5 Bottom Up: Preseason Planning

The bottom up role is usually associated with the merchandise planner in the merchandise planning organization. During the preseason, the bottom up user receives department targets from the middle out user. The bottom up user references those targets when creating the department, class, and subclass plans.

After bottom up users develop the department plan, they submit their plan to the middle out user for approval using the Submit Plan Worksheet on the Submit Plan for Approval Tab.

The Bottom Up MFP Plan workbook contains the following tabs:

• Getting Started Tab

• Sales / Markdowns Tab

• Receipts / Inventory Tab

• Margin Tab

• Open to Buy Tab

• Review Plan / Reconcile to Targets Tab

• Review Item Plan Tab

• Submit Plan for Approval Tab

During in-season, bottom up users can use MFP to review the Open to Buy (OTB). 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. Reviewing the OTB is one of the key steps of in-season management.

In-season management is described in Chapter 8, "In-Season Management".

Bottom Up MFP Plan Wizard

To open a Bottom Up MFP Plan workbook:

1. Select New from the File menu, or click the New button in the toolbar.

2. On the Planning tab, select Bottom Up MFP Plan and click OK.

   Figure 5-1 Creating a New Bottom Up MFP Plan Workbook

   
   

3. The Calendar Selection step appears. Select the halves you want to examine and click Next.

   Figure 5-2 Bottom Up MFP Plan Wizard: Calendar Selection

   
   

4. The Product Selection step appears. Select the departments you want to examine and click Next.

   Figure 5-3 Bottom Up MFP Plan Wizard: Product Selection

   
   

5. The Location Selection step appears. Select the channels you want to examine and click Finish.

   Figure 5-4 Bottom Up MFP Plan Wizard: Location Selection

   
   

The Bottom Up MFP Plan workbook is built.

Getting Started Tab

The following sections describe the worksheets available under the Getting Started tab:

• Initialize Worksheet

• Target Overview Worksheet

Initialize Worksheet

The first step that bottom up users perform after they build the workbook is to seed the plan with the Initialize worksheet.

Figure 5-5 Initialize Worksheet

The following table lists the measures available on this worksheet.

Table 5-1 Initialize Plan Worksheet 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 worksheet, you can choose to seed your plan with Last Year (Ly) or Adjusted Last Year data to create a demand curve on which to spread the new plan's initial targets. Or, you can instead choose to not seed the plan, which allows you to create a plan that is not influenced by last year's performance.

In the preceding example, both the Half1 FY2010 and Half2 FY2010 halves have been selected to be seeded with Ly data.

Seeding the Plan

When seeding the plan, you can choose which information is seeded. For instance, you can seed just 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 dimension individually, or you can seed several dimensions at once by changing the hierarchy dimension shown in the worksheet.

Seeding One Dimension at a Time

As shown in Figure 5-5, only the 300 Men's Casuals department of the Brick & Mortar channel has been selected to be seeded. This means that the other departments have not been selected to be seeded yet. To seed the next department in the Product hierarchy within the Brick & Mortar channel, perform the following steps:

1. Click within the hierarchy field that you want to change, as shown in Figure 5-6.

2. Click the Next or Previous arrow, as shown in Figure 5-6.

   Figure 5-6 Changing a Hierarchy Dimension with Page Arrows

   
   

3. The next dimension in the hierarchy appears. Note that the Seeding Type measure is now set to Do Nothing.

4. Choose the seeding type for one or more halves.

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

6. When you have selected all the data you want to seed, click Seed in the Planning Actions menu.

   Figure 5-7 Planning Actions Menu: Seed

   
   

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

   Figure 5-8 Seeding Success Message

   
   

After you have seeded, the worksheet is refreshed and the Last Seed Source and Last Seeded Date measures contain the type and date of the last seed, as shown in Figure 5-9.

Figure 5-9 Seeded Working Plan

Seeding Several Dimensions at Once

If you want to seed several locations and several products at once, you may want to change the dimension of the hierarchies shown in the worksheet.

The default setting of the Initialize Plan worksheet is set to show the Calendar hierarchy at the half dimension, the Location hierarchy at the channel dimension, and the Product hierarchy at the division dimension.

To change the hierarchy dimension shown in the worksheet, perform the following steps:

1. Right-click the hierarchy tile of the hierarchy dimension you want to change.

   Figure 5-10 Hierarchy Tiles

   
   

2. The right-click context menu appears. Select the dimension of the hierarchy that you want to appear, as shown in Figure 5-11.

