8 Managing Foundation Data

This chapter explains how to manage foundation data in Oracle Retail Allocation. This chapter contains the following topics:

• Managing Policy Templates

• Managing Location Groups

• Managing Size Profiles

• Managing System Options

Managing Policy Templates

You can manage policy templates using the following procedures.

Creating Policy Templates

To create a policy template:

1. From the Tasks menu, select Allocation Foundation > Manage Policy Templates. The Manage Policy Template window appears.

2. From the Actions menu, select Create. The Policy Template window appears.

   Figure 8-1 Policy Template Window

   
   

3. Enter a name in the Policy Name field.

4. Update as necessary and click Save. The policy template is saved.

Selecting a Demand Source

To select a demand source:

1. In the Demand Source field, select the source of demand from the list of values:

   Table 8-1 Select Demand Source Options

   Source	Description
   History	Use the item's historical sales for the date range selected to determine the gross need of item on the allocation.
   Corporate Rules	Use custom pre-defined rules to determine the need of the item on the allocation.
   History and Plan	Use both the item's sales history and plan for the date range selected to determine the gross need of the item on the allocation.
   Forecast	Use the item's forecast for the date range selected to determine the gross need of item on the allocation.
   Plan	Use the item's plan for the date range selected to determine the gross need of the item on the allocation.
   Receipt Plan	Use the item's receipt plan to determine the gross need of the item in the Allocation system in order to create pre-allocations.
   Plan Re-project	Use to compare the item's actual sales to the plan, re-forecast the plan based on performance for the date range selected, and use the re-projected plan to determine the gross need of the item on the allocation.

   
   

2. In the Sales History Type section, select the check boxes for the type of history to include.

Selecting a Level

The demand is derived from the level of product hierarchy selected. On the Policies window, you can select to allocate items using hierarchy or user selection.

Allocating by Hierarchy

To allocate items using hierarchy:

1. In the Level section, select Merchandise Hierarchy.

   
   

   Note: Pack Distribution mode is not applicable for Item hierarchy. If the component items have more than one distinct department/class/subclass then User Selection must be used.

   
   

2. Select the hierarchy level to allocate by from the list.

   
   

   Note: Item need for an allocation is determined by calculating the need for each item on the allocation from the selected policy for the organizational hierarchy level selected.

   
   

Allocating by User Selection

To allocate items using user selection:

1. In the Level section, select Other - User Selection.

2. Click Edit. The User Selection window appears.

   Figure 8-2 User Selection window

   
   

3. In the Date Range Editing section select an option:

   • Weight Percentage

   • Weight Percentage and Start and End Date

   • Weight Percentage and Weeks from Today

4. In the User Selection section enter an ID in the appropriate field to select a merchandise hierarchy level.

5. Click Add. The merchandise hierarchy is added to the Select Merchandise Hierarchy Items section.

6. Enter the weight or percentage to adjust the need calculated for the user selection in the Weight column.

7. Enter the start and end date in the Start Date and End Date column.

   
   

   Note: The Start Date and End Date fields appear only if you have selected Weight Percentage and Start and End Date option. You need to select two start and end dates when the demand source is History, Forecast, or Plan.

   
   

8. Enter a number in the Weeks From Today column. This value specifies the number of weeks all approved allocations, direct to store orders, and transfers as stock on hand and future fulfillment, are included at the store in the need calculation. The value can range between 1 and 52 only.

   
   

   Note: The Weeks From Today columns appear only if you have selected Weight Percentage and Weeks from Today option. If no number is entered, the system includes all stock on hand at the store and future inventory regardless of the date on the purchase orders or transfers.

   
   

Weeks From Today

Enter the number of weeks to search back or forward, depending on the rule type selected. The system starts searching with the last completed week.

Change Weights

1. Click Change Weights. The Change Weights window appears.

   
   

   Note: The date displayed is based on the end of week day selected as defined in the allocation system options.

   
   

2. Enter the new weights as appropriate.

3. Click OK to save changes.

Setting Inventory Parameters

The inventory parameters comprise of Rule Level On Hand, Include In Inventory, and Remove Future Fulfilment.

