OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide
Version 7.6.1 OATSystems, Inc April 2011 Document Num- ber: OAT_MV_UG_7.6.1 Copyright © 2011 OATSystems Inc. All Rights Reserved. This document contains proprietary information that is owned by OATSystems. Copying or reproduction of any material from this site to any other location for further reproduction or redistribution is expressly prohibited. Any reproduction or redistribution of the files not in accordance with the terms of the License Statement is a violation of copyright law. OAT and Senseware are registered trademarks of OATSystems, Inc. Java and all Java-based marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries. OATSystems is in- dependent of Sun Microsystems, Inc. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.hb Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trade names and trademarks are the property of their respective own- ers. OATSystems makes no warranties, express or implied, with regards to its prod- ucts in this document. Support Information You can contact the OAT Support Center (OSC) for technical support at: OATSystems, Inc. 309 Waverley Oaks Road, Suite 306 Waltham, MA 02452 USA Phone: 877-OAT-SUPPORT or 781-907-6081 Fax: 781-907-6098 Email: [email protected] Web site: https://support.oatsystems.com
OAT Merchandise Visibility 2 Table of Contents
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 3 List of Figures
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 4 Preface The OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide describes requirements and proce- dures needed to use OAT Merchandise Visibility. Who should use this document?
This guide is intended for system administrators and implementers. Assumptions
The OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide assumes the following:
OATxpress and OAT Merchandise Visibility have been installed.
The user has administrative privileges on the host machine where these products have been installed. Additional Documentation
OAT, Inc. customers and partners can log on to https://support.oatsystems.com to access product release notes, hardware configurations for supported devices, and other information related to OAT products. Document Conventions
Following are the formatting conventions used in this document: Code Examples Examples from an actual file or a sample command line appears as fol- lows: cd /oat_install_dir/ofs/schema
Navigation The 'greater than (>)' sign separates the navigation controls in a sequence to be performed. For example Admin > Users
Admin > Users Indicates that you need to click the Admin tab and then the Users icon. Notes Notes convey important information. Following is an example NOTE: In the user interface of the OATxpress Web application, fields with asterisks (*) are mandatory and require users to
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 5 supply a value Cross-references A cross-reference directs you to an- other location in the document for information. For example: See Intro- duction Click the red text, to tra- verse the link to the referenced loca- tion. Example of a Screenshot in the Handheld Device
Example of a Screenshot in a Windows Browser
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 6 1. Introduction 1.1 OAT Merchandise Visibility
OAT Merchandise Visibility provides retailers real-time visibility into the inven- tory of RFID tagged merchandise through the supply chain and in stores. It leverages the combined strengths and capabilities of Checkpoint’s Tagging/La- beling Solutions and the OAT Foundation Suite to deliver a complete solution. This solution also enables retailers to address their critical inventory manage- ment needs. 1.2 Benefits of OAT Merchandise Visibility
OAT Merchandise Visibility provides an end to end solution for the retail supply chain right from manufacturing to distribution and also throughout the store. It provides insight into their operations and execution challenges, from point of manufacture through point of sale. This is done by integrating RFID from the point of manufacture through logistics and distribution operations and the stores.
Retail Supply Chain Challenges OAT Merchandise Visibility improves visibility for retailers throughout their sup- ply chain. It also helps retailers differentiate themselves from competition and experience the following tangible benefits:
Improvement in margin and sales through:
Improved inventory accuracy using inventory visibility.
Reduction in out-of-stocks and lost sales.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 7 Cost-effective measures to replenish merchandise and drive sales.
Automated shipping and receiving operations at factories, DCs and stores.
Improvement in customer experience by:
Ensuring the availability of the right merchandise for purchase in the right place at the right time.
Enabling associates to assist customers better rather than manage in- ventory issues.
Reduction in Store Operations cost by:
Improving operations and labor.
Decreasing non-working inventory.
Reducing the need for safety stock and working capital requirements.
Streamlined Operations by:
Reducing the number of items per delivery.
Speedy re-order of fast moving items.
Optimizing operations. 1.3 Features of OAT Merchandise Visibili- ty
OAT Merchandise Visibility has the following features:
Requires minimal infrastructure ensuring rapid return on investment.
Provides flexibility of implementing parts of the solution, as it is built in modules.
Expedites the labeling process by enabling printing/ attaching of labels and commissioning and associating of the labels at the manufacturing or the DC.
Enables accurate and near real-time visibility of inventory movements across various locations in the store thereby reducing out of stock situations.
Improves operational and labor efficiencies at the store; expedites day to day activities at the store, for example, Receiving, Cycle Counting, while increasing their reliability/accuracy.
Enables visibility for operational/execution issues at the store, for example, need for Restocking/Picking.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 8 Audits the store associates’ performance of expected tasks, for example, Receiving, Cycle Counting etc.
Tracks inventory with fixed and mobile (handheld device) RFID readers.
Focuses on quick processing and minimal wait times, on both terminal and handheld devices. OAT Merchandise Visibility is built on OATxpress. See the OATxpress User Guide for details on OATxpress features and functions. .
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 9 2. An Overview of OAT Merchandise Visibility
OAT Merchandise Visibility lets you track the complete life cycle of an RFID- tagged item from the time of association of the tag at the manufacturing site or DC to retail store; from the time it is tagged, till it is sold. This section gives an overview of how OAT Merchandise Visibility helps improve the efficiency and accuracy of day to day operations at the manufacturing facility, supply chain and store. OAT Merchandise Visibility is deployed on handheld (mobile) devices and on servers for use at the manufacturing site, DC and store. It is used to print tags, commission and associate tags and for tracking tagged items. Store associates can use specific applications (links/tabs from the Main Menu on the handheld device, or workflows in the server) to track items and update inventory. At a manufacturing facility, the manufactured items are packed and shipped to retailer DCs. In order to track these items through the supply chain, OAT Merchandise Visibility provides processes which enable the manufacturers to do the following:
If tags don’t already have relevant information, for each tag commission a tag identifier from the server (called the EPC), write the EPC to the tag and print the tag with relevant information. The printed information can include product attributes like SKU and tag’s EPC.