   If you want to view more than one dimension at a time in the worksheet, select multiple dimensions.

   Figure 5-11 Seeding Several Dimensions at Once

   
   

3. Deselect the dimensions that you do not want to appear.

   In Figure 5-12, Channel and Group were deselected and all[Location] and all[Product] were selected instead.

   Figure 5-12 Seeding All Locations and All Products

   
   

4. After the hierarchies are at the dimension you want, select the Seeding Type for each half.

5. When you have selected all the data you want to seed, click Seed in the Planning Actions menu, as shown in Figure 5-13.

   Figure 5-13 Planning Actions Menu: Seed

   
   

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

   Figure 5-14 Seeding Success Message

   
   

After you have seeded, the worksheet is refreshed and the Last Seed and Last Seeded Date measures contain the type and date of the last seed.

Figure 5-15 Seeded Working Plan

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 worksheet, change the measure profile to Seed and Set BOS Inventory.

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

   Figure 5-16 Initialize Plan Worksheet with Seed and Set BOS Inventory Measure Profile

   
   

3. Change the calendar hierarchy rollup to year.

4. Enter data in the BOS Inv R, BOS Inv IMU%, and Wp BOS Inv U measures.

   Figure 5-17 Initialize Plan Worksheet with Seeded and Set BOS Inventory

   
   

5. Click Calculate.

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

After you have seeded and set the BOS, continue to the Target Overview Worksheet.

Target Overview Worksheet

After you have seeded, review the department targets that the middle out user has created for you. The purpose of reviewing the targets is so that you can understand the goal that your plan should meet.

Since you develop subclass targets and that is level of the Product hierarchy that the worksheet defaults to, you must first change the Product hierarchy so that you can see the department level data instead of subclass data.

To change the level of the Product hierarchy that is visible in the worksheet, perform the following steps:

1. Right-click the Product dimension tile.

2. In the right-click context menu, click Select rollup and choose Department. This enables the department level to be visible in the worksheet.

   Figure 5-18 Changing the Rollup

   
   

3. Right-click and deselect Class. Right-click again and deselect Subclass. This hides the class and subclass data.

   Figure 5-19 Changing the Dimension Selection

   
   

The worksheet is refreshed and the data in the MO Tgt measures is visible. Now you can review the department targets.

Figure 5-20 Target Overview Worksheet

The Target Overview worksheet contains the middle out target (MO Tgt) measures as well as last year (Ly) measures.

Use this worksheet to compare the MO Tgt measures to the corresponding Ly measures. By understanding how the middle out targets compare to last year's metrics, you can better understand what your plan needs to achieve.

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

The following table lists the measures available on this worksheet.

Table 5-2 Target Overview Worksheet Measures

Measure	Description
MO Tgt Sales R	The middle out target for sales.
Ly Sales R	Last year's sales.
MO Tgt Sales var Ly R%	The middle out target for variance between target sales value and last year's sales value, expressed as a percentage of the last year value.
MO Tgt Markdown R	The middle out target value for markdowns.
MO Tgt Markdown R%	The middle out target for markdown rate.
Ly Markdown R	Last year's value for markdowns.
Ly Markdown R%	Last year's markdown rate.
MO Tgt Mkd down Var Ly R%	The middle out target for variance between target markdowns and the last year markdowns, expressed as a percentage of the last year value.
MO Tgt Shrink R%	The middle out target for shrink for the period, expressed as a rate.
Ly Shrink R%	Last year's shrink rate.
MO Tgt Receipts R	The middle out target value for receipts.
Ly Receipts R	Last year's receipts value.
MO Tgt Receipts MU %	The middle out target markup percent for receipts, expressed as a percentage of markup to net sales.
Ly Receipts MU %	Last year's markup percent for receipts.
MO Tgt EOP Inv R	The middle out target for end of period inventory, expressed in retail value. The period can be a week, month, or any other calendar period.
Ly EOP Inv R	Last year's end of period inventory, expressed in retail value.
MO Tgt Cum Turn R	The middle out cumulative inventory turns (retail) target. It is cumulated from the start week of the workbook.
Ly Cum Turn R	Last year's cumulative inventory turns (retail). It is cumulated from the start week of the workbook.
MO Tgt Cum Avg Inv R	The middle out average cumulative inventory value, expressed in retail value, cumulated from the start of the season.
Ly Cum Avg Inv R	Last year's average cumulative inventory value, expressed in retail value, cumulated from the start of the season.
MO Tgt Cum Avg Inv Var Ly R%	The middle out target rate for variance in the cumulative average inventory. The variance is between the middle out target value and last year's actuals (or current plan).
MO Tgt Gross Margin	The middle out target for gross margin.
MO Tgt Gross Margin %	The middle out target for gross margin rate.
Ly Gross Margin	Last year's gross margin.
Ly Gross Margin %	Last year's gross margin rate.
MO Tgt Publish Targets Date	The date that the middle out target was published.
MO Tgt Publish Info	Additional information about the middle out targets. This information was entered by the middle out user who published the targets.

