8 In-Season Management

The middle out and bottom up users can use the same steps they used during preseason to create their plans to review the plan and compare it to the season actuals during in-season. Both the middle out and bottom up users can review their targets, determine how those plans compare to actuals, and adjust their plans as necessary.

Middle Out: In-Season Management

Using the same tabs when creating their plan during preseason, middle out users can review their targets and the plans created by the bottom up users and determine how those plans compare to actuals.

In addition to updating the plan, middle out users can review the Open to Buy (OTB) and adjust it if necessary. OTB is the amount of money that is planned to be available during the in-season to purchase goods that have no yet been received or ordered.

Open to Buy Tab

The Open to Buy tab has one worksheet, the Open to Buy worksheet. For the middle out user, this worksheet is based at the department level.

Open to Buy Worksheet

The Open to Buy worksheet enables you to understand the variance between the current planned receipt cost to the on order cost and any on order adjustment cost. This variance is shown in the Wp OTB C and Wp Reference OTB AUC measures. These measures show the user how much additional receipts can be purchased as well as what AUC to purchase these at for the current approve receipt retail and profit plan. Users should understand if their planned receipts keep them on overall Cp EOP inventory plan. To understand the variance between the Cp EOP inventory plan and the Wp EOP inventory plan, users can reference the measure Wp EOP Inv var Cp C%.

Use this worksheet to validate what OTB you have available and then start adjusting your plan. Then, confirm that your updates can be obtained given the OTB constraints you may have.

Use the following best practices to adjust OTB.

1. To understand the difference between the current approved receipts and their net on order, compare the Cp Receipts C plan to the Wp Net On Order C.

2. Examine the Wp OTB C and Wp OTB Reference AUC measures. These measures are the difference between the Cp Receipts C and the Wp Net On Order C.

Figure 8-1 Middle Out: Open to Buy Worksheet

The following table lists the measures available on this worksheet.

Table 8-1 Middle Out: Open to Buy Worksheet Measures

Measure	Description
Wp BOP Inv C	The planned beginning of period inventory cost. The period can be a week, month, or any other calendar period.
Wp Sales C	The planned sales cost value.
Wp Receipts C	The planned receipt cost value.
Cp Receipts C	The current plan receipt cost value.
Wp On Order C	The planned on order cost value. This is the cost amount of future orders that are considered part of future inventory.
Wp On Order AUC	The planned on order average unit cost.
Wp On Order Adj C	The planned on order adjustment cost value. Use this measure to enter future orders that are not yet part of On Order C. This measure is used to perform what-if analysis on how bringing in additional purchases affects the Wp OTB C and Wp OTB AUC.
Wp On Order Adj AUC	The planned on order average unit cost. This is the average unit cost associated with the Wp On Order Adj C. Use this measure in conjunction with Wp On Order Adj C to perform what-if analysis on how bringing in additional purchases affects the Wp OTB C and Wp OTB AUC.
Wp Net On Order C	The planned net on order cost value. This is the difference between the On Order C and the On Order Adj C. This value is decremented from the Cp Receipt Plan to find the Wp OTB C.
Wp Net On Order AUC	The planned net on order average unit cost. This is the average unit cost of the Wp Net On Order C.
Wp EOP Inv C	The planned end of period inventory cost. The period can be a week, month, or any other calendar period.
Cp EOP Inv C	The current plan end of period inventory cost. The period can be a week, month, or any other calendar period.
Wp EOP Inv var CP C %	The planned variance between the target end of period inventory cost and the current plan end of period inventory, expressed as a percentage of the current plan.
Wp OTB C	The planned open to buy cost value. This is the amount available for purchase in the given period. It is the difference between the Cp Receipt Plan C and the Net On Order C. This value can be positive or negative. If positive, there are additional purchases that can be made. If negative, you should reduce future on order.
Wp OTB Reference AUC	The planned open to buy average unit cost. This is the average unit cost that the Wp OTB C needs to be placed at in order to maintain the current period's Cp Receipt AUC plan. Any additional purchases that are made should be at this AUC or higher.

Bottom Up In-Season Management

Bottom up users can review their plans and determine how those plans compare to actuals using the same tabs they used when creating their plan during preseason. Bottom up users can also update any of their plans (department, class, and subclass) during in-season.