Apply RFID tag to item.
Associate the attached tag to the item, using a server or a handheld RFID reader. In the DC, the items from a manufacturing facility are received. They may be re-packed. From the DC, items are then shipped to different stores. To track these items from receiving to shipping, OAT Merchandise Visibility lets DC per- sonnel do the following:
Receive the items using the RFID enabled portal or using the handheld device, if the items are already RFID tagged at the source.
In case the items are not tagged at the manufacturing facility and tags don’t already have relevant information, tags are printed and EPCs are written onto the tag. The tags are then attached to the items, and the association of each tag to item is captured, using a workflow in the server or using a handheld RFID reader.
Once the items are received into the DC, they are transferred to the specific locations at the DC using the Putaway feature in the handheld device.
The items are packed using the DC Pack feature of the handheld device where the tag association takes place.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 10 The packed items are shipped using the DC ship feature after the product - item confirmation is complete. The items are shipped to different stores where the inventory has to be replenished based on the Picklist Report of the stores. At the store, items are received and tracked in the store and taken into the store inventory during the receiving process. OAT Merchandise Visibility en- ables tracking of the items at these stages in the following process:
Life Cycle of an Item in a Store
The Manual receiving process (when items are already tagged by the suppliers or at the DC) uses the handheld device to receive the items. Alternately, Automated receiving process at retail stores have RFID-enabled portals installed at the receiving dock doors to receive the items.
If the items are not tagged at the DC or at the source locations, generic pre- encoded RFID tags are prepared before the items are received. Retailers apply RFID tags to the items once they are received at the store. The handheld device provides an option to support this variation of the Receiving process where items are tagged in-store, upon receipt. The Receiving process in this case has an additional step of affixing the RFID tags to the items. The same handheld device is also used for ‘Relabeling’ if the tagged RFID Label is damaged and not readable.
Once the items are received into the store they are transferred to the specific locations in the Backroom or the Sales Floor using Putaway feature in the handheld device.
The items are Cycle Counted periodically (daily/weekly as determined by Store Operations) to verify the inventory at various locations in the store, for example, Backroom, Sales Floor or even specific aisles/departments in the Sales Floor.
Store associates use the Stock Search feature on the handheld device to check the inventory available in different locations in the store. This helps in assisting customers, looking for a particular item/product. It also prevents lost sale opportunities when the item that a customer is looking for is misplaced on the sales floor or is out of stock on the sales floor, but is available in the store backroom or storage locations.
Store associates can also use the Item Locator feature on the handheld device to locate a particular item in the store. The store associate can assist the customer by locating another item similar to an item on the sales floor (for example, the same design but in a different color or size).
Store associates can request for a Picklist Report to assist them in identifying which items on the Sales Floor need to be restocked/ replenished using the handheld device. The Picklist displays a list of items for which the Sales Floor inventory is 0. Inventory from the Backroom/Storage are used for restocking the Sales Floor.
As items are sold, the cashier detaches or cuts the RFID labels and collects them in a bin. These tags are then periodically scanned using the handheld device, which records the items as ‘Sold’ and removes them from store inventory.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 11 Sometimes an item is returned to the store. As returned items are taken into inventory, the store associate verifies if the RFID label on the item is intact. If it is not, generic pre-encoded RFID labels are affixed to these items. .
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 12 3. Application Details
This chapter provides a detailed guide on how store associates can utilize the applications within OAT Merchandise Visibility in optimizing and expediting day to day store operations. 3.1 Main Menu
Main Menu Following is a description of the application scenarios in the Main Menu: Tab Description Receiving Untagged To receive an item. The items received in the re- - SKU ceiving area have only the SKU number. The EPC is attached to the item at the store. Receiving Tagged To receive tagged items. The items received at the store have both the SKU and EPC number attached to it. Putaway Process by which items received into the store are transferred to specific locations. Cycle Counting Cycle count is conducted to update the inventory at a particular location. Enhanced Cycle Enhanced Cycle Count is conducted to obtain and Count update the inventory of a particular set of products. Picklist The Picklist displays items for which the Sales Floor inventory has fallen below the expected threshold
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 13 Tab Description and has inventory in the Backroom/Storage loca- tions that can be used for restocking. Stock Search - SKU Stock Search is conducted by SKU scan to display Scan the inventory level for a particular product at four different types of locations - Receiving Area, Back- room, Storage Area and Sales Floor. Point of Sale Point of sale is where the items are checked out and sold. Retire Retire is a process by which an item is retired and the reason for retirement can be selected. Returns – SKU Process of returning an item by SKU to the store af- ter the sale. Item Locator Item Locator is used to locate an item by scanning the product attribute/EPC, selecting the product to locate from the list of related products and their lo- cations, and then moving to the location where that product is available and starting an RFID-enabled search. As the operator gets closer to the item, the frequency of beeps increases, and the progress bar advances. When the item is found, the beep sound changes, and the progress bar shows 100%. Following is a description of the menu items in the bottom of the Main Menu: Tab Description Start To display the information about the OAT Merchan- dise Visibility version numbers for handheld de- vices. Configure Allows configuring the OATmobile properties, glob- al properties and scenario specific properties. Log Off To log off the user. Exit To exit the application 3.2 Menu Bar
The Menu bar has the following menu items: 3.2.1 Start
Select Start to display the information about the OAT Merchandise Visibility version numbers for handheld devices.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 14 Start Tab 3.2.1.1 About Select Start >About to display the information of the assembly names and their versions in the configured scenarios as shown in the screen below:
About Tab 3.2.2 Configure
Select Configure to allow configuring the OATmobile properties, global proper- ties and scenario specific properties.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 15
Configure Tab 3.2.2.1 OATmobile Select Configure > OATmobile to display the following Configuration Menu:
Configuration Menu
