, then stock is allocated on a first-come-first-served basis (oldest order's first, based on order number) until QOH is depleted.

Outstanding Shipping Document
OE61 will skip allocating stock to a backorder if there is an outstanding shipping document for that order (ie, picking slip that has not yet been invoiced through IN41-IN44). This is to avoid having 2 picking slips in the warehouse at the same time for the same order, risking shipping twice and only invoicing once.

Ship Complete
If the Ship Complete Flag = Y in the order header, then stock will be allocated by OE61 but the order will be held if there are other detail lines on backorder.

Dedicated Purchase Order
If a purchase order was generated for backordered items using the Generate PO option in OE30, those backorder lines are attached to a specific PO and will not be released until that specific PO is received. The release happens in PO60 (or PO63), not in OE61. The file written by OE30 is OEGP (key file: PO# + SO#). PO60/63 reads that file for the PO being received and releases the applicable backordered products on that sales order. If one of the backordered products is received on any other PO, OE61 will skip releasing the backorder lines attached to a dedicated PO. If you want to find out if a backorder is not releasing for this reason, you can recall the Order in OE45 and check for Dedicated POs in the More Details window.

Pre-Allocated In-Transits
If quantity is put in-transit for a PO and then is pre-allocated to a specific sales order (by program OE40), when that in-transit is received to stock by PO63 stock is allocated to that sales order first and whatever is left will be allocated to remaining backorders by OE61. IC45 shows the total quantity pre-allocated for a product. OE40 can be used to review preallocation details. You enter the receipt + receipt line number and it will display what sales orders have stock pre-allocated to them (or you can review through the file).