Scenario: Configuring the Real-Time Availability Monitor for Procurements

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

  1. In the Applications Manager, select Applications > Applications Platform from the menu.
    1. Double-click Process Modeling.
    2. Select the General tab and double-click the General process type to open it.
    3. Expand the Transactions tree in the left pane and double-click Real Time Availability Monitor to open it.
    4. 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 as "File".
      Connection Factory AGENT_QCF.
      Provider URL

      Legacy platformfile:/opt/SSFS_9.5/runtime/OM_JNDI

      Next-generation platformfile:opt/ssfs/jndi
      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
    5. Save your changes.
    6. 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.
  2. In the Applications Manager, select Applications > Global Inventory Visibility from the menu.
    1. Double-click Inventory Rules from the left pane to open the corresponding window and select the Monitor Rules tab.
    2. If activity-based mode is configured, select the Use Activity-Based Mode for Real-Time Availability Monitor option.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Click Save to save your changes.

      You might need to configure more ATP monitor rules, depending on your scenario complexity.

  3. In Sterling Business Center, apply the "Test Rule" ATP Monitor Rule that you defined in step 2 to the item, "guitar":
    1. Log into Sterling Business Center as an Item Administrator.
    2. At the home page, click the Products tab.
    3. From the Products home page, click Find Item in the Catalog dashlet.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. Click Manage Primary Information.
    7. The Primary Information screen is displayed. In the Related Tasks panel, click Manage Inventory Information.
    8. 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
  4. 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 IBM Sterling Order Management: Javadoc.
  5. 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 IBM Sterling Order Management: Javadoc.
  6. Perform the following steps:
    1. Start the RTAM agent by using the Start Agent Server self-serve process.
    2. Monitor the RTAM agent.
      Run the Export Applications Logs UCD self serve process and analyze the logs or you can use the System Management Console to enable verbose logging.
    3. Trigger the RTAM agent.