The quick answer
Go to Transactions > Order Management > Allocate Orders > Schedule and click New Order Allocation Schedule. Enter a Name, set Recurrence Frequency to Daily, enter the Next Date and choose the Next Time, then choose the Subsidiary. Keep Select Orders Manually and select the Location in Search Criteria so the run only considers the orders you mean it to, then click Save. The saved schedule shows its Next Date and Next Time, and the list shows it with Frequency Daily. Saving doesn't allocate anything. The schedule affects orders when it runs.
The screenshots show sample data. Person and operating-company names are fictional. Use your own records and values when following the steps.
Before you start
You need the Supply Allocation feature turned on and a role that can create and view Order Allocation Schedules. This walkthrough used a OneWorld account. Field labels, available options, list columns, confirmations, defaults and permissions vary by account version, enabled features, role and form, so check each point in your own account. If Schedule is missing under Transactions > Order Management > Allocate Orders, check the feature, your role's permissions and your navigation.
An Order Allocation Schedule stores the choices you would make on Allocate Orders and repeats them at the time you set. A scheduled run follows the rest of Supply Allocation like a manual run does. The result depends on the supply that is eligible, each line's allocation strategy, required dates, priorities and any firm allocations or commitment confirmation already on the lines.
Because a schedule runs without anyone looking at it, decide its scope before you save. In this example the planner wants the US Operations subsidiary's orders for one location, Spokane Warehouse, to be recalculated every morning at 5:00 am, before the pickers start. The names, location and times below are examples. Use your own.
01. Open the schedule list
Go to Transactions > Order Management > Allocate Orders > Schedule. The list shows the account's Order Allocation Schedules with the columns Internal ID, Subsidiary, Name, Frequency, Repeat Every and Next Date. This account has none yet, so the list says No records to show and Total is 0.
02. Name it and set when it runs
Click New Order Allocation Schedule. In Name enter Daily Allocation Spokane Warehouse, or a name that says what the schedule does in your account, and add a Description if it helps the next person.
Under Schedule, change Recurrence Frequency from Monthly to Daily. Repeat Every becomes 1 and is greyed out, so the schedule repeats every day. This account also offered Hourly, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Twice a Year, Annually and One Time, and the choices can vary with your configuration, so check the unit beside Repeat Every if you pick another frequency.
Enter the Next Date and choose the Next Time. They are the next pending run, read in the time zone shown beside the time, here (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada), not in your own computer's time. Pick a time when the allocation can run without getting in the way of the people using the orders.
03. Choose which orders it considers
Under Order Options choose the Subsidiary. The form marks it as required, and in a OneWorld account the Location list below stays empty until you choose it. Keep Allocation Processing Option on Using Sorting Options Only, which follows the three Sorting Options at the bottom of the form. The other options use separate allocation logic that optimises for fill rate, revenue or gross profit on sales orders, so choose one deliberately. Leave Set Order Line to Firm unchecked while you are new to the schedule. Unchecked, the run commits allocations without firming them, so later calculations can change them. Checked, the run firms the allocations it makes, and the normal system allocation process does not reallocate firm allocations later.
Keep Select Orders Manually. That doesn't mean you pick orders at every run. The Search Criteria below it are saved with the schedule and applied each time it runs. In Search Criteria the Location list now shows the subsidiary's locations. Click Spokane Warehouse so the run only considers orders for that location. You can narrow further with Item, Sales Channel, Customer, Order No., Transaction Type and the date and priority ranges. Item and Customer are type-ahead fields, so type the start of the name and press Tab. Leave the three Sorting Options as they are, or change them to decide which orders get scarce supply first. Here they are Order Priority, Supply Required By Date and Order Quantity descending, which the form may fill from your demand preferences, so yours can differ.
A subsidiary alone is a wide scope. If you leave the search criteria empty, the run isn't limited by location, item or customer, so narrow it unless you really want every order for the subsidiary considered.
04. Save and check the schedule
Click Save. In this account the saved schedule opens with the Confirmation Order Allocation Schedule successfully Saved. The confirmation text and where NetSuite takes you after saving can differ in your account.
Read the saved values. Recurrence Frequency is Daily and Repeat Every is 1. Next Date is 10/15/2026 and Next Time is 5:00 am with its time zone. Last Executed is empty because the schedule hasn't run yet. Check the subsidiary, the processing option and the location too.
