Katana's Sales Item Availability feature provides real-time insights into whether products are available to fulfill a specific sales order (SO). This dynamic status helps prioritize orders, plan production, and manage procurement effectively.

Where to find sales item availability

You can view the Sales item availability status in:

Sell screen: Under the Sales orders tab.
Sales order card: By opening a specific SO.
Manufacturing order card: In the Ingredients table.

Note: This status is not applicable to service items, as they are always considered available.

Manufacturing approaches: MTO vs. MTS

Katana supports two manufacturing approaches:

1. Make-to-Order (MTO)

Definition: Products are manufactured specifically to fulfill individual SOs.
Availability status: Once an MTO manufacturing order (MO) is created and linked to an SO, the Sales Item Availability status changes to Expected.
Priority impact: SO priority does not affect availability once an MTO MO is linked.

2. Make-to-Stock (MTS)

Definition: Products are manufactured in anticipation of future sales and stocked in inventory.
Availability Status: Determined by SO priority and existing stock levels.
Priority Impact: Higher-priority SOs reserve available stock before lower-priority ones.

How sales order priority affects availability

For SOs without a linked MTO MO:

In stock: Sufficient products are available in inventory to fulfill the SO.
Expected: Products are not currently in stock but are expected from an open MO or outsourced purchase order (OPO).
Not available: Insufficient products in stock, and no open MO or OPO exists for the required quantity.

Note: Even if some products are in stock, a lower-priority SO may show Not Available if higher-priority SOs have reserved the available stock.

Managing availability issues

If an SO shows Not available, consider the following actions:

Create a manufacturing order (MO):
- Navigate to the Sell screen.
- In the Production column, click + Make and select Make to Order or Make in Batch.
Adjust sales order priority:
- Reorder SOs in the Sell screen to prioritize the current SO, potentially changing its availability status.
Create an outsourced purchase order (OPO):
- Click the global + button and select Outsourced purchase order.
- Add the required products to the OPO.

Utilizing inventory intel

For detailed insights:

Open the SO and click on the Sales item availability status.
The Inventory Intel window will display:
- In stock: Current available quantity.
- Expected: Quantity expected from MOs or OPOs.
- Committed: Quantity reserved for other orders.
- List of SOs and MOs affecting availability, sorted by priority.

Note: Products used as subassemblies in MOs will also appear in this analysis.

Multilocation considerations

If operating with multiple locations:

You can assign different locations to each item within an SO.
Availability statuses will correspond to the selected locations.

Sales item availability statuses

Not available:
- This means there aren't enough products available in the inventory for the SO, and that you aren't expecting the product from manufacturing (i.e., a MO hasn't been created for the required amount of product for this SO) or outsourcing.
- Option 1: Create an MO by clicking on the + Make button in the Production column in the Sell screen and selecting Make to Order or Make in Batch. This adds a relevant MO to the Make screen's Schedule tab.
- Option 2: If the SO is low priority and has some products in stock and needs to fulfill this SO quickly, you can try adjusting the SO's place to give it a higher priority for reserving In stock or Expected products.
- Option 3: Create an OPO by selecting Outsourced purchase order in the Global + symbol and adding the required quantity of products to the order.

Expected:
- This means there aren't enough products available in the inventory to fulfill the SO, but you have an open MO or OPO for the required amount of product.
- The date connected to the Expected status indicates the Production Deadline for the connected MO or Expected arrival date of the connected OPO.
- Products can be expected from either MTO or MTS MOs or OPOs.
- Recommended action: No immediate action is required, but we suggest checking for conflicts between the SO delivery deadline and the sales item's expected date. If there are conflicts, you could re-prioritize your Schedule tab.

In stock:
- You have enough products available in inventory to fulfill this SO.
- Recommended action: No action required. Proceed with SO delivery.

Picked:
- Sales item availability will change to Picked if the Delivery status is changed to Packed or Delivered. The In stock and Committed quantities for those products will then decrease in the inventory.