4 Preseason: Middle Out Role

The middle out role is usually associated with middle management in the merchandise planning organization. The middle out user receives group targets from the top down user. The middle out user references those targets when creating the department targets. After the middle user has created the department targets, the user provides those targets to the bottom up user, who is usually a merchandise planner.

When middle out users open MFP in the RPAS Fusion Client, they are presented with the preseason activity called Create Merchandise Financial Plan. Within this activity, the middle out user owns two tasks. The first task in the list that belongs solely to middle out users is Develop and Publish Department Targets. It has seven steps:

• Getting Started - Seed Plan

• Review Strategic Targets

• Develop Sales and Profit Targets

• Develop Inventory and Receipt Targets

• Review Department Targets

• Reconcile to Strategic Targets

• Publish Department Targets

The second task for the middle out user is the Original Plan Approval task. This is where the middle out user approves or rejects the plan that was created by the bottom up user. To learn more about approving or rejecting the original plan, see the Original Plan Approval chapter.

These tasks and steps are shown in Figure 4-1.

Figure 4-1 Middle Out Role View: Preseason Tasks and Steps

Note: The middle out user can see the tasks of the top down and bottom up roles, but the middle out user cannot open or create workbooks within those tasks. This is denoted by the grayed out icons on the right of the taskflow.

The middle out user must complete these eight steps to publish the department targets to the bottom up user. To do this, the middle out user must first build the workbook.

Building the Workbook

To build the middle out role workbook, perform the following steps.

1. Click the Create New Workbook icon in the Develop and Publish Department Targets task.

   Figure 4-2 Create New Workbook Icon

   
   

2. The workbook wizard opens at the Product Selection step. Select the divisions that you want to plan and move them to the Selected Items box. Click Next.

   Figure 4-3 Workbook Wizard: Product Selection

   
   

3. The Location Selection step of the workbook wizard appears. Select the channels you want to plan and move them to the Selected Items box. Click Next.

   Figure 4-4 Workbook Wizard: Location Selection

   
   

4. The Calendar Selection step of the workbook wizard appears. Select the halves you want to plan and move them to the Selected Items box. Click Finish.

   Figure 4-5 Workbook Wizard: Calendar Selection

   
   

The Middle Out Role workbook is built, and the Initialize Plan view opens.

Getting Started - Seed Plan

The first step that middle out users perform after they build the workbook is to seed the plan with the Initialize Plan view.

Figure 4-6 Middle Out: Initialize Plan

Table 4-1 Initialize Plan View Measures

Measure	Description
Seed Source	The seed source used to seed the working plan. Use this option to seed or not seed the working plan. You can seed with Last Year's (Ly) or Adjusted Last Year's data. Or, you can choose the Do Nothing option if you do not want to seed the working plan.
Last Seed Source	The last type of seed that was performed in this workbook. One of three options is shown: Seed from Last Year Seed from Adjusted Last Year Do Nothing
Last Seeded Date	The last time the working plan was seeded.

With this view, you can choose to seed your plan with Last Year (Ly) or Adjusted Last Year (Adj Ly) data to create a demand curve on which to spread the new plan's initial targets. Or you can choose to not seed the plan, which allows you to create a plan that is not influenced by last year's performance.

In the example above, both Half1 and Half2 are seeded with last year's data for the Brick & Mortar channel for the 20 Menswear group.

Seeding the Plan

When seeding the plan, you can choose which information is seeded. For example, you can seed one half or all halves in the workbook. You can also choose what locations and products to seed.

There are two ways you can seed. You can seed each level individually, or you can seed several levels at once by changing the dimension level shown in the view.

Seeding One Level at a Time

As shown in Figure 4-6, only the Brick & Mortar channel and the 20 Menswear group have been selected to be seeded with Ly data. This means that the other Product groups have not been selected to be seeded yet. To seed the next group in the Product dimension within the Brick & Mortar channel, perform the following steps:

1. Click within the dimension field that you want to change, as shown in Figure 4-7.

2. Click the Next or Previous arrow, as shown in Figure 4-7.

   Figure 4-7 Changing a Dimension Level with Page Arrows

   
   

3. The page refreshes and the next group in the Product dimension appears in the page edge. Note that the Seed Source measure is no longer populated.

