Chaining Management

This chapter covers the following topics:

Introduction to Chaining

Chaining is the process of copying series data from source combinations to target combinations. Typically, you do this after you have created a new member or new combinations, so that Oracle Demantra has data to use when forecasting. While you set up a chaining operation, you specify each series data to copy, a range of dates to copy from, a date to start pasting to, and an optional multiplicative factor for that series. During the chaining operation, Oracle Demantra aggregates the series data and then splits it across the target combinations, according to your choice of split mechanism.

Oracle Demantra saves the details of the chaining operation, which means that you can run the same operation later if needed.

Opening Chaining Management

To open Chaining Management

  1. Do one of the following:

    • If Member Management is open, click Chaining Management.

    • Within Oracle Demantra, click Tools > Chaining Management.

    • Within Collaborator Workbench, click Planning Applications > Member Management.

      The Chaining Management window opens.

    If this tool is not installed on your desktop or there is a newer version available, Oracle Demantra installs or updates the tools on your desktop. You must have the correct permissions. See Oracle Demantra Implementation Guide.

  2. Click Retrieve Targets. Chaining Management is updated to display all saved chaining operations.

Introduction to the Chaining Management Tool

Before you start to use Chaining Management, it is useful to become familiar with the user interface. After you start it, click Retrieve Targets. The following window is displayed. In the window, each row of the:

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In this window, you can do the following:

Selecting Combinations

As you define chaining operations, you need to select combinations for the target and the source(s). To do so, you use a window that looks very much like the Member Management tool. The general technique is described here, for reference. In this example, we will select the combination Item A at Store 99.

To select a combination

  1. Display members of the item or location level, as described in Displaying Level Members. You can start with either dimension. For example, display members of the SKU level.

  2. Click the member that you are using as the starting point. For this example, click the Item A member.

  3. Click the Link to Location or Link to Item button, whichever button is displayed. For this example, click Link to Location.

    Now Member Management displays the levels of the other dimension (in this case, the locations).

    Note: To return to the previous screen and double-check your selection, click Back.

  4. Display members of the desired level. For example, display members of the Ship To level.

  5. Click the member that constitutes the “other part” of the combination. For example, click Store 99.

  6. Optionally filter the combinations as described below. (In this example, filtering does not make sense, because we have selected a single lowest-level combination.)

  7. Click Chaining Management to select this combination and return to the Chaining Management user interface.

Filtering the Selected Combinations

You can filter the lowest-level combinations that you select.

Note: If the list of members is currently filtered in any way, the Filter button is colored red as a reminder.

To filter the combinations

  1. Click Filter.

    The Filter dialog box appears.

  2. In the Select Filters From pane, select a level to be filtered.

    The list of members for that level is displayed in the Select Values From pane.

  3. Click the members to be included in the Select Values From pane and click the arrow to move them to the Selected Values pane.

  4. Click OK.

  5. Click Show Members.

    Note: There is another way to filter the combinations. If you had previously applied a filter when viewing the other dimension, you can copy that filter to this dimension. To do so, click Bring filters from Location's filters or Bring filters from Item's filters, whichever button is currently shown.

Double-checking the Combination

You can view the existing lowest-level source or target combinations for any chaining operation.

To view the existing lowest-level combinations

  1. Right-click in the Target area or the Source area and then select All Combinations.

    Note: If this option is not available, save your work, exit Chaining Management and then reopen it.

    Chaining Management displays a window like the following:

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    This window lists all the lowest-level combinations that currently exist. It does not show you any combinations that the chaining operation itself would create.

  2. To close the window, click OK.

  3. If you need to make changes, do the following:

    • Right-click in the Target area or the Source area and then select Combination List-Item. Oracle Demantra displays a dialog box that lists all the items that you have selected. Specify the items to include and click OK.

    • Right-click in the Target area or the Source area and then select Combination List-Location. Oracle Demantra displays a dialog box that lists all the locations that you have selected. Specify the locations to include and click OK.

    • Double-check the combinations as described in Step 1, if needed.

Overview of Chaining Options

This section provides an overview of the chaining options and explains how they are related to one another.

Target and Source

The Target, Population, and Source options are related to each other; when you set any of these options, you must consider how you have set the other ones. There are essentially three general configurations of these settings that are useful:

The following table summarizes the settings to use for each configuration.

