Exception Analysis for Assortments and Automatic Article Discontinuation 

Purpose

In addition to discontinuing articles manually, you can have the system analyze data and let you know when it is advisable to discontinue certain article. For example, you can create an exception report that lists articles with very low sales revenue. When the analysis is run, Workflow will send a work item to the person responsible for assortment planning, who can then examine the results and determine whether or not to discontinue the articles. If so, the system will discontinue the articles automatically.

Process Flow

1.       You define an exception analysis in the Retail Information System, specifying that the exception must be run in batch mode.

-         In subsequent processing for the exception, specify that the data is to be transferred to Workflow as a table.

-         Define either article alone, or article and store, as characteristics, and define the key figures you wish to use (for example, sales revenue or articles with zero inventory).

2.       Using transaction AWUW, assign the exception analysis to either of the following standard events for business object MCYA:

-         MaterialDiscontinueCheck (if you defined article alone as a characteristic in step 1)

-         PlantMaterialDiscontinueCheck (if you defined article and store as characteristics in step 1)

Set the event coupling to the exception as active.

3.       Define the organizational data and assign it to Workflow task TS20000656. Then activate the event coupling to the Workflow task.

4.       Execute the exception analysis in batch mode.

5.       The person responsible receives a Workflow message. Based on the exception data, he or she then determines whether or not to proceed with discontinuation. If so, the system will start the article discontinuation automatically.