Retrieving Updated Targets

If the middle out user updates the targets after you have created your class and subclass plans, retrieve those new targets in one of two ways. You can build a new workbook which uses the updated 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 in order to retrieve data from the master database.

To refresh a workbook, click the Refresh option in the File menu.

Figure 5-21 Refreshing a Workbook

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

After you have reviewed and compared the middle out targets to the last year metrics, continue to the Sales / Markdowns Tab.

Sales / Markdowns Tab

The Sales / Markdowns tab contains one worksheet, the Plan Sales and Markdowns worksheet.

Plan Sales and Markdowns Worksheet

After you have seeded the groups and reviewed the middle out department targets, you can develop the sales and markdown targets for the classes and subclasses within those departments using the Plan Sales and Markdowns worksheet.

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

1. Using the default measure profile, which is Sales and Markdowns, review and compare the total sales to the forecast.

2. Change the measure profile to Sales by Type.

   Figure 5-22 Plan Sales and Markdowns Worksheet, Sales by Type Measure Profile

   
   

3. In the Sales by Type measure profile, plan your sales by type. The sales types are regular (Reg), promotional (Promo), clearance (Clr), and regular and promotional (Reg + Promo).

   
   

   Note: Since Sales and Markdowns are both planned at the type level, you must first complete the sales by type planning before you can plan the markdowns by type.

   
   

   Start by planning the regular sales. Then, using your marketing calendar as a guide, align the promotional sales to the calendar. Refer to the calendar again for the exit weeks for the products, and plan the clearance sales for those weeks.

   The planned figures for these sales types populates the Wp Sales R measure.

4. Return to the Sales and Markdowns measure profile.

   Figure 5-23 Plan Sales and Markdowns Worksheet, Sales by and Markdowns Measure Profile

   
   

5. With the total Wp Sales R populated, you can adjust the total to your target while still maintaining the relationships between the different sales types.

6. Plan the shrink with either the Wp Shrink R or Wp Shrink R% measure.

7. Change the measure profile to Markdown by Type.

8. In the Markdown by Type profile, edit the Wp Markdown Promo R% to adjust the Wp Markdown Promo Rate.

   Figure 5-24 Plan Sales and Markdowns Worksheet, Markdown by Type Measure Profile

   
   

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

Table 5-3 Plan Sales and Markdowns Worksheet Measures

Measure	Description
Wp Fcst Pre-Season R	The preseason forecast.
Wp Sales R	The planned sales retail value.
Wp Sales var Fcst Pre-Season R%	The planned preseason sales variance forecast.
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 rate.
Wp Markdown R	The planned markdown value.
Wp Markdown R%	The planned markdown value expressed as a rate.
Ly Markdown R	Last year's markdown value.
Ly Markdown R%	Last year's markdown value expressed as a rate.
Wp Markdown Var Ly R%	The planned variance between the target markdown value and last year's actual markdown, expressed as a percentage of last year.
Wp Shrink R	The planned shrink for the period.
Wp Shrink R%	The planned shrink for the period, expressed as a rate.
Ly Shrink R	Last year's actual (or current plan) shrink. Shrink is loss due to reason such as damage or theft.
Ly Shrink R%	Last year's actual (or current plan) shrink, expressed as a percentage of retail sales value.

After you have adjusted the sales and markdown plan, continue to the Receipts / Inventory Tab.

Receipts / Inventory Tab

The Receipts / Inventory tab contains one worksheet, the Plan Receipts / Inventory worksheet.

Plan Receipts / Inventory Worksheet

After you have developed the sales and markdown plan, develop a receipts and inventory plan that can support the sales and markdown plan. The purpose of this step is to ensure that you have a receipt and inventory plan that supports the sales that you are projecting.

