1 Introduction

Retailers, especially in the fashion industry, need to determine the correct assortment of products to be made available for sale in stores. This is done 6 to 9 months before the merchandise is available in the stores. Oracle Retail Assortment Planning (AP) enables retailers to determine the appropriate mix of products that will maximize their organizational goals, such as sales, profit, and growth. For a more detailed overview of the functionality within AP, see the Oracle Retail Assortment Planning User Guide for the RPAS Fusion Client.

Contents of this Guide

This implementation guide addresses the following topics:

• Chapter 1: "Introduction"- Overview of the AP 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 AP domain.

• Chapter 4: "Data Flow"- Overview of the AP data flow.

• Chapter 5: "Fashion Planning Bundle Integration"- Overview of the Fashion Planning Bundle data flow.

• Chapter 6: "Script Integration"- Overview of the script integration used for the Fashion Planning Bundle and Allocation.

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

• Chapter 8: "Internationalization"- Translations provided for AP.

• Chapter 9, "Configuration Considerations" - Explanation of configuration logic impacted by the hierarchy and data.

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 integration, see Chapter 5 and Chapter 6.

Figure 1-1 Fashion Planning Bundle Footprint

Architecture of the Template Applications

Figure 1-2 shows the architecture of the Oracle Retail Predictive Application Server (RPAS) template applications.

Figure 1-2 Architecture of the RPAS Template Applications

This diagram describes the RPAS template applications. In the truest sense, 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, who is 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 user requests to use one of the templates through the RPAS Configuration Tools. A number of XML files are then output that 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 specifically defined.

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.

Overview of the Business Flow

Figure 1-3 shows a typical workflow for AP. The Assortment Planning solution enables the creation, execution, and monitoring of the assortment or range.

Figure 1-3 Business Process Workflow

Key Features and Capabilities of AP

AP provides the following key features and capabilities:

• Create store, site, and application clusters (attribute/optimal)

• Determine the optimal number of style/color targets per cluster

• Go to market with the Assortment Shopping List

• Use Slow Item Build to connect the Assortment Plan to Oracle Retail Merchandising System (RMS) for style set-up

• Automate the allocation of styles to clusters to create the wedge

• Use visual time-phased view of the assortment (Visual style out)

• Automate sales and receipt flow reconciled to constraints

• Calculate optimal allocation to each selling/fulfilling location by size and pack

• Reconcile to financial plans, capacity constraints, and assortment strategy

• Embed best practice on top of the configurable platform

Skills Needed for Implementation

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

Applications

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

• Oracle Retail Predictive Application Server

• Oracle Retail Merchandising System (RMS)

In addition, knowledge of the following applications is optional:

• Oracle Retail Clearance Optimization Engine

• Oracle Retail Item Planning

• Oracle Retail Merchandise Financial Planning

• Oracle Retail Size Profile Optimization

• Oracle Retail Allocation

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 AP

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

• AP batch processes

• Setting 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

• Understanding of how Fusion Client works