Playbooks/ Last updated: 2026-09-29

Playbook: thousands short, and nothing will order them

The situation

A new mainboard went into three BOMs. Open orders now need 5,122 of them; the warehouse has 180. The shortage is on every report. And yet no purchase order is coming — because the material has no supplier where planning looks for one. Purchasing has a price from ElectroParts KR in its list; shortage purchasing drafts orders from the supplier on the material, finds none and moves on, without a word.

The screenshots come from the Otiox demo workspace. To follow along, choose Switch to demo in the sidebar — changes there never touch your live data.

Step 1 — See every material MRP cannot buy

Go to Inventory → Stock Integrity. Findings titled Material without supplier are materials used by active BOMs or open orders that the automation cannot order.

Integrity findings: materials without a supplier

In the demo there are three: PCB Mainboard Rev3, Li-Ion Battery 3000mAh and Aluminum 6061 Sheet.

Step 2 — Open the finding

Open the one for PCB Mainboard Rev3.

The finding: used by 3 active BOMs, 5,122 needed, 4,942 not covered

Used by 3 active BOMs, 5,122 units on open orders, 4,942 not covered by stock — and no purchase order can be drafted for it. What to do: assign a supplier, because shortage purchasing skips this material.

Step 3 — Set the preferred supplier

Open the material (Materials → PCB Mainboard Rev3 → Edit) and go to Costing. Under Suppliers, add the supplier or mark the one you already buy from as Preferred, with its SKU, lead time and minimum order quantity.

The material's suppliers: ElectroParts KR, preferred, 21-day lead time, MOQ 25

In the demo: ElectroParts KR, SKU EP-PCB-R3, 21 days, MOQ 25. Choose Next, then Save Changes. The material now has the supplier planning reads; on the next scan the finding closes by itself, and shortage purchasing can add the uncovered quantity to a draft purchase order for ElectroParts KR — which a person still reviews and sends.

Do the same for the other two materials. A material that MRP cannot buy is a shortage that nobody is working on.

What you have at the end

Every material your BOMs need that MRP cannot buy, found automatically.
The shortage in units: needed, covered, missing.
The supplier set where planning reads it.
Shortage purchasing that drafts orders for it again.