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1 - PURPOSE OF THIS MANUAL
The purpose of this manual is to provide information about the screens, analysis and reports, aimed at providing information for decision support.
Logistics history consists of massive volumes of data, where the main problem is not collecting these data, but interpreting the huge amount of data available.
This problem can be solved by selecting the business area of interest, and the ability of step by step drilling down from a higher level view, to lower levels of detail, until full business information details are available. Both information screens and report frontends are aimed to support the decision-making process by allowing the user to interact directly with the database.
1.1 - INFORMATION SCREENS
A number of screens allow the user to see details about the past, the current situation, and the forecast of the items. The screens can be interrogated (are fully queryable) and Item information can be retrieved for a multitude of aspects, such as supplier, class, store ABC class and unit of measure. The following screens provide information:
RPQ01 - Item Statistics
RPQ02 - Item Performance
RPQ03 - Item Forecast
RPQ04 - Items list
1.2 - DRILL-DOWN ON DETAILS
Pop-up backend menus can be selected in all screens. These backend menus allow the user to "drill down" on a complete spectrum of Item characteristics, providing information on business details such as demand patterns, quantity demanded distributions, purchase order details, client order details, Item basic details, purchasing conditions, technical specifications, and a variety of reports.
for details see chapter "Drill down on details "
1.3 - MULTIDIMENSIONAL QUESTIONS
Logistics managers do not simply ask, "how much is the turnover ratio ? "
- a zero-dimensional question.
Instead they ask
"How much is the turnover ratio, over a certain period, for a particular store, for ABC-A Order frequency, by Items class ? "
- a five-dimensional question.
Frontend screens allow these questions to be entered, whereupon reports started after the front-end screen, turn these questions into answers, which can be displayed on the screen, or send to a printer. The frontend screen allows users to build their own ad hoc queries, without any knowledge of programming. Frontend screens described in this manual:
RPF01 - Items and consumption details
RPF02 - Transaction details
RPF03 - Supplier characteristics
RPF04 - Stock distribution details
2 - RPQ01 ITEM STATISTICS
2.1 - FUNCTION AIM
The purpose of this screen is to display the item consumption history and statistical details of the customer orders. The normal demanded quantity for a single demand is displayed together with its statistical deviation. The number of normal demands and demanded quantities are displayed together with the fraction of the demand that is considered as exceptional, over the past 7 years.
2.2 - FIELDS
Item Code and short description and introduction data of the item.
Class Item class.
Unit Unit of measure: this is the accounting unit.
Cost Cost price of the item.
RC Item responsibility centre/party or person.
Store Principal or Main store.
Qty Quantity in principal store.
Type Item type.
Status Identifies events in the life cycle. e.g. new/active/not active.
12 M Dem Last 12 months number of customer orders.
Value Last 12 months turnover value.
Quantity Last 12 months turnover quantity.
Trend + or - sign if there is a trend.
Seasonal X if the item is seasonal.
Lumpy X if the demand pattern of the item is lumpy.
Normal Dem Average quantity for a normal single demand.
+/- Deviation of a normal single demand.
Except Qty Statistical exception level.
3 - RPQ02 ITEM PERFORMANCE
3.1 - FUNCTION AIM
The purpose of this screen is to display current performance of the item. The different costs and the benefits of the item depend on various factors, the service level SL, the holding cost HC, the purchase cost PC, absence cost AC, number of orders in a year, the cost and sales price and consumed quantity. The stores constants SL, HC, PC and AC can also be defined on the item, or Item class. A constant defined on the item will be used, if the constant is not defined for the item, but to the item class, this value is taken, otherwise the stores defaults (D) are used.
3.2 - FIELDS
Item Code and short description and introduction data of the item.
SL HC PC AC Service Level/Cost of Holding/Cost of Order/Cost of absence
Class RC Item class. / Item responsibility centre/party or person.
Unit Unit of measure: this is the accounting unit.
Cost Price Cost price / Sales price of the item .
Type Item type
Status Identifies events in the life cycle. e.g. new/active/not active.
D Defaults for SL, HC, PC, AC
Store Principal or Main store.
Policy Reorder policy
EOQ SR SS Economic Order Quantity/Stock Reserve/Safety Stock
OCQ Cycle Fixed Order Cycle Quantity and Cycle.
Supplier Contract Principle supplier or preferred vendor and valid contract
Minimum Multiple Principle supplier ordering conditions.
<> Diverse costs and ratio, as results of the consumption pattern, constants and reordering conditions.
Last 12 Months ABC Class /number of customer orders/Turnover quantity and Value
History All years number of customer orders/Turnover quantity and Value
4 - RPQ03 ITEM FORECAST
4.1 - FUNCTION AIM
The purpose of this screen is to display the forecast of the item and various factors that influence the reordering and reordered quantities.
4.2 - FIELDS
Item Code and short description and introduction data of the item.
Class Item class.
Cost Cost price of the item.
Store Principal or Main store.
RC Item responsibility centre /party or person.
