Chapter 30: Loading and Transmitting the WATS Inventory Count (WWIC)

Purpose: Through the Work with WATS Inventory Count menu option you can transmit inventory information, after updating PO information for your system.

In this chapter:

• Step 1: Run PO Layering

• Step 2: Generate Inventory Counts File

• WATS Inventory Counts File

• Step 3: Transmit Inventory Counts File

Work with Wats Inventory Count Screen

How to display this screen: Enter WWIC in the Fast path field at the top of any menu screen or select the Work with WATS Inventory Counts option from the menu.

INR0916 ENTER W/W Wats Inventory Count 7/13/95 11:31:34 Load Wats Inventory Count: N Send Wats Inventory Count: N F3=Exit F12=Cancel

Field	Description
Load WATS Inventory Counts	Select this option to generate the WATS Inventory Counts file. This file contains: • items that have changed (availability, expected delivery date, or item status) • new items Valid values include: Y = Create the WATS Inventory Counts file N = (default): Do not create the WATS Inventory Counts file See Step 2: Generate Inventory Counts File. Alphanumeric, 1 position; optional.
Send WATS Inventory Counts	Select this option to transmit the WATS Inventory Counts file to WATS Marketing. Valid values include: Y = Transmit the WATS Inventory Counts file N = (default): Do not transmit the WATS Inventory Counts file See Step 3: Transmit Inventory Counts File. Alphanumeric, 1 position; optional.

Step 1: Run PO Layering

Purpose: The PO Layering program updates the expected delivery dates for items ordered on purchase orders if the quantity due or date expected have changed.

You must run PO Layering before you generate the WATS Inventory Counts File to ensure that the expected delivery dates are accurate.

PO layering is the method by which expected item deliveries are matched to backorders, based on order date. The oldest orders on the system receive stock before new orders.

Selecting this option: You can run PO Layering during a daily periodic process or you may run it at any time. To run this program on-demand, enter BPOL in the Fast path field at the top of any menu screen or select the Batch PO Layering option from the menu.

Example:

1. The customer places an order for an item with an availability of 100- (the item is backordered 100 units).

2. In Order Entry, the date 07/20/95 appears next to the order detail line. This means that a purchase order has been placed with the vendor for this item and is due to be received on this date.

Although this date appears, this may not be the first time you receive this item. In fact, several other purchase orders will be received for this item, but the items are already committed to earlier orders. The system monitors the quantity due and the date due and determines which purchase order can fulfill the backorder.

Step 2: Generate Inventory Counts File

Purpose: After running PO Layering, select the Load WATS Inventory Counts option from the Work with Wats Inventory Count Screen. This option builds a file that contains items that have had changes to the expected delivery date, availability, or item status. Also, this file contains new items to your inventory.

The reason to create this file is so that you can provide WATS Marketing with updated inventory counts.

Add items to file: The program first checks to see if the Item/SKU exists in the Inventory Counts file. If not, the program adds the item to the file and updates the Send WATS Inventory Counts field to Y. This occurs for new items.

If the item already exists in the Inventory Counts file, the program checks to see if the availability, expected delivery date or status of the item has changed. If so, the new values are updated in the Inventory Counts file and the Send WATS Inventory Counts flag in the file is set to Y. If not, the Send flag remains set to N.

Availability or delivery date: When you select this option, the program reads through the Item/SKU files and Item/Warehouse records for each item selected to calculate the items availability in all allocatable (shippable) warehouses. This is the same calculation performed in Order Entry.

If the availability of an item is zero or less than zero:

• the availability is set to zero in the Inventory Count file

• the next expected delivery date is calculated for the item

• this date is written to the Inventory Count file

If the available quantity is zero and an expected delivery date is not found:

• the value in the FTC -- # of Days for Items without Expected Ship Date (C71) field in the System Control file is added to the current date

• this date is used as the expected delivery date.

Each item in the Inventory Counts file will contain an available quantity or an expected delivery date.

The Inventory Counts file contains a single record for every alias for an item/SKU. If the item has multiple aliases, the quantity available will be the same for each alias. As a result, the quantity available for the item will be overstated.

WATS Inventory Counts File

Field	Description
Company	A code that identifies your company, which is a single, isolated set of files and data. A company is an organization of financial information, inventory, and customers that is completely separate from another company. Company codes are defined in and validated against the Company file. Numeric, 3 positions.
Item	A code for a unit of inventory. Item codes are defined in and validated against the Item file. Alphanumeric, 12 positions.
SKU1	The first element of the split SKU code, which may be the item's color, size, etc. A SKU is a code that identifies the unique style of an item. The split SKU consists of SKU elements 1, 2, and 3. Alphanumeric, 4 positions.
SKU2	The second element of the split SKU code, which may be the item's color, size, etc. A SKU is a code that identifies the unique style of an item. The split SKU consists of SKU elements 1, 2, and 3. Alphanumeric, 4 positions.
SKU3	The third element of the split SKU code, which may be the item's color, size, etc. A SKU is a code that identifies the unique style of an item. The split SKU consists of SKU elements 1, 2, and 3. Alphanumeric, 4 positions.
Alias	The "dummy" item number under which the item is advertised in the offer, if you place the same item in multiple places in a single offer. You may use alias item numbers to determine whether item placement in an offer affects sales of the item. Alias item numbers are defined in and validated against the Item/Offer file. Alphanumeric, 12 positions.
Item description	The description of the item, as defined in the Item file. Alphanumeric, 40 positions.
SKU description	The description of the SKU (specific style of the item, such as its color and size), as defined in the SKU file. Alphanumeric, 40 positions.
Available	The quantity currently available to sell from all shippable warehouses, from the Item/Warehouse file. The calculation is:   On-hand - Protected - Reserved - Reserve transfer - backordered   Numeric, 7 positions.
Expected delivery date	The date on which a delivery of the item is expected to arrive from the vendor. An expected delivery date is available only if open (unreceived) purchase orders exist for the item. Numeric, 6 positions (YYMMDD format).
Status	The status of the item in your inventory, as defined in the Status field in the Item file. Typical status codes are ' ' (item is active), discontinued, damaged, etc. Status codes are defined in and validated against the Item Status file. Alphanumeric, 1 position.
Send	This value indicates whether the item will be included in the next transmission of the WATS Inventory Counts file. Only items that have had changes to their availability, expected delivery date or item status are included in the file. Valid values are: Y = Include the item in the WATS Inventory Counts file N = Do not include the item in the WATS Inventory Counts file Alphanumeric, 1 position.

Step 3: Transmit Inventory Counts File

Purpose: Enter Y in the Send WATS Inventory Counts field on the Work with WATS Inventory Count screen to send the WATS Inventory Counts File to WATS marketing.

When this option is selected, you will be prompted to dial up the modem and initiate the file transfer.

The transmit program updates the Send flag in all records in the Inventory Count file to N when the records are sent.

Line drop: If the line drops while transmitting the WATS Inventory Counts file, the program will continue sending records with Send flag still set to Y.