4. Select the half that you want to seed with Ly or Adj Ly data.

5. Click the Next arrow to view and seed the next group.

6. When you have selected all the data you want to seed, click Seed in the top, right corner.

   Figure 4-8 Seed Button

   
   

7. A confirmation message appears, stating that the data has been successfully seeded. Click OK.

   Figure 4-9 Seeding Success Message

   
   

After you have seeded, the view refreshes and the Last Seed Source and Last Seed Date measures contain the source and date of the last seed.

Seeding Several Levels at Once

If you want to seed several locations and several products at once, you may want to change the level of the dimensions shown in the page edge.

The default setting of the Initialize view is set to show the Calendar dimension at the half level, the Location dimension at the channel level, and the Product dimension at the group level.

To change the dimension level shown in the page edge or grid, perform the following steps:

1. Click the dimension tile of the dimension level you would like to change.

   Figure 4-10 Location Dimension Tile

   
   

2. The dimension window appears. Select the level of the dimension that you want to appear in the page edge. If you want to view more than one level at a time in the page edge or grid, select multiple levels. In Figure 4-11, Channel was deselected and all [Location] was selected instead.

   Figure 4-11 Location Dimension Window

   
   

3. Click OK when finished.

4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 for other dimensions if desired.

5. After the dimensions are at the level you want, select the halves that you want to seed.

   In Figure 4-12, both the Location and Product dimensions are at All, and the halves Half1 FY2009 and Half2 FY2009 have been selected.

6. When you have selected all the data you want to seed, click Seed in the top, right corner.

   Figure 4-12 Seeding Several Levels at Once

   
   

7. The view refreshes and the Last Seeded Source and Last Seed Date measures measures contain the source and date of the last seed. A confirmation message appears, stating that the data has been successfully seeded. Click OK.

   Figure 4-13 Seeding Success Message

   
   

Setting Beginning of Season Inventory

After you have seeded, set the Beginning of Season (BOS) inventory. By entering the BOS inventory that you project for the season, you can set the BOS markup for that inventory, which allows the BOS cost to be calculated.

To set the BOS, perform the following steps:

1. In the Initialize Plan view, change the measure profile to Seed and Set BOS Inventory.

2. The view is refreshed and the Seed and Set BOS Inventory measures are visible.

   Figure 4-14 Initialize Plan View with Seed and Set BOS Inventory Measure Profile, Half

   
   

3. Change the calendar level to year.

4. Enter data in the BOS Inv C, BOS Inv U, and Wp BOS Inv AUC measures.

   Figure 4-15 Initialize Plan View with Seeded and Set BOS Inventory Measure Profile, Year

   
   

5. Click Calculate.

After the BOS is planned, the cost and AUC is calculated.

After you have seeded the departments and set the BOS, continue to the next step: Review Strategic Targets.

Review Strategic Targets

After you have seeded the groups, review the strategic targets created by the top down user to understand the goal your plan should meet.

The view used in this step is the 2. Target Overview view.

Note: The top down targets are at the group level, but the view is at the department level. To see the targets, change the level of the Product dimension from department to group. To see the TD Tgt Publish Date and Info measures, change the level to division and include year in the Calendar dimension.

Figure 4-16 Review Strategic Targets - Target Overview View

The Target Overview view contains the top down target (TD Tgt) measures as well as last year (Ly) measures.

Use this view to compare the TD Tgt measures to the corresponding Ly measures. By understanding how the top down targets compare to last year's metrics, you can better understand what your plan needs to achieve.

Note: All measures in the Target Overview view are read-only. The measures that you edit are in other views.

The following table lists the measures available on this view.

