CSM Sales Operation Rules

CSM makes it possible for you to design a channel order handling process that enforces your business policies and workflows by allowing you to define sales operation rules.

When channel orders are retrieved from an external platform, CSM can be instructed to automatically create sales documents from these records. The application can also be configured to automatically release and post these Business Central documents. By using CSM’s sales operation rules, you can establish criteria that will override a channel’s standard automation routines. For example, you might want CSM to automatically release sales orders that are created for your channel, except when an order includes an item or items with insufficient inventory. In this scenario, you can implement a sales operation rule instructing CSM to deny the automatic release of sales orders whose item quantities exceed availability.

Note: CSM sales operation rules only apply to activities that are performed by CSM. Using the previous example of a rule that would deny the automatic release of sales orders whose item quantities exceed availability; this rule would not prohibit a user from manually releasing such a sales order.

CSM includes out-of-the-box default rules that address two scenarios:

• Unbalanced Totals: a discrepancy exists between the order totals on a channel order and the related Business Central sales document.
• Insufficient Inventory: the quantity of an item on a retrieved order exceeds availability.

In addition, this feature is designed to allow for the easy implementation of custom rules that reflect your particular business processes.

To load the default rules that are included with CSM:

1. Go to CSM Setup 
2. From the Related ribbon, choose the CSM Sales Operation Rules
3. In the CSM Sales Operation Rules window, choose the Actions ribbon, then choose the Load Default Rules

CSM loads the default sales operation rules that are included with the application. Each rule is assigned a unique rule code that addresses a different combination of scenario, processing action, and Business Central document type. All of CSM’s default sales operation rules are configured to deny an order processing action for the assigned document type if the scenario’s conditions are met (for example, deny the automatic release of a sales order if any item order quantities have insufficient availability, or deny the automatic posting of a sales order if a discrepancy exists between the order totals on a channel order and the related Business Central sales document).

If you wish to enforce a rule, you must enable it:

• Choose the CSM sales operation rule you want to enable, then place a check mark in the Enabled
• If you have multiple CSM sales channels set up in Business Central and want to enable the sales operation rule for a specific one, enter or use the lookup in the Sales Channel Code field to assign the desired channel. If the Sales Channel Code field is left blank, the rule will apply to all channels.

Note: if you want to enable a sales operation rule for more than one (but not all) channels, you must manually create additional CSM sales operation rule lines for each channel.

The other settings on the CSM sales operation rules lines should not be modified, as they are pre-configured to perform specific activities.

CSM Sales Operation Rule Functions

Each scenario that is addressed by CSM sales operation rules is designed as a separate action processing function. These functions are contained within a codeunit that is identified as a unique “sales operation rule evaluator.” CSM’s out-of-the-box functionality includes a CSM Sales Operation Rules Mgt. rule evaluator that comprises the processing functions for its default scenarios.

Using this structure, it is possible for you to extend the capabilities of CSM sales operation rules to meet your specific business processes by creating custom codeunits with additional functions.

As an example, suppose we added a custom “Approval Code” field to the sales order table, and as part of our company’s workflow, we want to enforce the assignment of an approval code on all sales orders. In this scenario, we could create a new function that instructs CSM to deny processing actions for orders with a blank approval code. This and other functions would be included as part of a new, custom sales operation rule evaluator, which could then be assigned to CSM sales operation rule lines.

The creation of new CSM sales operation rule functions and evaluators does require development activity; if you want to add new sales operation rules to your CSM solution, please consult your CSM partner for assistance.