In the table:

Case Settings to use Target Members sku Settings to use Target members ship to Settings to use Population item Settings to use Population location Settings to use Source** sku Settings to use Source** ship to
Item similarity All A specific location* Source Target All (In this context, this means all SKUs associated with the source location) A specific location*, different from the target
Location similarity A specific item* All Target Source A specific item*, different from the target All (in this context, this means all ship-to's associated with the source item)
No similarity A specific item* A specific location* Target Target A specific item*, different from the target A specific location*, different from the target

Aggregation and Splitting

For each series (and for each time period), Oracle Demantra aggregates the data from all the source combinations and then splits the value across the target combinations.

Note: For each series, you also have the option not to split the aggregated value at all. Instead, you can paste the aggregated value to each target combination.

Splitting Across Both Items and Locations

You specify how to split data across items and how to split data across locations. The resulting split proportions are multiplied for each combination. This is best shown by an example.

Suppose that you have four target combinations:

Now suppose you have specified the following split proportions for the items:

Item Proportion
Item 1 0.6
Item 2 0.4

Also suppose that you have specified the following split proportions for the locations:

Item Proportion
Store A 0.75
Store Z 0.25

As a result, the overall proportions for each combination would be as follows:

Combination Proportion
Item 1 at Store A 0.6 * 0.75 = 0.45
Item 2 at Store A 0.4 * 0.75 = 0.3
Item 1 at Store Z 0.6 * 0.25 = 0.15
Item 2 at Store Z 0.4 * 0.25 = 0.1

Available Split Options

Within Chaining Management, you do not actually specify the proportions directly as percentages as in the preceding examples. Instead, you have the following options:

Series Manipulation and Other Chaining Options

Within a chaining operation, you can copy data for multiple series. For each series that you copy, you can specify the following:

You also specify a range of dates in the source data; Oracle Demantra selects series data in that span of time. And you specify a starting date in the target, where Oracle Demantra starts pasting the selected series.

Defining a New Chaining Operation

Step 1: Specifying the Target

In this step, you specify the Target Members and Population fields.

To specify the target

  1. Start Chaining Management, as described in Opening Chaining Management.

  2. In the Name column of the new row, enter a unique name for this chaining operation.

  3. Double-click in SKU or Ship to column of the new row.

    Oracle Demantra displays a window where you select a target combination, at any aggregation level.

  4. Select a combination, as described in Selecting Combinations. As you do so, optionally apply a filter, if needed.

  5. If there is a similarity between target and source, choose source for either Population/Item column or Population/Location column.

    The following table summarizes the settings to use here.

    In the table, * indicates that this member can be at any aggregation level and can be filtered.

    Case Target Members SKU Target Members Ship to Population item Population Location
    Item similarity All A specific location* Source Target
    Location similarity A specific item* All Target Source
    No similarity A specific item* A specific location* Target Target

See also Target and Source.

Step 2: Specifying the Sources

You must specify at least one source combination for each chaining operation. You can choose a source at any aggregation level, and you can choose multiple sources. Typically you choose sources that have a demand history that is similar to the target.

To specify a source

  1. Right-click in the Source area and then select Insert.

    A new row appears in the source area.

  2. Double-click in the new row.

    Oracle Demantra displays a window where you select a source combination, at any aggregation level.

  3. Select a combination, as described in Selecting Combinations. As you do so, optionally apply a filter, if needed.

    If there is a similarity between target and source, make sure to choose source combinations that can be matched to the target combinations. The following table summarizes the settings to use here.

    In the table:

    • * indicates that this member can be at any aggregation level and can be filtered.

    • ** indicates that Chaining Management ignores any dead source combinations.

      Case Source** SKU Source** Ship to
      Item similarity All (in this context, this means all SKUs associated with the source location) A specific location*, different from the target location
      Location similarity A specific item* , different from the target All (in this context, this means all ship-to's associated with the source item)
      No similarity A specific item*, different from the target A specific location*, different from the target

See also Target and Source.

Step 3: Specifying How to Split Across Target Combinations

For each series, the data is aggregated across all the source combinations and is then split to the target combinations as specified within the chaining operation. In the Proportions columns, you determine how the split is performed for the items and for the locations. The available split styles are.

