Modelling Backorders and Partial Shipments in a Supply Chain Database

A common scenario involves a customer ordering 500 units while only 320 are in stock, so the business ships what is available and sends the rest later. The article argues that a database should keep the original order intact and track each fulfilment event separately rather than overwriting a single shipped-quantity field. It proposes a relational model with separate tables for sales orders, fulfilment orders, shipments, and backorders, linked through order lines. Outstanding quantity is best derived from the ordered amount minus net fulfilled quantity, though the system must define which fulfilment states count as fulfilled. The author notes that states such as allocated, picked, packed, dispatched, and delivered should be distinguished.