Dear all,

I am an MM consutlant and i am new to IS retail. I would like to ask what are the main differences and key aspects between the MM module i know and the challenges with IS-Retail.

I know that the material is an article in Retail and the Plant is a Site, nut apart from that the whole logic is different.

I would appreciate your help.

BR

There’s a danger when one writes about a topic that everyone ‘knows’ yet each experiences in a unique way.  In my case, it’s the influential shopping experience.  Get it right and you can see your stores boom, mess it up and you can doom a brand. The shopping experience is based on all the interactions with the brand and its representatives – from assortments to associates, stores, websites, and call center.  And today the options are limitless as connected consumers shop and share whenever, wherever, and however they wish.  Yet, retailers and consumer product companies consider the shopping experience a cornerstone in building a happy and loyal customer base.

The eminent behavioral economist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics Daniel Kahneman speaks of the riddle of experience versus memory in understanding happiness.  Without too much effort we may extend this to the notion of happy and loyal customers.  Research indicates that there are two types of ‘selves’: an experiencing self and a remembering self.  The former deals with the present, while the remembering self keeps score and acts as storyteller and decision-maker.  So if a story ends with pain at its peak, then this ending dominates the overall experience leaving a bad memory.  Leading Kahneman to conclude “our memory tells us stories, it is what we get to keep from our experiences is a story… we think of our future as anticipated memories” (see his TED talk).

So how might this help a retail or consumer product company deliver on the promise of increased customer loyalty?  I see three key areas:

1.  Each interaction between the brand and the customer is important as each offers a part of the overall shopping experience puzzle.

Each one sets the stage for the next interaction.  A poor interaction will sour the remembering self and a good one will keep the happiness factor alive.  These interactions go beyond the obvious ones in a retail store, on a website, or the store app.  These also include the store layout, signage and visual merchandising, the aroma from the bakery in a grocery store or the cafeteria in a big box retailer, the colors of the uniform, the smiles on the associates, the speed and flow of a website, the ease of use of the app, and so on. 

2.  Value is more than just price or products or technology

Shoppers subjectively determine what that means and incorporate the retailers’ brand promise in consideration.  If I am looking for a good deal, then once I make a purchase I want affirmation that it was the right decision.  If a retailer is pushing a lowest price brand promise, a customer will accept basic customer service but not compromise on price expectations.  As a retailer, if my brand promise includes unusual assortment and unique sourcing, then my customers would not want to see everyone in their neighborhood wearing or using the same item. 

3.The shopping experience journey must end on a high note.

Not only does a retailer have to prove its mettle each and every interaction - as that is the last interaction the customer experiences along their shopping journey, but also the shopping experience journey must end on a high note. That’s what will energize the overall experience in the mind of the shopper. 

Understanding the above is the starting point in shaping a better shopping experience.  Today retailers have to put these in the context of the shifts taking place in their customer base – from the rise of the Millennials to the global consumer adoption of mobile technology and the connecting power of social media. 

They need to ask themselves increasingly relevant questions around connecting, understanding, and analyzing their customers and their new shopping behavior.  How can technology help retailers untether their business and help store associates deliver against the rising expectations of empowered customers? How do retailers begin to build an organization optimized for these new retail realities and be poised to deliver superior financial performance? 

You will find answers to these and other questions at the upcoming SAPPHIRE NOW 2013 and ASUG Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida.  I’m really excited that this year we will be featuring a new addition to the already superb program – The Forums at SAPPHIRE NOW.  The Retail and Consumer Products Forum represents must see content for retail and consumer products companies where the shopping experience will play center stage.  Our Forum will be held on Thursday May 16^th and I am looking forward to delivering that Forum’s keynote with my SAP colleague EJ Kenney and listening to rich perspectives from our SAP customers.  This will be a packed day of practical discussions and expert tables covering the most pressing and strategic issues for retail and consumer product companies.