3.2.2.2 Global Properties Select Configure > Global Properties to display the configured global proper- ties in the HandheldUI.xml. In the sample screenshot below:
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 16 Global Properties 1. Select true for LogOutIfInactive to logout the application if the handheld device is inactive. 4. Enter the time, for which if the handheld device is inactive, after which the application logs out. 5. Select true for PeriodicProductSync to synchronize the products periodi- cally. 6. If PeriodicPrductSync is set to true, enter the time for ProductSyncEvery to specify the time after which the product will be synchronized. 7. Enter the time in Hrs:Mins to start the product synchronization in Prod- uctSyncStartTimeOfDay. 8. Enter the time duration in ProductSyncDurationFrom Start. NOTE: If the properties are set to NotConfigurable in HandheldUI.xml, the properties will be greyed out and cannot be modified. 8.1.1.1 Scenario Select Configure > Enhanced Cycle Counting (any Scenario) to display the properties configured for the scenario in the HandheldUI.xml.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 17 Scenario Properties NOTE: If the properties are set to NotConfigurable in HandheldUI.xml, the .properties will be greyed out and cannot be modified. 8.1.2 Log Off
Select Log Off to log out the user from the application. 8.1.3 Exit
Select Exit to exit the application. 8.2 Single SKU Commissioning Scenario (OATxpress Scenario)
The Single SKU Commissioning scenario in OATxpress is used at the DC or stores to commission/encode tags and associate SKUs with the tags. Following are the two scenario modes:
Tag Association - the SKU is associated with the item EPC.s
Tag Association and Commissioning - a new EPC is generated and written as per the tag encoding configuration. The SKU is associated with item EPC.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 18 8.2.1 Tag Association Flow of the Single SKU Tag Association and Commission Scenario
This scenario is used when a new EPC has to be generated and attached to the item. The SKU is then associated with item EPCs. The light stack indicates, step by step, throughout the process, if it is a success or failure. Ensure the follow- ing before starting the Association and Commissioning process:
The light stack displays the status of the commissioning station based on the configuration.
The RFID hard tag is already attached to the item. The following steps outline the flow for the Single SKU Tag Commission and As- sociation process: 1. Scan the barcode to identify the item SKU. Light stack displays the valid- ity of the SKU as configured. 9. A new EPC is generated based on the configured encoding scheme and written to the tag. Light stack indicates if the operation is a success or failure. NOTE: Commissioned EPCs are displayed in the Commissioned Tags Re- port. 10.The scenario associates the SKU to the EPC. Light stack indicates a suc- cess/failure. 11.Move the tagged item to the packaging area. 11.1.1Tag Association Flow of the Single SKU Tag Association Scenario
This scenario is used when the items are already tagged (encoded) and the SKU has to be associated with the item EPCs. The light stack indicates, step by step, throughout the process, if it is a success or failure. Ensure the following before starting the Association process:
The light stack displays the status of the commissioning station based on the configuration.
The RFID hard tag (already encoded) is already attached to the item. The following steps outline the flow for the Single SKU Tag Association process: 1. Scan the barcode to identify the item SKU. Light stack displays the valid- ity of the SKU as configured.
12.The scenario associates the SKU to the EPC. Light stack indicates when the association happens. 13.Remove the item from the table.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 19 13.1 Receiving
The Receiving process tracks the items as they are being received into the store and taken into store inventory. OAT Merchandise Visibility enables the store associates to expedite the manual Receiving process using the handheld device or Fixed Reader Portals. 13.1.1Receiving tagged items
Items received at the store are already tagged. The Receiving process at the store is tracked using either fixed readers or handheld devices. 13.1.2Receiving tagged items using Handheld De- vice
The OAT Merchandise Visibility solution enables store associates expedite the manual process using handheld devices. In case of Receiving Tagged merchan- dise, the store associates can use handheld devices to scan the merchandise unloaded and staged in the Receiving area. The handheld device displays the count of the tagged items being scanned (by SKU) and communicates with the OATxpress server to update the store inventory based on items received and to execute any validations. This helps the associates to closely track the Receiving activity and verify any discrepancies with respect to the DC shipment notice or invoice. The items are received at the store in the receiving area. Following is the initial screen that appears while receiving a tagged item:
Scan EPC Follow the steps below to Receive Tagged Items: 1. Start the receiving process by scanning the items in the Receiving area
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 20 (laying items packed in cartons or hanging items on trolleys).
EPC Scanned (Summary)
EPC Scanned (Detailed) 14.Scan all the items to be received and click Submit. 15.This updates the inventory in OATxpress and marks these items as ‘Re- ceived’. 15.1.1Fixed Reader Receiving Scenario
Fixed readers are typically used at the Receiving Dock doors in larger stores.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 21 The Receiving Dock Door portals offer an alternative to the manual receiving process when items are already tagged by the suppliers or at the DC. As the store associates unload the cartons/trolleys and carry them past the Receiving Door, the system detects the tagged items and updates the store inventory ac- cordingly. The store associates also have the option to access the OATxpress application to monitor the Receiving activity. The OATxpress Receiving User In- terface displays counts of items (by SKU/GTIN) being received. 15.1.1.1 Receiving Flow of the Fixed Reader Receiving Scenario Following steps outline the flow of the Fixed Reader Receiving process: 1. Click Initiate receiving.
Receiving Process 16.Enter the shipment attributes of items to be received for example, Col- or, Size etc.
Capture attributes 17.Click Submit Attributes to start receiving.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 22 Receiving Summary 18.Read EPC while cartons/trolleys pass through the dock door. 19.Product is identified and count is incremented in the summary. 20.Enter all the EPCs. 21.Click Close Receiving.
Location Assignment 22.Choose location from the dropdown list to which the Item has to be as- signed. 23.Click Submit Location to complete the process.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 23 23.1.1Receiving Untagged (in-store tagging) Us- ing Handheld Devices
OAT Merchandise Visibility handheld application provides an option to support a variation of the Receiving process where items are tagged in-store, upon re- ceipt. 23.1.1.1 Receiving Untagged Items with Barcode Scan of EPC The Receiving process in this case has an additional step of affixing the RFID tags to the items. The same handheld device is used for ‘Relabeling’ if the tagged RFID Label is damaged and not readable. Following are the steps to Receive Untagged Items with Barcode Scan of EPC: 1. Start the receiving process by scanning the Product SKU or GTIN to dis- play the product information on the screen.