Qty Stock Quantity in principal store.
Max Stock Maximum Stockable quantity in principal store.
Unit Unit of measure: this is the accounting unit.
Shelflife Number of days the item can be kept or will remain fresh.
Method Forecast method.
3M Forecast +/- Forecast for the next 3 months +/- deviation
Tendency Tendency of the demand to increase or decrease.
12M Stock Forecast for the next 12 months of stock consumption.
12M Total Forecast for the next 12 months of total customer demand including exceptional demand (to be used for Contracts).
Policy Reorder policy
Review If 'Y' review and confirmation is necessary for reorder proposals
EOQ SR SS Economic Order Quantity/Stock Reserve/Safety Stock
OCQ Cycle Fixed Order Cycle Quantity and Cycle.
Supplier Contract Principal supplier and contract
Leadtime Reorder delay for principal supplier
Minimum Increment Minimum and multiple conditions for principal supplier
Last 12 M Quantity /ABC Classes /number of customer orders /turnover value
5 - RPQ04 ITEM LIST
5.1 - FUNCTION AIM
The purpose of this screen is to display various Item details in list form, this supports a quick overview and comparison of the different attributes. The screen consists of a number of pages and is fully queryable, Item data can be retrieved in listed form for specified values for: Item code, Responsible, Unit, Class, Description, Store, Status, ABC Classification, Forecast method, Order Policy, Supplier and Contract.
5.2 - DRILL-DOWN on DETAILS
A popup backend menu allows at all times to focus on details for a particular selected Item.
5.3 - FIELDS 1/4
Item Code and short description and introduction data of the item.
RC Responsible
UM Unit of measure.
Price Cost price of the item.
Description Short description of the item
WH Principal or Main store.
Stock Quantity in Principal or Main store.
S Status
5.4 - FIELDS 2/4
Demand ABC Class and number of customer orders over last 12 months.
Value Turnover value over last 12 months.
Qty Quantity over last 12 months.
TSL Trend/Seasonal Pattern/Lumpy Indicator
Me Forecast method
Stock Year forecast for stock
Total Total year forecast including exceptional.
5.5 - FIELDS 3/4
Suppl Principal or preferred supplier.
Leadtime Reorder delay for principal supplier.
Contract Principal supplier valid contract.
Minimum Principal supplier minimum order condition.
Multiple Principal supplier multiple order condition.
5.6 - FIELDS 4/4
Pol Order Policy for the item.
EOQ Economic Order Quantity
SR Stock Reserve
SS Safety Stock
OCQ Fixed Order Cycle Quantity
Cycle Fixed Order Cycle.
6 - DRILL DOWN ON DETAILS
6.1 - PULL DOWN MENU
The pull down menu allows to focus on business information details. The function, screen or report selected in the pull-down menu, will automatically display its details for the item, supplier or store selected in the main screen.
Any number of screens, reports, display functions can be attached to a pull down menu, including screens like basic data entry screens, that are normally attached to the main menu, but can now be used to display details of the item selected.
6.2 - OPTIONS
A multitude of screens, functions and reports can be attached. All reports and basic data definition screens can be attached, and will automatically focus on the item of the main screen. A number of specific information screens is listed below.
RPD01 Year turnover information over the last 7 years.
RPD02 Demanded quantities distributions
RPD03 Seasonal Pattern
RPD04 Item Demand Details
RPD05 Forecast Methods
RPD06 Item Orders/Deliveries
RPD07 Messages / Signal Codes
RPD08 Item Stock Status
RPD10 Item Technical Specifications
RPD11 Item Stockout History
A number of display functions will described below.
7 - RPD04 POPUP CLIENT ORDERS
7.1 - DISPLAY
This popup screen displays details of client orders. When the key <NEXT BLOCK> is pressed, the next data page will be displayed.
7.2 - FIELDS
Str Store of which the item has been issued.
T Type of transactions: I = Issue, R = Return.
Date Date on which the item has been issued.
Id Customer Order number or issue identification number.
Qty Quantity that has been issued.
UM Unit of measure
Client Name of the client to which the item has been issued.
Tel. Telephone.
Div. Division or client company.
8 - RPD02 POPUP DEMANDED QUANTITIES DISTRIBUTIONS
8.1 - DISPLAY
This popup screen displays details of demanded quantities distribution.
8.2 - FIELDS
Quantity Quantity demanded.
Frequency Frequency or number of times the quantity has been issued.
Fraction % Fraction of the total number of demands, where the particular quantity has been issued.
Cumulative % Cumulative function of fraction.
9 - RPD06 POPUP PURCHASE ORDERS
9.1 - DISPLAY
Received purchase orders are displayed. When the key <NEXT BLOCK> is pressed, the next data page will be displayed.
9.2 - FIELDS
Order Purchase order number or identification number.
Suppl Supplier for which the item is reordered
Qty Quantity ordered
Amount Ordered amount
Created Date of ordering.
Received Date of reception.