Like the Plan Sales and Markdowns Worksheet, the Plan Receipts / Inventory worksheet contains several Ly metrics that you can reference when setting your targets. There are also additional measures for adjusting your inventory targets. Note that the adjustments you made to the Wp Sales R measure in the Plan Sales and Markdowns worksheet are visible in this worksheet 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 Initialize Plan worksheet in the Getting Started tab. 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. Review the Wp CMU % measure. Cumulative markup rate (CMU %) is a blend of the beginning of period (BOP) inventory retail and cost with the future receipt retail and receipt cost. The Wp CMU % directly affects the cost of goods sold (COGS), which then affects the gross margin.

4. Adjust the Wp Stock to Sales R 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 5-25 Plan Receipts / Inventory Worksheet

The following table lists the measures available on this worksheet.

Table 5-4 Plan Receipts / Inventory Worksheet Measures

Measure	Description
Wp BOS Inv R	The planned beginning of season inventory.
Wp BOS Inv IMU %	The planned beginning of season initial markup. (The BOS Inv IMU% must be planned to get the BOS Cost).
Wp BOP Inv R	The planned beginning of period inventory. The period can be a week, month, or any other calendar period.
Ly BOP Inv R	Last year's beginning of period inventory. The period can be a week, month, or any other calendar period.
Wp Sales R	The planned sales retail value.
Ly Sales R	Last year's sales retail value.
Wp Markdown R	The planned markdown value.
Wp Shrink R	The planned shrink for the period.
Wp Receipts R	The planned receipt value.
Wp Receipts MU %	The planned receipts markup, expressed as a percentage of retail value.
Ly Receipts R	Last year's receipts.
Ly Receipts MU %	Last year's markup percent of receipts, expressed as a percentage of markup to net sales.
Wp Rec Var LY R%	The planned variance between the target receipts and last year's actual receipts, expressed as a percentage of last year.
Wp EOP Inv R	The planned end of period inventory. The period can be a week, month, or any other calendar period.
Ly EOP Inv R	Last year's end of period inventory. The period can be a week, month, or any other calendar period.
Wp CMU %	The planned cumulative markup percent, cumulated from the start week of the workbook.
Ly CMU %	Last year's cumulative markup percent, cumulated for the same period last year, corresponding to the start week of this workbook until the current week.
Wp Cum Avg Inv R	The planned cumulative average inventory value, expressed in retail value, cumulated from the start of the season.
Ly Cum Avg Inv R	Last year's cumulative average inventory value (retail), cumulated for the same period last year, corresponding to the start week of the workbook until the current week.
Wp Cum Turn R	The planned cumulative inventory turns (retail). It is cumulated from the start week of the workbook.
Ly Cum Turn R	Last year's cumulative inventory turns (retail).
Wp Stock to Sales R Ratio	The planned ratio of the BOP inventory to the sales for the same period.
Ly Stock to Sales R Ratio	Last year's ratio of the BOP inventory to the sales for the same period.
Wp Forward Cover R	The planned number of weeks of forward cover for the period. Using the retail 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 R	Last year's forward cover for the period.

After you have created an achievable receipts and inventory plan, continue to the Margin Tab to see if your sales and inventory plans achieve the gross margin goal you have been given.

Margin Tab

The Margin tab contains one worksheet, the Gross Margin worksheet.

Gross Margin Worksheet

Use this worksheet to evaluate the gross margin created from your sales and markdown plan and receipts and inventory plan. Determine whether the planned gross margin meets your gross margin goal. If it does not, return to the Plan Sales and Markdowns Worksheet and Plan Receipts / Inventory Worksheet to adjust your receipt markups and receipt flow. When you return to the Plan Sales and Markdowns worksheet, adjust the markdown plans, but do not change the sales. Continue this process until you are satisfied with the gross margin.

Figure 5-26 Gross Margin Worksheet

The following table lists the measures available on this worksheet.

