What Causes Quantity Allocated to Drift Which Requires Running Reset Allocated Quantity?

What Causes Quantity Allocated to Drift Which Requires Running Reset Allocated Quantity?

Release Date: 7/8/2025
Version: All

Q - Our Production Manager was entering a Material Work Order this morning and received notification that the Quantity on Hand was insufficient even though the component was physically available. I was unable to track down a cause, but the error resolved itself after running the I/M -> Processing -> Reset Allocated Quantities utility.

Can you share how the Quantity Allocation & On Order values can drift? I normally run this until after closing COP at end of the month, so I was surprised at this morning’s allocation error since I just ran it a few days ago.


A - The allocation issue can result from:
  1. Someone manually changing the item or inventory location’s allocated quantity;
  2. System-level exceptions such as power failure, software crash, or forced termination of Elliott; or
  3. An Elliott software bug.
I assume what you encountered is not caused by (a). I think both (b) and (c) are possibilities in your case, but I am inclined to think (c) is more likely than (b). All programs that allocate quantity in Elliott should deallocate it at some point when the process cycle is complete. When that cycle is broken—due to an exception or possibly a software bug—an incorrect allocated quantity can result.

The "Reset Allocated Quantities" utility is a legacy program dating back to the Macola & MCBA's days several decades ago. This is a long-standing issue. You should run this utility when no Elliott users are using the system. So typically, you can run this at nighttime, or schedule it through deferred processing to automate this procedure.  We have seen people run this utility from daily to weekly and, in your case, monthly.

If we knew the exact scenario that causes this allocation problem, we would have already fixed it. The Reset Allocation utility exists for handling scenarios that are not yet known. If you are able to replicate the issue consistently, please let us know.


EMK

    • Related Articles

    • Item Quantity Allocation Is Incorrect

      Q - We have been running into issues with certain items where the allocation isn't correct, as you can see in the sample screen below. The Item Quantity Allocated is zero. But if you drill down to the ATP Inquiry screen, you can clearly see there are ...

    • Close Transfer Order Requires Resetting ATP and Qty On Order

      Q - When I choose to close a transfer order, I receive the following message: Close Transfer Order Requires Reset ATP and Qty on Order What does this message mean? A - In the past, users were not allowed to close transfer orders via COP -> Processing ...

    • CPSETCUS Customer Order Processing Reset Customer Sales/Cost

      Reset Customer Sales/Cost Application Overview This feature is a safety feature if you forget to clear your A/R accumulators at month or year-end. Running it updates the Customers Period To date and Month To Date based on information stored in the ...

    • Item Quantity Allocated Is Not Updated

      Release Date: 12/6/2019 Version: All Q - Dear Netcellent Support -- Upon entering an order the item file is not updating (in some instances) the quantity allocated field. We have run a reset but this does not resolve the issue. Can you advise? A - ...

    • Feature - Inventory Location Quantity Change Event

      Release Date: 12/10/24 Version: 8.5 and Above Inventory location file maintenance now supports the Change Inventory Location Qtys (CHGINVLC) event. The event can be added from Inventory Management-> Maintenance-> Location Control File. If enabled, ...