Inventory Sharing

Background

Inventory sharing is implemented to give companies an alternate method to locate parts. Since companies have surplus inventory of certain parts, this allows them to sell that surplus to other companies needing those parts.

The so-called sharing file consists of information regarding individual parts and surplus levels. The complete file is normally sent on a monthly basis, and changes are sent on a daily basis. The file format is XML based.

Before you start

To use inventory sharing, the following setup must be done:

• 'Allow sharing' must be set to 2 or 3 in 'Settings - Warehouse Planning Control' (CRS701).
• Items must explicitly be selected by setting the check box 'Inv sharing' to 1 in 'Item. Connect Warehouse' (MMS002/G) (only if setting 'Allow inventory share' in (CRS701) is set to 3).

  Items can also be selected by running mass update program 'Inventory Sharing Update' (RPS685).

• Configure the rules in 'File Settings- Inventory Sharing' (RPS820).
• Configure the recipient of the business message in (CRS945) and document 72A.

Configure basic settings

The following three alternatives control which items are included and whether the functionality is used.

1 = No, do not use inventory sharing.

2 = Yes, but only share temporary and exhaust items.

3 = Yes, share all items according to settings on warehouse.

If alternative 2 is selected, no more settings need to be made. All items that have a temporary or exhaust stock are included in the sharing.

If alternative 3 is selected, items must be explicitly selected and rules must be defined.

Select the items to share

When the setting 'Allow inventory sharing' is set to 2 in 'Settings - Warehouse Planning Control' (CRS701), only items that are considered to have an exhaust stock or a temporary stock will be shared. This is indicated by the setting 'Surplus stock type' in 'Item. Connect Warehouse' (MMS002/H). This setting is only defined when the item is considered not stocked but some stock still exists, or when the item warehouse status is 50 (Discontinued).

When the setting 'Allow inventory sharing' is set to 3 in (CRS701), items that should be shared must be explicitly selected. This is done by selecting the value 1 for the setting 'Inv sharing' in 'Item. Connect Warehouse' (MMS002/G).

The setting can also be defined using Inventory Sharing Update (RPS685), which allows you to update many items in one run. When an item is shared, information about the item's surplus inventory is written to table MINVSH, assuming that all conditions are met.

Define rules for shared items

When the setting 'Allow inventory sharing' in (CRS701) is set to 3 (share all items according to settings on warehouse), then settings and conditions configured in 'Inventory Sharing Settings' (RPS820) are taken into consideration before writing new information to the sharing file MINVSH.

• Main supplier

  This field indicates where the main supplier of an item should be retrieved from when generating records of surplus quantity in inventory sharing. The retrieved supplier is written to the sharing file. When sending the electronic message with information about items and surplus levels, the message recipient is the supplier written to the sharing file.

  One message is sent per supplier containing information about all items connected to the supplier.

  • If alternative 1 is selected, the supplier is retrieved from the item master file record in 'Item. Open' (MMS001). If there is no supplier defined in the item master record, the supplier is retrieved from the item/warehouse record in 'Item. Connect Warehouse' (MMS002).
  • If alternative 2 is selected, the supplier is retrieved from the item/warehouse record in (MMS002). If there is no supplier found on the warehouse record (could be a distributed item), the supplier is retrieved from the record of the distribution center warehouse (supplying warehouse) where the item is defined as a purchased item. If no supplier is found on item/warehouse record, the supplier is retrieved from the item master file record in (MMS001).
• Net value

  This field determines the lowest net value of the stock, to eliminate uneconomic transactions. The net value is calculated as (item quantity* purchase price). If the actual value of the surplus quantity is below the set net value, it will not be included in the inventory sharing. The purchase price is retrieved from the purchase agreement configured for the current item.

• Surplus base

  This field defines how the surplus is calculated

  • Surplus base = 1 means calculate surplus based on inventory leveling. The surplus is defined by the settings in 'Leveling Settings. Open' (MWS006). This option assumes that inventory leveling has been run. If a warehouse is a distribution center in one warehouse group and a regional warehouse in another warehouse group, the surplus is calculated for both groups and the lowest surplus quantity will be listed in the sharing file MINVSH.
  • Surplus base = 2 means that the surplus quantity is calculated according to settings for the planning method on the item/warehouse in (MMS002).
    • If the item's planning method is <> 2, the surplus is calculated by subtracting the safety stock from available stock inventory.
    • If the item's planning method is = 2, the surplus is calculated by subtracting the reorder point (ROP) planning per item/warehouse from the available inventory.

