1 Introduction

Oracle Retail Merchandise Financial Planning (MFP) provides strategic and financial product planning functions. These functions support industry planning standards for pre-season and in-season processes. For a more detailed overview of the functionality within MFP, see the Oracle Retail Merchandise Financial Planning Cost User Guide and Oracle Retail Merchandise Financial Planning Retail User Guide.

Contents of this Guide

This implementation guide addresses the following topics:

• Chapter 1, "Introduction". Overview of the MFP business workflow and skills needed for implementation.

• Chapter 2, "Implementation Considerations". Explanation of the factors to take into consideration before performing the implementation.

• Chapter 3, "Build Scripts". Information on building and patching the MFP RPAS domain.

• Chapter 4, "Fashion Planning Bundle and ODI Integration". Overview of the Fashion Planning Bundle data flow and the ODI enabled integration for the bundle.

• Chapter 5, "Script Integration". Overview of the script integration used for the Fashion Planning Bundle.

• Chapter 6, "RMS and Retail Analytics Integration". Overview of RMS integration as well as integration with data warehouses and markdown optimization applications.

• Chapter 7, "Batch Processing". Explanation of batch scheduling and batch designs.

Overview of the Fashion Planning Bundle

The Fashion Planning Bundle is the integration of Item Planning (IP), Clearance Optimization Engine (COE), Assortment Planning (AP), Merchandise Financial Planning (MFP), and Size Profile Optimization (SPO) as a full-suite planning solution for fashion retailers.

For details on the integration, see Chapter 4, "Fashion Planning Bundle and ODI Integration" and Chapter 5, "Script Integration".

Architecture of the Template Applications

Figure 1-1 shows the architecture of the Oracle Retail Predictive Application Server (RPAS) template applications.

Figure 1-1 Architecture of the RPAS Template Applications

This diagram describes the RPAS template applications. In the actually scenario, these templates are not applications in the same way that the RPAS client is an application since end-users are not presented a user interface specific to the template. The templates are pre-defined means by which to view specific types of data in the domain such that the RPAS client user interface is used to read and write to the domain.

The system administrator responsible for maintaining the RPAS Configuration Tools ensures that the appropriate templates are available. Each template has the following associated information to define its pre-defined attributes:

• Measures

• Special expressions

• Rules

• Workbook layout

A client requests to use one of the templates via the Configuration Tools. A number of XML files are then output which define the domain to be created. These XML files are used to build the specified domain incorporating all the attributes mentioned above that have been defined specifically.

Once the domain has been created, the end-user is able to access the domain data through the RPAS client. Based on the template used, workbooks, measures, rules, and so on are available to the end user.

Business Process Flow

Figure 1-2 shows a typical workflow for MFP.

Figure 1-2 Business Process Workflow

Key Features of MFP

MFP provides the following features:

• Setting and passing targets

• Creating a financial plan in a structured method

• Plan reconciliation

• Plan approval

• Plan maintenance

• Replanning

• Plan monitoring

Skills Needed for Implementation

The implementer needs an understanding of the following applications and technical concepts.

Applications

The implementer should understand interface requirements of the integrated applications and data sources for the master data, demand, and inventory history. For the Fashion Planning Bundle, the implementer needs this knowledge for the following applications:

• Oracle Retail Predictive Application Server (RPAS)

• Oracle Retail Assortment Planning (AP)

• Oracle Retail Item Planning (IP)

• Oracle Retail Clearance Optimization Engine (COE)

• Oracle Retail Merchandise Financial Planning (MFP)

• Oracle Retail Size Profile Optimization (SPO)

• Oracle Retail Merchandising System (RMS)

• Oracle Retail Markdown Optimization (MDO)

Technical Concepts

The implementer should understand the following technical concepts:

• UNIX system administration, shell scripts, and job scheduling

• Performance constraints based on the retailer's infrastructure

• Technical architecture for MFP

• Retailer's hierarchical (SKU/store/day) data

• MFP batch processes

• How to set up an RPAS domain

• A basic understanding of RPAS configuration and how to use the RPAS Configuration Tools

• Understanding of how RPAS rule language works

• Understanding of measures and dimension constructs