The Replenishment Parameter Maintenance program allows the buyer to configure the procurement calculations. Based on the selections, the scope of the setting will be indicated in the Scope Listing. For example, a Purchase Line is for a range of items from a particular vendor and its parameters can be defined either at the Purchase Line or Warehouse / PLine level. The desired replenishment scope is selected by entering Warehouse, Vendor, Purchase Line or Item.
When you first run Replenishment Parameter F/M, basic default values for all required fields will be created. For reference, the default values are stored in the XML file meta\ICREPL_defaults.xml.
Required setup involves establishing company-wide settings. Later you can return to setup override values at warehouse, vendor, item, etc., levels, but for now, we need to establish adequate company-level values.
The default values are generally acceptable for most systems, but you should review the following:
Rank, Parameters: These settings determine how FACTS calculates and assigns warehouse/item rank. Refer to the detail replenishment parameter section of this document for specifics on the possible values.
Usage, Usage Months for Seasonal and Non-Seasonal: The default values for these are adequate for most situations. This is where the value for the number of months used to calculate AMU and ADU is derived from.
Safety Stock, Vendor ARP and Transfer ARP Parameters: These determine how safety stock is calculated. Refer to the detail replenishment parameter section of this document for specifics on the possible values.
Lead Time, Receipts Used to Calculate Lead Time: When calculating lead time, more recent receipts are more meaningful than older receipts. This setting instructs FACTS how many receipts to use and how far back to look at the receipts.
New Item Default Lead Time for ARP Vendor/Transfer: This setting determines the default lead time for new items at the vendor “V” level and at the warehouse transfer “T” level. This value I used if the IC Warehouse average lead time field is blank. Users are alerted to set up a default lead time when/if desired, at the scope(s) desired, in Replenishment Parameter Maintenance. When new item entry is made in Warehouse Item F/M, if the ARP is from vendor then the ‘vendor’ default is used, if the ARP is from another warehouse then the ‘transfer’ default is used.
An item’s parameters can be entered and the appropriate scope level is chosen during entry. Depending on the scope selected, a set of parameters can apply to a range of items. For example, an item can be selected by entering its part number, and then the scope can be set to the Purchase Line for the item. All items that are members of the Purchasing Line would then have the settings applied according to the hierarchy. The settings for an item, or other scope level, and their inherited settings can be viewed by scrolling through the parameter options line view. This view displays the category, title, current applied source and the expiration date and memo. The view supplies a quick reference allowing a buyer to update parameter settings and apply a new scope as needed. If the scope is no longer needed and is deleted, or has expired, the next scope level settings will be viewed in the line view.
Note: Some of the information displayed in this program is retrieved from Warehouse/Item F/M (ICF920). If you display a record here in Replenishment Parameter Maintenance that has been updated in Warehouse/Item F/M (ICF920), the system may ask you to save the record in Replenishment Parameter Maintenance even if you have not modified information on the screen. This is because the information has not yet been saved in the Replenishment Parameter Maintenance data tables. Save the record to retain the information displayed. If you select No when navigating away from the record, it will not remove the changes applied to the record from Warehouse/Item F/M (ICF920).
Replenishment Parameter Maintenance organizes the available parameters into categories. By default, all categories are selected. By choosing a specific category in the Category drop box, the display will be limited to only parameters in that category.
The fields for Warehouse, From Whse, Vendor, Purchasing Line and Item are used to control the scope of the parameters entered. To edit or change the scope of a parameter click Change Scope. The scopes that are available for any particular parameter are determined by what is valid for the parameter and by which field (Warehouse, Vendor, etc.) have entered values.
For example, if you entered warehouse 01 in the Warehouse field, the parameters that are allowed to be set at the warehouse level will be able to have the warehouse scope selected. If the warehouse field is blank, none of the parameters will allow the warehouse scope to be selected.
When setting company-level parameters, all of the fields can be left blank. To better explain the relationship between the fields and the scope, consider the an example where warehouse 01 and Item I100 are entered, and we have selected the Safety Stock, Vendor ARP Parameter. The line values displayed are type percentage, and the values 50,50,75,100,125 and 0, and that none of the check boxes under “Scope” are checked. The fact that none of the scope selections are checked indicates that the safety stock parameters displayed are company-level parameters.
Editing the line and clicking the “Scope” button presents the following options:
Company, Warehouse, Item and Warehouse/Item are all available because this parameter allows those scopes and because values have been entered for warehouse and item. If values had been entered for From Warehouse, Vendor and Purchasing Line, additional scope options would be available in the Scope window. Selecting Warehouse for the scope and changing the safety stock parameters creates a new parameter at the warehouse level, leaving the company-level parameters unchanged. Before the record is saved, you will be prompted to verify that you intend to change to a more specific scope.
When the “Show” drop box is set to Summary it tells RPM to display the parameter that would be the effective parameter given the values entered in the fields (in this case warehouse 01 and item I100). Changing the Show drop box to Detail and clearing the Warehouse and Item fields will display all of the parameters entered for safety stock for any level.
Using these techniques, you can enter parameters at any of the available scopes and review all of the parameters that are on file. Deleting parameters at various levels is simply a matter of using the delete line option.
See also
Replenishment Parameter Maintenance procedures
Replenishment variables calculations
Inventory Control replenishment parameters