Delay Number of days elapsed, between ordering and reception.
Planned Date on which the item was expected to arrive.
10 - RPD03 POPUP SEASONAL PATTERN
10.1 - DISPLAY
A graphical presentation of the seasonal pattern is displayed.
10.2 - FIELDS
01-12 Months of the year.
Quantity Average quantity demanded.
11 - RPD11 POPUP STOCKOUT HISTORY
11.1 - DISPLAY
The stockout periods over the last 2 years are displayed together with the total stockout time and the stockout period details.
11.2 - FIELDS
Stock-out First date and last date of a stock-out.
Day Number of days stock-out period.
Suppl Supplier of the item for which the stock-out occurred
Reason Reason attached to stock-out. e.g. late delivery of the item
12 - DRILL DOWN ON SUPPLIERS BASIC DATA SCREEN
Pull down menu can be attached to all screen types: basis data entry screens and business handling screens. The supplier basic data entry screen, is taken here as an example how the pull-down menu can be used to display details about the leadtimes, and the order history of the supplier of the main screen.
12.1 - LEADTIMES
This screen displays the actual leadtimes distribution function.
12.2 - ORDER HISTORY
This popup information screen displays the number of orders for the different years, the ordered amounts per year, and the number and fraction of orders where the ordered material was received before , and after the planned reception date.
13 - MULTIDIMENSIONAL QUESTIONS
The various frontends allow users just to choose which data they want to run the report on. One can represent the data by a cube. Choosing sub-sets of data resembles slicing the cube. Product responsibles study the characteristics of their items. Stores keepers are more interested in the data for their own store. Strategic planners might focus on characteristics of item classes, and the subsets of data such as the current and next quarters for an innovative, recently introduced product.
Each dimension of the cube represents a different category such as product type, item class, stores distribution region, sales channel and time.
Each cell within the multidimensional structure contains aggregated data relating the elements along each dimension. For example, a single cell may contain the total sales for a given product class, for a specific store in a single year.
Easy to use frontends support analytical operations like: consolidation, drill-down and "slicing and dicing"
Consolidation: This involves aggregation of data. It can be a simple roll-up of data, for example the sales can be rolled-up to item classes. Drill down: Display detail data which comprises consolidated data. Slicing and Dicing: This refers to the ability to look at the database from different viewpoints. One slice of the database might show all sales of a product class for the different stores. Another slice might show the sales for a product responsible for the different Item classes.
14 - RPF01 FRONTEND ITEMS AND CONSUMPTION DETAILS
FIELDS
Responsible Product responsible.
Class Item class.
Type Item type.
Store Principal store.
Item Unique identification code of the item.
Status Item status.
ABC CO Freq ABC classification on customer order frequency by year
ABC TO Value ABC classification on turnover value by year
Supplier Principal supplier
Contract Valid contract for principal supplier
Group by Consolidation aspect
Output Device where the information should be send to: e.g. the screen or a particular printer
15 - RPF02 FRONTEND TRANSACTIONS DETAILS
FIELDS
Class Item class.
Store Principal store.
Item Unique identification code of the item.
Client Client code.
Supplier Principal supplier
Date > Information about events after this date
Date < Information about events before this date
Group by Consolidation aspect
Output Device where the information should be send to: e.g. the screen or a particular printer
16 - RPF03 FRONTEND SUPPLIER CHARACTERISTICS
FIELDS
Type Supplier type.
Country Supplier country.
ABC ABC classification on total order amount by year
Supplier Unique identification code of supplier
Status Supplier status.
Currency Supplier currency.
Language Supplier language.
Group by Consolidation aspect
Output Device where the information should be send to: e.g. the screen or a particular printer
17 - RPF04 FRONTEND STOCK DISTRIBUTION DETAILS
FIELDS
Class Item class.
Type Item type.
Store Store.
Item Unique identification code of the item.
Status Item status.
Unit Accounting unit or unit of measure
Group by Consolidation aspect
Output device Device where the information should be send to: e.g. the screen or a particular printer
18 - A SIMPLE SESSION
In the following simple session the use of multidimensional questioning is illustrated by running the same report over and over again, just asking different questions. The reports display the number of items, the number of customer orders and backorders, the service level and value hold in safety stock, for various aspects and arguments.
For examples 1-4 the report is run over all data, but data are consolidated for different aspects, the examples 5 and 6 show sub-selections of the data.
Example 1: The data is consolidated by store.
Example 2: by Product Responsible
Example 3: by Item Class
Example 4: by ABC Classification of Demand Frequency
Example 5: The Product Responsible (HP) runs the report of his item data, consolidated by item class.
Example 5: The report is run for a particular item class and consolidated by item store.
As the examples illustrate, users of multidimensional questioning just choose what columns and rows to display in reports and graphs: a row in one listing easily becomes a column in another listing of the same report.
Users of multidimensional questioning may arrive at way of looking at their business like analytic discovery. Discovery involves flexible displays of information, with which the user manipulates in order to examine the values critical to his focus.
