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Reserve and Release Stock on the Demand Board

Added October 2026

Reserve holds stock you already have on the shelf for one customer order line, so nothing else can take it. Release gives it back. Both are done from the Demand Planning board, in one dialog, one order line at a time. Reserve is the only kind of hold there is — a hold is simply stock that is Reserved for an order.

note

Availability depends on your plan and your role.

When to use Reserve and Release​

You want to…Use
Make sure a particular customer's order gets the stock you have todayReserve
Promise a big order's stock before smaller orders can take itReserve
Free stock held for an order that is not going ahead, or that needs lessRelease
Cover the part you do not haveMake or Buy — see Building a basket

Reserve and Release work on stock that exists today. Make and Buy work on stock that does not exist yet.

What you see on the board​

Among others, the board shows these figures:

ColumnWhat it means
On handWhat is on the shelf now, including units already reserved
DemandStill to ship on open orders, plus inputs live work orders need
ReservedStock held for the order. Automatic holds are shared out first come, first served; stock you reserve by hand is never moved to another order
ShortfallWhat is still missing after what is already being made and already on order has been counted

Hover the small information icon next to a heading for a one-line reminder.

Open an item to see its order lines. Each order line carries the buttons Reserve, Release, Make and Buy, always in that order. Above the list, a note says "Reserve, Release, Make and Buy are decided one order line at a time. Open an item's lines to take them." (shown when some item is short).

Not every button appears on every line:

  • Reserve is hidden when the line has nothing short, or when you have no stock of the item.
  • Release only appears when the line is holding stock.
  • On a work-order material line, Reserve and Release are greyed out wherever they would otherwise appear; hovering shows "Stock is reserved on the work order".
  • On a drop-ship line, Reserve is greyed out, and hovering shows: "The supplier ships this direct to the customer — we never hold this stock".
  • If your role cannot change reservations, the buttons are greyed out and hovering shows: "You do not have permission to change what a sales order holds".

Reserve stock for an order line​

  1. On the Demand Planning board, open the item and find the order line.
  2. Click Reserve. The Reserve Stock dialog opens, headed by the item and the order's SO, Customer, Still to ship quantity and By date.
  3. The table lists each of your locations with On Hand, Reserved (all orders), Available (ATP) and This line holds.
  4. In the Reserve box on each location, type how many to hold there. You can spread the quantity over several locations.
  5. Check the summary at the bottom: Total reserved against how much is still to ship. If you reserve less than the order needs, it shows Not reserved with the quantity left over.
  6. Click Reserve Stock.

You see a message such as "Reserved 40 across 2 location(s) for SO-123". If there was not enough free stock, the message adds how much is short.

Things to know:

  • You cannot reserve more than the order still has to ship. The dialog says so if the total is too high.
  • Stock you reserve here stays with this order. The dialog states it: "A reservation you set here is never moved to another order automatically."
  • The order must be approved. If it is not, you see "This sales order is not approved yet, so it cannot hold stock. Approve the order, then reserve."
  • If someone else changed the same line at the same moment, nothing is saved and you see "Stock for this line was being changed at the same moment. Nothing was saved — please try again." Try again.

Automatic and by-hand holds​

Depending on your settings (see When stock is reserved), Bizconnekt may already have reserved stock for the line automatically. In This line holds, such a line shows how the quantity splits — for example "10 by you · 20 automatic".

Automatic holds are shared out first come, first served: the oldest order is filled first, and the newest gives stock back first. Stock you reserve by hand is never moved to another order. If you change a location's quantity and save, the whole quantity there becomes a hold you set by hand; the dialog warns you first: "Saving makes the whole quantity on each shelf you change a reservation you set by hand, so it is no longer shared out automatically with other orders."

Release stock​

  1. Click Release on the order line. The dialog opens as Release Stock: "Lower a shelf to give its units back. Zero on every shelf releases the line entirely."
  2. In the Keep box on each location, type how many the line should keep. You can only lower a quantity here, not raise it.
  3. The summary reads This line keeps against how much is still to ship.
  4. Click Release Stock. If you set every location to zero, the button reads Release All and the message is "Released everything this line held".

Released stock goes back on the shelf for any other order.

Read the stock forecast​

Under every location in the dialog is a small Projection link. Open it to see a stock forecast for that item at that location, so you can tell whether reserving now will leave later orders short.

  • The forecast is a row of period cards. Each card shows how much stock is available by the end of that period, how much is coming In (purchase orders and work-order output) and how much is going Out (sales orders and work-order material).
  • A card marked Short means that by that date you would not have enough.
  • Click a card to see the documents behind it, in two lists: Coming in and Going out. Click a document to open it in a new tab. If you are not allowed to see some documents, they are summed up on a line with a lock icon rather than hidden from the total.
  • The forecast counts the dates on your purchase orders, work orders and sales orders. Unlike the Available (ATP) column, it includes this order's own reservation. Purchase orders with no expected date are left out, and sales orders with no due date count as needed today.

If it cannot be loaded you see "Couldn't load the projection for this location." with a Retry link.

"Hold expired" on an order line​

Every hold has a release-by date. When that date passes without the goods shipping, the hold is let go automatically. On the board, such an order line shows an amber Hold expired label under its Reserved figure.

Hover it for the reason: "The hold passed its release-by date. Move the order's delivery date forward to reserve again."

What it means: the line is not waiting for stock. It will not be refilled as things stand. To fix it, move the order's delivery date forward; the line can then be reserved again.

When stock is reserved​

Your administrator decides whether approving a sales order reserves stock by itself. In the admin console, under Configuration → Item Central → Inventory → Reserve stock:

  • Automatically on approval (default) — approving an order reserves the free stock it needs.
  • Manually — only when someone reserves it by hand — approving reserves nothing from stock on your shelves. Your team reserves stock with the Reserve button on this board.

If your business uses the manual option, Reserve is how an order gets its stock. See Inventory settings for the full detail, including goods bought or made for an order, which are held for it when they arrive whichever option is chosen.

Need help? Contact support at support@bizconnekt.com