Setting Meaning
Target Use the stored proportions of the existing targets. (This option applies only when all the specified target combinations already exist.)
Equal Split the values equally between all lowest level targets. This option is suitable if you have no information about how to split across this dimension.
Source Match each target combination to a source combination. Then for each target, use the proportions of the corresponding source.
Similar Choose a third set of combinations to use as a reference, and match each target combination to a reference combination. Then for each target, use the proportions of the reference source.

To specify chaining proportions

  1. In the Proportions/Item column, click and select a split style.

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    If you clicked Similar, then the Similar Location for Item tab is enabled (in the Source area). Now Oracle Demantra needs a set of reference combinations that contain the same items as the target combinations. To specify these reference combinations, you select another location where the target items are sold.

    • Click the Similar Location for Item tab.

    • Double-click the empty field in this tab. Oracle Demantra displays a window where you select a location at any level.

    • Select a location member as usual.

      Note: In this case, you cannot apply a filter when you select the member.

    • Click Chaining Management to accept your selection and return to Chaining Management.

  2. In the Proportions/Location column, click and select a split style.

    If you clicked Similar, then the Similar Item for Location tab is enabled. Now Oracle Demantra needs a set of reference combinations that contain the same locations as the target combinations. To specify these reference combinations, you select another item that is sold at the same locations as the target items. The steps are similar to the preceding.

    Note: These options are ignored if you select the Same Value for All Members check box; see Step 5: Specifying the Series to Copy.

Step 4: Specifying Chaining Dates

For each source, you specify a range of source dates, as well as a date to start pasting. For the source dates, you specify a start date and either an end date or a number of base time buckets.

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To specify the chaining dates

  1. For each row in the Source area, specify the following:

    From Date Starting date for the source data. (To use a calendar, click the Calendar button.)
    Length The number of base time buckets for which to copy series data.
    To Date Ending date for the source data.
    Start At Date at which to start pasting series data from this source.

Step 5: Specifying the Series to Copy

The Series area of the screen lists the series whose data will be copied during this chaining operation. Note that when you copy data from one series, you can paste into a different series. You can also specify a scaling factor.

To specify the series to copy

For each series whose data you want to copy during this operation, do the following:

  1. Right-click in the Series area and then select Insert.

    A new row appears.

  2. For Source, select the series from which you want to copy data.

  3. For Target, select the series into which you want to paste this data.

  4. For Factor, optionally specify a factor to multiply this data by before pasting it.

  5. If you want to paste the same aggregated data to each target combination rather than splitting it across the combinations, select the Same Value for All Members check box.

    Note: If you choose this option, your choices for item and location proportions are ignored.

Step 6: Enabling Partial Chaining Indicators (Optional)

If you have specified item similarity or location similarity, then Oracle Demantra matches up each target combination with one or more corresponding source combinations (depending on the number of chaining sources you choose). However, if the source combinations do not have sales for some or all dates, the chaining operation might be considered incomplete.

To alert yourself of such cases, you might want to enable some or all of the partial chaining indicators, which are internal flags that mark the combinations and dates for which the last chaining operation was incomplete. These indicators are used in different ways depending on the implementation. They are most commonly used as levels, which then group the combinations so that you can readily see which ones require further work.

There are two general types of partial chaining, with subtypes:

Check with your implementor or your system administrator to understand whether your system is set up to take advantage of the partial chaining indicators. If it is, when you define a chaining operation, be sure to enable the indicators for that operation.

To enable partial chaining indicators

  1. In the Target area of the chaining manager, scroll to the right, to see the following columns:

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    This area lists four possible indicators; you can enable any or all of them.

  2. To enable a partial chaining indicator, select a data column from the dropdown list. The chaining operation will write that type of chaining indicator into the internal data column, in the row for a given target combination, if there is a mismatch between target and source.

    Oracle Demantra provides default columns that you can use to store partial chaining indicators. Typically, for any given indicator, you specify the data column that has the same name as the indicator, as follows:

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    See also Target and Source.

Final Step: Saving the Chaining Operation

To save a chaining operation

  1. Make sure that you have given the chaining operation a good name.

  2. Optionally add a description, in the Description column in the far right of the target area.

  3. Click Save at the bottom of the screen.

See also Performing a Chaining Operation.

