The following lists the activities to go through to prepare DC1 Inventory Control for usage after it has been installed.
Prerequisites
DC1 Inventory Control (INV) is an add-on module to DC1 Distribution (DIS) and cannot be run without DIS. You should therefore have installed and set up the DIS application first. See Installing and setting up DC1 Distribution for instructions.
Mandatory entries for the different files and tables are described, as well as the order in which the tables and files should be completed. For a more thorough explanation of code usage and the operation of the different maintenance programs, see the Panel help.
What this document contains:
- Installation
- Activation
- Tables/Files
- Basic data
- Establish data in DIS files
- System files
- Application files
Installation
For a description on how to install the system on the iSeries, see the DC1 Technical Implementation Guide available on the Iptor Intranet.
Installation of a new company
For a description on how to generate a new company or how to copy one, see Company generation and the Panel help.
Installation of INV
The setup for an installation of the INV module only is divided into four major phases. They are:
- Activate the INV application in Work with companies.
- Establish mandatory data in DIS and INV tables and files. (See Loading data in the DC1 Distribution base system for a description of the DIS-related tables and files.)
- Run IC initialisation program for system files & Job schedule batch.
- Run IC initialisation program for application data files.
Activation
To perform the activation of the INV application (and possibly the DC1 Supply Plan – ISP – application including DC1 Distribution Requirement Planning) as a separate task is only done if the DC1 software already is installed and a company (or several companies) is already generated.
Note: When generating a company in DC1 for the first time, the applications to be used in the company are also activated. For more information, see Company generation.
Activating DC1 Inventory Control
To activate the INV application in a company that is already installed, do as follows:
- Select the Work with companies menu item.
- Select the company in which INV should be activated and click OK until the Application defn/company maintenance panel is shown.
- On that panel, select the INV application and click OK twice.
- Continue to click OK until you return to the initial panel and then exit the routine.
DC1 Inventory Control is now activated, but you have to restart the company (via the Select company to work with menu item) to be able to continue with the next step.
Activating DC1 Supply Plan
To activate the ISP application in a company that is already installed, do as follows:
Note: The INV application has to be activated.
- Select the Work with companies menu item.
- Select the company in which DC1 Supply Plan should be activated and click OK until the Application defn/company maintenance panel is shown.
- On that panel, select the ISP application and click OK twice.
- Continue to click OK until you return to the initial panel and then exit the routine.
DC1 Supply Plan is now activated, but you have to restart the company (select the Change company to work with menu item) to be able to continue with manually loading data in tables and files. See the applicable related topics.
Tables and files
There are a number of tables and files in INV that need to be initialised before the system can be released for transaction handling in a live environment. Note: For DIS-related fields, see Installing and setting up DC1 Distribution for instructions.
Perform this procedure in the order outlined below.
Basic data
During this phase you manually enter the data required for file initialisation in the INV system. At this point, it is required that you work in the company environment for which you are setting up INV. You must have the correct library list, including the correct file libraries. See the DC1 Implementation Guide available on the Iptor Intranet for more details.
Table/File | To do | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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IC control file | The information in the IC control file creates the foundation for the INV system. You tailor the system to meet your company’s needs by establishing the system values in this file.
As a rule, information in this file should not be changed once you begin generating forecast and demand data. It is therefore important that you define the parameters to be used before completing the fields. Several fields will become protected once data has been generated in the Forecast file. The IC control file consists of the following fields:
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Forecast period file | Access the Forecast period file. The first time you access this file after the installation, no forecast periods exist. To create the forecast periods, click Create forecast periods.
The periods created are determined by the values you have entered in the following fields in the IC control file:
For more details, see About working with forecast periods. |
Establish data in DC1 Distribution files
System files
Run IC initialisation & Job schedule batch
After having manually entered data in the files mentioned above, two different jobs need to be run. These jobs initialise various system files. They are:
- IC initialisation for system files
The initialisation of system files is performed through the Start IC initialisation routine menu item. - Start job schedule batch
To initialise the relevant system files and tables, set System files and Inv control codes both to YES. Set the remaining fields to NO. These fields are described in section Run IC initialisation program (application files).
System files in DC1 Inventory Control
The following tables will be calculated and updated when the initialisation of the system files is performed.
- Work with inventory control codes
- Probability function table
The inventory control code programs contain descriptions of how the system should calculate forecast, EOQ, ROP and SST for different segments of the stock. The following programs will be updated with a default record:
- Work with forecast control codes
- Work with replenishment control codes
- Work with service control codes
- Work with purchase review control codes
The system creates one record in the Default class for each of the four programs above. The record name in each one is *DFT. Initially, these records will control the inventory calculations for all item/warehouse records in the system.
The methods established in these default entries are commonly used. This allows you to start to use the system without creating any new control code records. You can change the values in these records whenever you want, and create new records. See About working with inventory control codes for more details.
Job schedule batch
At this stage you must run the job schedule batch program to initialise the Active forecast period file. See About scheduling periodical jobs for a description of this file.
To start the Job schedule batch program, select the Start job schedule batch menu item and click OK.
This program, in addition to loading the active period file(s), determines which jobs need to be run, and creates records in the Job schedule file. Running the Job schedule batch is an important function in the system. See About scheduling periodical jobs.
At this stage the system is set up for basic usage. However, there are a number of files that should be initialised in most real live installations. These files contain item information and demand history. Section Establish data in DC1 Distribution files describes how to initialise these files using information from other DIS files.
Note: If data in the DIS files is being converted from another system, the IC initialisation program can still be used to initialise INV.
