OTB: Opening Stock
One of the key figures you need to consider when planning open-to-buy is the amount of stock you want to have at the beginning and end of every period. The standard planning types (OTB_VP, OTB_VPOM, OTB_EPOM, OTB_%, OTB_%_VPOM, OTB_%_EPOM) are set up so that you can maintain the closing stock at the end of each month. The closing stock at the end of a month is the same as the opening stock at the beginning of the following month.
You can obtain opening stocks for the start of your planning horizon from the article master records. The opening stocks are then read into the zero column of the planning table at run time. The zero column represents the period of time prior to the start of the planning horizon.
You set opening stock levels in the background. The procedure is the same whether the information structure you are planning is S110 or self-defined. For an explanation, see
PP Sales & Operation Planning: How to Set Opening Stock Levels with Mass Processing
in the corresponding general documentation.
In SAP Retail, a number of special considerations apply:
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If your planning hierarchy does not contain the characteristic "article," the system determines the stock levels of the base merchandise categories for each of the sites at which they are located.
The standard information structure S110, on which the standard planning types are based, does not contain the characteristic "article".
If you are using a planning type based on a self-defined information structure, and this information structure does not contain the characteristic "article," then it must contain the characteristics "merchandise category" and "site," furthermore, the consistent planning method must be defined for it.
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You choose the planning version to which the stock is to be applied.·
You use the Current stock method or a Self- defined method.·
In the case of seasonal merchandise, you carry out this function on the last day of the season. For this purpose, you need to have assigned the merchandise to a season category in the planning hierarchy.The system takes the closing stock level to be the opening stock level of the same season in the following year.
The stock level of merchandise category "bathing costumes" on the last day of the season "summer 97" is the same as its opening stock level on the first day of the season "summer 98."
If the merchandise has no season category, you carry out this function on the last day of the month where the first day of the next month is the start of the planning horizon. Thus, the opening stock of this month is assumed to be the same as the closing stock of the previous month.
If your merchandise is not seasonal, you can still base your planning activities on standard information structure S110 which contains the characteristic "season category." For this purpose a dummy season category 000 ("no season") is included and should be used when you create your planning hierarchy.
The same goes for articles which have no price bands. Use standard price band category 00 ("no price band category) for such articles.