To experience this year’s SAPPHIRE and the Retail and Consumer Products Forum - and of course network with your peers, register today for the best technology conference of the year.

I look forward to continuing the conversation with you in Orlando!

Follow me on Twitter @LoriMitchellKel

I'm writing this as a follow-up to the webinar I presented to SAP Mentors on April 17.  A lot of people wanted to understand "what happened" to JC Penney.  How did something that seemed so right go so wrong?  Here's my analysis (as published on www.rsrresearch.com).

As we bid a last farewell to Ron Johnson at JCP (or Penney, or whatever new name comes along) it’s worthy to take a look back at his sixteen month tenure.  Most industry observers were excited to see him come on board.  In my own case, it wasn’t because he’d ‘rocked it’ at the Apple stores.  That phenomenon is a singularity, and I’m not sure it’s a replicable model – especially in the moderate-priced department store space.  I was most excited about getting a fresh set of eyes looking at a model that has struck me as dated, tired and generally very hard to shop. 

I don’t think of Kohl’s as a department store.  That company seems more like a hybrid between a mass merchant and a category killer than a traditional full-line department store.   I do include Sears in the category, and we know how well that chain is doing. In fact, let’s give Terry Lundgren his props here – he has found a way to keep Macy’s growing and relevant.  I’m not his core customer anymore – I think he’s far more interested in Millennials than me – but the results do speak for themselves.

In any case I, like many of my peers, anticipated something new.  Something different.  Something interesting.  And to be fair, I know several women who have shopped at the “new” JCP.  They found great products at reasonable prices.  I will say that the small sampling of men I’ve spoken to were not nearly as enthused, but I’m also not sure how much influence Mr. Johnson really had over the product in the store.  After all, overall time-to-volume tends to be between 12-18 months in our industry. And the Martha Stewart home product, while ready, still sits in distribution centers awaiting judicial dispensation.

I think we’ve heard the obvious: Shifting a customer base is a delicate exercise.  You don’t want to scare all the existing customers away before you’ve had time to attract the new ones.  Last year’s precipitous revenue drop was far beyond anyone’s expectations. That’s an area where Lundgren’s leadership at Macy’s has been superb.  He gradually alienates shoppers like me as he gradually attracts a new customer.  Changing a pricing strategy is another delicate dance.  The new strategy has to be very carefully spelled out.  On this score, JCP gets an #Epicfail. I love Ellen Degeneres, but the scripts in her ads were funny, but otherwise completely unclear.  Redesigning more than 1100 stores without closing them and keeping the store looking fresh at the same time is no easy feat.  That never got too far, but in fact, it was underway before Mr. Johnson’s tenure began (the Sephora store-within-a-store and Mango).

So we had three delicate things going on, all handled somewhat…indelicately.  As things started going downhill and mass layoffs and firings continued I started scratching my head.  Whenever he made public statements about all his ongoing initiatives (including a decision to replace most of the company’s systems) he always talked about freeing up capital. The decision to replace the systems was not a bad one – certainly a better solution that what has been described to me as JCP’s current “hodge-podge of customized products and home-grown solutions.” The timing just seemed…off.  A company can only manage so many initiatives at a time.  This was getting whacky.

And so I started following the money and digging into the company’s 2011 financial statements. It turns out that the company wasn’t exactly cash-rich going in. It had $1.5 billion of cash in hand, but had only thrown off $23 million in 2011 to add to that number. Money had been used to buy the full rights to the Liz Claiborne line and also for share re-purchases.  Inventory was valued at $2.9 billion to support sales of roughly $17 billion. In that context, the $1.5 billion in cash seems a bit tight.  More alarming is this statement from the company’s 10K:  “On January 27, 2012, we converted our existing credit facility into an asset-based revolving credit facility and to further enhance our liquidity, on February 10, 2012, we increased the size of our revolving credit facility to $1,500 million.”

