orderpromising

Order promising is a business process in sales and supply chain management that determines what can be delivered when, and to whom, for customer orders. Its primary goal is to provide a reliable delivery commitment based on current inventory, inbound supply, and production plans, balancing customer expectations with operational capacity.

A central concept is available-to-promise (ATP), the quantity of a product that is currently unallocated and available for new orders. Capable-to-promise (CTP) extends this idea by considering production capacity, manufacturing lead times, and other constraints to generate a feasible delivery date when stock is limited.

The typical order-promising process starts when a customer order is received, performs an availability check, selects an appropriate supply source (on-hand stock, replenishment, or make-to-order production), computes a delivery date, and communicates a firm or tentative promise to the customer. If the requested date cannot be met, the system may adjust the date, suggest alternatives, or create a backorder and trigger replenishment or manufacturing.

In practice, order promising is supported by ERP and supply-chain planning systems, which maintain inventories, work-in-progress, supplier lead times, and demand forecasts. Common data inputs include item master data, master production schedule, current orders, and purchase orders. The output is a promised date and quantity, often stored as a line-level commitment on the sales order.

Benefits include improved order fill rates, reduced expediting costs, and better synchronization between sales and operations. Challenges involve data accuracy, multi-location complexity, demand volatility, and aligning supplier capacity with customer expectations.