- Allocation Dates are used to determine the starting date from which the goods are available at the warehouse, and the Pick & Pack fulfillment process can start, according to the picking plan defined for each store.
- Calendar Plan represents the picking plan set at the warehouse for each store, and it is used to reveal to the system on which days each store is going to be dispatched in order to automatically select the closest upcoming day to the Allocation Date and determine the lead time and planning horizon period, and dates.
- Lead Times are used to indicate to the system how long it will take for the upcoming shipment to reach its destination, starting from the Allocation Date, and considering both Transit Time and Pick & Pack Time.
- Planning Horizon (days of supply) is the parameter that manages, in days, the target coverage set for each product in each store, and determines the period and dates for which the demand needs to be attended. It starts once the in-transit stock hits the destination or, in other words, once the Lead Time is over.
This timeline is automatically and specifically calculated and built for each store according to its schedule, representing logistic operations as genuinely as possible. Let’s see it with an example, by assuming Store A has the following characteristics:
- Allocation scenario calculation: Monday 1st
- Allocation Date: Monday 8th
- Calendar Plan: dispatched on Wednesdays and Fridays
- Lead Time: 7 days
- Pick & Pack Time: 3 days
- Transit Time: 4 days
- Planning Horizon: 14 days
This is how you should read the picture above: if the Allocation Scenario was launched on Monday (1st) with an Allocation Date on the following Monday (8th), the system would be able to see that Store A doesn't get dispatched in the Warehouse until Wednesday (10th). As a consequence, the pick & pack process would take between Monday (8th) and Wednesday (10th), and the transit time would start on Thursday (11th) and last 4 days until Sunday (14th). The Planning Horizon period would, therefore, cover part of the Product Lifecycle period, from the 15th to the 28th (14 days) exactly.
How would the system use this information?
1º) The Forecast model calculates the demand for the whole allocation timeline.
- Lead time: assuming it is an Initial Allocation and there is no store stock, the stock projection estimation at the end of that period will also be 0. In case there is any stock available at the store, the stock projection calculation will be estimated in the same way as a Replenishment.
- Planning Horizon: an estimation of how many units will be demanded during the 14-day coverage target period (between the 15th and the 28th), plus the safety stock buffer required to meet the service level target (sales threshold).
2º) Once both the projected stock and the target stock quantities are calculated, the system can determine how many units should be allocated:
☝️This is a simplistic approach as no other parameters are taken into account (sales threshold, warehouse stock, visual rules, minimum displays, residual value…).
How can these inputs be configured?
Allocation Date
Each scenario requires setting this date. A single and unique Allocation Date is allowed in each scenario for all products and all stores involved.
- Configuration options
- Manual: the user has to set the Allocation Date in each scenario, being the present day or a future date, never a past date or an earlier date than the latest arrival date of the selected Pending Orders.
- Where to view this data
- First Allocation → View Past Scenarios → Scenario ID → Summary header → Allocation Date
- Where to edit this data
- Scenario launch form → Forecast parameters → Allocation Date
Calendar Plan
Each scenario requires setting this parameter. A single and unique weekly Calendar Plan schedule is allowed in each scenario for all products and all stores involved.
- Configuration options
- Automatic: The Picking Calendar grid is a file that can be included in the Daily Ingestion Process. Your IT team would fill out the template and send it to Nextail updated daily.
- Manual: users can also handle the shipments schedule on their own in the NX platform directly, either through Data Upload files or on-screen edits.
- Where to view this data
- Master Data → Calendar Plan
- Where to edit this data
- If the ingestion is automated, your IT team should be responsible for making all changes to the Calendar Plan before sharing it with Nextail during the Data Ingestion.
- If the ingestion is not automated, the user can make all necessary adjustments:
- In Master Data → Calendar Plan
- In Daily Data → Data Upload → Calendar Plan
- How to ensure your scenario uses a given Calendar Plan to generate the waybills:
- When configuring your scenario, click on “Calendar Plan” and select the required one:
Planning Horizon
Each scenario requires setting this parameter. A single and unique Planning Horizon length is allowed in each scenario for all products and all stores involved (except the Advanced PH feature).
- Configuration options
- Manual: the user has to set the Planning Horizon length, in days, in each scenario.
- Where to view this data
- First Allocation → View Past Scenarios → Planning Horizon
- First Allocation → View Past Scenarios → Scenario ID → Summary header → Planning Horizon
- Master Data → Planning Horizons*
- *Subject to the Advanced PH feature
- First Allocation → View Past Scenarios → Scenario ID → Contextual menu (⁝) → Download RO → Planning Horizon (column E)*
- *Subject to the Advanced PH feature
- Where to edit this data
- Scenario launch form → Forecast parameters → Planning Horizon
- Extra possibilities for setting up. It will be possible to define:
- If the Planning Horizon starts on the last day of the Lead Time (considering that the in-transit stock is immediately displayed on the shop floor the same day as the arrival day to the destination) or the day after. Any of the approaches applies equally for all stores, with no exceptions, so it is recommended to apply the one that represents the vast majority of the network operations.
Transit Times
Each store requires setting this parameter. A single and unique Transit Time is allowed for each store in each warehouse, applying to all shipment schedules for that given store.
- Configuration options
- Automatic: transit times need to be indicated in the Warehouse-Store file, and can only be populated to Nextail through the Data Ingestion Process (no changes will be possible to make in the platform directly).
- Where to view this data
- Out of Nextail: Warehouse-Store Master file
- In Nextail:
- First Allocation → View Past Scenarios → Scenario ID → Contextual menu (⁝) → Download RO → Lead Time (column D)
- First Allocation → View Past Scenarios → Scenario ID → Product reference → Store name → Store details
- Where to edit this data
- Only through the Warehouse-Store Master file
- Extra possibilities for setting up. It will be possible to define:
- If the Transit Time starts on the same day as the Pick & Pack day (considering that the goods are dispatched within the same day) or the day after. Any of the approaches applies equally for all stores, with no exceptions, so it is recommended to apply the one that represents the vast majority of the network operations.
- If weekend days (Saturday and Sunday) account for the Transit Time as passable days, or if they should be excluded from that calculation. Any of the approaches applies equally for all stores and their transport modes, with no exceptions, so it is recommended to apply the one that represents the vast majority of the network operations.
Numerical examples to understand the impact of the “Extra configuration possibilities” for Lead Times, Transit Times, and PH periods
EXAMPLE
- ALLOCATION DATE: Monday, August 12th
- UPCOMING WAREHOUSE PICKING DAY: Wednesday, August 14th
- TRANSIT DAYS: 3
- Start of the Lead Time period:
- Weekends
- Start of the Lead Time period:
- Start of the PH period