Table 4-2 Target Overview View Measures

Measure	Description
TD Tgt Sales R	The top down target for sales.
Ly Sales R	Last year's sales.
TD Tgt Sales var Ly R%	The top down target for variance between target sales value and last year's sales value, expressed as a percentage of the last year value.
TD Tgt Gross Profit	The top down target for gross profit.
TD Tgt Gross Profit %	The top down target for gross profit percentage of total sales.
Ly Gross Profit	Last year's gross profit.
Ly Gross Profit %	Last year's gross profit percentage of total sales.
TD Tgt Gross Profit Var Ly R%	The top down target for variance between the target gross profit and last year's gross profit, expressed as a percentage of the last year value.
TD Tgt Sales C	The top down target cost.
Ly Sales C	Last year's cost.
TD Tgt Sales var Ly C %	The top down target for variance between the target cost and last year's cost, expressed as a percentage of the last year value.
TD Tgt Cum Turn C	The top down cumulative inventory turns (cost) target. It is cumulated from the start week of the workbook.
Ly Cum Turn C	Last year's cumulative inventory turns (cost). It is cumulated from the the same week last year, corresponding to the first week of the workbook.
TD Tgt Cum Avg Inv C	The top down average cumulative inventory turns (cost) target. It is cumulated from the start week of the workbook.
Ly Cum Avg Inv C	Last year's average cumulative inventory turns (cost). It is cumulated from the start week of the workbook.
TD Tgt Publish Date	The date that the top down target was published.
TD Tgt Publish Info	Additional information about the top down targets. This information was entered by the top down user who published the targets.

Retrieving Updated Strategic Targets

If the top down user updates the strategic targets after you have created your department plans, retrieve those new targets in one of two ways.You can build a new workbook which uses the updated strategic targets from the domain. Or, if you want to bring the new targets into one of your existing workbooks, you can refresh the workbook.

Refresh the Workbook

When refreshing a workbook, you can run a refresh group that has been configured to retrieve data from the master database.

To refresh a workbook, click Refresh in the toolbar. Or, choose the Refresh option from the Edit menu. Since only one rule group exists for this workbook template, there are no options to choose from. The one refresh rule group runs and measures configured in that rule group are updated.

Figure 4-17 Refreshing a Workbook

For more information about the refresh option, see the Oracle Retail Predictive Application Server User Guide for the Fusion Client. For information about creating refresh rule groups, see the Oracle Retail Predictive Application Server Configuration Tools User Guide.

One you have reviewed and compared the top down targets to the last year metrics, continue to the next step: Develop Sales and Profit Targets.

Develop Sales and Profit Targets

After you have seeded the groups and reviewed the top down group targets, you can plan the sales and profit targets for the departments within those groups using the Plan Sales and Profit view.

The top down user plans top down targets at the month level. As the middle out user, you should use those targets to create more detailed targets at the week level. This allows you to create a weekly EOP plan that has more accurate average inventory and turn-over plans.

Use the following best practices to plan the sales and profit.

1. Review and compare the total sales to the forecast.

2. Enter the planned sales in the Wp Sales R measure.

   Figure 4-18 Plan Sales and Profit View

   
   

3. Enter the gross profit by editing either the Wp Gross Profit or Wp Gross Profit % measure.

4. Enter the sales cost in the Wp Sales C measure.

The following table lists the measures available on the default measure profile of this view.

Table 4-3 Plan Sales and Profit View Measures

Measure	Description
Wp Fcst Pre-Season R	The preseason forecast.
Wp Sales var Fcst Pre-Ssn R%	The planned preseason sales variance forecast.
Wp Sales R	The planned sales retail value.
Ly Sales R	Last year's sales retail value.
Wp Sales var Ly R%	The planned sales retail variance to last year expressed as a percentage.
Wp Gross Profit	The planned gross profit.
Wp Gross Profit %	The planned gross profit percentage of total sales.
Ly Gross Profit	Last year's gross profit.
Ly Gross Profit %	Last year's gross profit percentage of total sales.
Wp Gross Profit Var Ly R%	The planned variance between the target gross profit and last year's gross profit, expressed as a percentage of the last year value.
Wp Sales C	The planned cost.
Ly Sales C	Last year's cost.
Wp Sales var Ly C %	The planned sales cost variance to last year expressed as a percentage.

