Bug 31546

Summary:	Reassign items to holds if another item becomes available
Product:	Koha	Reporter:	Christopher Brannon <cbrannon>
Component:	Hold requests	Assignee:	Bugs List <koha-bugs>
Status:	In Discussion ---	QA Contact:	Testopia <testopia>
Severity:	enhancement
Priority:	P5 - low	CC:	gmcharlt
Version:	Main
Hardware:	All
OS:	All
Change sponsored?:	---	Patch complexity:	---
Documentation contact:		Documentation submission:
Text to go in the release notes:		Version(s) released in:
Circulation function:

Description Christopher Brannon 2022-09-09 23:27:46 UTC

It seems there is a disadvantage to hold fulfillment if holds are delayed in transit.

Take for example, Joe requests an item in a record to be picked up at library A.  Library B checks that item in and triggers Joes request.  It is in transit, but for any number of reasons, transit is taking longer than usual.  Meanwhile, other patrons request items from that same record, and are triggered and fulfilled.  Joe is at the mercy of the system and the delays in transit.

Would there be a way for other items on the record that happen to get checked in at library A to step in and swap holds with the one in transit and fulfill his hold quicker, since he is at the top of the list waiting?  Maybe based on his priority level?  So, for example, another item from that record comes in, and if it doesn't have a hold and Joe's hold was a first available, it could take the place of the one in transit?  And if there is a hold for that item and lower than Joe's priority, the one in hand could be changed to Joe, and the one in transit would be reassigned to the patron the ready one was for?

I don't know if this would wreak havoc with the local holds priority, but this scenario seems more fair than making someone at the top of the list wait because of something out of their control.

Comment 1 Katrin Fischer 2022-09-11 12:20:05 UTC

I think you could only guarantee that one item will be faster than the other, if the second item was checked in at the pick-up library itself. Otherwise you'd switch to another item 'in transit' that ultimately could take longer.

I am not sure if this is actually a big problem or not, but I'd be careful of making the hold system too complex. 

Also: wondering if this would not overall make times longer. The item 'in transit' no needs to go to someone else, creating another transport request and might end up taking even longer to get to the person than it would have been in the first place, driving up the average time of fulfillment.

Comment 2 Christopher Brannon 2022-09-12 20:44:13 UTC

I've set this to in discussion.  I think this would be a good concept to explore.  And I agree, this would be ideal only if the item has arrived at the same pickup location.  I would not mess with other transits.

Yes, potentially it could delay the next item in line, but then they would also have the potential to be bumped to another item that arrives before it.

With that in mind, it would be smart to make this an option for holds, rather than just how it works.

It would be great to get others to weigh in on the pros and cons of this concept.