Table 5-5 Gross Margin Worksheet Measures

Measure	Description
Wp Gross Margin	The planned gross margin.
Wp Gross Margin %	The planned gross margin rate.
Ly Gross Margin	Last year's gross margin.
Ly Gross Margin %	Last year's gross margin rate.
Wp GM Var Ly R%	The planned variance between the gross margin and last year's actual gross margin, expressed as a percentage of last year.
Wp Sales R	The planned sales retail value.
Ly Sales R	Last year's sales retail value.
Wp Markdown R	The planned markdown value.
Wp Markdown R%	The planned markdown rate.
Ly Markdown R	Last year's actual markdown value.
Ly Markdown R%	Last year's markdown rate.
Wp Shrink R	The planned shrink for the period.
Wp Shrink R %	The planned shrink rate for the period.
Ly Shrink R%	Last year's shrink rate.
Wp Receipts R	The planned receipts.
Wp Receipts MU %	The planned markup rate for receipts, expressed as a percentage of markup to net sales.
Ly Receipts MU %	Last year's markup percept for receipts, expressed as a percentage of markup to net sales.
Wp MarkUp R	The planned markup value for receipts, expressed as a difference of net sales and cost.
Ly MarkUp R	Last year's markup value for receipts, expressed as a difference of net sales and cost.
Wp CMU %	The planned cumulative markup percent. It is cumulated for the same period last year. It corresponds to the start week of the workbook until the current week.
Ly CMU %	The cumulative markup percent from last year.
Wp Cum Avg Inv R	The planned average cumulative inventory retail. It is cumulated from the start week of the workbook.
Ly Cum Avg Inv R	Last year's average cumulative inventory retail.
Wp GMROI %	The planned gross margin return on inventory.

Now that you have developed your gross margin plans, continue to the Review Plan / Reconcile to Targets Tab.

Note: The next tab after the Margin tab is Open to Buy. This is used only during in-season management. For more information about Open to Buy, see Chapter 8, "In-Season Management".

Review Plan / Reconcile to Targets Tab

The Review Plan / Reconcile to Targets tab has one worksheet, the Review Plan / Reconcile Targets worksheet.

Review Plan / Reconcile Targets Worksheet

After you have created a plan, compare your plan to the middle out targets to see if you meet the goals created by the middle out user.

Use the default measure profile to the review the plan in total. Use the Reconcile to MO Targets measure profile to reconcile your plan to the middle out targets. When using this profile, set the calendar hierarchy to month.

Figure 5-27 Review Plan / Reconcile Targets Worksheet

If you are satisfied with the plan you have created, submit it to the middle out user in the Submit Plan for Approval Tab. Or, you can perform an optional step before submitting: reviewing the item plan in the Review Item Plan Tab.

Review Item Plan Tab

The Review Item Plan tab has one worksheet, the Review Item Plan worksheet.

Review Item Plan Worksheet

The Review Item Plan worksheet is optional. If your company uses Oracle Retail Item Planning (IP), you can review and reconcile your subclass plan to the approved item plan that was created with that product.

The approved item plan is loaded into MFP from IP through nightly or weekly batch processing. Approved data is exported from IP and loaded into MFP at the subclass level. The aggregation takes place within IP when exporting. Only the plans that have been approved since the last export in IP are imported into MFP.

If an item plan OP or item plan CP has been committed, and the batch has run, which brings those measures in the Bottom Up workbook, then the bottom up planner can use this worksheet to compare them. However, there is no hard reconciliation between MFP and IP.

There are six measure profiles for which you can use to compare your plan:

• Review Item Plan CP Unit Plan

• Review Item Plan CP Value and Units

• Review Item Plan CP Value Plan

• Review Item Plan OP Unit Plan

• Review Item Plan OP Value and Units

• Review Item Plan OP Value Plan

Figure 5-28 Review Item Plan Worksheet: Review Item Plan, CP Value and Units Measure Profile

The following table lists the measures available on this worksheet.

Table 5-6 Review Item Plan Worksheet: Review Item Plan CP Value and Units Measure Profile Measures