Asset-based credit lines are a double-edged sword.  Used properly, they help even out cash flows for companies that have to pay for product before it sells (like holiday goods, for example). A full explanation of these lines are both beyond the scope of this document and beyond my ability to articulate, in any case.  In short strokes, you can borrow up to a given percent of your current inventory value.  However, the lender creates all kinds of “carve-outs” that eliminate certain categories of inventory from the available borrowing pool and those carve-outs can be increased if the lender perceives that inventory is going to age as a result of diminished sales.  Remember Circuit City?  That’s how it was thrown into bankruptcy.  Its lender decided its holiday sales were going to be less than anticipated and so it increased the anticipated aged inventory carve-out. Overnight, the company became insolvent and was thrown into Chapter 11. And who is going to buy durable goods from a company that’s in Chapter 11?  Not too many. Goodbye Circuit City.

The other point of note here is that most companies use asset-based lines to buy product.  That’s the sure ROI – you know it’s likely to sell.  But early in 2013 Mr. Johnson announced that despite the precipitous drop in sales last year (I think the number is roughly -28%) the remodels would go forward funded by the asset-based line.  Now THAT’s scary. It’s also a bad idea.  It’s sort of like using your credit card to buy a car.  The net?  We know capital was an issue from the get-go, and only made worse by the far worse than expected sales drop in 2012.

No analysis of failure is complete without also following the egos. Mr. Johnson’s biggest backer was William Ackman of Pershing Capital, a large shareholder in JCP stock and a board member.  Vanity Fair produced a pretty stunning article on Mr. Ackman at the end of February.  Witness this quote from the article, attributed to Chapman Capital’s Robert Chapman: “If he jumped off a building in pursuit of super-human powered flight but then slammed to the ground, I’m pretty sure he’d blame the unanticipated and unfair force of gravity.”  And Ron Johnson was Mr. Ackman’s guy.  He may have given him far too much latitude for far too long. (A late note:  When Mr. Ackman finally threw Mr. Johnson under the bus, he revealed that Mr. Johnson and his newly minted trusted advisors never moved to Dallas.  They ran the company from Palo Alto, CA.  Can you imagine laying off a third of the workforce, eliminating commissions, and changing almost everything about a business and not hanging around to re-shape the culture?  I can't.)

And so Mr. Johnson exits and Mr. Myron (Mike) Ullman returns. When asked why I thought the company had picked him I replied (somewhat in jest), “Dinosaur riders are hard to find.”  In other words, not too many people could really run a department store the size of JCP, and frankly, given its current situation, not too many who could, would. The cash position remains problematic. The customer remains confused.  As one friend said to me “I expect they’ll be putting lovely house coats back in the women’s department now.”  Mr. Ullman will have to act decisively and fast.  He also has the luxury of being able to say “I told you so” – as from the beginning he counseled that this was Mr. Johnson’s first stint as CEO, and that’s a pretty tough job.  He was right. I was wrong.  #epicfail.  There are those who don’t blame Mr. Johnson, or say that he just didn’t have enough time. Me, I think there was too much ego, not enough cash, and really, really bad execution.

And that’s my requiem for retail’s most recent heavyweight.

Postscript:  On the evening of April 11, 2013 the Wall Street Journal announced that JCP was seeking a cash infusion of $1 billion. It is reaching out to Private Equity Firms.  I suspect those carve-outs on that asset based line just got a LOT bigger. Requiem indeed.

Hi All

Business is having a requirement to forecast values considering the

particular day of previous weeks.

When we set the Forecasting parameters, and run MP30 system considers

the periods just passed.

If we set a historical period of 10, system will consider the latest

past 10 days and suggest forecast values.

But our requiremt is to consider the particular day of previuos weeks.

For eg, if we set historical period to be considered as 10 and forecast

period of 5, and is sytem is proposing a value for a monday, system

should consider previous 10 monday consumption and then apply the model

formula and propose a quantity.

Please suggest,Thanx in advance.

Hi All

Business has a requirement to generate purchase orders/requsitions of
the exact quantity forcasted by the system while replenishment planning
(WRP1).