Performing a Chaining Operation

You can perform any saved chaining operation. The chaining operation overwrites any existing data for the target combinations, for the chained dates.

Note: In order for chaining to occur, the Chaining procedure must be running periodically (a few times a minute).

To perform a chaining operation

  1. Click Tools > Chaining Management.

    The Chaining Management window opens.

  2. Click Retrieve Targets. Chaining Management is updated to display all past chaining operations.

  3. Click the chaining operation that you want to perform.

  4. Click Chain.

    Oracle Demantra displays a dialog box that summarizes your selections.

  5. Click OK.

  6. Scroll to the middle of the target area of the screen, to the Process Status column. This column shows the status of each chaining operation.

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    The status is one of the following:

    not chained This chaining operation has not been run yet or was run recently but was not successful.
    ready in chain This chaining operation has been sent to the queue and will be performed as soon as possible.
    done The chaining operation was completed successfully the last time it ran.
    failed The chaining operation was not successful.

Scenario 1: Copying at Lowest Level (No Similarity)

In this scenario, we copy data for one combination at the lowest level and we paste into a user-defined combination, also at the lowest level. This is not a common scenario but is a useful exercise to try.

Example Data

Suppose that SKU 009 is sold in Wal-Mart 001. This combination has the following sales (shown here by quarter):

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Suppose that we have already used Member Management to create a new item called SKU 999, and then to create a combination for SKU 999 at Wal-Mart 001.

The Chaining Operation

We would like to copy the forecast for SKU 009 and Wal-Mart 011 and use that data as Pseudo for SKU 999 at Wal-Mart 011. We would like to shift the dates, however, by a year.

To copy this data, we set up this chaining operation.

Target - Members

Member Setting Notes
SKU SKU 999 We have already created this combination in Member Management.
Ship to Wal-Mart Store 001 -

Target - Populations

Member Setting Notes
Item Target -
Location Source -

Target - Proportions

Member Setting Notes
Item Source Because there is no sales data yet for the target combination, we cannot use target proportions.
However, the proportions do not actually matter, because we are working at the lowest level.
Location Source Because there is no sales data yet for the target combination, we cannot use target proportions.
However, the proportions do not actually matter, because we are working at the lowest level.

Source

Member or Date Value Notes
SKU SKU 009 -
Ship to Wal-Mart store 001 -
From Date 04/23/01 -
To Date 01/05/04 -
Start At 04/22/02 This is the date into which we will start copying the requested data. This is approximately a year after the chosen starting date.

Series

Setting Value Notes
Target Pseudo These options copy data for the Base Frcst series (for the chosen source), multiply that data by a factor of 1, and then paste the results into the Pseudo series (for the target), shifting the dates as described above.
Source Base Frcst These options copy data for the Base Frcst series (for the chosen source), multiply that data by a factor of 1, and then paste the results into the Pseudo series (for the target) with shifting the dates.
Factor 100% These options copy data for the Base Frcst series (for the chosen source), multiply that data by a factor of 1, and then paste the results into the Pseudo series (for the target) with shifting the dates.

Result

After Oracle Demantra performs the chaining operation, SKU 999 at Wal-Mart 001 has the following data:

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Note that Oracle Demantra does not paste data into Pseudo after 01/20/03; this is because Pseudo is editable only in the history. Also, the value for 01/20/03 is slightly different from the corresponding value in the source because we are viewing data by quarter. If we viewed data at the lowest level (by week), the numbers would be identical.

Scenario 2: New Product (Location Similarity)

We want to introduce a new item to the market. We want this item to be sold in all locations where an existing item is sold, with the same sales data, multiplied by one half and shifted ahead by one year.

Example Data

The item Chocolate Ice Cream is sold in three stores. For example, the demand for this item for the quarter Q1 2003 is as follows:

Store Demand
Store A 1000
Store B 2000
Store C 3000

Suppose we just used Member Management to create a new item called Double Chocolate Ice Cream. It will be sold in the same stores as Chocolate Ice Cream, and we believe its sales will be the same.

Also, in Member Management, we created the new item (Double Chocolate Ice Cream), but we did not create any combinations for it.

The Chaining Operation

We would like Double Chocolate Ice Cream to be in combinations with all the same stores as Chocolate Ice Cream. For those combinations, we would like the Oracle Demantra database to contain the same demand data, multiplied by 50% and shifted by a year.