NOTE: To enter the SKU or GTIN number instead of scanning, click the key- board icon at the bottom of the screen and click OK. Item Count indicates the number of items scanned. 24.Scan the EPC.
Scanned Product (Summary)
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 24 Scanned EPC (Detail) 25.Barcode scan the EPC which is also read by the RF reader. The message “Wait for verification” appears while RF reading the tag. 26.Scan all the items of the product. NOTE:
Multiple EPCs can be read for the same product. Item count will in- crement for each EPC that has been read. The EPC is added in the screen.
To scan another product, Scan that product’s SKU or GTIN if EPC Detection rules are config- ured (Settings > Application Settings > EPC Detection). The product will be automatically identified. Continue scanning EPCs. EPCs will be identified as well and associated to the latest identified product. See the MV Installation and Configuration Guide for more details on EPC Detection rules.
Click New Product to barcode scan items of another product, if EPC Detection rules cannot be configured (for example, because multiple encoding schemes and multiple EPC lengths are used, and no EPC prefixes are available) and EPCs cannot be reliably detected. 27.Click Submit to finish the Receiving process. 28.This updates the inventory in OATxpress and marks these items as ‘Re- ceived’.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 25 28.1.1.1 Receiving Untagged Items without Barcode Scan of EPC OAT Merchandise Visibility handheld application supports Receiving process where items are not barcode scanned, but are affixed with RFID tags. The items to be associated contain the SKU barcode. The handheld device is used for receiving the items. Following are the steps to Receive Untagged Items: 1. Click on Scan Product to scan the SKU of the product. Corresponding product is identified and displayed on the screen.
Scan Product 29.Read the item EPC using RFID reader. If there are more than one tag, an error message is displayed as follows:
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 26
Multiple Tag Read Error If there is only one tag in the field, that EPC is selected. The EPC is associated with the SKU/product read earlier.
Successful Tag Read 30.Scan another product or click Submit to send the data to OATxpress.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 27 30.1 Putaway
Putaway is a process by which items received in the store are transferred to specific locations in Backroom Storage or taken to designated shelf locations on the Sales Floor. It is conducted with the handheld device. Following are the steps to do the Putaway process: 1. Scan Location barcode to select the location or select the Putaway Loca- tion from the dropdown list.
Select Putaway Location NOTE: If the scanned business location is not configured (with IsCycleCountLoca- tion=YES), on clicking Scan Items, if the valid location does not have a Read Point, the following error message will be displayed, “NO ReadPoints setup with IsCycleCountLocation=YES. Please verify location configuration” 31.Click Scan Items to start the scanning process.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 28 Scan Items (Summary)
Scan Items (Detailed) 32.Click Submit to complete the Putaway process for this location. The sce- nario waits for the next location selection. 32.1 Receiving Untagged and Putaway
In Receiving Untagged and Putaway, the items received in the receiving area have only the SKU number. The EPC is attached to the item at the store and transferred to specific locations.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 29 The following steps are used in the process of Receiving Untagged and Put- away: 1. Scan barcode for Putaway Location or select the Putaway location from the dropdown list to receive items.
Scan PutawayLocation NOTE: If the business location is not identified, “Not a valid business location for Recv Untagged” error is displayed. This happens when the business location is not configured with IsCycleCountLocation = YES. See OAT Merchandise Visibility Installation and Configuration Guide for more information. If the business location is configured as IsCycleCountLocation = YES, but Read Point is not inferred,”No ReadPoints setup with IsCycleCountLocation=YES, Please verify location configuration”. See OAT Merchandise Visibility Installation and Configuration Guide for more infor- mation. 33.Click Scan Items to start scanning the product. 34.Scan Product.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 30 Scanned Product 35.Scan one or more EPCs.
Counter Increment (Summary)
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 31 Product Information (Detail) 36.Scan more new products or EPCs. 37.To scan another product, just scan that product’s SKU or GTIN if EPC De- tection rules are configured (Settings > Application Settings > EPC Detec- tion). The product will be automatically identified. Continue scanning EPCs. EPCs will be identified as well and associated to the latest identi- fied product. See the Merchandise Visibility Installation and Configura- tion Guide for more details on EPC Detection rules. 38.Click New Product to barcode scan items of another product, if EPC De- tection rules cannot be configured (for example, because multiple en- coding schemes and multiple EPC lengths are used, and no EPC prefixes are available) and EPCs cannot be reliably detected. 39.Click Submit once the session is complete. The message “Item(s) submit- ted with status “Received” is displayed when the items are submitted. 39.1 FSBS Scenario
The FSBS scenario automatically tracks items moving back and forth between the sales floor and the back room without user interface. This scenario is gen- erally deployed at locations where bi-directional movements of items are ex- pected. RFID Portals installed at the Transition doors leading from the Back- room to the Sales Floor can be used to infer direction of the movement as store associates carry items to the Sales Floor for stocking or bring them back to the backroom; and update the inventory status of the items (for example,. Back- room or Sales Floor) accordingly.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 32 39.1.1FSBS Features
FSBS features are as follows: 39.1.1.1 Direction Inference If an item EPC is new to the system, the movement has to be configured either as inbound or outbound. If an EPC is repeatedly detected within a fixed window of time, then the movement direction is treated as being unchanged from the last time the item was detected in the specified time frame. Following are the methods to be used for detecting the direction of item: 1. Reader: Direction of item movement is provided by RFID device. 40.Previous Location Tag: Logical movement inference is based on OATx- press knowing the previous location of an item. 41.Reads at Multiple Read Points: The direction is inferred using multiple antennas by configuring them as IN and OUT. 42.Motion sensors: The direction is inferred using Motion sensors by setting its state to ‘On’ or ‘Off’. 42.1.1.1 Configuration options for item processing methods Multi-item processing: Provides the ability to identify the direction of multiple items as a batch. A collective direction is inferred and applied for all items in the batch. Following are the three configuration options to determine the start and end of the batch: 1. Digital trigger: Photocell or Motion detectors are used to start and stop the scanning process. 43.Time-out: This is based on a specified period of time. The Items are scanned for the configured time. 44.Multiple items processed individually: Provides the ability to process one or more items simultaneously. Each item’s direction is inferred individu- ally, no collective direction is applied. 44.1.1.1 Digital I/O Alerts The configuration for digital I/O alert is common for both inbound and out- bound validations. If a digital I/O alert is required to indicate validation fail- ure, then you can provide only one pattern to indicate failure in either direc- tion. You cannot, for example, apply a red light alert for an inbound validation failure and a yellow light alert for an outbound validation failure.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 33 44.2 Cycle Count
Cycle Counts are performed periodically (daily/weekly as determined by store operations) to verify the inventory at various locations in the store, for in- stance Backroom, Sales Floor or even specific aisles/departments in the Sales Floor. Using a handheld device, Store Associate scans the items located in a particular section of the store. The application displays the items detected in that location (item counts by SKU), which the store associate can use to verify and confirm back to the system. Following are the steps to conduct Cycle Counting of inventory: 1. Select Cycle Count Location from the dropdown list.
