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SystemField Inventory & Supply Chain

Backorder Allocation Decision Support

Backorder allocation that shows, account by account, whose booked cases each way of cutting short supply leaves uncovered, and leaves the choice and both signatures to people.

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Follow round 4 from the shortfall to the notices ↓
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The problem

Short supply shared by order history while the cases are on a calendar

When a sterilizer goes down, the week's released units fall short of what hospitals ordered, and someone has to decide who gets what by the afternoon cut-off. The usual answer is a spreadsheet of last quarter's purchases, adjusted by hand and approved by email.

Order history says little about which hospital runs out first. The cases are booked on the field team's calendar, stock on hand is in the hospitals' own counts, and the floors and notice clocks are in the contracts. Nobody has time to line all three up before shipping.

Built forSupply planning directorsCommercial leadersDemand plannersCustomer service managers

The Problem Today

Short supply gets shared out by order history, while the booked cases that run out first sit on another calendar.

Matched up by hand each round

  • Lots
  • Orders
  • Cases
  • Clauses
  • Cut by last quarterPurchase history decides, whatever is booked this week
  • Clauses checked too lateA contract floor or notice clock found after shipping

The Solution

  1. Read supply and demandReleased lots, open orders, booked cases and stock on hand, with sources
  2. Cut three waysBy commitment, by booked cases and by past share, each summing to supply
  3. Check each clauseFloors and fairness clauses quoted and tested under each option
  4. Two people signThe commercial lead chooses, the supply director countersigns

Built-in controls

  • Agents never choose an option or weigh clinical need
  • A moved unit counts only once someone else opens it
  • Held lots stay out until quality releases them

What You Get

Each round ships on a choice two people signed, knowing whose booked cases it covers and which contracts it meets.

  • Cases covered, by accountFirst short day shown for each option before anyone signs
  • Contract floors testedEach clause quoted beside the option that meets or misses it
  • One notice per accountUnits, reason and clause, read on a sample before sending
One sterilizer down, one shipping day

A backorder allocation round for an ablation catheter, signed by 15:00

One sterilizer chamber is out for repair, the week's released catheters fall short of orders, and the round has to be signed by mid-afternoon for next-day shipping.

demoEvery catheter count, hospital, distributor and person here is sample data.

  1. 01Morning read

    1,420 released, 2,310 ordered, and 612 on hold that do not count

    Commercial VP

    The round opens on one bar: units released this week against units ordered by 186 accounts, 890 short. The reason is cited to the plant plan, a sterilizer chamber out of service, and three lots on quality hold sit beside it, uncounted. Releasing them belongs to quality, and nothing on the screen offers to.

  2. 02Proposal

    B meets the hospital system's floor and cuts the distributor 60%

    Commercial VP

    The demand planner proposed option B and cannot sign it. Its sum line adds to 1,420. Four checks run across the top: cases covered, the hospital system's floor of 206, the purchasing group's fairness clause marked check with contracts, and the distributor at 120 of 300, 60% below a stocking order of 1.8 times its usual week.

  3. 03Proposal

    The distributor has no case record, so it gets one usual week

    Commercial VP

    Accounts with booked cases on the field calendar get cover for their cases. The distributor shares no schedule, so it gets its usual week at the supply rate, 71.7%, and the agents say that is why the cut is deep. Its page shows no case record and 120 units against an order of 300.

  4. 04Decision

    Its order note lists 40 booked cases at 9 hospitals it serves

    Commercial VP

    He opens the citation on the distributor's order. The note attached through the customer portal names nine hospitals and 40 booked cases over the next fortnight. They are stated by the distributor and not on a shared schedule, so the option builder did not count them. Whether they count is his call.

  5. 05Decision

    He moves 40 units from the reserve and writes why in his own words

    Commercial VP

    The move form takes units from the reserve held for urgent orders, which has 53 left. He picks the reason code and types his reason. The form says plainly that his words are not compared with anything by the agents: the supply planning director reads them, and the move does not count until she has.

  6. 06Decision

    Signed with the change pending: 40 more, counted only after a countersign

    Commercial VP

    He signs option B with his password, and the meaning on the record names the pending change. The sign-off page lists the prepared round, his change with his exact words marked not compared, his signature, and the director's line still waiting. The allocation file and the notices stay locked.

  7. 07Countersign

    She opens the case list herself, then the reserve drops from 53 to 13

    Supply planning director

    The director reads his reason, opens the distributor's case list, and countersigns the change with her own password. Only then does the distributor move from 120 to 160 and the reserve from 53 to 13. She opens option B, countersigns the round, and the allocation file for the ERP opens for download with both signatures on it.

