D Appendix: forecastind Measure

In IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment, forecastind is a boolean measure based on SKU. It is imported from a view in the RDX schema. This measure is true when a SKU is active for forecasting or replenishment in IPOCS.

The measure is really useful in a multiple application PDS environment. When Merchandise Financial Planning Cloud Service (MFPCS) or Assortment Planning Cloud Service (APCS) coexists in the same Planning Data Schema (PDS) as IPOCS and the hierarchy tables are shared. MFPCS or APCS generally works on more SKUs than IPOCS. The measure, forecastind is a useful tool for an implementer to configure the IPOCS application so that only SKUs of interest are visible in the IPOCS application.

There are several ways to use forecastind depending on a customer's PDS environment.

Single Application PDS Environment

There is a field named FORECAST_IND in the W_PDS_PRODUCT_D table in the RDX schema. Use this field to filter the SKUs imported into PDS. This can be done by customizing the interface.cfg file. In this way, only related SKUs are brought into PDS.

Multiple Application PDS Environment

With a multiple application PDS environment, it is not possible to block SKUs at the hierarchy level during importing. There are three ways to configure a multiple application PDS environment; when:

• Most SKUs are active

  If almost all SKUs are active for forecasting or replenishment, do nothing.

• Most SKUs are inactive

  If a significant portion of SKUs are inactive for IPOCS, then configure the position filter for prod hierarchy.

  The position filter for prod hierarchy can be configured by entering proddimfilter in the posfiltermeas field that is located in the hierarchy table of the configuration within ConfigTools. The measure, proddimfilter is a GA created boolean measure based on SKU and its purpose is to set the position filter. Once configured, only SKUs that are true in proddimfilter are visible in IPOCS.

  The proddimfilter measure can only be populated through dataloading from a flat file or import through the interface.cfg file. An implementer can export the forecastind measure and load the exported file into proddimfilter through a customized batch control file. An alternative is to import proddimfilter through the interface.cfg file customization.

  With the position filter on, only visible SKUs are included in the batch calculation, workbook wizard, and system workbook build.

• Few SKUs are inactive

  When only a few SKUs are inactive in IPOCS, the batch performance may deteriorate when the position filter is on. In this case, an implementer can leave the position filter off and only configure the active forecast mask and workbook wizard prerange measure to make sure that inactive SKUs are excluded from the batch and workbook.

  The GA measure ldactivefcstitem is a published loadable and writable measure. It can be calculated as ldactivefcstitem = pos.total>0 && forecastind || c_newitemflag

  If any prod/loc are true in ldactivefcstitem, then the pre- or post-forecast batch is only run for the prod/location that is active for ldactivefcstitem

  The GA measure frprdlocprerang_CF_ is a boolean measure based on prod/loc. It is a prerange measure for forecast review workbook. In GA, it is populated by the active forecast item mask. You do not need to alter anything for this default behavior.

  Currently, there is no pre-range for the Forecast Setup, Business Rule Setup, and Attribute Management workbooks.

  For IPOCS Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment, LPPmAstPLExE can be customized as LPPmAstPLExE = if(forecastind,2,ignore).

  This customization turns off the inactive items in IPOCS Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment.