Inventory Analysis Features

With the Inventory Analysis app, you can spontaneously generate scenarios for inventory-related changes to input demand, supply, and policy variables.

The Inventory Analysis app allows you to uncover the impact of certain scenarios, compared either to the baseline planning scenario or other scenarios, learn which inventory input variables have an impact on inventory plans, and determine sensitivity of input variables to baseline planning outputs.​

You can use this app to do the following:

• Create, edit, and view inventory analyses (scenarios), using an interface specifically targeting inventory optimization data
• Edit input key figure data across a time series
• Run inventory operators for scenarios
• View output key figure data for inventory optimization data
• Compare results between scenarios

• Desktop
• Tablet

Drivers are internal or external factors such as business risks, opportunities, assumptions, or other events that can influence your organization’s supply chain plan in a positive or negative way. Making these drivers transparent can help you understand how they could influence the direction of your supply chain plan and prepare to change direction if needed. To do this, planners capture these drivers during a planning cycle for their business unit, like the marketing, demand, or supply department. At the end of the planning cycle, the various drivers are consolidated and analyzed in a review meeting with stakeholders from the different business units. It is then decided which of the drivers are relevant and need to be considered in the supply chain plan. Identifying these drivers can help your organization to react to their possible effects and adjust your supply chain plan if needed.

Driver-based planning supports you in capturing business drivers such as risks or opportunities. You can capture qualitative and quantitative information for them by evaluating their likely effects and expressing those effects in key figure values for multiple planning levels. You can also consider the drivers in your supply chain plan.

The slide presents three graphs on a Dashboard to analyze the drivers of the safety stock inventory:

1. Days of Coverage - Recommended Safety Stock by Product Sales

   This is a line graph where you can identify the Safety Stock in days of the components and the finished goods.

2. Days of Coverage - Target on Hand Stock by Product Series

   This is a line chart where you can identify the Target stock on hand weeks of the components and the finished goods.

3. Recommended Safety Stock Drivers (Eaches)

   This is a bar chart with mark lines presenting the recommended stock compared to the stock drivers e.g. Demand Variability, Supply Variability, and Service Variability.

When you launch the Inventory Analysis app, the Inventory Analyses list displays, which lists the analyses you have access to view.

You can filter the list of analyses, select analyses to delete, or select and view an analysis. You can also view the application logs associated with successful and failed scenario runs.

Viewing an Analysis

To view an analysis, you select the analysis. What view displays depends on the status of the analysis, as follows:

• Created

  Opens to the input view, where you can modify display filters, the analysis definition, and the inputs for your analysis.

• Modified

  Opens to the input view, where you can modify display filters, the analysis definition, and the inputs for your analysis.

• Completed

  Opens to the output view, where you can view your successfully completed analysis, filter your results, or return to the input editor.

• Failed

  Opens to the input view, where you can modify display filters, the analysis definition, and the inputs for your analysis.

  Note

  If you select an analysis with the status In Progress, you receive a message that you cannot navigate to the selected analysis. The analysis must complete or fail before you can view it.

  Creating an Inventory Analysis

  Prerequisites

  To create an inventory analysis, you must use inventory-optimization compatible planning areas, such as ones based on the SAPIBP1 planning area. You must also have inventory optimization planning profiles configured for your planning areas.

  Context

  Creating an analysis allows you to choose the analysis type, the operator you want to run, and the inputs and outputs pertaining to the analysis type.

  Procedure

  1. In the Inventory Analyses list view, select Create.

     The New Analysis view opens.

  2. Enter a name for the analysis.
  3. Select a planning area.
  4. Add an optional description.
  5. If needed, choose a version.
  6. Choose an analysis type. The analysis type controls which inputs and outputs are suggested for your analysis:
     • Demand
     • Transportation
     • Production
     • Inventory policy
  7. From the Planning Operator field, choose an inventory planning profile to use.
  8. From the Function field, select a function, which is the inventory operator you want to run, one of the following: Global (multi-stage) inventory optimization (default)
  9. From the Planning Units selector, choose the sub-network you want to run the analysis on. The sub-networks available to you are listed. You can choose all sub-networks available to you, which is the default, but the analysis takes longer to load and run the more sub-networks you select.
  10. From the Attributes Filter selector, you can choose attribute filters that are used to filter the information displayed in the input and output views. You can select or modify attribute filters later, as well.
  11. The Input Key Figures list is populated with the input key figures that pertain to the analysis you selected. They are all selected by default. You can chose to deselect any key figures you do not want to view or edit in the analysis.
  12. The Display Attributes list is populated with the master data type attributes that reflect the lowest granularity for the attribute type. For example, if you select Production, the lowest granularity is product-location-source. You can add or remove attributes.
      • a. To remove an attribute, select the attribute and select Remove.
      • b. To add an attribute, select Add, choose the attributes you want to add, and then choose the Select button.
  13. The Output Key Figures list is populated with the output key figures most relevant to the type of analysis and to the operator function you've selected. You can add and remove key figures.
      • To remove a key figure, select the key figure and select Remove.
      • To add a key figure, select Add, choose the key figures you want to add, and then choose the Select button.