For now the system considers the current stock, the expected goods
receipts and issues.

But our requirement is to neglect the current stock,expected receipts
and issues and raise a requisition of the quantity forecasted by the
system on a particular date.

We kept a "RF" as RP type, Constant model,Daily period Indicator,2 as
lead time,took 10 historical values and forecast period of 5.

After this we run MP30, to run forecast and the system suggets values
for the next 5 days.

Now system was having stock of that particular article.

On run of replenishment planning(wrp1) for two days from present,
system is suggesting 0 quantity, as it is considering current stock.

But the current scenario demands to neglect the current stock.That is
because food articles are having one day as expiry.

Each and everyday the stock is been scrapped.So the quantity comes down
to 0.So we want to raise order/requisition for quantity proposed by the
system for a particular day.

On run of forecast system will suggest a quantity for days after the
lead time.Scrapping of the article in between these days wont make a
difference as the quantity is already raised.

We also require the system to consider only proposed quantity ata RP
type level.For aprticular RP type only the system should behave the way
mentioned above.

Please suggest.Thanx in advance.

Hi All

Business has a requirement to generate purchase orders/requsitions of
the exact quantity forcasted by the system while replenishment planning
(WRP1).

For now the system considers the current stock, the expected goods
receipts and issues.

But our requirement is to neglect the current stock,expected receipts
and issues and raise a requisition of the quantity forecasted by the
system on a particular date.

We kept a "RF" as RP type, Constant model,Daily period Indicator,2 as
lead time,took 10 historical values and forecast period of 5.

After this we run MP30, to run forecast and the system suggets values
for the next 5 days.

Now system was having stock of that particular article.

On run of replenishment planning(wrp1) for two days from present,
system is suggesting 0 quantity, as it is considering current stock.

But the current scenario demands to neglect the current stock.That is
because food articles are having one day as expiry.

Each and everyday the stock is been scrapped.So the quantity comes down
to 0.So we want to raise order/requisition for quantity proposed by the
system for a particular day.

On run of forecast system will suggest a quantity for days after the
lead time.Scrapping of the article in between these days wont make a
difference as the quantity is already raised.

We also require the system to consider only proposed quantity ata RP
type level.For aprticular RP type only the system should behave the way
mentioned above.

Hi Guys,

I need a clarification with the Two-Step Pricing.

Theoratically I understand the concept but when it comes to numbers I get confused. The following is the scenario.

DC orders to Vendor and the article is bought for $12.00 each, vendor gives $2.00 discount on each piece. DC adds $1.00 towards expenses and final cost comes to $11.50. It 'sells' or transfers the article to DCs with 20% margin so the Sales Price at DC is calculated as $13.80

At DC
PB00 - $12.00
ZDIS -  $1.50(-)
Net Total - $10.50
ZTRC - $1.00+ (Holding expenses)
Final Price - $11.50 (sent to EKNN in Sales Price Calculation)

Sales Price at DC level
EKNN - $11.50
AUFS - $2.30
Sales Price- $13.80

Now in the 2 Step pricing what is the starting point? Is the PB00 taken as $12.00 or the Sales Price in DC $13.80 is taken as basic purchase price?

At Store
Vendor is DC
PB00 -  $12.00 OR $13.80

ZTS - $1.00 (Transportation Cost)

Final Purch Price - $13.00 OR $14.80

Sales Price at Store

EKNN - $13.00 or $14.80

AUFS - $6.5 or $7.40 (50% Mark up)

Sales Price - $19.50 OR $22.20

If the PB00 at Store is to be taken as $13.80 (Sales price at DC) what is the setting to be done?

Regards,

Karthik

Hi experts,

I have the following problem:

I need to use User exit WVFI0002 and its component EXIT_SAPLWVFI_002 in order to make custom modifications for sapscript YB_INVENT. The printing program is RM07IDRU. The problems stems from the fact that this is not a standard use case of an user exit - it is triggered based upon whether there is a custom IDoc segment in the inbound processing. What SAP Help says (and I find very insufficient) is

First of all, how the system recognizes customer-specific segments - does it look for Z* ?

I made some research and found that segment type E1WXX01 for message type WVINVE is the thing the system apparently evaluates and I tried to edit it in order to add my custom Z fields. However, I get the error Name range violation : Name E1WXX01 not permitted in CUSTOMER system. From this point on I started to make Z-versions of the things: custom segment ZE1WXX01, custom basic type ZWVINVE02 containing the segment and assigned to WVINVE in t-code WE82. Also, I have extended WVINVE with the Z-type and assigned the inbound process code for this message type (WVIN) with a custom message type - ZWINVE.

None of the above managed to trigger the user exit ! My test is: t-code WI03, enter an existing document and then - print. Also, in t-code WE05 there are no IDocs after the test.

This is an ECC system, MM module, release 700.

Can anyone provide help about how to approach this problem ? <removed by moderator>

Regards,

Message was edited by: Jürgen L

This is the second blog post in the “Road to SAPPHIRE” series chronicling the SAP Retail team’s efforts before, during, and after the SAPPHIRE 2013 conference.  Click here to read other posts in the series as well as additional writings by Michael Schulze.

People in the restaurant business have a term for what goes on behind-the-scenes in their kitchens any given night:

Choreographed chaos.

It’s not meant to be a negative term, but it does describe what goes on when you have dozens of specialists working as fast as they can in an enclosed space to create made-to-order dishes that delight customers.

According to Colin Haig, SAP Program Principal for Retail Solutions, there’s a little choreographed chaos going on as our retail marketing teams gear up for SAPPHIRE NOW in Orlando, FL.

“There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes,” he said.  “There are hundreds, if not thousands of hours we put in to make this happen.” 

Colin is working with a fantastic team under the leadership of Michelle Schooff from Global Marketing to provide our customers with engaging content that’s immediately relevant to their business objectives.  This year, they’re pushing the envelope like never before by presenting our retail and consumer products offerings together under one roof.

“It’s not a marketing effort so much as an intellectual exercise to come up with relevant information regarding trends and issues our retail customers are facing – things that will help them with their adoption of SAP solutions,” he said. 

This year at SAPPHIRE NOW, we’re not just going to be presenting at you.  Customers have made it clear to me that there are only so many slide decks they can handle – I think they’re right.  Come to Orlando this May and drive product demonstrations yourself to see how you and your customers can run better using some of our new mobile applications, such as:

• SAP Customer Loyalty
• SAP Retail Store Operations for Managers
• SAP Retail Store Operations for Sales Associates
• SAP On-Shelf Availability

Customers Take the Lead at SAPPHIRE Now

We’re particularly proud of the reputation and relationships we’ve forged with our customers in both the retail and consumer products industries.  The lineup of retail customers eager to lead sessions at SAPPHIRE NOW are a testament to that.  Doug Shirra, our National Director of Enterprise Marketing,  has been working very closely with Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada’s leading provider of grocery, drugstore, general merchandise and financial products and services. 

I love the story of transformation and innovation Loblaw has been forging with SAP over the years. David Markwell, Vice-President of Information Technology will be among the executive spokespeople at SAPPHIRE NOW, sharing Loblaw’s journey as Canada’s best food, health, and home retailer. Loblaw has consistently exceeded customer expectations through innovative products at great prices, earning the Tech Innovation Award for Supply Chain by Progressive Grocer magazine at the 2012 National Retail Federation conference.

Joining Loblaw in their attendance at SAPPHIRE NOW will be a host of top-tier retailers, including Kingfisher, Maidenform, Charlotte Russe, El Dorado, Marks & Spencer, BCBG, and more.  SAPPHIRE NOW is your opportunity to sit in on these customer-led events, including theater presentations, micro-forums, and my personal favorite – the “Meet our Customer” pavillion.  This is your chance to have a one-on-one, “no holds barred” conversation with a customer executive without anyone from SAP to get in the way.