To create the combinations and copy this data, we use the following chaining operation:

Target - Members

Option In Chaining Management Setting Notes
SKU Double Chocolate Ice Cream -
Ship to All -

Target - Populations

Member Setting Notes
Item Target -
Location Source -

Target - Proportions

Member Setting Notes
Item Source -
Location Source -

Source

Member or Date Setting Notes
SKU Chocolate Ice Cream -
Ship to All -
From Date 04/23/01 -
To Date 01/05/04 -
Start At 04/22/02 This is the date into which we will start copying the requested data. This is approximately a year after the chosen starting date.

Series

Setting Value Notes
Target Pseudo These options copy data for the Base Frcst series (for the chosen source), multiply that data by a factor of 1, and then paste the results into the Pseudo series (for the target) with shifting the dates.
Source Base Frcst These options copy data for the Base Frcst series (for the chosen source), multiply that data by a factor of 1, and then paste the results into the Pseudo series (for the target) with shifting the dates.
Factor 50% These options copy data for the Base Frcst series (for the chosen source), multiply that data by a factor of 1, and then paste the results into the Pseudo series (for the target), shifting the dates as described above.

Result

The Oracle Demantra database now includes the following combinations:

Also, the database contains data for these combinations. For example, the data includes these values for Pseudo for the quarter Q1

Store Pseudo
Store A 500
Store B 1000
Store C 1500

Scenario 3: Merging Two Locations

We have one store in east Manhattan, and one store on the west side of Manhattan. We decided to close down the East location and sell its entire items in the West location (merge two locations into one of them). We expect no change in the total sales of each product.

Population Item Population Location Proportion Item Proportion Location
Source Target Source Target

Before Chaining

Source Store East Item Source Store East Loc Source Store East Quan Source Store West Item Source Store West Loc Source Store West Quan Target Store West Item Target Store West Loc Target Store West Quan
I1 L1 10 I2 L2 20 I2 L2 20
I2 L1 20 I4 L2 40 I4 L2 40
I3 L1 30 I3 L2 20 - - -

After Chaining

Target Store West Item Target Store West Location Target Store West
I1 L2 10
I2 L2 20
I3 L2 50
I4 L2 40
Target Item Target Location Target
I2 L1 10
I2 L2 20
I2 L3 30

Scenario 4: Two New Products

We want to introduce a new item to the market. This item has two versions, ‘Classic' and ‘light'. We want these items to be sold in all locations where an existing item is sold, and we expect these two versions to have similar sales (all together) as existing product.

Before Chaining

Source I1 Item Source I1 Location Source I1 Quantity Target G2 Item Target G2 Location Target G2 Quantity
I1 L1 10 I21 - -
I1 L2 20 I22 - -
I1 L3 30 - - -
Target G2 Item Target G2 Location Target G2
I21 L1 5
I21 L2 10
I21 L3 15
I22 L1 5
I22 L2 10
I22 L3 15

After Chaining

Each of the new products should be sold in all source locations. Sales data of each source product-location now needs to be split between two products.

The split mechanism for ‘non-low level' member will be ‘equal'. In case of integer data type and non-integer results when splitting equally (for example, sales: 15, needs to be split between two items), the same mechanism currently being used in ‘Manual update' of aggregated level query, should be applied here.

Scenario 5: Multiple Sources

The data from two source items is split with multiple series.

A company is about to introduce Product Z to Saver-Store. Product Z is equivalent to 3 X Product A and 1 X Product B in a different package, but with a price of just 2 X A and 1 X B. Soon after the introduction, the company will execute a campaign with a large nationwide supermarket chain; it will be the same type of campaign as with product A.

The user selects Product Z and Saver-Store as the target. For the sources, the user selects Product A and Product B with Saver-Store as the location.

Sources Item Sources Location Sources From Series To Series Factor % Target Item Target Location
A Saver-Store Demand Pseudo 300 Z Saver-Store
A Saver-Store Price Price 200 Z Saver-Store
A Saver-Store Discount Discount 100 Z Saver-Store
A Saver-Store Event Event 100 Z Saver-Store
B Saver-Store Demand Pseudo 100 Z Saver-Store
B Saver-Store Price Price 100 Z Saver-Store
B Saver-Store Discount Discount 100 Z Saver-Store