Vendor Managed Inventory, or VMI, enables users to manage local retailer egg perpetual inventory and facilitate automatic reordering.  Most of the module's functionality is based on the the Scanbase module in CMC, which integrates to Prescient, a third party application that provides store sales aggregates.

Navigation - Orders > Vendor Managed Inventory

VMI Configuration Form

VMI configuration form allows users to specify which customers, locations and items can be managed for each division. In addition, they can specify the minimum perpetual inventory for each item. Then, the configuration information is used to determine when a product's inventory is below the threshold.

VMI Configuration Search Form

This form is used both a search form and the starting point for creating new configuration records

• To create a new configuration, users must enter division, customer, and location

• All parameters are optional for searching

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VMI Configuration Form

Header Fields

To create a new configuration, through the VMI Configuration Search form you can select a division, a customer, and a location then click New. This will open the configuration form itself.

Once in the form, users can enter start and end dates.  These are optional fields, but the pair of dates must be unique for the division/customer/location.  That is, there are can be multiple records with the same start date as well as with the end date, but a specific start and end date must be unique for division/customer/location.  This includes blank dates (null values).

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Detail Fields

Once a new configuration is requested, the VMI process will attempt to find a customer order template that matches the criteria.  If a template is found, the the process will load its list of items to the configuration detail. 

This is the only way to populate this form.  If no template was found, the configuration will have no detail lines and will effectively be unusable. 

The Update From Template button enables users to refresh the configuration if the order templates have changed or a new order template has been created.

1. Line number - Sort order from referenced customer order template
   
   
   

2. Item - Item code for the selected item
   
   
   

3. Item Description - Item description for the selected item
   
   
   

4. Inventory Type - Inventory type for the selected item
   
   
   

5. Unit of Measure - The unit of measure value for the selected item
   
   
   

6. Singles - The number of single eggs for the specified one unit of the target quantity
   
   
   

7. Factor - Order quantities are calculated in multiples of the factor.  If an item requires 14 and the factor is 3, the order can deliver 12 with a overflow of two
   
   
   

8. Mix - Indicates whether overflows for an item can be combined with overflows for other items to compose shippable packages the size of a factor
   
   
   

9. Target - The threshold under which the create order process will attempt to generate an order. 
   
   
   
   

For the Pack to show up correctly, the two highlighted fields from System Settings need to be configured.

Navigate to Master > Administration > System Settings > Customer Order

VMI Import Form

The third party company Prescient sends a CSV file via FTP containing sales units for different products and stores.  This import process loads the file and updates the vendor managed inventory to reflect the sales.

Mapping

Below is the layout of the import CSV file. Only four fields from the CSV that are used to update the vendor inventory.

1. Supplier Store ID = Customer, Customer Location

2. Item Number = Item Code

3. Business Day = Transaction Date

4. Units = Units

 Supplier store ID must map to both the customer and the customer location.  That is, customer and its location must be the same for this process to work.

Open File Button

Select a division, click on the Open File button then select a CSV file to process.  All records will be created for this division.

Process Sales Button

Once a CSV file has been loaded, click on the Process Sales button and the following steps will be performed:

• Validate each record in the CSV file

• Update the VMI ledger for the division/customer/location for each record that passes validation

• Reduce available VMI inventory

VMI Adjustment Form

Users can alter the current inventory through this form.

At any time during after VMI configurations have been created, users can manually adjust  the available vendor managed inventory quantity.

The form updates the value entered in the Units will replace the Ledger Units after saving the changes.  The process creates ledger transaction records with the difference between the values.

As the Units is entered, the system will calculate the Pack and via versa.

The On-Order Units represents to total units for the item from open orders that have not been invoiced.  This number is not affected by the change to the Units. The On-Order Units are reduced when customer orders are cancelled or through the VMI export process.

The Total Units is the sum of the On-Order Units and the ledger Units.

VMI Create Orders Form

Description

VMI configuration establishes required perpetual inventory levels for each store.   The VMI import process reduces a customer's balance and eventually will require  new order requests to relieve the deficits.  

Using the current VMI balance and the configuration minimum units setting, this process determines which stores need deliveries and creates orders for them with the required items to fulfill the target.

