Logistics

Pending consumption handling and return logistics for subcontracting in BE-terna Manufacturing.

Purpose

This page describes the logistics enhancements in BE-terna Manufacturing around pending consumption postings and returned goods from subcontracting. It helps users handle posting failures caused by insufficient inventory in a controlled way and connect returned subcontracted work to the standard warehouse receipt flow.

Business Value

  • Handles backward-flushed components with insufficient stock as pending consumption instead of simply losing the posting intent.
  • Makes open residual consumption visible in the production order and therefore prevents incomplete order finishing.
  • Allows pending consumption to be reposted even from another location.
  • Supports cancellation of pending residual consumption when the root cause was resolved outside the production order itself.
  • Reuses standard warehouse receipt, put-away, and inventory put-away processes for suitable subcontracting return scenarios.

Area: Logistics

Content Focus

Activate pending consumption by location

Whether pending consumption is allowed is decided per Location. This is especially useful for subcontractor locations where backward-flushed component consumption is not fully controlled by your own warehouse team.

Enable Handle Pending Consumption Entries on the location card. If the function later needs to be disabled again, there must be no open pending consumption entries left for that location. In that case, they first have to be reposted or cancelled.

A typical use case is a subcontractor location where backward flushing with routing link codes can hit missing inventory. For your own main location, the same function is often intentionally not wanted.

The switch is maintained directly on the location card:

Handle Pending Consumption Entries switch on the location card Click to enlarge

Review and assess pending consumption

If a production order could post only part of the automatic consumption because inventory was missing, the remaining amount is stored as Pending Consumption. Those open entries prevent the production order from being finished until they are resolved.

You can open the lines either through search or directly from the released production order through Related > Order > Pending Consumption Entries.

Important check points are:

  • Consumption Status = Pending
  • remaining open quantity
  • location and bin relation
  • connection to components that are posted with Flushing Method = Backward and a routing link code

Repost or cancel pending consumption

Two resolution paths are available:

  • Repost: Open the pending lines, transfer them into the dedicated pending consumption journal, adjust posting date, quantity, location, or bin if needed, and post the missing consumption. This reduces the remaining open quantity.
  • Cancel: If the open amount should not be reposted, mark the open lines and run the cancellation action. The system closes them with a cancelled counter-entry.

The standard consumption or production journal is not suitable for this cleanup because it does not automatically reduce the tracked pending quantity.

In the dedicated journal, the selected open quantities are proposed for reposting in one place:

Pending Consumption Journal with proposed reposting line Click to enlarge

For reposting, follow this sequence:

  1. Open the Pending Consumption page.
  2. Mark one or several open lines with Consumption Status = Pending.
  3. Choose Consumption Journal.
  4. Review posting date, quantity, location, and bin in the Pending Consumption Journal.
  5. Post the journal.

For cancellation:

  1. Open the same page.
  2. Mark the open line.
  3. Choose Cancel Open Entries.
  4. Confirm the dialog.

After successful processing, the remaining open quantity is reduced or the entry is closed with Consumption Status = Cancelled.

Use warehouse receipt and put-away for subcontracting returns

If the subcontracting operation is the last operation in the routing, returned work from the subcontractor can be processed through standard Warehouse Receipt, Put-away, or Inventory Put-away logic. If it is not the last operation, the receipt may still be posted, but the internal follow-up move to the next operation is not supported by this feature.

The most important rules are:

  • The subcontracting operation should be the last routing step if warehouse receipt and put-away are expected to complete the return process cleanly.
  • If the subcontracting step is not last, the receipt can be posted but the internal continuation must be organized manually.
  • If backward-flushed components with routing link codes are involved, the warehouse receipt may fail on insufficient stock. In that case, use either strict abort behavior or pending consumption handling.

In practice, this sequence works best:

  1. In the routing or in the released production order, first verify that the subcontracting operation is really the last operation.
  2. Then review the return location. Supported patterns are either Warehouse Receipt with Put-away or the combination without a separate warehouse receipt but with Put-away as Inventory Put-away. No additional special setup is required beyond the normal Business Central location and warehouse employee setup.
  3. Process the subcontractor return like a normal Business Central warehouse receipt and post the Warehouse Receipt or register the Inventory Put-away according to the standard process used for that location.
  4. If two-step warehouse logic is active, confirm after the warehouse receipt that the expected Put-away was created and register it completely.
  5. If Require Receive is turned off but Require Put-away is turned on for the location, expect an Inventory Put-away instead of a warehouse receipt followed by put-away, and register that document in the normal way.
  6. If posting aborts, first review components with Flushing Method = Backward and a routing link code. Where inventory is missing, make an explicit choice between aborting for correction and handling the quantity through pending consumption.
  7. Treat a non-final subcontracting operation as a business exception: the delivered quantity can still be posted, but it is treated as logistically finished immediately and no supported follow-up put-away is created.

For the inventory put-away variant without a separate warehouse receipt, this location setup combination is the relevant one:

Location setup with require receive turned off and require put-away turned on Click to enlarge

After every subcontracting return, verify these three points:

  1. Was the delivered quantity transferred correctly?
  2. Was the expected Put-away or Inventory Put-away actually created and registered?
  3. Did open consumption need separate follow-up handling because component inventory was missing?

Result

  • You can decide at which locations pending consumption is useful from a business perspective.
  • You know how open residual consumption is reposted or cancelled before an order can be finished.
  • You understand the conditions under which warehouse receipt and put-away reliably support subcontracting returns.