Location for Cycle Count NOTE: The Cycle Count Location can also be obtained by barcode scan of the location, if configured. 45.Click Scan Items to start the scanning process. 46.Scan the items present in that location to list the Product Information and the Count of the products.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 34 Cycle Count (Summary)
Cycle Count (Detail) 47.Click Submit to submit the Cycle Count at the selected location.
If the MissingItemsThreshold is set to ‘0’, following pop up screen will be displayed every time Cycle Count is conducted.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 35 Confirm Inventory
If the MissingItemsThreshold is set to any number between 1 and 99, for example ‘20’, the following pop up screen will be displayed if the expected inventory is more than the cycle counted inventory by 20%.
Confirm Difference in Inventory
If the MissingItemsThreshold is set to 100, no pop up message will be displayed and the items will be submitted. 48.Select Yes to move the missing items to a separate location. Select No to Cycle Count the items again.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 36 NOTE: The MissingItemThreshold in Cycle Count is based on the comparison of expected items to the cycle counted items only. It does not verify if the items are newly added or moved from the other location. 48.1 Enhanced Cycle Count
The Enhanced Cycle Count is an enhancement to the Cycle Count functionality. It is conducted to get the inventory of a particular product. Following are the features of the Enhanced Cycle Count functionality:
Flexibility to specify Search Filters such as product, so as to Cycle Count a subset of SKUs within a location.
Displays the Expected item-counts against the Actual items being scanned, to provide accuracy of the Cycle Count.
Option to reconcile the discrepancy in the SKUs once all the items present in that location have been scanned. Exceptions can be reviewed in detail. On reconciliation, SKUs having exceptions are displayed. For each exceptional SKU the Expected, Matched, Missing, Excess item-counts are displayed. Following are the steps in Enhanced Cycle Counting: 1. Select the location from the dropdown list. NOTE: On clicking Enhanced Cycle Count in the handheld device, applica- tion will check for any relevant messages in the message queue that are yet to be processed in OATxpress. The Following warning message will be displayed “Some dependent messages are in queue. The data you see may not be up-to-date”. Click ok to continue.
Select Location
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 37 NOTE: The location can be selected by a Barcode scan of location, if con- figured. 49.Enter any Search filter such as Product or Manufacturer. NOTE: Search filter can be configured in the HandheldUI.xml file. 50.Click Attribute Filters to select the attributes.
Select Attributes 51.Select the attribute and click Done. 52.The following screen is displayed with the expected inventory.
Expected Inventory OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 38 NOTE: If there is no inventory in the location “Search for inventory re- turned no result(s)” is displayed in the status bar. 53.Scan EPCs present in this location. The Counter increments.
Product Information (Summary) 54.Click Reconcile to display the Expected/ Matched/ Missing and Excess EPC count.
Review and Reconcile 55.Click Done to Reconcile the product. The following screen is displayed to move the missing items to a different location.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 39 Confirm Moving Missing Items 56.Select Yes to move the missing item to different location, No otherwise. “Item(s) submitted” message is displayed in the status bar, when the item is updated successfully. 56.1 Picklist
Follow the steps below to perform Picklist: 1. Click on the Picklist tab in the Main Menu to display items that have a zero inventory in the Sales Floor and its available number in the Back- room/ Storage. NOTE: The handheld device will check for any relevant messages in the message queue that are yet to be processed in OATxpress. The message “Some dependent messages are in queue will be displayed. The data you see may not be up-to-date”. Click OK to continue.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 40 Picklist
Click First to display the first page.
Click Next to display the next page.
Click Previous to go to the previous page.
Click Last to go to the last page. 56.2 Stock Search
Store Associates can use this feature on the handheld device to know the in- ventory available in different locations in the store, such as, Receiving Area, Backroom, Storage Area and Sales Floor. Following are the steps to be performed to search for a specific item:
1. Click the keyboard icon at the bottom of the screen to enter the SKU number or Scan product SKU using the barcode scan. NOTE: The application in the handheld device will check for any relevant messages in the message queue that are yet to be processed in OATxpress. The following warning message will be displayed, “Some dependent mes- sages are in queue. The data you see may not be up-to-date”. Click ok to continue.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 41 Scan Product SKU
Product Found 57.Click Search to search for the product. The Product is identified and the corresponding product information is displayed. An error message is dis- played if the product is not identified.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 42 Location of Product 58.Click New Product to stock search for another product. 59.Click ok to close the screen. NOTE: This scenario is not available in the offline mode. 59.1 Item Locator
Store Associates can use this feature on the handheld device to locate an item in the store, such as, Receiving Area, Backroom, Storage Area and Sales Floor. As the operator moves closer to the item, the frequency of beeps increases, and the progress bar advances. When the item is found, the beep sound changes, and the progress bar shows 100%. There are two ways to locate an item. They are:
Item Locator (by Product Scan)
Item Locator by EPC Scan 59.1.1Item Locator (by Product Scan)
Following are the steps to be performed to search for a specific item by Prod- uct Scan: NOTE: The handheld device screenshots of Item Locator has been taken with the handheld device Motorola MC 3090Z, while the others have been taken with the handheld device Symbol 9090. Item Locator does not work on Symbol 9090. 1. Barcode scan the product attribute (by default SKU), OR
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 43 60.Click the keyboard icon at the bottom of the screen to enter the product attribute.
