Business value

Often you need to differentiate blocking of items, customers etc. per process, rather than use the "all or nothing" option in the standard functionality.

This applies to many situations:

• An item is no longer valid in new purchase orders, but is still sold and purchase invoices for this item will have to be posted.
• A customer is questionable, but on order level it should be possible to release the order anyway.
• The received payment from a blocked customer should be processed normally.
• An item may only be sold to professional users, so at sales order entry, the system should give a popup signal.
• An item may be deliverable, but not yet be invoiced, because the final price is not known yet.
• An order that is waiting to be called can only be released when the blocking reason is removed from the order header or order lines.

In sales (purchase) order posting Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations does not select the line in the posting screen if one of the following statements is true:

• the sales line (purchase line) has a blocking reason that will block this step, or
• the item has a blocking reason that will block this step, or
• the order has a blocking reason that will block this step, or
• the customer (vendor) has a blocking reason and the order has no blocking reason that does not block the order

Setup

When switching on the configuration key Blocking reasons, functionality is added to use signal codes and blocking reasons.

Inventory management > Setup > Inventory > Blocking reasons

In the Blocking reasons form, in the fast tabs Sales quotation, Sales order and Purchase order, the steps can be defined where the system will show a signal message and / or block the order or order line on order(line) creation.

The signal text may also contain a place holder for the item number (%1), item name (%2) or the order (%3).

E.g. for PurchaseBlock: "New PO line for item %1 - %2 is not allowed on order %3."

Business Events

Via System administration > Setup > Business events > Business events catalog, the following business events for Blocking Reasons can be activated:

• Customer blocking reason changed
• Item blocking reason changed
• Product variant blocking reason changed
• Prospect blocking reason changed
• Purchase order blocking reason changed
• Purchase order line blocking reason changed
• Sales order blocking reason changed
• Sales order line blocking reason changed
• Sales quotation line blocking reason changed
• Vendor blocking reason changed

Fields passed to the event:

Besides activation of the event in the catalog, also the checkbox Activate business event on the blocking reason needs to be enabled. On change of the blocking reason the system will look at the new value to determine whether a business event is created.

Use blocking reasons

Link blocking reason to a customer

All customers > Fast tab: Sales order defaults

This blocking reason is respected (but not inherited) on sales orders and sales quotations but can be overridden by a blocking reason on the sales order and sales quotation.

Link blocking reason to a vendor

All vendors > Fast tab: Purchase order defaults

This blocking reason is respected (but not inherited) on purchase orders but can be overridden by a blocking reason on the purchase order.

Link blocking reason to a released product 

Released products > Fast tab: General > Group: Administration

Note that the blocking reason can also be updated automatically when the business rule status of a released product is changed. This blocking reason is respected (but not inherited) on sales quotations, sales orders and purchase orders. An additional blocking reason on the order line will also be respected, but will not override the blocking reason on the released product. 

Blocking reason on sales quotation

Sales and marketing > Sales quotations > All quotations

The logic for blocking reasons on sales orders (described in the next paragraph) also applies to sales quotations.

Blocking reason on sales order

Sales and marketing > Sales orders > All sales orders

If necessary, it is possible to block all existing open sales orders for a customer at once, by changing the blocking reason on the customer account. In the sales order header, fast tab Setup, the "Blocking reason order account" is displayed.

The sales order contains a field "Blocking reason", which is used to overrule the "Blocking reason order account" on the customer.

If a customer is generally blocked, an individual order can be released through a "signal only" blocking reason on the order header.

The behavior on the sales order lines is slightly different:

• There is only one field blocking reason the order line, there is no display method like on the order header.
• Order lines can be blocked by a blocking reason on the item or by a blocking reason on the customer or order header.
• The field blocking reason on the order line can only be used to block the order line, not to override a block from order header, customer or item.

So you can set a blocking reason on a customer, and this will influence all open and all new orders. As soon as you remove the blocking reason from the customer record, all these orders are unblocked (unless a manual block has been set on the order header or line or a block on item).

Unblock specific order: if the customer has a blocking reason that will block this step, but the order has a blocking reason that does not block this step, the lines are selected. This allows manually inserting a less restrictive blocking reason (signal only) for an order header, though the customer is still blocked. Then, this order can be picked, delivered, invoiced etc.

Blocking reason on purchase order

Procurement and sourcing > Purchase orders > All purchase orders

If necessary, it is possible to block all existing open purchase orders for a vendor at once, by changing the blocking reason on the vendor account. In the purchase order header, fast tab Setup, the "Blocking reason order account" is displayed.

The purchase order contains a field "Blocking reason", which is used to overrule the "Blocking reason order account" on the vendor.

If a vendor is generally blocked, an individual order can be released through a "signal only" blocking reason on the order header.

The behavior on the purchase order lines is slightly different:

• There is only one field blocking reason the order line, there is no display method like on the order header.
• Order lines can be blocked by a blocking reason on the item or by a blocking reason on the vendor or order header.
• The field blocking reason on the order line can only be used to block the order line, not to override a block from order header, vendor or item.

So you can set a blocking reason on a vendor, and this will influence all open and all new orders. As soon as you remove the blocking reason from the vendor record, all these orders are unblocked (unless a manual block has been set on the order header or line or a block on item).

Unblock specific order: if the vendor has a blocking reason that will block this step, but the order has a blocking reason that does not block this step, the lines are selected. This allows manually inserting a less restrictive blocking reason (signal only) for an order header, though the vendor is still blocked. Then, this order can be ordered, received, paid etc.

