1. Implementation Guide
  2. Data File Generation
  3. Dimension Files
  4. Product File
  5. Product Alternates

Product Alternates

You may also use the file PRODUCT_ALT.csv to load additional attributes and hierarchy levels specifically for use in Planning applications. The file data is always at item level and may have up to 30 flexible fields for data. These columns exist in the PRODUCT.csv file if you are a non-RMFCS customer so this separate file would be redundant. If you are using RMFCS, then this file provides a way to send extra data to Planning that does not exist in RMFCS.

When using flex fields as alternate hierarchy levels, there are some rules you will need to follow:

  • All hierarchies added this way must have an ID and Description pair as two separate columns

  • The ID column for an alternate hierarchy must ONLY contain numbers; no other characters are permitted

Numerical ID fields are required for integration purposes. When a plan is generated in MFP or AP using an alternate hierarchy, and you wish to send that plan data to AIF for in-season forecasting, the alternate hierarchy ID used must be a number for the integration to work. If your alternate hierarchy level will not be used as the base intersection of a plan, then it does not need to be limited to numerical IDs (although it is still recommended to do so). This requirement is the same for all hierarchy levels when Retail Insights is used, as RI can only accept numerical hierarchy IDs for all levels (for both base levels and alternates).

For example, you might populate FLEX1_CHAR_VALUE with numerical IDs for an alternate level named “Subsegment”. You will put the descriptions into FLEX2_CHAR_VALUE. These values can be mapped into PDS by altering the interface.cfg file, and the values may be used to define plans or targets in MFP. When you export your plans for AIF, they are written into integration tables such as MFP_PLAN1_EXP using the numerical identifiers from FLEX1_CHAR_VALUE as the plan level. This is further integrated to RI tables like W_RTL_PLAN1_PROD1_LC1_T1_FS (columns ORG_DH_NUM and PROD_DH_NUM for location/product IDs respectively). This is where numerical IDs become required for these interfaces to function; they will not load the data if the IDs are non-numerical. Once loaded into W_RTL_PLAN1_PROD1_LC1_T1_F and similar tables, AIF reads the plan data to feed in-season forecast generation.

Loading the data into data warehouse tables at a flex field level requires additional configuration. Refer to the RI Implementation Guide for details. AIF also requires additional setup to use alternate hierarchies. Refer to the section “Building Alternate Hierarchy in AIF” in the AIF Implementation Guide for details.