Discussion topics can touch on change management, governance, people, processes, technology, and more.  It's a unique opportunity because customer executives are making themselves available to have those one on one conversations.  I appreciate the time they are willing to carve out of their busy schedules to provide their industry leadership at SAPPHIRE NOW.

So that’s what’s cooking in the SAP Retail kitchen.  It’s a choreographed chaos at the moment, but we’re working to serve up exactly what our customers have ordered – simple, fast, beautiful solutions that make it matter for you and your shoppers.

Register for SAPPHIRE and ASUG (May 14-16, 2013 in Orlando, Florida).

Hi,

My user wanted to upload and create allocation table along with the allocation strategy.

Is there a BAPI function that allow to create it in 1 single move?

Thanks

bye

Hi to all,

I am new to Retail, I was preparing for Generic Article creation.

1.) I created Merchandise Category and assign to hierarchy

2.) I created Characteristic and characteristic profile

3.) I assigned Characteristic profile to the Merchandise Category

4.) When the time i used MM41 there was a pop up menu and I input/selected the choices and press enter and back (F3)

there is a message " You must define at least one variant-creating characteristic".

What is this message all about and how can i resolve this? I cannot move on to the next level in MM41 only on the 1st stage.

Please help in this matter. Thank you.

Best Regards,

Ber

Hi,

I am a SAP-ABAP guy having 5 years of experience. I want to move into some functional domain so that I can work as a techno-functional resource. I am having some knowledge in SAP-SD but not very much in depth. I want to learn some sap functional which will be in high demand in future. How would be if I learn SAP-IS-RETAIL. Also I have SAP-HANA (though its not functional) in my mind. So which one is better, please guide me.

Warm Regards,

Tanay

Dear Experts,

Material group and Base unit of measure is not updating in the POS Workbench. SO the article is in error.

I have check the Unit of measure for that same article in ECC , it is maintained as 'PC'.

And also checked in the RSA1 in BW , the Base unit is 'PC' .

but it is not reflecting in Base Unit of Measure field in POS Workbench.but Sales Unit is reflecting as 'PC'

I am getting the error as " Sales Unit of Measure PC does not match material XXX' 

Kindly help me.

Thanks & Regards

Rakesh

New to SAPPHIRE NOW, and in partnership with our SAP Corporate Social Responsibility team headed by Jackie Montesinos Suarez, I am proud to announce our SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Annual Conference Community Service Event.   Last Fall under the umbrella organization, the Retail Orphan Initiative, SAP Retail partnered with the Food for Orphans organization to package 20,000 meals at Retail Forum.  Based on that success and the enthusiasm of partner sponsors and event attendees, we are now bringing the Food for Orphans organization with us to SAPPHIRE NOW Orlando and opening the opportunity to make a difference to all SAPPHIRE NOW attendees. 

I couldn’t be more proud of the support from SAP leadership, partners and employees.  Special thanks to our sponsors for their support of this effort: Datum, Deloitte Consulting, Freudenberg IT, Miracle Software Systems and Vistex.

Our goal at SAPPHIRE NOW is to package 285,000 nutritious meals, an entire truckload, destined for orphans around the world.  Customers, prospects, partners and SAP employees will all be asked volunteer their time.  The goal of Food for Orphans is to make sure that every orphan receives at least one nutritious meal per day.  They fund feeding programs in mostly third-world countries, seeking out those programs that have exhibited the ability and history to care for the needs of orphans, yet struggle to provide the necessary food. From the orphan care providers, they require financial accountability, monthly reports, updates on the condition of the orphans, and unlimited access to the project.