Application files
Run IC initialisation program (application files)
In this phase, the system optionally loads some of the application database files used by the INV module from other DIS files. This is accomplished through the IC initialisation program. This program loads user files containing application data. However, it is not mandatory to initialise the user files through this routine. You can initialise them manually or write separate conversion routines from another system.
Initialising the files through this routine allows you to save time by automatically establishing data in files that would otherwise be time consuming to set up manually or convert from another system. The following two application files can be initialised through this routine:
- Item file/Inventory management file
- Forecast file
Through the IC initialisation program, you can install INV for all the warehouses in your system, or you can choose to install INV for certain warehouses only. For the warehouses you have not selected, there will be no inventory management data created. That is, you will never get replenishment suggestion information for the items in these warehouses. If you select certain warehouses, the system will load the Item file/Inventory management file and the Forecast file with records only from those warehouses you have selected. To select certain warehouses, complete the Warehouse fields.
Read the following steps for instructions on initialising the files here:
Default value for the Item file
If you use the IC initialisation routine to create records in the Item file/Inventory management file, then the system needs to know what values to assign to the new records. This is achieved by creating a default record for the Item file/Inventory management file defaults in the DC1 Distribution item file templates and defaults routines.
Menu item/Panel | To do |
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Work with item templates | Create a new template only containing the Warehouse information program. Click Maintain defaults (F8). |
Item default maintenance | Select Warehouse information and create a new default. (The panels are INVD0351 through INVD0353.) Note: You access several panels before the Inventory management panels. You do not have to define any values on those panels. |
Inventory management | It is recommended that you assign default values to all required fields. On the first Inventory management panel (INVD0351), these include:
On the fourth Inventory management panel (INVD0353), enter the value *DFT in the following fields:
For a description of these fields, see the Panel help. |
Item file/Inventory management file
In INV, inventory management information is kept at the item/warehouse level in the Item file/Inventory management file. You can create the records in this file through the IC initialisation program. It is also possible to create these records manually, using the Item maintenance program in DIS.
If you choose to automatically initialise the Item file/Inventory management file through this routine, the system creates a new record in the Item file/Inventory management file (SROIMI) for each item/warehouse combination in DIS’ Warehouse file (SROSRO).
Note: For records in the Warehouse file that have been inactivated, a record is created in the Item file/Inventory management file with inactive status.
To initialise the Item file/Inventory management file, complete the following steps:
- Once you have created a default record, you can access the IC initialisation routine, and set the Item file field to YES.
- Then, enter the default id of the newly created Item file/Inventory management default in the Default field.
- Finally, if there are existing records in the Item file/Inventory management file when you run the IC initialisation routine, you must decide if you want to overwrite them or add to them. Setting Replace existing to YES or NO achieves this.
Forecast file
The Forecast file contains the historical demand and forecast data plus all the future period forecasts. In order to initialise this file, Work with sales orders must already have been initialised. See section Establish data in DC1 Distribution files.
To initialise the Forecast file, set Forecast file to YES. The following processing takes place:
- When the IC initialisation routine is started, the system checks the Forecast file for the existence of records. If records already exist in the Forecast file on selected warehouses (that is, if records have been transferred from the Sales order cycle), you will not be permitted to proceed with the Forecast file initialisation. Contact your System Administrator for help.
- If the initialisation can proceed, the Forecast file is loaded with period records for each item/warehouse combination in the Warehouse file.
- Period records for each forecast period are created in the Forecast file for each item/warehouse combination. The file is initialised from the oldest valid forecast period in the Active forecast period file up to and including the present forecast period, but not for any future periods.
- When the Forecast file is loaded, the Invoice statistics file and the Sales order file in DIS are read. All demand values from those files are updated in Demand in the Forecast file. The values are updated in the correct forecast periods based on the requested dates on the invoice/order lines. Forecast is also updated with demand. Before updating demand, the system checks the sales order types on the Invoice statistic lines and the Open sales order lines against the order types in the Sales order type extension table to see which order types should update demand, and uses only those demand values.
- Number of movements is also updated when the Forecast file is loaded. Every invoice line/order line is counted as one movement.
- Credit orders are accounted for, and will decrease the Demand and No of movements fields in the Forecast file.
Production demand
The Production demand selection is only valid if application DC1 Manufacturing is active. The purpose of the initialisation of the Production demand file is to be able to consider production demand in relation to volume and movability.
To initialise the Production demand, set Production demand to YES. The following process takes place:
- When the IC initialisation routine is started, the system checks the Production demand file for the existence of records. If records already exist in the Production demand file on selected warehouses (that is, if records have been transferred from the Sales order cycle), you will not be permitted to proceed with the initialisation of the Forecast file. Contact your technician for help.
- If the initialisation can proceed, the Production demand file is loaded with period records for each item/warehouse combination in the Warehouse file.
- Period records for each forecast period are created in the Production demand file for each item/warehouse combination. The file is initialised from the oldest valid forecast period in the Active forecast period file up to and including the present forecast period, but not for any future periods.
- When the Production demand file is loaded, the Work order structure component file in the data from Manufacturing order Bill of material is read. All demand values from this file are updated in the Demand field in the Production demand file. The values are updated in the correct forecast periods based on the requested dates on the structure component lines. The Number of movements field is also updated when the Production demand file is loaded. Every structure component line/order is counted as one movement.
After completing these phases the INV system is set up and ready for use.
Related topics
- About DC1 Inventory Control
- About scheduling periodical jobs
- About supply planning
- About working with forecast periods
- About working with inventory control codes
- Company generation
- Installing and setting up DC1 Distribution
- Loading data in the DC1 Distribution base system
- Setting up rounding rules for pack size and/or pallets
- Setting up suggestion blocks