Purchase order Blocking reasons in combination with Master planning

Master planning > Master planning > Planned orders

Planned orders can be created by the periodic Master planning and also manually. On creation of the planned order the system will check the “Purchase Order line entry” setting of the Blocking reason of the item as well the “Purchase order entry“ and the “Purchase Order line entry” setting of the Blocking reason set on the vendor. This check will execute this routine:

• Check the item, whether a blocking reason has been setup:
  • display the blocking code on the planned order.
  • If the value of the field (PO) Order Line Entry is set to Block or Both stop the routine else check the Vendor:
    • If there is a blocking reason on the Vendor where one of the fields (PO) order entry or order line entry is set to Block or Both inherit the code form the vendor to planned order and stop the routine.
    • If the field (PO) order line entry on the blocking code from the Item is set to none and on the blocking reason of the vendor is one of the (PO) fields order entry or order line entry set to Signal, inherit the code form the vendor to the planned order. Stop the routine.
• If the blocking reason on the item has not been setup:
  • Check the vendor if a blocking reason is filled and for one of the fields order entry or order line entry set not equal to None, inherit the blocking reason form the vendor the planned order.

On firming, multiple planned purchase order lines, the system executes this logic again. All selected items with Block or Both will not be processed and remain visible in the planned order list page and the blocking reason and description field will be updated on the planned order.

The column "Process blocking description" displays the blocking reason for purchase order entry or order line entry. The field itself gives you information where the code is inherited from (item, vendor or manually set on the planned order).

Filtering planned orders for items with a blocking reason

In the advanced filter, join from Planned order (ReqPo) to Items (n:1 InventTable) to Blocking reasons (n:1 DYSBRSInventBlockingReasonTable).

Filtering planned orders for vendors with a blocking reason

In the advanced filter, join from Planned order (ReqPo) to Vendors (n:1 VendTable) to Blocking reasons (n:1 DYSBRSInventBlockingReasonTable).

Filter on the desired blocking reason.

Remark

Often, firming is done automatically when running the master planning in batch. In that case the info log will be visible on the batch task. Items with Block or Both will not stop the master planning process.

The firming of these lines with blocking reasons will not succeed, so those items will remain in the planned order form.

Blocking reasons in relation to Copy plan

Master planning > Master planning > Maintain plans > Copy plan

When a plan is copied, the Blocking reason is displayed on the new plan too.

Use blocking reasons within warehouse management

In general, the blocking reasons within warehouse management function in a similar way as the business rules within warehouse management. Key concept:

• a blocking reason on the sales header overrules a blocking reason on the customer
• a blocking reason on the sales line does not overrule but extends a blocking reason on the item

Blocking reason form

Inventory management > Setup > Blocking reasons

Blocking reasons in warehouse management are enabled by a Warehouse management parameter.

On multiple processes, the blocking reason can give a warning, block the process or do both. The warehouse management related fields in the blocking reason form are described below.

Sales order form and sales order list pages

Sales and marketing > Sales orders > All sales orders

If any blocking reason on the order header, order line or item causes a block, the whole order is not released to warehouse. The first found block is displayed. If there is no blocking reason on the sales header, the blocking reason on the customer is taken into account. If there is no block, all blocking reasons on order header, order line or item that must give a warning, are displayed. If there is no blocking reason on the sales header, the blocking reason on the customer is taken into account.

Release to warehouse

Warehouse management > Release to warehouse > Release to warehouse

The blocking reasons are checked when the user presses "Add" to add the selected line(s), "Add all", or "Add order".

If any blocking reason on the order header, order line or item causes a block, the whole selection is not transferred to the lower grid Release to warehouse. The first found block is displayed.

If there is no blocking reason on the sales header, the blocking reason on the customer is taken into account.

If there is no block on order or customer, all blocking reasons on order header, order line or item that must give a warning, are displayed. If there is no blocking reason on the sales header, the blocking reason on the customer is taken into account.

Automatic release of sales orders

Warehouse management > Release to warehouse > Automatic release of sales orders

If any blocking reason on the order header blocks, the whole order is skipped and displayed in the message details of the info log.

If there is no blocking reason on the sales header, the blocking reason on the customer is taken into account. If any blocking reason on the item or the order line blocks, the order line is skipped and displayed in the message details of the info log. If an order line is skipped the new reservation is kept depending on the setting in the dialog. Warnings are also displayed in the message details of the infolog.

Packing station

Warehouse management > Packing and containerization > Pack

Just like with business rules, packing itself is not blocked with the blocking reasons, but a clear orange banner indicates when the shipment contains a sales order or sales line for which a blocking reason prevents shipment confirmation or packing slip posting.

Confirm shipments

Warehouse management > Shipments > All shipments

Warehouse management > Loads > All Loads

Warehouse management > Work > All work

Outbound shipments can be confirmed:

• from shipment
• from load
• from work

A shipment cannot be confirmed in part. So a block on one sales order or line prevents the confirmation of a shipment with multiple sales order (line)s. Just like with business rules, confirming an outbound shipment is not possible if there is one blocking reason that blocks for shipment confirmation on sales order header, sales line or item. If there is no blocking reason on the sales header, the blocking reason on the customer is taken into account.

Packing slip

The packing slip can be generated and printed:

• from the packing station, if set on the container packing policy linked to the packing profile
• from the shipment
• from the load
• from the sales order

The headers and lines of sales orders for which the blocking reason does not allow packing slip posting, will not be retrieved in the lines to be posted.

FAQ