Order sheet
Order sheet tool calculates required new order quantities for each product at any given time interactively.
By default the system uses historical sales data to predict future demand for each product and propose the recommended purchase quantities.
Purchasing
Buying functionality supports multiple operation modes:
Each location places orders directly with the vendor based on their individual demand
All purchases are made via Distribution Centre based on the overall demand of the chain, and the shortages in individual locations can be replenished from other locations within the distribution group.
Purchases are made via Distribution Centre based on the overall demand, and shortages in location can only be replenished from the DC.
Buying report is available via Purchasing->Order Sheet menu.
Top part of the report shows you demand history as per selected context: time period, location(s), category, vendor and property.
Bottom part of the screen displays the information supporting the purchasing decisions:
Extra info columns can show additional information about the product (if available via integration).
Comment: it is posisble to add short notes for each product to the worksheet; the comment remains until removed.
Current quantity: stock on hand in the currently selected location.
On order quantity: the purchase orders already placed (if available via integration)
Available quantity: the quantity surplus/shortage in each location given current demand forecast. Positive available quantity means that there is a net excess stock in selected location(s), negative value means that there is net shortage.
Suggested order: the recommended purchase quantity based on the demand forecast and current stock for selected location(s).
Override quantity: it is possible to manually override the recommended quantity by entering a new value. The value remains until removed.
The report can be exported to Excel worksheet via context menu for further processing. It is also possible to automatically create purchase orders in the warehouse management system if the integration has been configured.
Global settings
The calculation can be configured via Settings->System configuration->Inventory Analytics
Number of weeks for short-term prediction: Enter number of weeks for short-term prediction. If your demand is mostly high and uniform you can use smaller number and gain higher sensitivity to demand changes; If the demand is lower or less steady use bigger number which results lower sensitivity to changes in demand. The default value is 4 but anything bewteen 2 an 8 should be acceptable in most cases. Sometimes is makes sense to lower the number for the busy season and change it to higher for low season.
Default forward cover weeks: The calculation is based on the weeks cover of demand. Here you can set the default number if the
Buy into Distribution Center: If set then the demand forecast is calculated for the entire distribution group. This allows planning for central purchasing. If not set then demand forecast is calculated for each locatiom separately.
Distribution Center ID: If the DC has been set then the system does not reallocate stock between individual location, and does not count total availability when calculating purchasing suggestions.
Dimension setup
Store dimension. The Distribution Group item is provided automatically. Add all locations you want to include in the calculation under it.
Vendor dimension. It is possible to set cover weeks per each vendor; if set then vendor cover will take precedence over the default cover in the calculation. It is further possible to set cover weeks per product and location using the Purchasing->Cover weeks plan schedule.
Store Allocation
The store allocation runs in the background when the Store Allocation button is clicked. The system calculates all possible movements between based on the over- and understock.
The calculation starts from the location with highest sales and continues in descending order. Each shortage in the location analysed and a movement from other location with overstock is proposed until all understocks in all locations are analysed.
In order to prevent small movements (e.g. low quantities of low-price items) to be included the setting Minimum transfer value can be used. Using this parameter the system discards all transfers where the retail value of the movement is below this threshhold. This way it is possible to exclude small transfers which may result in higher operating costs than the potential selling profit.
Similarly to prevent system to fully deplete source locations use the Minimum amount to keep in inventory setting. Note that this is global setting and applies to all products.
The transfer is automatically calculated for selected Distribution Group and the Excel sheet is automatically dowloaded or emailed to the user.