Scan SKU
SKU to be Scanned 61.A screen with the list of products related to the scanned attribute (here SKU) is displayed.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 44 Product list with Selection 62.Select the products from the list and click the Inventory button to dis- play the inventory with locations.
List of Inventory Locations 63.A screen with selected products and their locations is displayed. 64.Deselect the products if they are not necessary, click Locate. The screen below is displayed.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 45 List of Locations with Product 65.Press the trigger of the handheld device to start locating the item. Start walking to the closest location with the handheld device with the trigger pressed.
Start Locating the Item 66.The handheld device starts locating the item. The progress bar and the audio beep frequency indicate the distance from the tag. As you get closer to the item, the frequency of beeps increases, and the progress bar advances. When the item is found, the beep sound changes, and the progress bar shows 100%.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 46 Item Found 67.Once the item is found, click Done to complete the process or select Next Item to locate another item of the same product, or, choose anoth- er product in the dropdown list to start the search for a different prod- uct. 67.1.1Item Locator by EPC Scan
Following are the steps to be performed to search for a specific item by EPC scan: 1. Scan the EPC.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 47 Scan EPC 68.A List of EPCs scanned is displayed.
Scanned EPCs 69.Select the EPC and click Search to find related products.
Select EPC 70.Products related to the scanned SKU are displayed.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 48 Product List with Selection 71.Select the necessary products and click Inventory to display product in- ventory list with their locations.
List of Inventory Locations 72.Deselect products if they are not necessary, click Locate. The screen be- low is displayed.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 49 List of Locations with Product 73.Press the trigger of the handheld device to start locating the item.
Start Locating the Item 74.The handheld device starts locating the item. The progress bar and the audio beep frequency indicate the distance from the tag. As you get closer to the tag, the progress bar advances and the audio beeps become more frequent.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 50 Item Found 75.Once the item is found click Done to complete the process, or select Next Item to locate another item of the same product, or choose anoth- er product in the dropdown list to start the search for a different prod- uct. 75.1 Point of sale (POS)
As items are sold, Store Associates cut the RFID labels and collect them in a bin. These tags are periodically scanned using a handheld device, which records the items as ‘Sold’ and removes them from store inventory. Following are the steps to be followed to retire the tags collected at the POS: 1. Scan the tags collected at the POS. The counter shows the total number of tags scanned.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 51 Product Information (Summary)
Product Information (Detail) 76.The screen displays the list of items read. 77.Click Submit to send the information to OATxpress.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 52 77.1 Fixed Reader at POS without the Hand- held Device
Fixed Readers are used to auto-retire the tagged items/EPCs at the Point Of Sale. This scenario is deployed where a fixed reader is installed at the POS sta- tions. One instance of the scenario should be deployed at each station. Inbound Messages from POS
OATxpress receives a list of EPCs to be retired/ returned, and processes them to show an accurate reflection of the inventory. This would come in very handy where there is no RFID reader integration with the POS. The scenario is trig- gered when one of the following three conditions is met: 1. When all the items are checked out and the store associate manually starts the scenario.
78.Start of the barcode scan of an item initiates the scenario. 79.Integration with customer POS systems. The scenario flow for Fixed Reader at the POS is as follows:
On a trigger EPCs are read. A Trigger can be a message from an external system, a digital input, or a barcode scan.
In case of an external system or digital input trigger, EPCs that have been read are deactivated (killed), and retired without any wait, if configured this way. This is because the trigger is expected only after the actual POS process (of scanning each product and placing it on a counter where the RFID reader can read the EPC) is complete.
In case a barcode scan is the trigger, the scenario receives the trigger when the first barcode is scanned for a customer. The Scenario continues to receive scanned values while the POS process goes on. The Scenario will stop reading EPCs after no EPCs are read for a configurable number of seconds (timeout). It verifies EPCs against the SKU, and deactivates (kills) only the verified EPCs, if configured this way. NOTE: The timeout is reset every time an EPC is read - there should be a quiet period of 'n' seconds with no EPC read for the process to stop reading and move to the next stage of retiring and deactivating tags. 79.1 Retirement
Retirement is a process by which a missing/inactive/damaged item is retired and the reason for retirement can be selected using the handheld device. Following are the steps involved in retiring an item: 1. Select the Retirement Reason from the dropdown list.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 53 Retirement Reasons 80.Scan the tags of the items to be retired.
Items Retired (Summary)
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 54 Items Retired (Detail) 81.Click Submit to submit the information to OATxpress.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 55 81.1 Returns
Following are the steps for taking returned items back into the store inventory: 1. Scan Product is highlighted on the screen indicating that scanning the product using the barcode scan of SKU or GTIN can begin. The SKU or GTIN can also be manually entered. 82.Click Submit (click OK in case of manual entry), to display the product information. 83.Scan the EPC barcode of the item.
Item Returned (Summary)
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 56 Item Returned (Detail) 84.Click Submit, when the EPC is verified, to return the item to the pre- configured location. 84.1 DC Pack
DC Pack is the process of tag-association as part of the Pack process. The hand- held device is used to conduct this process. Following are the steps involved in the DC Pack process: 1. Scan Product.
Scan SKU OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 57 85.Scan EPC.
Product Information (Summary)
Product Information (Detail) 86.An EPC is associated with the SKU. 87.Continue to scan Products/ EPC.
