How batch inventory is reserved

When reserving batch inventory, in addition to the inventory ranking criteria, auto-reservation must consider quantity. The quantity rules and preference for unreserved over reserved batch inventory means that the earliest expiring and earliest received inventory cannot always be reserved first.

When reserving batch inventory, auto-reservation does the following:
  1. Searches for unreserved inventory in first location.
  2. Evaluates the quantity of unreserved inventory: are there big enough batches or partial batches?
    1. Auto-reservation tries to reserve a batch that's big enough to fulfill the request. If there are batches that are big enough to fulfill the request, auto-reservation ranks these batches and reserves the highest ranking inventory.
    2. If no single batch can completely fulfill the part request, then auto-reservation reserves the biggest partial batch available and creates a new request for the remaining unfulfilled quantity. If two partial batches are equally biggest, auto-reservation ranks these and reserves the highest ranking inventory. Auto-reservation continues processing the split request until the quantity is reserved or the auto-reservation process concludes unsuccessfully.
  3. If there is no unreserved inventory, auto-reservation evaluates the reserved inventory and steals from the lowest ranked part request that has reserved inventory. If the quantity from the lowest ranked request is insufficient to fulfill the higher ranked request, then reserved inventory is stolen from the next lowest ranked request, then next lowest ranked request and so on until the request is fulfilled or there is no more inventory available in this location. If the request is only partially fulfilled, the request is split and Maintenix creates a new request for the remaining unfulfilled quantity. Auto-reservation continues processing the split request until the quantity is reserved or the process concludes unsuccessfully. The requests that lost their inventory reservations change to open status and are processed again.
    Note: Auto-reservation does not break reservations of batch inventory for Aircraft on Ground (AOG) priority part requests.
  4. If no unreserved or reserved inventory can be reserved in the first location, auto-reservation searches the next location in the following order: first preferred location > second preferred location > rest of the supply location (minus ignored locations) > remote supplier location if one is specified (minus ignored locations).