  The available inventory is calculated by subtracting all reservations from the current on-hand balance.

• Safety stock excluded
  • If the check box for manually set safety stock is selected, items with manually set safety stock are excluded from sharing. An item is considered to have a permanent frozen safety stock if the safety stock method is set to 0 in 'Item. Connect Warehouse' (MMS002/F) and the manually entered safety stock quantity is greater than 0.
  • If the check box for temporary frozen safety stock is selected, all items with temporary safety stock are excluded from sharing. Temporary frozen safety stock is enabled in (MMS002/F). This means that the safety stock is a manually entered, fixed safety stock. It will be used as safety stock until the result from the safety stock calculation (for example, running MMS615) is greater than the frozen safety stock. This is often used when an item number is new in stock and lacks item history.
  • If the check box for date controlled safety stock is selected, all items with timephased safety stock are excluded from sharing. Date-controlled safety stock is enabled in 'Safety Stock. Open Time Phased' (RPS040/E) by selecting the 'Frozen SS' check box. This means that a fixed safety stock with a From date and To date exist. This safety stock is considered in the safety stock calculation, so if the current date is within the validity dates then this fixed safety stock is the result of the calculation regardless of the selected safety stock method.

Generate the sharing file

The generation of the inventory sharing file is initiated from 'Generate Inventory Sharing File' (RPS680).

The job is submitted either to initiate a daily update or a complete regeneration of the inventory sharing file.

After all records are processed, an indication is sent to program RIPINVSHFnc, which in turn triggers an electronic business message containing information about the updates that were made in the sharing file MINVSH.

Regenerate

The regenerate setting determines if the sharing file MINVSH is updated with daily changes or regenerated from scratch.

• Periodic run

  Periodic run is selected to make daily updates of the sharing file table MINVSH. All records in table MINVST are read one by one and sent separately to function program RPINVSHFnc. Only records with a calculation date earlier than or equal to today's date are processed. Each record has a calculation date that indicates when the item will be processed. Usually, the calculation date is the same date as the record's creation date. Only items that have date-controlled safety stock can have a future calculation date on their trigger record in MINVST.

  After all records in MINVST are read and the sharing file updated, an indication is sent to program RPINVSHFnc to trigger a message to be sent containing information about the updates made regarding surplus levels.

• Regeneration

  When regeneration is selected, all items that are qualified for sharing will be read and processed. This alternative will delete existing records in the sharing file MINVSH before it is recreated from scratch. Also, all records in the trigger file MINVST are deleted before the run and are hence not considered.

  After all records qualified for sharing are processed and the sharing file recreated, an indication is sent to program RPINVSHFnc to trigger the creation of an electronic message containing information about the total surplus inventory of all qualified items.

Configure business document recipients

Standard document 72A is used for inventory sharing. This must be generated by selecting F14 in 'Standard Document. Open' (CRS027).

In 'Std Document. Connect Media Ctrl Object' (CRS945), the recipients of the electronic business messages are configured. The control object for document 72A is "Supplier," which is the supplier written to the sharing file.

In 'Doc Media Control. Connect Media' (CRS949), an MBM media record must be configured for the supplier.

Flowchart

Follow these steps

1. Set 'Allow sharing' (ALIS) to 3 in 'Settings - Warehouse Planning Control' (CRS701).

   When 'Allow sharing' is set to 3, items must be explicitly selected by setting the check box 'Inv share' in 'Item. Connect Warehouse' (MMS002/G) to 1.

2. Configure the rules in 'File Settings - Inventory Sharing' (RPS820).

3. Configure the recipient of the business message in (CRS945) and document 72A.

4. Start 'Generate Inventory Sharing File' (RPS680) and submit a periodic run or regeneration.

5. Check (MNS206). An MBM initiator should have been created for RPS680PF.

6. Set 'Allow sharing' to 2 in (CRS701).

   When 'Allow sharing' is set to 2, no items are individually selected.

7. Configure the recipient of the business message in (CRS945) and document 72A.

8. Start (RPS680) and submit a periodic run or regeneration.

9. Check (MNS206). An MBM initiator should have been created for RPS680PF.

Outcome

After the entire process is run, an Infor Enterprise Collaborator message is created containing information about items and their surplus levels.