Assortment Modules 
Assortment Modules
Definition
An assortment module is a group of articles. Examples might include household cleaners or women’s blouses. An assortment can have several assortment modules assigned to it.
Use
There are basically two ways to assign articles to assortments so that they can be managed in distribution centers or stores or for customers:
You would generally create assortment modules to group together articles that have a relatively long life cycle or that are fairly uniform enterprise-wide or that need to be grouped together for a specific purpose (such as a promotion). This method of assigning articles does, of course, still allow you to apply assortment rules.
The following are examples:
Assortments can be determined on the basis of rules if articles are to be assigned on an individual basis rather than via a group of similar articles. This method is most suitable for assortments that have a short life cycle or are extremely diverse or extensive. Assortment modules are created automatically with this method, but they are only used internally by the system.
Article parameters (such as merchandise category, assortment grade, characteristic values and layout) are automatically compared against assortment parameters, enabling article assortments to be formed automatically on the basis of assortment strategies, thus eliminating the need to decide for every new article the assortment to which it should belong.
Assortment modules are more effective in small, restricted assortments than in large, diverse ones. Assortment modules are also not as user-friendly as assortment determination on the basis of rules.
The following applies to creating assortment modules:
Various module categories are available to you, thus ensuring flexible assortment maintenance.
Both individual articles and generic articles (or variants of a generic article) can be entered in the items of a module. When a generic article is entered, all its variants are included in the module, too. If a variant is listed separately in this way, the system checks whether the same variant already exists as part of a generic article in the module. The same procedure applies for structured articles (prepack, set, display) and their components.
Structure
The following assortment module types exist:
Articles are grouped according to freely-definable criteria as standard modules, which can be assigned to any assortments. Standard modules are normally used to define articles that are to be listed on a relatively long-term basis in the same way (for example, brand name goods). When a generic article is included in a module, all its variants are included, too. Individual variants of a generic article can, however, also be listed.
Local modules are a special type of standard module. They are only valid for one assortment and cannot be assigned to any other assortment.
It is possible to avoid listings which would result in unwanted assignments by using exclusion modules. These cancel the listing of the articles contained in them. If an article is contained in an exclusion module item, this means that it will not be listed for the assortments to which the exclusion module is assigned during the validity period.
Articles that are to take part in a promotion can be grouped together in a promotion module. A promotion can be assigned several modules that in turn can be assigned separately to different assortments. This allows a promotion to run at different times in different regions, for example.
Rack jobber modules are modules for which vendors take over the delivery and presentation of articles in stores themselves. A rack jobber module can be assigned to exactly one vendor; conversely, though, a vendor may have several rack jobber modules. An article that is listed in a rack jobber module cannot be listed in any other module. Articles in rack jobber modules are handled separately in POS, so that you can analyze sales and revenue information specific to articles maintained by rack jobbers.
In SD, article lists for value contracts are maintained with the aid of assortment modules. These modules can also be used in assortment functions, just like standard modules.
There is a special transaction in SD for creating these modules (WSV2).
These modules are not created manually; they are always a direct product of article maintenance. One (and only one) profile module is created for each assortment and merchandise category.
Assortment listings determined automatically on the basis of rules are contained in profile modules.
Profile module items are not articles but listing conditions.
These modules are not created manually, but are generated as a byproduct of layout modules assigned to assortments. They reflect the layout, or configuration, of merchandise in a shelf for space management purposes.
First, a layout module is created and articles are assigned to it. Then the layout module is assigned to assortments and sites. Whent the articles within the layout module are then listed, the system automatically generates a shelf module and makes an entry in table WSOH. The new shelf module is then assigned to the assortment.
See also:
Articles: Generic Articles and Variants