88.Scan that product’s SKU or GTIN if EPC Detection rules are configured (Settings > Application Settings > EPC Detection). The product will be automatically identified. Continue scanning EPCs. EPCs will be identified as well and associated to the latest identified product. See the Merchan-
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 58 dise Visibility Installation and Configuration Guide for more details on EPC Detection rules. 89.Click New Product to barcode scan items of another product, if EPC De- tection rules cannot be configured (for example, because multiple en- coding schemes and multiple EPC lengths are used, and no EPC prefixes are available) and EPCs cannot be reliably detected. 90.Once the session is complete, click Submit to complete the DC Pack process. This updates the product and EPC information in OATxpress. The EPCs are associated to the configured location for DC Packing. 91.Click New Product to scan a product. 91.1 DC Ship
DC Ship is the process to confirm (at a SKU-item level) the items shipped to a store, and verify it against the Picklist.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 59 Following are the steps involved in the DC Ship process: 1. Scan the tags to be shipped. The product information is displayed and the counter increments as displayed below.
Product information (Summary)
Product information (Detail) 92.Click Submit when all the EPCs are read. The message is sent to the OATxpress scenario.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 60 92.1 Label Print Scenario
Label Print scenario is an OATxpress scenario, which allows the user to print la- bels with product attributes (if any). Following are the steps involved in Label Print Scenario: 1. Click New Print Job to start the print job.
New Print Job 93.Select the Printer from the dropdown list. 94.Select the SKU and UOM from the dropdown list, 95.Specify the number of labels. 96.Specify the number of labels per EPC. 97.Click Add LineItem to add a new SKU for printing. 98.Click Print to start printing.
Select Printer
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 61 The following screen displays the status of the print job.
Print Task 98.1 Screen Layout and Description
Screen Layout The following table describes the icons and bars in the Screen Layout: Icon/ Bar Description
Window Title Bar
Guide Bar Count of EPCs
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 62 Icon/ Bar Description
Data Area
View Detail or Summary Submit Button Keyboard for UI entry Radio Frequency Power Indicates that OATxpress is connect- ed. Indicates that OATxpress is unavail- able. Indicates that there is enough storage space in the disk and in the queue to store offline messages. Indicates that the message queue size has reached the configured threshold value. Indicates that the disk space is not sufficient and no more data can be submitted. Status Bar NOTE: The status of the icons in the status bar is updated based on the status of the OATxpress connection. When OATxpress is offline, messages are displayed in the Pending Message list. These messages are sent to OATxpress once the connection is restored. They are displayed in the Recent Messages list. Pending messages and Recent mes- sages display the Activity Type and Response.
If the handheld device is restarted before the transfer of messages, the messages can be retrieved.
When you exit from OAT Merchandise Visibility if any pending messages are in the queue, the following message appears:
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 63 Message Processing
Click Yes to exit.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 64 99. Visualization
Visualization presents the location and details of items graphically. Items are shown as icons on the interior or exterior maps of a site. You can zoom, pan or scroll through maps, similar to Google™ Maps, to locate items in specific areas of the site. The quick search and filter features allow you to locate and track (respectively) items of inter- est. Maps can be organized in a hierarchy to help you to scroll up/down to the right level of detail. Areas in the map, such as rooms or aisles, can be marked as zones. Click these zones for location-specific information. Visualization is independent of the technology used to track the item. It is possible to graphically display the location of items tracked with Wi-Fi, Ultra-Wide Band, GPS over Wi-Fi and passive RFID tag technologies. This allows the customer to use differ- ent tracking technologies for different items, based on business requirements and technical constraints, while being able to visualize an integrated view of all the items. 99.1 Accessing Visualization
To access Visualization use the Visualization tab in the OATxpress Configuration Menu. Any OATxpress user with a User, Super-user, or Configuration Manager role will be able to access Visualization. Visualization can be used only after visualization configu- ration is complete. For details on visualization configuration refer to the OAT Mer- chandise Visibility Installation and Configuration Guide.
OATxpress Configuration Menu
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 65 99.2 Overview of Visualization Components
Following is an overview of Visualization Components: 99.2.1The Map Selector
The dropdown list on the left hand top corner represents the Map Selector. Map names for selection in this dropdown are arranged hierarchically based on the visual- ization configuration. For buildings with multiple floors or rooms with multiple aisles, the map selector hierarchy can be configured to show each floor as a unique map. (Refer to the OAT Merchandise Visibility Installation and Configuration Guide for visu- alization configuration details). Selecting a map name loads the respective map image on to the graphic container. When a map is loaded, the map selector will represent the corresponding map name.
Map Selector 99.2.2The GoTo Box
GoTo is an auto-complete text box that helps faster access to specific locations within any of the available maps. The sub locations within a map are called Zones. For auto completion, type the first letter of the location name for a list of all the location names / zones that match. Selecting a location name from the list loads that loca- tion’s parent map on the screen. The selected zone is then highlighted on the reload- ed map (with a black boundary), and is centered on the screen.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 66 GOTO Box and Map Hierarchy display 99.2.3Map Hierarchy Display
Next to the Go To box, a complete path of the map that is currently loaded is dis- played. This path may be displayed partially if the text is too long to accommodate it completely. The map hierarchy tooltip helps expand and display the entire path. 99.2.4The Graphic Container
A container is the biggest area on screen that contains a map when it is loaded and all its zones. When a map is loaded in the container, its zones are marked with an outline to distinguish them from the rest of the map. As most maps / floor plans are high resolution images, the container provides tools to view maps in detail. These tools are explained below. 99.2.4.1 Panning a map Pan a map using one of the following:
Click and drag a map to move it.
Use the directional arrows on the left hand corner within the container, to view a specific area of the map.
Use Fit to Screen icon on the left hand corner within the container, to centre and fit the map to the screen. 99.2.4.2 Zooming in and out of a map Use one of the following to zoom in and out of a map:
Move the slider available on the left hand corner of the container to zoom in and out of a map.
