Order Matrix

The Order Matrix gives buyers, planners, and sales staff a focused, multi-item ordering workspace where real-time stock and order quantities sit alongside the item specifications that matter most to their decision. Instead of opening individual item cards or juggling multiple lists, users can review a curated selection of items in a single view, enter order quantities, and convert those quantities directly into sales order lines or supply orders — all without leaving the page.

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Feature Overview

The Order Matrix page presents a list of items arranged in rows, with each row showing the item's current Inventory, Quantity on Purchase Order, and Quantity on Sales Order next to up to 15 configurable specification columns drawn from the active Template. Users populate the matrix with the items they want to work with — either by manually importing lines, pulling results from a specification search, or loading items based on their existing specification data — and then enter a Quantity to Order for each item that needs to be replenished or sold.

Once quantities are set, the matrix can create sales order lines directly on an existing sales order with a single action, or generate supply order entries in the Reverse Planning Worksheet for purchase and production planning. A Suggest Quantity to Order action can also calculate the appropriate reorder quantity automatically based on current availability, reducing the need for manual calculation. Because the columns displayed in the matrix are driven by an Information Matrix Template, the layout can be tailored to show exactly the specification data relevant to the ordering task at hand — whether that is dimensions, lead times, supplier codes, or any other attribute tracked in Master Data Information.

Typical Use Cases

As a buyer reviewing stock levels across a product range, I want to open the Order Matrix for a filtered set of items and see their current inventory, open purchase orders, and open sales orders side by side with their key technical specifications so that I can quickly identify which items need replenishment and enter order quantities without switching between pages.
As a sales coordinator building a customer order for a wide assortment, I want to use Import from Specification Search to load only the items that match the customer's specification requirements into the matrix, enter the quantities they need, and then use Create Sales Order Lines to push those lines directly onto the customer's sales order so that the order is complete in one focused session.
As a planner managing seasonal stock build-up, I want to use Suggest Quantity to Order to let the system calculate the reorder quantity for each item in the matrix based on current availability so that I can review and adjust the suggestions before using Create Supply Orders to send them to the Reverse Planning Worksheet for further processing.
As a product manager performing a range review, I want to load a group of items into the Order Matrix using Import from Informations and use Add Values to Lines to apply a common specification value — such as a new supplier code or a revised lead time — to all of them at once so that the data update is consistent and fast rather than item-by-item.
As a warehouse supervisor checking stock availability across locations, I want to set the Location Filter in the Order Matrix to a specific warehouse so that the Inventory, Quantity on Purchase Order, and Quantity on Sales Order figures I see are scoped to that location and reflect the actual availability at the site I am responsible for.

Key Concepts

Template — the Information Matrix Template that controls which specification columns are shown in the matrix and how they behave. Each user's last-used template is remembered, and a different template can be selected at any time using Select Matrix Template.
Inventory, Quantity on Purchase Order, Quantity on Sales Order — live availability figures calculated per item (and per location when a Location Filter is applied) that give a real-time demand and supply picture directly in the matrix without opening the item card.
Quantity to Order — the editable field where users enter or review the quantity they intend to order for each item. This field drives both the Create Sales Order Lines and Create Supply Orders actions; only items with a value greater than zero are included when those actions run.
Suggest Quantity to Order — an automated calculation that derives a recommended Quantity to Order based on each item's current availability position. Available when the Reverse Planning app is also installed.
Location Filter — restricts the inventory and order quantity calculations to a specific warehouse location, making the matrix useful for site-level planning as well as company-wide views.
Special Sorting Field — an optional specification-based sort order that arranges the matrix rows by a numeric or date specification value rather than alphabetically, making it easier to work through a range in a logical sequence (for example, by size or weight).
Import Lines — loads a predefined selection of items into the matrix using saved filter criteria.
Import from Informations — populates the matrix with items that share a particular specification value, allowing selection based on what the items are rather than what they are called.
Import from Specification Search — opens the Specification Search so users can define criteria and have the matching items loaded into the matrix automatically.
Add Values to Lines — applies a single set of specification values to all rows in the current matrix in one step, useful for bulk data maintenance tasks.
Create Sales Order Lines — converts all rows with a Quantity to Order greater than zero into lines on an existing sales order, which the user selects at the point of action.
Create Supply Orders — sends all rows with a Quantity to Order greater than zero to the Reverse Planning Worksheet for purchase or production order creation. Requires the Reverse Planning app.

Relations to Other Features or Apps

Information Matrix — the Order Matrix is a specialised variant of the Information Matrix designed specifically for ordering scenarios. It shares the same template and column infrastructure but adds the availability figures and order-creation actions that the standard Information Matrix does not provide. Templates created in the Information Matrix Template Setup are available in both.
Specification Search — the Import from Specification Search action connects the Order Matrix directly to the Specification Search feature, allowing users to define specification criteria and have the matching items loaded as matrix rows without any manual selection.
Searching, Marking, and Filtering — items that have been marked on the Item List can be used as a source when populating the matrix, meaning a selection built up using the mark workflow flows naturally into an ordering session in the Order Matrix.
Standard Business Central Sales Orders — the Create Sales Order Lines action writes directly to a standard Business Central Sales Order, meaning all the normal pricing, availability checking, and order processing flows apply to the lines created.
Reverse Planning (separate app) — the Suggest Quantity to Order, Create Supply Orders, and Open Reverse Planning Worksheet actions require the Reverse Planning app to be installed. Without it, those actions are not visible on the page.

When This Feature Adds Value

Your team regularly places orders across a range of items and needs to see live availability and specification data together in a single view rather than switching between item cards, inventory reports, and order entry screens.
You handle assortment-based selling where customers order multiple items at once, and being able to enter quantities across a filtered product selection and convert them to a sales order in one step saves significant time.
You manage replenishment for a warehouse location and want to combine specification-driven item selection with live stock figures and an automated quantity suggestion before committing to supply orders.
You need to perform bulk specification updates on a specific group of items — for example, updating a supplier attribute across a product family — and want to do so in a list view rather than one item at a time.