Troubleshooting Automatic Location Assignment
NetSuite records information about the automatic location assignment (ALA) process in a log to give you more visibility into the assignment of locations. You can view this log on a sales order in Business Events Processing History, on the System Information subtab. A summary field displays the outcome of the ALA process. Click See more to view more detailed information about this process. The information is classified as one of the following types:
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Information – Shows general information about the process and its outcome.
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Error – Indicates that an error occurred during the process that stopped it from completing.
The information is listed chronologically with the most recent events at the top.
To view information about ALA on a sales order:
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Go to Transactions > Sales > Enter Sales Orders > List.
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Click View next to the sales order you want to work with.
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Click the System Information subtab, and then click Business Events Processing History.
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In the Summary Status column, view the outcome of the automation process.
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Click See more. A popup window called Business Events Details opens that contains more information about the automation process. You can filter this information by information type.
Reasons Why a Location Was or Wasn't Assigned
Sometimes, a location that you expected to be assigned isn't assigned to a sales order line. There are several reasons why this could happen. Here are some of the most common things you can check to determine why a location was or wasn't assigned:
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There's insufficient stock at the location. ALA doesn't split a sales order line between multiple locations, so if the entire quantity ordered is unavailable at a location, the location isn't assigned.
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ALA is disallowed in the location record. If you disallow ALA for a location, the location isn't assigned even if there's stock at the location. This situation also occurs if you restrict a location to specific regions and the shipping address isn't in one of the regions.
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If you create a rule to assign the location that is closest to the shipping address, but the shipping address postal code is missing, ALA can't assign a location.
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One or more attributes in the item record, such as the Preferred Location field or the Auto Loc. Assignment Allowed box, are preventing ALA from assigning a location. See Configuring Items for Automatic Location Assignment.
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The details in the shipping address are incomplete. If the customer’s shipping address doesn't have a valid postal code and there's a rule that uses Closest Location as an optimal fulfillment strategy, ALA can't assign a location.
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The details in the location address are incomplete. If the location doesn't have a postal code and the geolocation method is set to Derive From Postal Code, ALA can't calculate the location’s geographic position and discards the location.
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The item is marked for drop shipment. ALA doesn't assign locations to sales order lines with a drop ship item because the item is shipped directly from the vendor.
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NetSuite doesn't assign locations automatically if the Auto Loc. Assignment Suspended box is checked on the item record.
If the Fulfillment Request feature is enabled, NetSuite checks the Auto Loc. Assignment Suspended box automatically when a line item in a fulfillment request is rejected or a picking fulfillment exception is entered for the line item.
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The Supply Allocation feature is enabled and an allocation strategy that considers future inventory is configured. If a sales order line has an allocation strategy that considers future inventory, ALA can assign a location that currently has no inventory but will have inventory before the requested ship date.