Selecting Rule Level On Hand

To set Rule Level On Hand:

1. Select one of the following options available in the Rule Level On Hand section:

   • Do Not Use

   • Snap Shot

   • Real Time

   
   

   Note: When Rule Level On Hand is used with User Selection, the on-hands is based on the rule level of the like merchandise hierarchy selected. For performance purposes, the Rule Level On Hand Snap Shot is stored in a database table which can be refreshed through a batch program to be run at your discretion.

   
   

Selecting Include in Inventory

Currently, when allocating the net need using either Stock on Hand (SOH) or Rule Level On Hand (RLOH), the values for on-hand is derived from using the summation of five RMS Inventory buckets. You can select to include or exclude one or more of these buckets.

To include inventory details:

1. Select from the following options in the Include section:

   • On Hand

   • On Order

   • In Transit

   • Inbound Allocation

   • Outbound Allocation

2. Select the Clearance Stock option to include clearance stock in the need calculation.

Include Inventory Dates

In the Include Inventory Dates section, when you enter a date in the On Order Commit Date field, all approved allocations, direct to store orders, and transfers dated on or before the date are included in the calculation of on-hand quantity.

When you enter the number of weeks, it is used to determine how many weeks into the future should be used to pull approved allocations, direct to store orders, and transfers into the calculation for on-hand quantity.

Selecting Factors

To select factors:

1. In the Factors section Need Is field, select how the Allocation should determine the quantity of items sent to a location.

2. In the Mode field, select the type of algorithm calculation. The modes available are Simple, Spread Demand, and Pack Distribution.

   
   

   Note: Simple mode is applicable for both staple and fashion items. Pack Distribution mode is not applicable for fashion items. Spread Demand is applicable for Subclass or higher level.

   
   

3. In the Allocate To field, select the need type for calculation, values available are Net and Gross.

Setting Size Profile Logic

To set the method used to determine what to allocate:

1. Select one of the following options in the Size Determination section:

   • Size Profile to use the store size profile ratio as a guide to determine what to allocate. This option is the default selection.

   • Selling Curve to use the selling curve derived from the policies (the demand source and hierarchy level) selected within the allocation as a guide to determine what to allocate.

   
   

   Note: Selling Curve option can be used only when the level is Parent, Parent/diff, or Item.

   
   

2. Select Limit SKU Overages to limit the SKU overages.

3. Enter the acceptable overage percentage in the Overage Threshold field.

Managing Location Groups

You can manage location groups using the following procedures.

Searching for Location Groups

To search for location groups:

1. From the Tasks menu, select Location Group Search. The Location Group Search window appears.

2. Enter information in one or more fields for the search.

3. Click the Search button. The location groups matching the criteria are displayed in the Search Results pane.

Creating Location Groups

You can create complex location groups using the Add Location window. To create location groups:

1. From the Tasks menu, select Allocation Foundation > Manage Location Groups. The Manage Location Groups window appears.

2. From the Actions menu, select Create. The Create Location Group window appears.

   Figure 8-3 Create Location Group Window

   
   

3. Select the location criteria using the following lists:

   • Store Grade Group

   • Location Trait

   • Location List

   • Allocation Group

   • Single Store

   • Single Warehouse

   • All Stores

   • All Warehouses

4. Click the icon. The location groups matching the search criteria are displayed in the Group View tab.

5. Select the groups you want to combine to form a new location group.

6. If you want to delete any locations before creating the location group, do the following:

   1. Select the Location View tab. The locations available in the selected groups are displayed.

   2. Select the locations you want to delete.

   3. Click the delete icon.

7. Click the Union, Intersection, Exclude, or Exclude Intersection button to form the desired combination.

8. Enter a name for the location group in the Location Group Name field.

9. Click Save and Close to save the location group.

Managing Size Profiles

Size Profile refers to the ratio derived out of historical sales figures to give an accurate estimate of the number of items of different sizes or colors that must be allocated to the destination store and applies only to fashion items within Allocation.

