In situations where insufficient stock prevents the complete filling of an order, the system keeps track of the order shortage quantities, item by item. To help you to fill the back orders with a minimum of inventory movements, you can use shortage clearance algorithms. When you link these algorithms to inventory receipt transactions, the system automatically checks to see if the received stock can be used to fill back orders. The inventory is moved from receipt to dispatch, being stored in between. This type of movement is also known as cross-docking.

By linking the appropriate internal routings to the transaction types, you can route the relevant stock directly from the receipt dock to the shipping dock, thus removing the need for additional put-away and picking activities. The remaining received stock that is not required for shortage clearance is put away using the normal routine. See Route Stock From Receipt to Shipping Dock.