Hi Kristin,
We had the same manual system in place a long time ago. We now run a "Crystal Report" daily to show us what is on backorder, is it on PO yet, is now ok to ship. We also have columns to show inventory at multiple locations and how long customer has been waiting. We have several people entering orders, and each runs their own report to see only there own orders. Management's report shows all orders. The report shows all the items on backorder by order # so we can tell if order is complete or not. We always have hundreds of orders on the go, and ship about 30-50 backorders a day.

Sincerely
Doug