After you have adjusted the sales and profit plan, continue to the next step: Develop Inventory and Receipt Targets.

Develop Inventory and Receipt Targets

After you have developed the sales and profit plan, develop a receipts and inventory plan that can support the sales that you are projecting in the sales and profit plan. Use the one view in this step: Plan Receipts and Inventory.

Like the Plan Sales and Profit View, the Plan Receipts / Inventory view contains several Ly metrics that you can reference when setting your targets. There are also additional measures you can use to adjust your inventory targets. Note that the adjustments you made to the Wp Sales R measure in the Plan Sales and Profit View are visible in this view if you have calculated.

Use the following best practices to plan the receipts and inventory.

1. Ensure that you have set the beginning of season (BOS) inventory in the Getting Started - Seed Plan step. The BOS measures must be set before planning the receipts and inventory. To set the BOS measures, see the Setting Beginning of Season Inventory.

2. Plan the receipt flow and then evaluate the average inventory and turn.

3. Adjust the Wp Stock to Sales C measure accordingly. These adjustments affect the receipts for both the current month and prior month. However, the total plan period receipts do not increase or decrease; they only shift from month to month.

Figure 4-19 Plan Receipts / Inventory View

The following table lists the measures available on this view.

Table 4-4 Plan Receipts / Inventory View Measures

Measure	Description
Wp BOS Inv C	The planned beginning of season inventory.
Wp BOS Inv AUC	The planned beginning of season average unit cost. (The BOS Inv AUC must be planned to get the BOS Cost).
Wp BOP Inv C	The planned beginning of period inventory cost. The period can be a week, month, or any other calendar period.
Ly BOP Inv C	Last year's 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.
Ly Sales C	Last year's sales cost value.
Wp Sales var Ly C %	The planned sales cost variance to last year expressed as a percentage.
Wp Receipts C	The planned receipt cost.
Ly Receipts C	Last year's receipt cost.
Wp Receipts var Ly C %	The planned variance between the target receipt cost and last year's actual receipt cost, expressed as a percentage of last year.
Wp Devaluation C	The planned devaluation cost.
Wp Devaluation C %	The planned devaluation cost percentage of total sales.
Ly Devaluation C %	Last year's devaluation cost percentage of total sales.
Wp EOP Inv C	The planned end of period inventory cost. The period can be a week, month, or any other calendar period.
Ly EOP Inv C	Last year's end of period inventory cost. The period can be a week, month, or any other calendar period.
Wp EOP Inv var Ly C %	The planned variance between the target end of period inventory cost and last year's actual end of period cost, expressed as a percentage of last year.
Wp Cum Avg Inv C	The planned average cumulative inventory turns (cost). It is cumulated from the start week of the workbook.
Ly Cum Avg Inv C	Last year's cumulative average inventory value (cost), corresponding to the start week of the workbook until the current week.
Wp Cum Turn C	The planned cumulative inventory turns (cost). It is cumulated from the start week of the workbook.
Ly Cum Turn C	Last year's cumulative inventory turns (cost).
Wp Cum Avg Inv var Ly C %	The variance for last year's cumulative average inventory (cost) compared to the planned target.
Wp Stock to Sales C	The planned ratio of the BOP inventory to the sales for the same period.
Ly Stock to Sales C	Last year's ratio of the BOP inventory to the sales for the same period.
Wp Forward Cover C	The planned number of weeks of forward cover for the period. Using the cost values sales of future weeks, this measure indicates how many weeks of sales can be fulfilled with the ending inventory of the period.
Ly Forward Cover C	Last year's forward cover for the period.

After you have determined that the value and unit plans you created are achievable, continue to the continue to the Review Department Targets step.

Reconcile to Strategic Targets

After you have created a plan, compare your targets to the top down targets to see if you meet the goals that the top down user has created for you.

Use the Reconcile to TD Targets measure profile to reconcile your plan to the top down targets. When using this profile, set the calendar dimension to month and product to group. This measure profile includes your working plan (Wp) measures that as well as the top down target (TD Tgt) measures.