SAP is joining force with the NBA and key business partners to make the event possible.  The NBA will be sending player legends to help package food with SAP.  SAP is an Official Business Software Partner of the NBA and the official presenting partner of NBA.com/stats for the 2012-13 season.  SAP technology allows players, coaches, and fans greater access to NBA statistics than ever before. SAP is also working on corporate social responsibility initiatives with the NBA through their foundation – NBA Cares. NBA Cares addresses important social issues such as education, youth and family development, and health and wellness. The NBA and its teams strive to positively impact children and families worldwide.

SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Annual Conference Community Service Event.

What:  Support Food for Orphans by helping pack 285,000 meals-- an entire truckload, destined for orphans around the world.  

How You Can Help: Volunteer to help package meals for needy children across the world with the Food for Orphans organization. (http://www.foodfororphans.org/).

Sign up: http://fm.sap.com/CSRatSAPPHIRE . In as little as 30 minutes, you can make a difference.

Location:  Florida Ballroom, Lower Level, Hilton Orlando Orange County Convention Center

When:  Monday, May 13, 2013—12:30-5:30 p.m.

Personalizing the shopping experience requires improving manufacturer and retailer collaboration –  engaged shoppers are more valuable to both brands and retailers.

How connected are you with your customers?  Are you consistently the first to market with products and services that your consumers want?   Are you able to analyze customer data and shopping history to affect demand planning in real-time?

We are very excited in SAP Retail to hear from best-run organizations at SAPPHIRE NOW that leverage buying behavior to drive new product creation, better inventory and merchandise management and a personalized shopping experience that builds meaningful customer loyalty.

SAPPHIRE NOW will feature a new event this year—the Retail & Consumer Products Forum on Thursday, May 16^th.  We are so delighted to feature stories from our customers from around the world.  Retailers like Loblaw, El Dorado, Office Max, Maidenform Brands, Charlotte Russe, Hobby Lobby, Kingfisher and more!

Join us at SAPPHIRE NOW to learn how you can create personalized shopping experiences that build meaningful customer loyalty in your stores.  For more information visit http://agendabuilder.sapevents.com/go/ab.sessioncatalog/?l=56&view=sessions&savedFilter=24 .

Hello, I have the following problen when run material in WRP1 with  Supply source = 2 ( Stock transfer ), Someone know how to solve the issue?

Thnaks a lot.

No supply source can be found for external req. no. U927115456, material no. 000000000000000309

Message no. WG030

Diagnosis

The source of supply could not be determined using the transmitted data.

System Response

The order item cannot be identified and is not posted.

Procedure

Maintain a source of supply for this material.

Dear experts,

What are the prerequisites to run MRP total planning (MD01) in Retail environment?

We have defined the RP parameters in the article master (MM42) for the respective plant. We can run the Single item MRP (MD02, MD03) for every article and the results are very satisfying, but nothing happens when we run MD01. We checked the planning file entries - are there.

Can somebody propose something else, do we miss something?

Thank you in advance.

Peter

Ron Johnson had the right idea with JC Penney. Focus on the store environment and engage customers while they are in the storeand money will follow. Only catch – you have to get customers into the store first. Unfortunately for JC Penney, what drove a large part of its core shoppers to the store was a coupon in the mail and when that dried up – so did the store traffic.

Google is known for its April fool humor. One of my favorites is this one that promises to “teleport you directly to a business location by clicking on its search ad”. Now if only it were that simple to get a consumer to the store. Let’s face it - it takes real effort on part of the consumer to get off the couch and decide “I am going to go shop at xyz store …”. It needs a compelling “why” and lacking that, they are just as likely to not go to a store or go to the one that gives them that compelling reason.

So how can retailers think about what is it that drives consumers to their store? I believe it is the answer to this question “if my store didn’t exist tomorrow – will it be missed? Why?” Mind you it’s not the same as describing your “value prop” or “brand promise” – these concepts are often laden with such marketing jargon that they inhibit an honest introspection of the true value that your business provides. Also a “value prop” or “brand promise” touches upon ALL the things that you do for your consumer, while the answer to the above question is what is that ONE thing that you do really well.

