Inventory Allocation

Understand what you have, what's missing, and what looks unexpected — then create the picklists that drive kitting.

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Overview

Inventory Allocation is the stage where receiving meets the BOM. Once parts are in the system, this stage answers the critical question: Are we ready to build? Each BOM line is evaluated against available inventory to determine what's satisfied, what's short, and what to do about the gaps.

This stage also surfaces items received that aren't on the BOM — which could indicate a mis-ship from a supplier, an AML alternate that wasn't expected, or a part number that wasn't decoded correctly at receiving and needs to be corrected. Catching these early prevents confusion at kitting time.

Inventory Allocation is also where picklists are created — either by uploading a BOM or entering parts directly. This makes picklists useful well beyond build kitting: you can use them to reorganise stock in the warehouse, find and pull parts that are past their useful life or date code limit, or assign material for pre-work or QA inspection.

While some shops begin kitting as soon as individual parts are committed, most wait until all or nearly all of the items are on hand before directing the picking team. The allocation view makes that decision easy — you can see at a glance how complete each job is before releasing it to the floor.

How you receive affects allocation. The way parts are organised into bins at receiving — whether into dedicated work order bins or into general inventory with tags — has a direct impact on how allocation and picking work. See the receiving & picking workflow guide →

Part availability — how inventory moves through a job

Every inventory item in MetisLogic carries an availability status that determines who can use it and whether it appears on picklists. Understanding these statuses explains how the system coordinates competing claims on shared inventory across multiple concurrent jobs.

Available

In stock and can be used by any job.

A part reaches this status after being successfully received and confirmed. It is visible to all projects with relevant tags, counts toward inventory totals, and can be allocated to any batch.
Reserved

Informally allocated to a job — a soft hold.

Reserving a part signals intent to use it for a specific job without locking it exclusively. Other users can see the reservation, but the part can still be allocated if there's enough to spare. Useful for planning ahead when purchasing is still in progress.
Committed

Locked to a batch — available for picking.

Committing a part to a batch is a firm allocation. No other job can use it until it is returned to stock after manufacturing. In the picklist workflow, as soon as a part is committed, it can be picked. This means picklists reflect real-time progress as parts arrive, rather than waiting until everything is in hand.
Picked

Physically pulled from the shelf and staged for the floor.

Once a part is physically pulled from inventory, it is marked as Picked. It remains in this state while manufacturing is in progress. The part has left the shelf but has not yet been consumed by the build — the distinction matters for accurate inventory tracking during the build cycle.
Consumed

Used in the build.

After manufacturing, during the Post-Build process, the quantity actually used in the build is marked as Consumed. Any remaining quantity is handled separately — parts worth returning to stock are counted, adjusted, and moved back into inventory. Any existing or new reservations can then be fulfilled. Customer-supplied parts can be returned to the customer, and anything not worth restocking can be scrapped.

See Inventory Allocation in action

The gap analysis and picklist creation flow are easiest to understand in a live demo. Request one and we will walk through a job from first receipt to published picklist.

Request a Demo Next: Kitting →