In addition to updating plans, bottom up users can review the Open to Buy (OTB). This is the primary in-season task for the bottom up user. OTB is the amount of money that is planned to be available during the in-season to purchase goods that have not yet been received or ordered.

Bottom up users can review the OTB and adjust the Wp Receipt C measure if necessary to reflect actual receipts, on order, and on order adjustments. This Wp Cp Receipt C update can then be submitted to the middle out user for approval to the Cp plan for in-season updates.

Open to Buy Tab

The Open to Buy tab has one worksheet, the Open to Buy worksheet. For the bottom up user, this worksheet is based at the subclass level.

Open to Buy Worksheet

The Open to Buy worksheet enables you to understand the variance between the current planned receipts and their markup to the on order and any on order adjustments. This variance is shown in the Wp OTB C and Wp Reference OTB AUC measures. These measures show the user how much additional receipts can be purchased as well as what AUC to purchase these at for the current approve receipt retail and profit plan. Users should understand if their planned receipts keep them on overall Cp EOP inventory plan. To understand the variance between the Cp EOP inventory plan and the Wp EOP inventory plan, users can refer the measure Wp EOP Inv var Cp C %.

Use this worksheet to validate what OTB you have available and then start adjusting your plan. Then, confirm that your updates can be obtained given the OTB constraints you may have.

Use the following best practices to adjust OTB.

1. To understand the difference between the current approved receipts and their net on order, compare the Cp Receipts C plan to the Wp Net On Order C.

2. Examine the Wp OTB C and Wp OTB Reference AUC measures. These measures are the difference between the Cp Receipts C and the Wp Net On Order C.

Figure 8-2 Bottom Up: Open to Buy Worksheet

The following table lists the measures available on this worksheet.

Table 8-2 Bottom Up: Open to Buy Worksheet Measures

Measure	Description
Wp BOP Inv C	The planned beginning of period inventory cost. The period can be a week, month, or any other calendar period.
Wp Sales C	The planned sales cost value.
Wp Receipts C	The planned receipt cost value.
Cp Receipts C	The current plan receipt cost value.
Wp On Order C	The planned on order cost value. This is the cost amount of future orders that are considered part of future inventory.
Wp On Order AUC	The planned on order average unit cost.
Wp On Order Adj C	The planned on order adjustment cost value. Use this measure to enter future orders that are not yet part of On Order C. This measure is used to perform what-if analysis on how bringing in additional purchases affects the Wp OTB C and Wp OTB AUC.
Wp On Order Adj AUC	The planned on order average unit cost. This is the average unit cost associated with the Wp On Order Adj C. Use this measure in conjunction with Wp On Order Adj C to perform what-if analysis on how bringing in additional purchases affects the Wp OTB C and Wp OTB AUC.
Wp Net On Order C	The planned net on order cost value. This is the difference between the On Order C and the On Order Adj C. This value is decremented from the Cp Receipt Plan to find the Wp OTB C.
Wp Net On Order AUC	The planned net on order average unit cost. This is the average unit cost of the Wp Net On Order C.
Wp EOP Inv C	The planned end of period inventory cost. The period can be a week, month, or any other calendar period.
Cp EOP Inv C	The current plan end of period inventory cost. The period can be a week, month, or any other calendar period.
Wp EOP Inv var CP C %	The planned variance between the target end of period inventory cost and the current plan end of period inventory, expressed as a percentage of the current plan.
Wp OTB C	The planned open to buy cost value. This is the amount available for purchase in the given period. It is the difference between the Cp Receipt Plan C and the Net On Order C. This value can be positive or negative. If positive, there are additional purchases that can be made. If negative, you should reduce future on order.
Wp OTB Reference AUC	The planned open to buy average unit cost. This is the average unit cost that the Wp OTB C needs to be placed at in order to maintain the current period's Cp Receipt AUC plan. Any additional purchases that are made should be at this AUC or higher.

After you have adjusted the Open to Buy by changing the Wp Receipts R and Wp Receipts AUC measures, submit it to middle out user as described in the Submit Plan for Approval Tab section.

If you want to commit your working plan (Wp) measures to the database, see Commit Wp Measures.