Measure	Description
IP Cp Sales R	The Item Planning current plan sales value.
Wp Sales R	The planned sales value.
Wp Sales var Cp R%	The planned variance between target sales value and the current plan sales value, expressed as a percentage of the current plan.
Wp Markdown R	The planned markdown value.
IP Cp Receipts R	The Item Planning current plan receipts value.
Wp Receipts R	The planned receipts value.
Wp Receipts R var IP Cp %	The planned variance between the receipts value and the Item Plan current plan, expressed as a percentage of the current plan.
IP Cp Receipts MU %	The Item Planning current plan receipts markup rate.
Wp Receipts MU %	The planned receipts markup rate.
IP Cp EOP Inv R	The Item Planning current plan end of period inventory. The period can be a week, month, or any other calendar period.
Wp EOP Inv R	The planned end of period inventory. The period can be a week, month, or any other calendar period.
Wp EOP Inv R var IP Cp %	The planned variance between the target end of period inventory and the Item Planning current plan end of period inventory, expressed as a percentage of the Item Planning current plan.
IP Cp Cum Avg Inv R	The Item Planning current plan average cumulative inventory value, expressed in retail value, cumulated from the start of the season.
Wp Cum Avg Inv R	The planned cumulative average inventory value, expressed in retail value, cumulated from the start of the season.
IP Cp Cum Turn R	The Item Planning current plan cumulative inventory turns (retail). It is cumulated from the start week of the workbook.
Wp Cum Turn R	The planned cumulative inventory turns (retail). It is cumulated from the start week of the workbook.
IP Cp Sales U	The Item Planning current plan sales units.
Wp Sales U	The planned sales units.
Wp Sales U var IP Cp %	The planned variance between the sales units and the Item Planning current plan sales units, expressed as a percentage of the Item Planning current plan.
IP Cp Receipts U	The Item Planning current plan receipts units.
Wp Receipts U	The planned receipts units.
Wp Receipts U var IP Cp %	The planned variance between the receipts units and the Item Planning current plan receipts units, expressed as a percentage of the Item Planning current plan.
IP Cp EOP Inv U	The Item Planning current plan end of period inventory units.
Wp EOP Inv U	The planned end of period inventory units.
Wp EOP Inv U var IP Cp %	The planned variance between the end of period inventory units and the Item Planning current plan end of period inventory units, expressed as a percentage of the Item Planning current plan.
IP Cp Cum Avg Inv U	The Item Planning current plan average cumulative inventory units. It is cumulated from the start week of the workbook.
Wp Cum Avg Inv U	The planned average cumulative inventory units. It is cumulated from the start week of the workbook.
IP Cp Cum Turn U	The Item Planning current plan cumulative inventory turns, cumulated from the start week of the workbook.
Wp Cum Turn U	The planned cumulative inventory turns, cumulated from the start week of the workbook.

Submit Plan for Approval Tab

Use this tab when you are ready to submit your working plan to the middle out user for approval.

The following section describes the worksheets available under the Approval tab:

• Submitted Plan Measures

• All Measures

• Submit Plan Worksheet

Submitted Plan Measures

Use the Submitted Plan Measures worksheet to compare your Wp to the Wa you may have already submitted. This allows you to identify the differences between the two versions after you have submitted the plan for approval.

The Submitted Plan Measures worksheet has four different measure profiles:

• Default

• Review Submitted Plan to Current Plan

• Review Submitted Plan to Original Plan

• Submitted Plan Unit Measures

Figure 5-29 Submitted Plan Worksheet: Default Measure Profile

Table 5-7 Submitted Plan Worksheet: Default Measure Profile Measures

Measure	Description
Wa Sales R	The Waiting for Approval sales.
Wp Sales R	The planned sales.
Wa Markdown R	The Waiting for Approval target value for markdowns.
Wa Markdown R%	The Waiting for Approval markdown rate.
Wp Markdown R	The planned markdowns.
Wp Markdown R%	The planned markdown rate.
Wa Shrink R%	The Waiting for Approval shrink rate.
Wp Shrink R%	The planned shrink rate.
Wa BOP Inv R	The Waiting for Approval beginning of period inventory. The period can be a week, month, or any other calendar period.
Wp BOP Inv R	The planned beginning of period inventory. The period can be a week, month, or any other calendar period.
Wa Receipts R	The Waiting for Approval value for receipts.
Wp Receipts R	The planned value for receipts.
Wa Receipts MU %	The Waiting for Approval markup percent for receipts, expressed as a percentage of markup to net sales.
Wp Receipts MU %	The planned markup percent for receipts, expressed as a percentage of markup to net sales
Wa EOP Inv R	The Waiting for Approval end of period inventory, expressed in retail value. The period can be a week, month, or any other calendar period.
Wp EOP Inv R	The planned end of period inventory, expressed in retail value. The period can be a week, month, or any other calendar period.
Wa CMU %	The Waiting for Approval cumulative markup percent, cumulated from the start week of the workbook.
Wp CMU %	The planned cumulative markup percent, cumulated from the start week of the workbook.
Wa Cum Avg Inv R	The Waiting for Approval average cumulative inventory value, expressed in retail value, cumulated from the start of the season.
Wp Cum Avg Inv R	The planned average cumulative inventory value, expressed in retail value, cumulated from the start of the season
Wa Cum Turn R	The Waiting for Approval cumulative inventory turns (retail). It is cumulated from the start week of the workbook.
Wp Cum Turn R	The planned cumulative inventory turns (retail). It is cumulated from the start week of the workbook.
Wa Sell Thru R%	The Waiting for Approval sell through value, expressed as a percentage of sales to the total receipts and beginning inventory.
Wp Sell Thru R%	The planned sell through value, expressed as a percentage of sales to the total receipts and beginning inventory.
Wa Forward Cover R	The Waiting for Approval number of weeks of forward cover for the period. Using the retail values sales of future weeks, this measure indicates how many weeks of sales can be fulfilled with the ending inventory of the period.
Wp Forward Cover R	The planned number of weeks of forward cover for the period. Using the retail values sales of future weeks, this measure indicates how many weeks of sales can be fulfilled with the ending inventory of the period.
Wa Gross Margin	The Waiting for Approval gross margin.
Wa Gross Margin %	The Waiting for Approval gross margin rate.
Wp Gross Margin	The planned gross margin.
Wp Gross Margin %	The planned gross margin rate.
Wa GMROI %	The Waiting for Approval gross margin return on inventory rate.
Wp GMROI%	The planned gross margin return on inventory rate.

