Overview

Assortments are groups of Titles that are combined to easily create replenishments/DFCs or enable clear and effective reporting of individual promotions. This article has the information related to basics of Assortments & their creation.

Information

• Assortments Basics
• Creating the Assortment Header
• Adding Items to the Assortment
• Multiple Item Upload
• Assortment "Explode"

Assortments Basics

With assortments used to influence replenishment there are various fundamental aspects as to what influences this:

• The minimum stock level will ensure that the replenishment will always try and keep this many units in stock, with a maximum stock level capping replenishment at that level. A model stock would be formed (a Vision calculated replenishment target based on sales) in between these two values, allowing the user to not do any manual calculations for replenishment.
• The Assortment is set up to stop replenishing 3 weeks from the end date to allow the stock to run down and not have a lot of trapped stock.

Some general points related to Assortments:

• One item can belong to multiple assortments
• When an item is in more than one assortment it will replenish to the parameters of all the mins / maxs combined.
• Each assortment is turned on and off by control dates. This allows an item to be replenished to a different level over a promotional period without the user having to manually reduce levels at the end of the period.
• If an item does not belong to any assortment it will not be replenished or appear in a DFC.
• Assortments must be “exploded” to ensure that all changes are activated within the system, this happens automatically overnight but to view changes instantly this can be done manually.

Creating the Assortment Header

1. On the sidebar go to Maintenance - Assortments and then Assortment headers.

2. Here you will find all the current assortments. Toggles at the top of the screen, such as retailer, date, stores etc are useful for searching for individual assortments. To create a new assortment, click on the create new button, next to these toggles.

3. Select the Retailer you wish to create the assortment for.

4. Select the start and end date for the assortment. If you are entering the day manually without using the calendar, remember that is entered in the format of Year, then Month and then Day.

5. Enter the Description, this will be visible to many stakeholders and has a 30-character limit, so it is best to follow a clear naming convention that is easily understood by everyone.

6. The Parameter group is set by default to Replenishment, which is what will commonly be used.

7. Enter the default Minimum and Maximums.

8. Leave the Browser Bin unchecked.

9. Select the cluster which has previously been created for this assortment. This will add the stores to the assortment.

10. The Fixture is also specific to the individual assortment. This has no impact other than reporting purposes.

Adding Items to the Assortment

1. Now we have created the header for the assortment we can now add the items. To do this we stay in assortment headers screen and find the one we have just created, and on the drop down on the right select Retailer Items.

2. This will bring up all the items currently in this assortment. To add an item into the assortment, click on Create New

3. Select the assortment you wish to add the item in. You can then add the item by using any of the 4 options provided (by clicking on the Alt Item it will cycle through options) or finding it manually by clicking on the button on the right. The Min, Max and Facing information needs to be added as well.It is important to note that the min and max are totals and are not per facing.

4. Click on Create. Acknowledge the warning message that comes up, and if you are satisfied press OK. This item is now in the assortment. Go back into the assortment retailer item screen by clicking ‘Cancel’ and the item will now be present.

Multiple Item Upload

If you have more that approx. 5 items to add to the assortment it maybe quicker to select the following option:

1. On the sidebar go to Maintenance - Assortments and then Assortment item upload.

2. Select retailer, choose file and upload. Use the display format button to determine the upload file layout. Note: the ID is the individual number given the newly created assortment. This is on the header page to the left of the retailer name.

Assortment "Explode"

Assortments are not active in the system until they are ‘exploded’. This happens automatically overnight, but by following these steps you can view the changes instantly and run any reports etc.:

1. On the sidebar go to Maintenance - Assortments and then Submit Assortment Explode

2. Select the retailer and press submit
3. You will receive an email when this has been actioned. Assortment details will immediately be updated in the system and visible to any reports/data captured.