If you need to alter your targets shown in this view, return to the step where you created them and edit them there.

Figure 4-20 Review Plan / Reconcile Targets View, Reconcile to TD Targets Measure Profile

After you are satisfied that the plan you created sufficiently meets the top down targets, proceed to the final middle out role step: Publish Department Targets.

Publish Department Targets

Use the Publish Department Targets step when you are ready to publish the targets you created. Publishing targets copies the target information to the middle out target (MO Tgt) measures in your workbook, and then copies them to the database. After you have published the targets to the domain, the targets are passed down to the bottom up user.

Figure 4-21 Publish Department Targets

Publish Targets

Publishing a target copies your middle out Wp measure information to the MO Tgt measures in your workbook, and then it commits those target measures to the database so that bottom up users can retrieve them.

To publish the targets, perform the following steps.

1. Select the halves in the Wp Publish Targets measure that you want to publish.

2. If needed, enter relevant information in the Wp Publish Info measure. This is optional.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for other locations and products if necessary.

4. Click Publish Targets. This button is located in the top, right corner.

5. A success message appears. Click OK to close it.

   Figure 4-22 Success Message - Publish Targets

   
   

6. The view refreshes and clears the Wp Publish Targets and Wp Publish Info measures. The MO Tgt measures in this view are populated. These measures are described in detail in the following table.

   Figure 4-23 Successfully Published Targets

   
   

   Table 4-5 Publish Targets View Measures

   Measure	Description
   Wp Publish Targets	Working Plan Publish Targets. Use this measure to select the targets you want to publish.
   Wp Publish Info	Working Plan Publish Information. Use this measure to enter relevant target information. This measure is optional.
   MO Tgt Published By	Middle Out Target Published By. After a target is published, this measure displays the username of the person who published the targets.
   MO Tgt Publish Date	Middle Out Target Publish Date. After a target is published, this measure displays the date that the target was published.
   MO Tgt Publish Info	Middle Out Target Publish Info. After a target is published, this measure displays the information that was entered in the Wp Publish Info measure.

   
   

Commit Wp Measures

If you want to commit your working plan (Wp) measures to the database, you need to perform a separate commit in addition to publishing your targets. For more information about committing, see the Oracle Retail Predictive Application Server User Guide for the Fusion Client.

To commit your Wp measures, in the workbook that you have published the targets, click Commit in the toolbar. Or, from the File menu, select the Commit option.

Figure 4-24 Commit a Workbook

Next Steps

After you have published your targets and committed your workbook, the bottom up user can use your department targets to create their class and subclass plans. To learn about the bottom up user's role, see the Preseason: Bottom Up Role chapter.

If you need to revise your targets at any time during the preseason, you can follow the same procedures described in this chapter. Since you have already created a working plan, there is no need to seed the workbook again unless you want to start again with Ly (Last Year) data.

Review Department Targets

At the Review Targets step, review the targets that you have created in the previous steps.

This step contains two views: 1. Review Plan and All Measures. The Review Plan view displays the targets you have created. All Measures contains all the measures contained in the workbook. For details on the All Measures view, see All Measures.

Review Plan / Reconcile Targets

In this view, review the targets created from previous steps. If you need to alter the targets shown in this view, return to the step where you created them and edit them there. Use the default measure profile to the review the plan in total.

Figure 4-25 Review Plan / Reconcile Targets View

If you are satisfied with the plan you have created, continue to the Reconcile to Strategic Targets step.

All Measures

The All Measures view contains all the measures contained in the workbook; however, only the Wp Sales R measure is visible in the default measure profile. The purpose of this view is to allow you to create a view of workbook measures that you may not be able to view all at once in other views.

Figure 4-26 All Measures View

To see the other measures in this view, perform the following steps:

1. Click the Measure dimension tile. The All Measures - Measure window appears.

2. Move the measures you want to see in the view from the Hidden Measures box to the Visible Measures box.

3. When finished, click OK.

For more information about hidden and visible measures, see the Oracle Retail Predictive Application Server User Guide for the Fusion Client.