Understanding Frequency Items
Frequency items are additional sales opportunities based on items ordered frequently in a specific time period. Frequency items may follow trending or seasonal buying patterns.
The system bases frequency items on header information. Frequency items do not exist on the current sales order and are not related to items on the order.
For the system to determine frequency item opportunities, you must:
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Activate the Frequency feature.
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Define the included document types.
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Define parameters for the frequency item search.
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Run the Buying Frequency Load program (R42X010).
See "Setting Up Sales Advisor Constants".
The system stores frequency item information in the Buying Frequency by Customer table (F42X010).
After you install the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne In-Memory Sales Advisor system, activate the Frequency feature, and set the search criteria in the Sales Advisor Constants and Sales Order Feature Doc Types programs, you must run the Buying Frequency Load program. You run the Buying Frequency Load program only once for the initial load of the Buying Frequency by Customer table (F42X010).
As the Buying Frequency Load program runs, the system searches sales records in the Sales Order Detail File (F4211) and Sales Order History File (F42119) tables to determine which items were sold the most based on the customer search criteria. The program counts and records the number of items ordered by customer in the Buying Frequency by Customer table (F42X010). The program does not count the quantity of the items.
When you enter sales orders, the system updates the count to the F42X010 table to keep it up to date. If you change the values in the frequency fields in the Sales Advisor Constants program, then you must rerun the Buying Frequency Load program.
The system does not include kit parent and components, configured parent and components, sales lines with a negative quantity such as credit order lines, and canceled lines in the included selection for frequency items.
The system uses the Order Date in the F4211 and F42119 tables when searching for frequency items.
You must use the Sales Order Entry program (P42101) to work with frequency items on sales orders. The system displays frequency item opportunities in the Order Advisor subform (S421010A) on the Order Advisor tab.
When you enter a sales order header, the system displays only frequency items in the Order Advisor subform. Frequency items are ranked based on the count and are marked with a label of Frequent in the Type field.
Additional frequency item information on the Order Advisor subform includes the item number, item description, branch/plant, unit price, pricing unit of measure, unit cost, and percent profit margin.
The system displays the foreign prices if the order is set to foreign currency or the taxed unit prices if the order is in taxed unit pricing mode. Thus, the price fields displayed in the Order Advisor subform are the same fields as shown in the Sales Order Detail grid.
Set the Display or Hide Cost Fields and Display or Hide Price Fields processing options on the Display tab of the Sales Order Entry program (P42101) to blank or 1 for the unit cost, unit price, and profit margin fields to appear in the Order Advisor subform. If you set the Display or Hide Cost Fields or Display or Hide Price Fields processing options to 2, then the system does not display the unit cost or unit price fields in the Order Advisor subform.
If either the Display or Hide Cost Fields or the Display or Hide Price Fields processing option is set to 2, then the system does not display the profit margin field.
The Order Advisor subform displays a maximum of six frequency items before a sales order detail line is entered in the Sales Order Detail grid. The number of frequency item opportunities displayed is a hard-coded value.
If you select both cross sell and frequency in the Sales Advisor Constants program, then cross sell items display before frequency items in the Order Advisor subform when sales order detail lines are entered.
After you enter sales order lines, the Order Advisor subform displays three frequency and three cross sell items. The number of frequency and cross sell item opportunities displayed is a hard-coded value of six. If not enough cross sell or frequency items exist, then the system displays more of one type and less of another. For example, the system displays two frequency items and four cross sell items.
If the same item is found by both the frequency and cross sell searches, then the system displays the item as a cross sell opportunity.
You use the Refresh button to update the Order Advisor subform. You use the Available Items Only option to display only items with available quantity.
Oracle recommends that you run the Buying Frequency Load program whenever you make changes to the Sales Advisor Constants that impact the Frequency feature. If you change the search criteria, time period, or document types, then the system issues a warning message that indicates you should run the Buying Frequency Load program.