Few people know this term; not even Google, yet many materials management systems have already been affected by it.
The reorder point blockage describes a situation that can occur in some ERP systems when using reorder point control (consumption control).
There is material in a storage location, but less than is required for a specific production or customer order. The corresponding order can therefore not be supplied with material and thus executed. If there are no other orders pending that require less material than is in stock, the “large” order will not lead to a replenishment of material without manual intervention by an MRP controller and can therefore never be serviced.
Automatic replenishment would only be triggered if the reorder point was not reached. However, this does not happen because there is not enough material for the large order. If the reorder level is not reached, however, no automatic triggering of requirements takes place. This means that no material flows into the storage location that could ensure sufficient stock and thus enable the order to be fulfilled.
Our tip:
You should definitely check how your ERP or planning system deals with this constellation. Some reorder point mechanisms can automatically resolve such a reorder point blockage, for example by triggering replenishment even if an order lot size is larger than the reorder point. If reorder point blockages can occur in your software, you should regularly compare the lot sizes of pending production or sales orders with the reorder point values of the consumption-controlled items required to fulfill the orders.
