To push the order status through to the order process, you should set up the Order Activity Rules. The Sales Order Management system uses Order Activity Rules to establish a series of steps for processing order information; the Order Activity is the base of the system and order line processes based on Order Type and Line Type.
When you set up the Order Activity rule, the system processes the Sales Order as per the order activity set up. A status code is a number that the system uses to identify the current status of an order line. The Next Status and Last Status that you have set up for the specific order type and line type, cause the system to advance the Sales Order status as per the order activity rule. You should allocate a status code for each and every step of the order process. The status codes should be arranged in ascending order to allow the system to establish the sequence of steps. The progression of steps can be changed in the Order Activity Rules to include alternate steps. That is, the Order Activity Rule can be set up for Direct Ship Sales Order in such a way that you can bypass the step of Confirm Shipment and Delivery Note and directly advance the order line to Print Invoice.
You can set up Other allowed status codes for bypass processing steps. These codes are normally set up in the Processing Options such as Override Next Status codes in the Sales Order Entry (P4210) application.