Defining additional inventory rules

You can define additional rules that pertain to the Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation inventory handling functionality.

About this task

To set up additional inventory rules:

Procedure

  1. From the tree in the application rules side panel, choose Inventory Rules. The Inventory Rules window displays in the work area.
  2. Choose the Other Rules tab.
  3. Enter information in the applicable fields. Refer to Table 1 for field value descriptions.
  4. Choose the Save icon.
    Table 1. Other rules tab.

    Other rules field value descriptions

    Field Description
    Inventory Costing Rules
    Inventory Costing Required Select this field if inventory costing is necessary. When inventory costing is used, you must select a Costing Method.
    Costing Method
    FIFO Select this inventory costing method if you calculate inventory costs using a First In First Out (FIFO) algorithm.

    If you select this costing method, you must also specify a Sales Cost Level.

    Average Cost Select this inventory costing method if you calculate inventory costs using an average item cost algorithm. If you select this costing method, you must also specify a Standard Cost Computation Rule.
    Note: Inventory costing based on an Average Cost Computation Rule is not supported in the Promising server.
    Standard Cost Computation Rule If you select Average Cost as the inventory costing method, the Replacement Cost radio button is automatically selected and the Average Cost radio button is disabled.
    Note: The Standard Cost Computation Rule fields are displayed only if you select Average Cost as the inventory costing method.
    Other Rules
    Validate Item During Inventory Adjustment Check this box if you want the item to be validated against the catalog during inventory adjustments.
    Optimize supply on earliest ETA Check this box when preference should be given to supply available earlier, for example ONHAND is given preference to Purchase Order supply.
    Assume FEFO if A 'Ship-By Date' Is Not Provided Check this box to ship all perishable items on a First Expired First Out (FEFO) basis, if the ship date is not provided for the items.

    If you uncheck this box, all perishable items for which the ship date is not provided are not shipped on the FEFO basis.

    Create Demand Details Check this box to enable recording of the inventory demand details whenever a demand is created in Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation. You can view the demand details in the Inventory Console.

    Important: If you have implemented either the EXTERNAL_DEMAND_CHANGE event or the DEMAND_CHANGE event to be raised when inventory changes, then IBM® recommends to check this box.

    Warning: If you check this box, it affects the overall performance of the entire system due to the large amount of data that can be potentially recorded.

    Note: The Create Demand Details functionality is not supported for orders created for an enterprise that has availability maintained externally.

    Synchronize Expiration Date Across Inventory Reservations Based On The Reservation ID Check this box to synchronize the expiration date across inventory reservations based on the reservation identifier.
    Read Availability Across Items Sharing The Same From the drop-down list, select the option used to identify items (for example, GTIN). When selected, the system will read the availability of all items that share the same item identifier for that option.
    Default Reservation Expiration Time (in Hours) Enter the number of hours after which you want the reservation to expire.

    This affects only those reservations for which the expiration date is not specified when creating the reservation.

    Note: If you are using the Promising server, you must set a value in this field in the Order server. The value must be a valid number, and it cannot be zero. The recommended value is 1.
    Skip Inventory Audits For Adjustment Types
    Return Select this field if you want inventory audit logging to be disabled for return adjustment type.
    Receipt Select this field if you want inventory audit logging to be disabled for receipt adjustment type.
    Adjustment Select this field if you want inventory audit logging to be disabled for adjustment type.
    Shipment Select this field if you want inventory audit logging to be disabled for shipment adjustment type.
    Absolute Select this field if you want inventory audit logging to be disabled for absolute adjustment type.
    Backordered Inventory Rules
    Put Inventory On Hold For Sourcing On Backorder From Node Select this field if you want the system to put inventory on hold for sourcing when an item that is released to a node is backordered.

    This functionality is to prevent inventory from being scheduled to nodes that are providing an incorrect inventory picture. When a node is on hold for sourcing it is ignored when scheduling algorithms are run.

    Note: When the Promising server is being used, configure this field in only the Order server.
    Inventory Will Be On Hold For A Minimum Of <number of hours> Hours If you select the Put Inventory On Hold For Sourcing On Backorder From Node option, enter the time (in hours) that nodes are placed on hold for sourcing.
    Note: If the issue that caused the discrepancy in the inventory picture is resolved before this minimum time has passed, the node can be manually released from the sourcing hold through the Application Consoles.
    Note: When the Promising server is being used, configure this field in only the Order server.
    After The Minimum Hold Time, The Node Will Be Eligible For Sourcing From The Next Planned Inventory Synchronization Time Daily Inventory Synchronization Time Enter the time (in your organization's time format) at which daily inventory synchronization occurs. Once the node has been on hold for the minimum hold time, it is made available at the next Daily Inventory Synchronization Time.
    Note: If the issue that caused the discrepancy in the inventory picture is resolved before the Daily Inventory Synchronization Time has been reached, the node can manually be released from sourcing hold through the Application Consoles.
    Use Future Supply For Nodes Where Inventory Is On Hold For Sourcing. Select this option to allow the use of a future supply for nodes where inventory is on hold for sourcing.
    Item Velocity
    Calculate Item Velocity Select this check box if you want to calculate the velocity for an item.
    Calculate Item Velocity Only For Items Being Monitored Select this check box if you want to calculate the velocity only for items that are monitored.
    Consider The Past Number Of Days When Determining Peak Velocity Enter the number of days to calculate the peak velocity. By default, the value is set to 0.