From a consumer’s perspective, the reason they visit your store and the answer to this question is likely going to involve one of the 3 key dimensions: Price, Convenience, or Merchandising Authority.  While a retailer can be known for more than one of these things – on one of these dimensions they truly must excel and work day and night to preserve that. This is not to say they can ignore the other two – they still must provide an acceptable level of satisfaction on the other dimensions (or in many cases more than acceptable to make it a differentiator). But in a customer’s mind you have to be a leader in one of these dimensions to warrant a visit to your store.  If you do not have a spike on any of these – well that’s when you have to fallback to coupons and promotions as the primary means to drive that next visit.

Price, Convenience, Merchandising Authority - let’s take a closer look.

• Price Authority– When I need to be confident that I am most likely paying the lowest price I could – where do I go? In the US market, Walmart, Costco and Amazon are some of the names that immediately come to mind. Not surprisingly, because these retailers work hard to preserve that price image. At a Global Retailing Conference , I recently attended - Jim Sinegal, founder and former CEO of Costco, described how Costco stopped carrying sugar in a certain market because other retailers in that area were pricing sugar as a loss leader. He said something to the effect “If a customer didn’t see that we had the lowest price on sugar – they would be absolutely right in concluding that we possibly didn’t have the lowest price on anything”. There was no way Costco could risk diluting their price perception. Again, to be clear Costco also has excellent merchandise and they also have excellent customer service. Collectively, they make for a great customer experience, but I think the primary driver of many of their store visits is their pricing authority.

• Convenience Authority– When I go to Target, I know I am going to pay a little extra compared to Walmart. Sure, Target’s merchandise is great – but even when I seek an item that I know I will find at both places - and despite the fact Walmart is closer to my home than Target is, more often than not Target wins my business. Why? Their prices are not the lowest. Their merchandise in most cases is not unique. It’s the convenient and a no-hassle shopping experience that is a driver of lots of their store traffic.

• Merchandising Authority – I know I will miss “Sports Authority” if it were to close. I know that even on sale prices, I am likely to pay more than I would at many other places. But I also know that I will get what I need/want for sports/fitness. Ok – so this is easier done for specialty stores. But the “merchandising” dimension is equally applicable for many other types of retail especially in lifestyle categories like apparel, home, and food. At the Global Retailing Conference, Bonnie Brooks, President and CEO of Canadian retailer “The Bay” (department store arm of Hudson Bay Company) talked about their recent transformation. They were in a JC Penney like promotional spiral - but the reason they were able to get out of that was by re-establishing their “fashion authority” – by becoming the destination where people came looking for the brands and fashions they wanted.

So what about this thing called Customer Experience? (see Mohamed Amer’s blog or Lori Mitchell-Keller’s blog on the topic). Could people come to your store just for the experience? At the Global Retailing Conference there were many great examples of fine retailers excelling in customer experience.  “Retail is theater” declared Bloomingdale's COO Tony Spring. Example was given of lululemon - how “community building” is a big part of their focus.  Joseph Bona of CBX stressed how a physical store needs to evolve to catch all of our senses to be relevant. I think these are all valid thoughts. That is where a physical store needs to go - and it will get there – and if you are starting a new retail business you have a fresh slate to define something unique.  But if you are a retailer that has been around, you cannot build a great customer experience by diluting whatever it is that gets people to your store (well not unless you have a really long term time horizon to change your customer’s habits and perceptions). You first and foremost need to seriously examine “what will people miss about you” and guard it with everything you have got.

While you are at it, do not forget the role technology plays in helping you defend or enhance whatever makes your business unique. Pricing authority is really hard to defend if you are not up-to-minute on the prices that your customer is checking on her phone. Merchandising Authority could quickly turn into a disappointed customer if you do not have the right product in stock. Convenience Authority can be enhanced many-fold if you know your customer comprehensively and personally in real-time. SAP SAPPHIRE is around the corner and a great chance to see some of our latest innovations that can help a retailer be the best that it can be.