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Dynamics 365 Community / Blogs / Mansi Soni’s Knowledge Junction - Business Cent... / Mastering Item Reservations...

Mastering Item Reservations in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

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Mansi Soni Profile Picture Mansi Soni 8,933 Super User 2025 Season 2
In manufacturing, trading, and distribution businesses, inventory availability can make or break operations. A single unreserved item can delay shipments, disrupt production schedules, or lead to accidental partial deliveries. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central addresses this challenge with a powerful yet often underutilized feature: Item Reservations.

In this blog, we’ll explore what item reservations are, why they matter, and how to use them effectively across sales, purchase, and production processes.

What Is Item Reservation in Business Central?
Item reservation allows you to link supply and demand at the document level, ensuring that required inventory is set aside for a specific order.
You can reserve items for:
  • Sales Orders
  • Purchase Orders
  • Service Orders
  • Assembly Orders
  • Transfer Orders
  • Production Orders (Parent & Components)
  • Inventory entries or inbound quantities on open documents or journals
Each reservation clearly tells Business Central “this quantity is committed and not available elsewhere.”

Why Item Reservations Matter?
Reservations are not just about blocking stock - they enable smarter operational decisions.

Key Business Benefits
  • Prevent accidental partial shipments
  • Ensure production and assembly orders don’t stall due to missing materials
  • Improve order fulfillment accuracy
  • Reduce last-minute inventory conflicts
  • Provide clear visibility for shipping, picking, and production readiness
Business Central also updates document statuses automatically, helping teams understand the next actionable step - whether it’s shipping a sales order or starting a production run.


Understanding “Reserved from Stock”

The Reserved from Stock field is a quick health check for your order:
  • At the line level, it’s available via FactBoxes
  • At the order level, it’s visible on the Statistics page
This field helps answer a critical question instantly:
Can I ship, pick, or consume this item right now?

Reserving Items for Sales Orders

Reserving items from a sales order is straightforward and mirrors the process for purchase, service, transfer, and assembly orders.

Steps:
  1. Open Sales Orders 
  2. Select the relevant sales order
  3. On the Lines FastTab, choose Reserve
  4. On the Reservation page, select the line
  5. Choose one of the following actions:
    ​​​​​​​
    • Auto Reserve - System automatically reserves available quantity
    • Reserve from Current Line - Manual reservation from a selected supply line
    • Cancel Reservation from Current Line - Remove reservation
If item tracking (serial or lot) is involved, Business Central guides you through additional steps automatically.

Reserving Items for Production Orders

Reservations in production require distinguishing between:
  • Production Order Lines (Parent Item)
  • Production Order Components (Raw Materials)
Reserving Parent Items
  1. Open Firm Planned Production Orders
  2. Select the production order
  3. Choose the relevant production order line
  4. From Functions, select Reserve
  5. Reserve from the required supply line
Reserving Component Items
  1. Open the production order
  2. Go to Line > Components
  3. Select the component line
  4. Choose Reserve
  5. Reserve the required quantity
This ensures materials are locked for production, avoiding shortages during execution.

Bulk Reservations Using Reservation Worksheet

For planners handling high volumes, the Reservation Worksheet is a game-changer.

Common Use Cases
  • Weekly production planning
  • Daily sales allocation
  • Priority-based stock distribution
Process Overview
  1. Open Reservation Worksheet
  2. Choose Get Demand
  3. Filter by demand type (sales, production, jobs, etc.)
  4. Optionally choose Allocate
  5. Select an Allocation Policy
  6. Choose Make Reservation

Understanding Allocation Policies

Business Central offers flexible allocation strategies:

Allocation PolicyWhen to Use
Basic (No Conflicts)Reserve only when full quantity is available
EquallyDistribute limited stock evenly across demands
By Customer PriorityServe high-priority customers first

These policies help align inventory decisions with business strategy.

Modifying or Cancelling Reservations

Change a Reservation
  1. Open the document line
  2. Choose Reserve
  3. Open Reservation Entries
  4. Update the quantity and confirm
Cancel a Reservation
  1. Open Reservation Entries
  2. Choose Cancel Reservation
  3. Confirm the action
This flexibility ensures reservations stay aligned with changing business needs.

Reserving Specific Serial or Lot Numbers

For item-tracked items, Business Central supports specific reservations, where you reserve exact serial or lot numbers.
Common Scenarios
  1. Production consistency using the same lot
  2. Customer-requested serial numbers
  3. Quality or compliance requirements
Key Difference
  • Normal Reservation > Reserves item quantity
  • Specific Reservation > Reserves item quantity from a specific lot or serial
Business Central clearly guides users through this process, ensuring accuracy and traceability.

Final Thoughts

Item reservation in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is more than a technical feature-it’s a control mechanism for operational excellence.
When used correctly, it:
  • Strengthens planning accuracy
  • Improves customer satisfaction
  • Protects production timelines
  • Brings transparency to inventory decisions
Whether you’re a functional consultant, planner, or operations manager, mastering reservations can significantly elevate how your organization manages inventory.



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