  8. 08Notices

    Three notices read in full, then 186 go out

    Customer service manager

    Her sample is the one notice a person changed and two drawn at random. Each states the units, the reason, the clause and how long the units cover that hospital's booked cases. She reads all three, then sends 186 with her own password, inside the hospital system's one-day notice clock and the group's two-day clock.

Option B, unit by unit, adds to the 1,420 released

The sum line on the option screen, before the commercial VP moved anything.

Hospital system, its floor is 206214
Purchasing group members779
Hospitals on local agreements254
Distributor, one usual week at 71.7%of 300 ordered120
Held for urgent orders53
Released this week1,420

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Three ways to cut the same 1,420 catheters

The three options the option builder drew, against the 1,802 cases booked before round 5 lands.

MeasureA, by commitmentB, by booked casesC, by six-month share
Cases covered before round 51,7991,8021,798
Accounts short before round 5201
More short if round 5 slips53053
Hospital system, floor 206206, met214, met173, not met
Distributor, of 300 ordered143120123

demoSample data, from the working solution. Option B was proposed by the demand planner, who cannot sign it. The commercial VP chose it, then moved 40 units from the reserve to the distributor on the strength of its order note, which the director opened before the move counted.

Around the round

Inputs, clauses and recovery behind allocation planning

What the planner, the contracts manager and the director check outside the sign-off.

InputsSupply, orders, booked cases and agreements, with what was set aside: two duplicate lines, a feed timeout retried, and a hospital file deleted unread.
ClausesEach allocation and notice clause quoted from the contract system, with its result under A, B and C. Unclear wording goes to the contracts manager.
AccountsAll 186 accounts with usual week, order and units under each option, filtered by agreement.
Rounds this week20 products on allocation across the businesses, each with its round, released against ordered, status and sign-by time.
RecoveryReleased supply against open orders by round, from the plan. On this plan, round 8 fills every open order.
Audit trailEach action with its reason, session and signature meaning, from the option builder's re-run to the notices sent.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

The planner prepares, and two other people sign the round

The person who prepares a round never signs it, and nobody countersigns their own change.

Demand planner
Sees
Supply, orders, cases and the three options
Signs
Proposes an option; never signs it
Commercial VP
Sees
Each account's first short day and the clause checks
Signs
Chooses the option and signs any units he moves
Supply planning director
Sees
The typed reason and the record behind each change
Signs
Countersigns changes and the round after opening them
Contracts manager
Sees
Clause wording the agents would not interpret
Signs
Answers what a clause means
Customer service manager
Sees
A sample of the drafted notices
Signs
Sends the notices after reading the sample

Clinical need and held lots remain human calls

The agents cut, sum and quote. Four calls stay with named people.

No ranking of patients or casesThe option builder counts booked cases. Which case matters more is never weighed, and the notices give no clinical or substitution advice.
Held lots are not countedLots on quality hold stay out of every option, and no agent suggests releasing one. That belongs to quality.
Unclear clauses are not interpretedWording such as reasonable efforts goes to the contracts manager, who answers it on the record.
Patient details are not keptA hospital file that carries patient details is deleted unread and the hospital is asked for counts only.

What supply planning directors ask about backorder allocation

What is backorder allocation decision support?

Backorder allocation decision support helps a device maker share short supply. Agents read released lots, open orders, booked cases and contract clauses, cut the supply three ways and show each account's first short day. A commercial leader chooses and a supply director countersigns.

Where do the booked cases come from?

From the field clinical team's case calendar, matched to the counts and stock on hand that hospitals share under their agreements. Accounts that share nothing get a usual week at the supply rate, and the page says so.

Can someone change an option after it is proposed?

Yes. The commercial VP or the planner can move units with a reason in their own words. The change shows as pending and counts only after the supply director opens the record and countersigns.

What happens if the next round slips?

Each option shows how many more accounts would run short if the next shipment arrives late, day by day on a strip. The notices state each hospital's real coverage, including the days that depend on the next round landing on time.

Does it release held lots or decide quality questions?

No. Lots on quality hold are listed and never counted, and their release belongs to quality.

How are customer notices checked before they go?

Customer service reads a sample in full: each notice a person changed, any notice for an account short before the next shipment, and some drawn at random. Only then can all of them be sent.

What does the ERP receive?

An allocation file with each account's units and the reserve, released only after both signatures. Nothing ships on a draft.

Field Inventory & Supply Chain

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1-min demo

Bring last month's shortage
and the calendar of cases behind it.

We will cut that round three ways and show which accounts each cut left short, and on which day.

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