One of the sources of this data is the Oracle Retail Size Profile Optimization (SPO) system which resides on RPAS and creates optimal profiles of size distribution both by merchandise category and store. In the Store Size Profile Optimization product, you can now create seasonal store size profiles. These multiple store size profiles created in SPO are assigned Generation ID's (GIDs).

A combination of a merchandise hierarchy and store may have multiple size profiles specific to different seasons. These multiple profiles or GIDs are displayed as an option in the Policy Maintenance window and they can be used while performing a fashion allocation depending on the items being allocated and their expected date of arrival at the stores. A fashion item may have different summer and fall profiles defined and you can select the appropriate profile based on the time period of the year when the item is being allocated.

Warehouse Size Profiles

The following options are available for warehouse size profiles:

• % to Total

  When this option is selected, the system allocates based on the percentage of each size to the total available quantity. This is determined using the following steps -.

  Step 1: Determine the percentage availability of each size to the total available quantity to allocate at the source location. Refer to the following table for this calculation:

  Style-Color	Red Navy Shirt	Available Quantity	% to Total
  SKU	SM Red Navy Shirt	250	21
  SKU	MD Red Navy Shirt	300	26
  SKU	LG Red Navy Shirt	450	38
  SKU	XL Red Navy Shirt	175	15

  
  

  Step 2: To allocate 200 units to the destination warehouse based on its need value.

  Step 3: Apply the % to Total values obtained in Step 1 against the allocated quantity of 200 units going out to the destination warehouse. The results would be as follows:

  Style-Color	Red Navy Shirt	200
  SKU	SM Red Navy Shirt	43	200*21
  SKU	MD Red Navy Shirt	51	200*26
  SKU	LG Red Navy Shirt	77	200*38
  SKU	XL Red Navy Shirt	30	200*15

  
  

  Size SM = 21% of the total available quantity, 200*21% = 43 units

  Size MD = 26% of the total available quantity, 200*26% = 51 units

  Size LG = 38% of the total available quantity, 200*38% = 77 units

  Size XL = 15% of the total available quantity, 200*15% = 30 units

  Total allocated by size to warehouse = 200 units

  
  

  Note: The total available quantity refers to the total number of units present in the set of sources selected for an item linked to the specific warehouse within an allocation.

  
  

  Consider the following example:

  PO1 for WH1 = 100 units

  PO2 for WH2 = 175 units

  SOH at WH1 = 55 units

  SOH at WH2 = 45 units

  • If both PO1 and SOH are selected as sources for WH1, then the total available quantity for allocations sourced out of WH1 = 100 + 55 = 155 units

  • For WH2, if only SOH is selected as the source, then the total available quantity for allocation sourced out of WH2 = 45 units (ignoring the 175 units present in PO2).

  So, based on the source(s) selected within an allocation for a fashion item, the total available quantity is subject to change.

  
  

  Note: This method does not apply to What-if allocations which will completely rely on records in the database table ALC_SIZE_PROFILE. An exception is thrown if there are no records in this table just like it works for store locations for this type of an allocation. Any holdback quantity specified in the source warehouse is not considered while determining the warehouse availability.

  
  

• WH Sales Curve

  This option is valid only for the Demand Source = History. An error pop-up is encountered if you try to apply this option for other demand sources.

  When applied, this will apply a curve using a weighted average logic from all the data present in the Issues column from the existing RMS owned ITEM_LOC_HIST table for the warehouse locations. For any store locations, the check-boxes linked with the sales type that are checked will act as an additional filter.

  For example, if Regular and Promotional are selected in the Policy window, both these types of sales issues in the ITEM_LOC_HIST table will be considered.

  In case of no records present for the warehouse in the table, the allocation will be moved to the Calculation Error state.

Understanding the Manage Location Size Profiles Window

The Manage Location Size Profiles window allows you to view, edit, and create size profiles, or size curves, at any merchandise hierarchy level including department, class, subclass, parent, diff. Allocation allows you to load size profiles (curves) from Oracle Retail Curve, a module of Oracle Retail Demand Forecasting.