The VMI balance is updated when invoices are sent to Prescient, and when customer sales are imported from Prescient.

Calculate Button

Click on the Calculate button and the sales order generator will start identifying customers with perpetual inventory deficits and calculates the quantity to be order for each item.

When determining need for an order, it uses this math.

Target Units - (Current Inventory Balance + Invoices not Sent to Prescient)

Example:

      Target Units = 10

      Current Inventory Balance = 4

      Invoices not Sent to Prescient = 2

      New Order = 10 - (4 + 2 ) = 4

Calculate Mix Products

Order quantities are initially calculated as multiples of the factor, but the process then uses the mix and factor configuration settings to determine if it's possible to package quantities for different items together to make a whole factor.

Since there can be two or more VMI configurations for a customer location, the "effective VMI configuration" is based on the VMI configuration with the shortest date range (most specific) and is within today's date.

. Everything is ordered to fill "Carts" 

. Everything ordered is in "Shelves" 

. How many units fit on a shelf varies by item. 

. When an item is flagged "Mixed" they are able to have shelves shared on a cart to fill an order. 

Examples:

1. If product 0116172 needs 5 shelves and product 0316184 needs 2 shelves because both products are set to Mix = Y, are the same Type (SHELF) and the same Factor (3) then their needs can be combined to determine quantity to order. (All of these three things need to be the same in order to be grouped in a mix.) 
   * The type SHELF is shipped on a metal cart and there are 3 shelves on a cart. This is where the factor 3 comes into play. We also need to only sell full carts. 
   * Product 011672 is 5 shelves which is a 1 and 2/3 carts. 
   * Product 0316184 is 2 shelves or 2/3 of a cart. 
   In the scenario above, what the software needs to order is Product 011672 for 4 shelves and Product 036184 for 2 shelves, this gives us two full carts. This is because the factor of 3, which is interpreted as a single cart (3 shelves = 1 cart) - The mix isn't a "replacement" quantity its that the items can be mixed on the same cart. 
   
   
   

2.  If product 0516184 needs 10 shelves because it has Mix = N then its needs cannot be combined with 0116172 and 0316184. Product 0516184 does have a Factor of 3, so the software needs to order 9 shelves or three full carts. 
   
   
   

3. If product 1513115 needs 2 cases because Factor is 1 and Mix = N then software needs to order 2 cases. 
   
   
   

4. There are three items with the same factor (factor of three). In the column "Need", these are the units needed for each item to reach the target for that item.

   Since we don't want to order fractional units, each item is adjusted up to the whole number as shown in column "Adjust up". This is what we want, ordering more. The issue is the total is 17, which is not divisible by three.

   The next factor value up is 18 but the total is 17 with a difference of one. We need to give the difference to one of the item to make 18. The logic is to give the difference to the item with the highest units to order. In this case it's item #2 which was adjusted to 8. It will get the difference, ending with 9.

   
   
   

   
   
   

Generate Button

Once item quantities have been calculated, click on the Generate button to create customer order for those customers. 

The created customer orders must then travel through the standard logistic and invoice workflow process.

VMI Export Invoices Form

Once these orders have completed their logistics workflow and invoices have been created and registered, users can generate export files that will be sent to Prescient. 

The file will be created in the folder which has the file path being set in the Export Directory, under Customer Order tab in System Settings.

In addition, this process will add the invoiced quantities to the current balance.

The file contains information from invoiced orders with a format and specifications required by Prescient.

To generate the file, users can access the Invoice Export form.  All search criteria are optional.  

The results are orders that have been invoiced and registered but not yet submitted to Prescient.

Export Button

After orders are retrieved, all or some of them can be included in a generated csv file by clicking on Export.  The file name and location are configured with the global setting VMIExportFilePath

Commit/Update

After the file is generated, the process will prompt the user whether or not to commit the exported orders.

Committing orders does two things:

• Update to the VMI ledger for each item with an addition of the order line quantity

• An entry in the table VMIExportLog for the order ID.  Once an order has entry in this table, the Invoice Export will not include it in its retrieve results.

VMI Reports

There are three custom reports available. They are accessible from Orders→Report Wizards menu.