All Measures

The All Measures worksheet includes 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 worksheet is to allow you to see the workbook measures that you may not be able to see all at once in other worksheets.

Figure 5-30 All Measures

Submit Plan Worksheet

When you are ready to submit your working plan to the middle out user for approval, use the Submit Plan worksheet.

Note: When the Op Approve Enabled measure is selected, you can submit a plan for the Op version. This measure is set by an administrator in the Enable OP Approval administration workbook. The administrator can select or deselect this option at any time. If the administrator deselects it during the in-season, you will not be able to submit a plan for the Op. The administrator may choose to do this after the planning process has been finalized in order to lock down the Op. If this occurs, you will be unable to submit a plan for the Op and the middle out user will be unable to approve a plan for the Op.

Figure 5-31 Submit Plan Worksheet

To submit the working plan, perform the following steps:

1. Select what you want to submit the working plan to using the Wp Submit measure. Options are Submit Op Only, Submit Cp Only, or Submit Op and Cp.

2. Optional: Enter information about the working plan in the Wp Submit Info measure.

3. When finished, select the Submit option in the Planning Actions menu.

   Figure 5-32 Planning Actions Menu: Submit

   
   

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

   Figure 5-33 Success Message: Submit and Commit

   
   

As a result of the submit option running, the Wp Submit and Wp Submit Info measures are cleared and the Wp Approval Pending check box is checked. The Wa Submit By, Wa Submit Date, and Wa Submit Info measures are populated. In addition, your working plan is copied into a Waiting for Approval (Wa) plan.

Figure 5-34 Successfully Submitted Plan

The following table lists the measures available on this worksheet.

Table 5-8 Submit Plan Worksheet Measures

Measure	Description
Op Approve Enabled	When selected, the bottom up user can submit a plan to the Op.
Wp Approval Pending	When selected, the approval of the working plan is pending.
Wp Submit	Used to select what the working plan is submitted to. Options are Submit Op Only, Submit Cp Only, and Submit Op and Cp.
Wp Submit Info	Used to input information about the submitted plan.
Wa Submit By	Displays the username of the user who submitted the plan.
Wa Submit Date	Displays the date that the plan was submitted.
Wa Submit Info	Displays the information that the user entered about the plan.
Last Approval Action	Displays the last approval action that occurred.
Op Approved/Rejected By	Displays the username of the user who approved or rejected the Original Plan.
Op Approve/Reject Date	Displays the date that the plan was approved or rejected.
Op Approve/Reject Info	Displays the information that the user entered about why the Original Plan was approved or rejected.
Cp Approved/Rejected By	Displays the username of the user who approved or rejected the Current Plan.
Cp Approve/Reject Date	Displays the date that the plan was approved or rejected.
Cp Approve/Reject Info	Displays the information that the user entered about why the Current Plan was approved or rejected.

After the middle out user approves or rejects the Wa plan, you can see the approval or rejection information in this worksheet.

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 submitting your plan for approval. For more information about committing, see the Oracle Retail Predictive Application Server Administration Guide for the Classic Client.

To commit your Wp measures, perform the following steps:

1. In the workbook that you have published the targets, click a Commit option in the File menu.

   Figure 5-35 Commit a Workbook