Figure 8-4 Manage Location Size Profiles Window

Following are the fields available on the Size Profile window:

• Generation ID

  Indicates the generation IDs (GIDs) sent from Oracle Retail Size Profile Optimization (SPO). GIDs are seasonal store size profiles.

• Size Profile Level

  Indicates the merchandise hierarchy level for which the size profile records are retrieved. This list contains the following values:

  • Department

  • Class

  • Subclass

  • Parent

  • Parent/Diff

• Department

  Indicates the Department ID that the size profile is associated with.

• Class

  Indicates the Class ID that the size profile is associated with.

• Subclass

  Indicates the Subclass ID that the size profile is associated with.

• Parent

  Indicates the Parent ID that the size profile is associated with.

• Parent/Diff

  Indicates the Parent/Diff ID that the size profile is associated with.

• Single Store

  Indicates the Store ID used for the size profile search.

• Single Warehouse

  Indicates the Warehouse ID used for the size profile search.

• Location Group (Advanced search option)

  Following are the options available:

  • Store Grade Group

    Indicates the Store Grade Group ID the size profile is associated with.

  • Store Grade

    Indicates the Store Grade ID the size profile is associated with.

  • Location List

    Indicates the Location List ID the size profile is associated with.

  • Location Trait

    Indicates the Location Trait ID the size profile is associated with.

• All Stores (Advanced search option)

  Indicates that the size profile details for the items in the allocation for all the valid stores for which the item range exists is displayed.

• All Warehouses (Advanced search option)

  Indicates that the size profile details for the items in the allocation for all the valid warehouses for which the item range exists is displayed.

• Size Group

  Indicates the size group linked to the size profile. Displays a list of non-aggregated size groups for the selected merchandise hierarchy and it is applicable to the levels: Department, Class, and Subclass.

Searching for Size Profiles

Generation IDs are sets of store size profile data created and maintained in Oracle's Size Profile Optimization (SPO) product. SPO to Allocation is required in order to search and select GIDs.

You can search for a size profile in three different combinations.

• GID only search – Displays all the records that correspond to the selected GID. The records displayed may be at the same merchandise hierarchy level or different ones.

• GID and Merchandise Hierarchy combined search – Displays records, common to the selected GID and merchandise hierarchy.

• Merchandise Hierarchy only – Displays records that correspond to the selected merchandise hierarchy. There may be more than one GID record (Summer Profile, Spring Profile, Winter Profile) but there is always only one set of non-GID records at a given level.

To search for a size profile:

1. From the Tasks menu, select Manage Location Size Profiles. The Manage Location Size Profiles window appears.

2. In the Generation ID field, select an ID for a GID search or a GID merchandise combined search.

3. In the Size Profile Level field, select a level.

4. In the Department field, select the department.

5. If necessary based on the size profile level you selected in step 3, select the class, subclass, parent, or parent/diff.

6. In Location Selection Criteria, select the location for which the size profile must apply. You must select at least one location.

7. In Size Group Selection Criteria, select the size group for the size profile.

8. Click Search. The list of size profiles matching the criteria is displayed.

Creating and Editing Size Profiles

You can edit an existing size profile or create a size profile based on the criteria defined here:

GID based size profile

• If the current allocation is using a GID based profile, you can only edit or delete the size profile.

• If there is no data present in the database corresponding to the selected GID, then you must either select a different GID or a non-GID based profile. Data addition is not possible for a GID based size profile.

Non-GID based size profile

• If the current allocation is using a non-GID based profile, you can create, edit, or delete the size profile details.

• If there is no data present in the database corresponding to the item/location combination, you can add the size profile details through the system UI.

To create or edit size profiles:

1. From the Tasks menu, select Manage Location Size Profiles. The Manage Location Size Profiles window appears.

2. Search and select the size profile that you want to edit.

3. Click the edit icon. The size profile is enabled for editing.

   Figure 8-5 Size Profile Window - Search Result Pane

   
   

4. Enter a ratio in the Ratio column for each of the items.

5. Click Save to save the size profile.

Copying a Parent

To copy a parent:

1. From the Tasks menu, select Manage Location Size Profiles. The Manage Location Size Profiles window appears.

2. Search and select the size profile that you want to copy to.

3. Click Copy Entire Parent. The Copy Entire Parent window appears.

   Figure 8-6 Copy Entire Parent Window

   
   

4. In the Copy From field, select the parent. The size profile details appear.

   
   

   Note: The parent to copy from must have the same sizes and diffs as the parent being copied to.