Click List. The schedule is row Internal ID 1 for US Operations with Frequency Daily and Repeat Every 1. The Next Date column shows the date and the time together.
Check the result
- The saved schedule shows the Confirmation and Last Executed is empty.
- Recurrence Frequency is Daily, and Next Date and Next Time are the date and time you meant, in the time zone shown.
- The subsidiary and the Location are the ones you chose, and the list shows one more schedule.
Saving the schedule doesn't itself allocate or change any order, although other allocation, such as real-time, on-demand or manual allocation, can still change the same orders. The schedule processes its orders when a run happens at the Next Date and Next Time. After a run, the saved schedule shows Last Executed and the Next Date moves on to the following day at the same time. In a test account this happened within about a minute of the Next Time. A run is processed in the background, so open Transactions > Order Management > Allocate Orders > Status and refresh the page. The run appears as an Allocate Orders submission created by -System-, with its Submission Status, Percent Complete and Message, which showed Complete, 100.0% and 0 Errors in the test. Review a few of the orders in scope to confirm the allocations are what you expect, because a Complete submission with 0 Errors isn't proof that any line was allocated. Review the schedule's scope again whenever your locations, items or customers change.
Common questions
How do I schedule Allocate Orders to run automatically in NetSuite?
Go to Transactions > Order Management > Allocate Orders > Schedule, click New Order Allocation Schedule, enter a Name, set Recurrence Frequency and the Next Date and Next Time, choose the Subsidiary, set the Allocation Processing Option and the criteria that choose the orders, and click Save.
Does saving an Order Allocation Schedule change my order allocations?
Not by itself. Saving only creates the schedule. NetSuite processes the schedule's orders when it runs at the Next Date and Next Time, although other allocation, such as real-time, on-demand or manual allocation, can still change the same orders.
Why is Repeat Every greyed out when I choose Daily?
In this account choosing Daily fixed the interval at 1, so the schedule repeats every day. For other frequencies the field offered intervals, and a new form opened on Monthly with 1 month(s). The choices can vary with your configuration.
What time zone do Next Date and Next Time use?
The time is read in the time zone shown beside the Next Time field, here (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada), not in your own computer's time. Check the zone before you rely on an early-morning time.
What does Select Orders Manually mean on a schedule?
It doesn't mean someone picks orders at every run. The search criteria, such as Location, Item, Sales Channel, Customer, Order No., the date and priority ranges and Est. Gross Profit Percent, are saved with the schedule and applied each time it runs. Select Orders Using a Saved Search and Select Orders By Creating a New Search are the other two ways to choose orders, and a saved search is evaluated when the schedule runs.
How do I limit a schedule to one location or item?
Choose the Subsidiary first, because the Location list stays empty until you do, then click the location in Search Criteria. Item is a type-ahead field, so type the start of the item name and press Tab. The subsidiary alone is a wide scope.
Should I check Set Order Line to Firm on a scheduled run?
Start with it unchecked. Allocations that aren't firm can be reallocated by later calculations. Checked, the run firms the allocations it makes, and the normal system allocation process doesn't reallocate firm allocations. A scheduled run that firms lines every day can lock supply to orders that were only first in line at that moment, so test the effect on a small scope first. Unchecked, the allocations are committed but not firmed.
What does Allocation Processing Option change?
Using Sorting Options Only, the default, serves the qualifying orders in the order of the Sort By and Then By rows. The other options use separate allocation logic that optimises for fill rate, revenue or gross profit on sales orders, so they can change which orders get scarce supply. The sorting rows may be filled from your demand preferences, so check them.
Where do I see the result of a scheduled run?
Open Transactions > Order Management > Allocate Orders > Status and refresh the page to see whether a submitted run is pending, complete or has exceptions. A scheduled run shows there as an Allocate Orders submission created by -System-, with its Submission Status, Percent Complete, Message and Date Created. Last Executed on the saved schedule is empty until the schedule has run, and the Next Date moves on to the following occurrence after a run.
Will a scheduled run allocate every order that qualifies?
Not necessarily. The schedule decides which orders are candidates. What each line gets still depends on the eligible supply, its allocation strategy, required dates, priorities and any firm allocations or commitment confirmation already on the line.