      All of the attributes available in the planning are listed, but only certain attributes are used by certain operators and analysis areas. We recommend not adding attributes unless you are familiar with the inputs and outputs of the inventory optimization operators.

      All of the key figures available in the planning are listed, but only certain key figures are used by certain operators and analysis areas. We recommend not adding key figures unless you are familiar with the inputs and outputs of the inventory optimization operators.

  14. Using the Time Periods selector, select the time period to use for the analysis. The current technical week is chosen by default when you open the selector.
  15. From the Target UoM field, choose a unit of measure.
  16. From the Target Currency field, choose a currency.
  17. Select Create.

  Results

  The app creates the analysis and opens the input view, where you can edit your analysis before running it.

  Editing and Running an Inventory Analysis

  Once you have created an inventory analysis, you can edit the inputs of your analysis scenario, adjust filters, and refine the analysis scenario, and then run the scenario.

  After you create an analysis, and whenever you select a created, modified, or failed scenario in the Inventory Analyses list, the analysis edit view opens.

  In the Analysis Inputs table, you can edit the input values for your analysis scenario. The original version values are also listed, but values in those cells can not be edited. When you input a value, the edited value is highlighted until you save the scenario. To save the edits to your analysis scenario, select Save.

  Note

  If you select the Refresh button before saving the edits to the inputs, those edits are lost. Edits are also lost if you select Cancel before saving. Running a scenario automatically saves the scenario.

  Using the Side Panel

  The side panel contains four tabs. You may need to select the More drop-down menu to see all the tabs. The tabs are as follows:

  Display Filters

  Allows you to add attribute filters, adjust the time period, and select a different unit of measure or currency.

  Definition

  Allows you to edit which input key figures and display attributes are used in the analysis.

  Operator

  Lists which planning operator function the analysis uses and allows you to change the planning units (sub-networks) and attribute filters you selected when creating the analysis.

  Information

  Lists information about the analysis, such as who created the analysis and when.

  If you make changes in the side panel, select Refresh to update the Analysis Inputs table. Make sure you have saved any inputs you've edited before refreshing the table.

  Editing the Name and Description of the Analysis

  To edit the name and description of the analysis:

  1. Select Edit Header.

  2. Make the changes you want to the name and description.

  3. Select Confirm.

  Running a Scenario

  To run a scenario:

  1. Choose Run Scenario.

  2. Select Confirm.

  The app saves the scenario, then returns you to the Inventory Analyses list. The app lists the status for your analysis as In Progress while it is running. Once the analysis runs, the status changes to either Completed or Failed.

  Viewing Inventory Analysis Outputs

  Once you've successfully run an analysis scenario, you can navigate to the output view and compare the results of your analysis with the original version.

  To navigate to the output view, from the Inventory Analyses list, select an analysis with a Completed status. The output view displays the results of your analysis scenario run.

  The output view consists of two sections:

  1. Summary

  This section lists summary results for the output key figures. There are two sections, Global and Filtered. Global is a summary of all the values for the key figures, while Filtered has been filtered based on the display filters you chose. In both sections, there are columns that list the values in the original scenario and the outputs based on your analysis scenario. The delta and percent deviation between these two values is listed. In general, negative values are preferred, as they reflect a reduction in inventory.

  2. Output View table

  This table lists the values of the key figures for each product and location in the analysis you ran, filtered by your display filters.

  By default, the side panel is hidden, but you can select Show Side Panel to display the side panel and its filters. If you make any changes to the filters, you can update the information displayed by selecting Apply. The Filtered portion of the Summary section updates based on the filters.

  Note

  The Apply button reloads the data, based on your side panel selections. It does not run the scenario again.
  Returning to the Input Editor

  If you would like to return to the input view to edit inputs, and run the analysis scenario again, select Input Editor. When you switch to the input view, any filters you changed in the output view persist, so the inputs you view are based on those selections. You can return to the output view without making changes to the inputs, by selecting Output View.

  Note

  If you edit a value in the input view, don't save the analysis, and return to the output view, the edits you made are lost. If you save your input edits, you can still return to the output view, but the edited values are not reflected in the output until you run the scenario again.