Playbook: the lot reserved for the build expires before it starts

The situation

When the board build was planned, the oldest lot of solder paste was reserved — correct by first-expired-first-out. Then the order slipped. The reflow operation that uses the paste now runs on 10 October; the reserved lot expires on 8 October. Nobody re-checks a reservation once it is made, so the first person to notice would be the operator at the oven.

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 the forecast

Go to Predictive insights and filter for Reserved lot unusable → operation blocked.

The card links the lot, the operation and the order: 4 units at risk, the operation that cannot draw them, and 30 usable units in other lots. Decision synthesis recommends swapping to the next usable lot before the operation runs.

Step 2 — Swap to the next usable lot

Choose Swap to the next usable lot.

Otiox previews the swap and asks for confirmation. On Confirm, the reservation on the expiring lot is released and the same quantity is reserved on the next usable lot by expiry — in the demo, a lot valid until late November. Both moves are recorded as lot movements, the order's component line notes the swap, and the finding moves to review.

The released lot still expires on its date. Use it on an order that runs earlier — or plan its write-off now, not on the day.

What you have at the end

• Every reserved lot checked against the day it will actually be used.
• A replacement already identified.
• A traceable swap made days before the operation, not at the station.

Related

• Use case: Expiring Reserved Lot — /use-cases/expiring-reserved-lot
• Use case: Expiring Stock — /use-cases/expiring-stock