Teradata

You’ve accurately forecasted the correct amount of product you need to meet customer demand. But that’s just the first step. For seasonal merchandise, fashion merchandise, imported merchandise, and promotions, there may be a need to push a bulk quantity of merchandise from a distribution center (DC) or vendor to the desired stores, as intelligently as possible. You must make sure it’s properly distributed or you’ll face out-of-stocks at some locations and excess inventory at others. You have to make sure you’ve allocated merchandise to match demand and create effective inventories store by store.

That’s where the Teradata® Allocation for Demand Chain Management (DCM) module can help. Part of the Teradata Demand Chain Management solution, Allocation uses intelligent forecasting methods to manage pre-allocation, purchase order and demand chain, on-hand allocation.

The Teradata Allocation for DCM solution supports three distinct types of allocations:

This lets you take complete control of the bulk quantities, SKUs and locations associated with the allocation. Use this allocation type for distributing promotional quantities or for special buys of SKUs, normally within limited quantities.

This lets you allocate a bulk quantity per SKU that had been ordered on a bulk purchase order. The bulk purchase order acts as a commitment to the vendor, possibly with lead times of six months or more. A few weeks before receiving the bulk purchase order, you make an allocation of the bulk quantity per SKU. That allows you to consider the most recent historical sales or forecasted demand in your calculations of the optimal quantities for each store.

This lets you allocate a bulk quantity per SKU currently on hand at a distribution center. You can also include in your calculations an allocation of the on-hand at the DC per SKU with recent historical sales or forecasted demand to distribute quantities for each store.

Teradata Allocation for DCM delivers eight robust methods for allocating bulk quantities of products. You can mix methods within a specific allocation type and release SKUs individually or in bulk. We even offer Auto Purchase Order Management that automatically allocates and releases SKUs once you know receipt quantities. In addition, several of the available methods use proprietary forecasting components and seasonal sales models to determine location allocation quantities.

Teradata offers the following allocation methods:

Historic Sales % Split – This method uses historic sales to determine how a product performed at the classification level (including SKU) and timeframe you select. It then distributes the product accurately, store by store.

Forecast Demand % Split – This alternative uses Forecast Demand for each location at the classification level (including SKU) and your timeframe to determine correct quantities for each SKU/location.

Days of Supply – This method makes sure each store is allocated a quantity equal to the Days of Supply you’ve specified.

Volume Store Group – These are used extensively for placing orders or floor lining orders.

Copy Allocation % From Another – Copies SKU with similar allocation requirements.

Suggested Order Quantity – You can use the Auto Replenishment engine to create a suggested order quantity for each SKU within the Allocation solution.

Contribution Code Grid – Based on a pre-defined percentage grid, this method allocates increasing quantities for better-ranked items and decreasing quantities for poorer performers.

Even – This option lets you allocate bulk quantities for a SKU evenly across all your locations.

The Teradata Allocation for DCM module has it all, including the ability to:

• Globally allocate an entire purchase order
• Use Purchase Order Allocation Management to automatically allocate and release SKUs by classification
• Set Min and Max On-Hands by SKU to constrain allocation quantities
• Comment on each store’s allocated quantity before it’s released (especially useful for promotional quantities)
• Allocate at higher levels of the merchandise hierarchy
• Allocate by store groups, location attribute and SKU attribute
• Take advantage of pre, post, revised, and final allocation capabilities
• Support for multi-level pack sizes and rounding rules
• Support for sharing of allocation information from stores through DC to the vendors
• Visible location of allocated quantities and inventory

Teradata’s Allocation for DCM module brings your business a unique blend of benefits that can help you:

• Streamline organizational efficiencies
• Make swift, sound business decisions
• Improve inventory productivity
• Increase the accuracy of your planning processes
• Strengthen service levels
• Respond faster to customer demands
  
  
  

To find out more about how the Teradata Demand Chain Management solution and its Allocation module can help you grow a better, more productive business, contact your Teradata representative.