   
   

5. Select the size profile. The Copy button is activated.

6. Click Copy. The size profile is copied and the Size Profile window appears.

7. If required, you can edit the ratio in the Ratio column.

8. Click Save to save the size profile.

Copying a Single Diff

You can copy size profile ratios from single diff of the selected parent to one or more diffs of the current parent.

To copy a single diff:

1. From the Tasks menu, select Manage Location Size Profile. The Manage Location Size Profiles window appears.

2. Search and select the size profile that you want to copy.

3. Click Copy Single diff. The Copy Single diff window appears.

4. In the Copy From field, select the parent. The size profile details appear.

5. Click the Expand icon to view the aggregated diffs available in the size profile.

6. Select the diff from which you wish to copy. The Copy button is activated.

   Figure 8-7 Copy Single diff Window - Single diff selected

   
   

7. Click Copy. The single diff is copied and the Manage Location Size Profile window appears.

8. If required, you can edit the ratio in the Ratio column.

9. Click Save to save the size profile.

Deleting a Size Profile

To delete a size profile:

1. From the Tasks menu, select Manage Location Size Profiles. The Manage Location Size Profiles window appears.

2. Search and select the size profile that you want to delete.

3. Click the delete icon.

4. Click OK to confirm deletion of the size profile.

Managing System Options

You must have System Administrator or Allocation Manager access to the Allocation system in order to edit system options. The properties available on the System Options window can be classified into two types, System Properties and User Group Properties. The System Administrator has the authority to edit both System Properties as well as User Group Properties whereas the Allocation Manager can only edit the User Group Properties. The other user types Allocator and Buyer have only view rights for System Options.

Setting System Properties

The system properties are editable only by the System Administrator and no user groups can change these values. These properties are mostly technical in nature.

• CALCULATION QUEUE POLLING INTERVAL

  Indicates the calculation queue polling interval in milliseconds.

• ITEM LOCATION WARNING

  Indicates whether a warning message needs to be displayed to the user in case of selection of an invalid item/location combination.

• END OF WEEK DAY

  Indicates the day to be treated as the end of the week during any calculation operations. Sunday is equal to one and Saturday is equal to seven. This day must be identical to that set up in the merchandising system (such as RMS) for accurate results.

• BULK WAREHOUSE SETTING

  Indicates the Non-finisher virtual bulk warehouse ID for PO creation for What If allocations.

• AUTOMATIC GROUP UPDATE

  Indicates whether the location groups need to be updated for worksheet allocations.

• ALL ORDERS

  Indicates whether the 'On Order' quantities against open purchase orders are to be considered while calculating stock on hand (SOH) for the items in the order.

• WHAT IF ITEM SOURCE QUERY LEVEL

  Indicates the item source tier query level in case of a what if allocation. This is related to the merchandise hierarchy of the setup of the retailer. Valid values are:

  D=Department, C=Class, S=Subclass or I=Item.

• LOCATION EXCEPTION REASONS - PRODUCT SOURCED ALLOCATION

  Indicates the item-location relationship status that needs to be excluded from product sourced allocations. If you want to specify more than one value, then use the space as a delimiter. Example: Location Exception Reason Product Sourced = C D I. If you want to exclude a non-existing item location relationship, add NULL to the list.

• LOCATION EXCEPTION REASON - "WHAT IF" ALLOCATION

  Indicates the item-location relationship status that needs to be excluded from What If allocations. If you want to specify more than one value, then use the space as a delimiter. Example: Location Exception Reasons What If = C D I. If you want to exclude a non-existing item location relationship, add NULL to the list.

• DEFAULT "WHAT IF" IMPORT WAREHOUSE

  Indicates the default warehouse for import based purchase orders from What If allocations.

