When configured for procurements, RTAM calculates and publishes an accurate,
long-range inventory picture by considering future inventory that arrives from procurement
nodes. Thus, RTAM publishes where inventory is now and when you can expect to ship future
inventory.
Before you begin
In this example, a store supplements low on-site inventory levels by procuring
product from multiple "satellite" distribution centers. Multiple shipments per day between
the store and its distribution centers ensure a consistent and reliable inventory picture
at the store. This example assumes the following conditions:
- RTAM monitors availability for the item, "guitar", and publishes the item's
availability to a website for both the shipping and pickup delivery methods.
- The guitar is configured with an item lead time of five days.
- The inventory organization, "Matrix_Corp" maintains its own inventory and sourcing
rules.
- PRODUCT_SOURCING is defined as the fulfillment type for procurements at Matrix Corp.
Procurement sourcing rules are defined for PRODUCT_SOURCING.
- The distribution group, East Coast, is defined for stores on the East Coast. The East
Coast distribution group contains the store that sources the guitar.
- Stores in the East Coast distribution group rely on procurements to source the guitar.
Transfer schedules with hourly shipments are defined for the stores and distribution
centers.
About this task
In this example, RTAM starts considering procurements when availability for the guitar
falls below the medium threshold, which is set at five items. RTAM runs in both full-sync
mode and activity-based mode. In full-sync mode, RTAM publishes the guitar's availability
for the next 5 days, and in activity-based mode, RTAM publishes inventory changes for the
guitar in real time.
The procedure provides information about configuring RTAM for both full-sync mode and
activity-based modes.
Procedure
-
In the Applications Manager, select from the menu.
-
Double-click Process Modeling.
-
Select the General tab and double-click the
General process type to open it.
-
Expand the Transactions tree in the left pane and double-click
Real Time Availability Monitor to open it.
-
In the top section, under the Time Triggered tab, click
Create New to create an agent criteria with the following
values:
Note:
- The JMS QCF is reserved exclusively for the agent server. Any QCF and queue
suffices.
- If a parameter does not show in the tables below, it denotes that the field is left
blank.
Runtime Properties
| Parameter |
Value |
| Agent Server |
RTAMAgent Note: Click Create New to create an
agent server.
|
| JMS Queue Name |
Specify the JMS queue name for your environment, such as
RTAMAgent_Q. |
| No. of Threads |
Specify the number of threads for your environment. |
| Initial Context Factory |
Specify the initial context factory for your environment, such as
WebSphere® MQ. |
| QCF Lookup |
Specify the parameter for your environment, such as
AGENT_QCF. |
| (and later) Connection Factory |
Specify the parameter for your environment, such as
AGENT_QCF. |
| Provider URL |
Specify the provider URL for your environment, such as
corbaloc::your_host_name:bootstrap_port. |
| Enable JMS Security |
If you want JMS security, select this option. |
| Schedule Trigger Message |
Full Sync Mode is not selected. Activity-based Mode is
selected.
|
| Message Retry |
When Schedule Trigger Message is set to Activity-based Mode, specify
a time interval for triggering RTAM, such as five minutes. |
Criteria Parameters
| Parameter |
Value |
| Action |
Get |
| Number of Records To Buffer |
20,000 |
| InventoryOrganizationCode |
Matrix_Corp |
| MonitorOption |
Full Sync mode is 3. Activity-based mode is 1.
|
| CollectPendingJobs |
Y |
| RaiseEventOnAllAvailabilityChanges |
N |
-
Save your changes.
-
In the Events tab, ensure that the
REALTIME_AVAILABILITY_CHANGE_LIST event is enabled. This event publishes inventory
information to your website or external system by calling an asynchronous service that
puts a message in a queue.
-
In the Applications Manager, select from the menu.
-
Double-click Inventory Rules from the left pane to open the
corresponding window and select the Monitor Rules tab.
-
If activity-based mode is configured, select the Use Activity-Based Mode
for Real-Time Availability Monitor option.
-
Subscribe the "East Coast" distribution group to node-level monitoring by clicking
the Distribution Group To Use For Node Level Monitoring icon. The
Monitor Rule Distribution Group window opens. Move the "East Coast"
distribution group from Available to Subscribed in the Distribution Group To
Use For Node Level Monitoring panel and then click the
Save icon.
-
Under the ATP Monitor Rules section, click Create
New to create an ATP monitor rule. The following values are only for an
example:
ATP Monitor Rule Details
| Parameter |
Value and Notes |
| ATP Monitor Rule |
Test |
| ATP Monitor Rule Name |
TestRule |
| Lead Time Override (Days) |
0 |
| Disabled |
Not selected |
| Event Based ATP Monitor Rule |
Selected |
| High Quantity Boundary |
25 The available inventory level above which an inventory item is
considered to be in high quantity. Until inventory falls below this level, an item is
considered to be In Stock .
|
| Medium Quantity Boundary |
5 The available inventory level above which an inventory item is
considered to be in medium quantity. The available inventory level might indicate that an
item is Available in Limited Quantity until the level rises to "High" or drops to
"Low".
|
| Low Quantity Boundary |
0 The available inventory level above which an inventory item is
considered to be in low quantity. At this level, a web site might indicate Low
Stock .
|
-
Click Save to save your changes.
You might need to configure more ATP monitor rules, depending on your scenario
complexity.
-
In Sterling Business Center, apply the "Test
Rule" ATP Monitor Rule that you defined in step 2 to the item, "guitar":
-
Log into Sterling Business Center as an Item
Administrator.
-
At the home page, click the Products tab.
-
From the Products home page, click Find
Item in the Catalog dashlet.
-
In the Item Search screen, enter the search criteria and then click
Search to view a list of all the available items. Alternatively,
use either the Basic Search or the Advanced
Search option to narrow down the list of items displayed.
-
In the Items panel that is displayed, click the
Item ID hyperlink. Alternatively, double-click the row that
contains the Item ID. In this example, select the Item
ID for guitar.
-
Click Manage Primary Information.
-
The Primary Information screen is displayed. In the Related
Tasks panel, click Manage Inventory Information.
-
In the Inventory Information screen, change the ATP Monitor
Rule and the node-level ATP monitor rule to "TestRule", which is the ATP monitor rule that
was created in step 2. Click Save to save your changes
-
Configure RTAM to consider the shipping and pickup delivery methods by passing "SHP"
and "PICK" in the DeliveryMethodListToMonitor list element in the
manageInventoryMonitorRule API. For details, see Javadoc.
-
Configure RTAM to consider procurements by specifying a procurement threshold in the
manageInventoryMonitorRule API. Also, specify a fulfillment type that
RTAM considers for procurements. Specify the same fulfillment type that you are using for
procurements. For example, "PRODUCT_SOURCING". Ensure that you set Organization Code to
"Matrix_Corp" and ATPMonitorRule to "TestRule" in the API. For details, see Javadoc.
-
Start the RTAM agent defined earlier in this task:
-
Start the RTAM agent by going to the <INSTALL_DIR>/bin/
directory and entering the following command:
./agentserver.sh RTAMAgent ../logs/RTAMAgent.log
-
Monitor the RTAM agent:
tail -f ../logs/RTAMAgent.log
Or use the System Management
Console to enable verbose logging.
-
Trigger the RTAM agent:
./triggeragent.sh TEST_RTAM_CRITERIA_OP3