• "WHAT IF" SUMMARY DEFAULT ACTION

  Indicates the What If Summary Default Action: Create or Update PO.

• FUTURE AVAILABLE FOR WHAT IF ALLOCATIONS

  Indicates whether or not to consider Future Available inventory for What If Allocations. True - Use the future SOH; False - Use the current SOH only.

• ENABLE SIZE PROFILE VALIDATION

  Indicates if the size profile validation should be done when the user hits the Calculate button.

• ENABLE PROMOTION

  Indicates that active promotions are visible and can be associated while creating an allocation. This property is only applicable if the Retail Price Management (RPM) application is used. If RPM is not used, this value is set to false.

• ENABLE FUTURE RETAIL

  Indicates whether or not the retail values of the items being allocated are displayed in the Item window.

• SIZE PROFILE VALIDATION LEVELS

  Indicates the levels at which the size profile validation should be done. The valid values are - STYLE, STYLE/COLOR, SUBCLASS, CLASS, DEPT. If you want to specify more than one value, then use the comma as a delimiter.

• SISTER STORE SETUP

  Indicates whether the need of a like store can be used during allocation calculation. If this is set to True, the system uses the sister store's need when the records don't exist for a store. If this is set to False, the system uses the sister store's need when the records don't exist for a store or when there are existing records but with zero need.

• LOCATION LIST THRESHOLD

  Indicates the threshold value to be used in SQL IN while fetching the location list.

• UNLOCK MINUTES

  Indicates the locking timeout in minutes.

Setting User Group Properties

The user group properties are editable by a user with the role of an Allocation Manager or System Administrator. This set of properties are functional in nature and require business knowledge and logic.

• NUMBER OF DAYS BEFORE RELEASE DATE

  Indicates the number of days before the release date, that is used during the creation of a purchase order for a What If allocation. This field is set to three days by default.

• BAYESIAN SENSITIVITY FACTOR

  Indicates the plan sensitivity value used while using the Plan Reproject policy. The sensitivity factor is set to 0.3 by default. This value can be changed to any value between zero to one based on the requirements.

• SECONDARY

  Indicates whether to display secondary description of store or supplier in store list and supplier list respectively.

• CROSSING LEGAL ENTITIES

  Indicates whether or not the user can cross legal entities.

  • YES indicates Allocations cannot cross legal entities.

  • NO indicates Allocation can cross legal entities. In this case, the Allocation system validates whether a warehouse/location combination is valid before processing. If a warehouse/location combination is not part of the same legal entity, the combination is skipped for processing. The system moves to the next combination.

• BREAK PACK ENFORCEMENT

  Indicates whether the break pack functionality is to be enabled or not.

• PRESENTATION MINIMUMS

  Indicates if presentation minimums are initially defaulted into the quantity limits UI. This field impacts the default setting of the Presentation Minimums and Quantity Limit check box on the Policy Maintenance window.

• DEFAULT STORE/WH CALCULATION/PO MULTIPLE

  Indicates the default store/warehouse calculation multiple. Possible Values are:

  • EA - Each

  • IN - Inner

  • CA - Case

  • PA - Pallet

• ITEM SOURCE DEFAULT FOR ITEM SEARCH PAGE

  Indicates the Item Source that will be checked by default when entering the Item Search page.

  • A - Allocation

  • P - Purchase order

  • S - Advanced shipping notification

  • T - Transfer

  • B - Bill of lading

  • W - Warehouse

• DESCRIPTION LENGTH

  Indicates the maximum length to be used for display of Item descriptions in the user interface.

• RULE VISIBILITY

  Indicates the rule type for which the need value is displayed on the Allocation Maintenance window.

• PURGE NUMBER OF DAYS

  Indicates the number of days for which the Worksheets are stored in the Allocation system.

• PACK VARIABLE ACCEPTANCE THRESHOLD

  Indicates the Pack Variance Acceptance Threshold value.

• QL SPLIT METHOD FOR LOCATION GROUPS

  Indicates the method of splitting quantity limits across individual stores in a location group.