Roll the mouse wheel forward to zoom in and backward to zoom out of a map.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 67 Navigation tools 99.2.4.3 The Navigator Box The Navigator box shows a bird’s eye view of the map that is currently loaded. On click the Navigator at the bottom left side of the container helps open the Navigator Box. The shaded area in the Navigator Box corresponds to the area currently viewed on the screen. Click and drag the shaded area to move the map. Dragging or panning a map on the container reflects the same operation within the navigator and vice versa. Clicking the downward facing arrow inside the navigator box minimizes it. 99.3 Zones
A zone is a term used for a specific location within a specific map. These locations are typically Oat business locations. Zones are marked on a map based on the polygon configurations specified in the visualization configuration file. When scenarios asso- ciate product to specific business locations, such associations are displayed on the vi- sualization screen within the respective zones in the form of a count within zones. Only zones that have such product associations are clickable on the User Interface. On clicking such a zone will mark the zone with a black boundary and will display the Lo- cation Properties in the properties panel. 99.4 Properties Panel
One or more products can be associated to specific zones. The number of products that are associated to a zone is represented by a number within the specific zone. On clicking such a zone the respective product details will be shown on the Properties Panel. A properties panel pops up on the right hand corner of the graphic container. It comprises of 2 tabs. (Location properties and Product properties).
Location properties: On clicking a zone, the zone name and all the products that be- long to that zone are displayed in the Location Properties tab. Products are displayed in a tree structure displaying individual counts of how many unique items of each product type are associated to that zone. Additionally, custom lists display additional information specific to a zone. The num- ber of custom lists to show such information is configurable. For example, a list of all the OAT scenarios that are related to that specific zone / business location can be
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 68 listed in the location properties panel. Similarly, a list of all the OAT reports that can be run against the selected zone can also be listed. Titles for these lists, the amount of space they must occupy in the properties panel (percentage) and their style (num- bered or bulleted list style) are all configurable. Refer to the OAT Merchandise Visibil- ity Installation and Configuration Guide for details.
Location Properties Product Properties: Selecting a specific product from the products tree on the Loca- tion Properties tab, populates the Product Properties tab with that selected product’s details. Like the product name, icon, product attributes etc.
Product Properties 99.4.1Navigational aids for the Properties Panel
Navigational Aids Located at Use
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 69 Properties Pan- Location proper- el ties describe the overall contents of a zone, whereas Product properties tab shows specifics of a selected prod- uct. Bottom left of Resize the panel. the Properties Panel Product Proper- Displays product ties Tab specific attributes and values. At- tributes and values are sortable. X button Properties Pan- Location proper- el ties describe the overall contents of a zone, whereas Product properties tab shows specifics of a selected prod- uct. The details of the products that show in the Location and Product Properties panel are configurable. Refer to the OAT Merchandise Visibility Installation and Configura- tion Guide for configuration details. 99.5 Quick Search
The Quick Search allows users to search for a specific product. This search will help users identify where on the currently loaded map that product exists and displays the product’s most recent properties. The search criteria for identifying the products (such as product name, SKU etc) are configurable. This will allow users to choose any product attribute to be used for search depending on their business needs. If for ex- ample a product SKU is configured to be the search criteria, then a simple barcode scan on the item SKU will help identify the item’s location on map. A quick search results in displaying the following: Marking the exact locations of the specific item on the map (that is, the respective zones where that item is available are marked in green).
The zone count is changed representing the quantity of that searched item in the zones, where it is identified.
Filters out or hides all other product counts from all the other zones.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 70 Quick Search Panel for looking up other related products. 99.5.1Quick Search Panel
Quick search results in not just identifying the searched item but gives users the op- tions for looking up related items. Related items could mean items that belong to the same product type but have different unique SKUs based on the product attributes. These options for further selection are configurable (refer to OAT Merchandise Visibil- ity Installation and Configuration Guide for configuration details). Selecting one of the specified options will then isolate or highlight items on the map that match the se- lected option criteria. When the quick search criteria specified in the Quick Search box does not relate to any existing products on the map, the quick search panel specifies that there are no matching results accordingly and thus none of the zones are highlighted. When you switch maps, (using the Map selector or the GOTO box) while the filter result is being viewed, the same filter conditions will be applied on the current map that is being loaded. Switching maps does not invalidate the filter conditions that have already been selected.
Quick Search Output 99.6 Keyboard Shortcuts
Following are the Keyboard shortcuts in Visualization: Keys Shortcut Zoom in Ctrl,+ or mouse wheel Zoom out Ctrl,- or mouse wheel Moving the map Ctrl, Arrow Keys Execute Search Ctrl, Enter Close Search Esc Drop down Map Selector Ctrl M
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 71 100. Reports
This chapter provides details of reports available as part of OAT Merchandise Visibili- ty. Some of the reports allow flexible search options, for instance Partial or Wildcard Search on Product name, Description and Search by Attributes (for example, Size, Col- or, Department, Category, and Manufacturer). Descriptions for each report, includes report prompts and the output. A further drilldown of reports can be generated by clicking the parameter. Drilldown reports are discussed wherever applicable. The following reports can be generated:
Primary Inventory Report
Missing/Inactive Items Report
Sold and Retired Report
Associate Activity Report
Historical Inventory Report
Picklist Report
Receiving Activity Report
Out of Stock Report NOTE: Ensure to select appropriate attributes of the products and the logic AND or OR for filtering in all the report. In Product Attribute, on checking Edit Expressions, wild cards * and ? should not be used in value box.
Report Page
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 72 100.1 Primary Inventory Report
This report provides users the facility to look up the current inventory of item(s) available at various locations in the store, for example, Receiving, Backroom, and Sales Floor. It also has the functionality to alert/identify the items that should be moved from the backroom to the storefront – Restock. Prerequisites for using this report are as follows:
Inventory target for sales floor SKU’s are configured/loaded into the system.
Tagging and receiving of all tracked SKUs is complete.
Cycle Counts in both front and back room is complete. Front room Cycle Counting is required if tagged items are kept on the sales floor.
Timely retirement of sold, shipped, missing, and exception items is complete. The report has capabilities to filter data by part of a product. OATxpress tracks each item EPC separately and the history of an individual item is available in reports. Inventory calculation: The inventory at a location changes whenever an item moves in or out of that location. Increasing inventory at a location: The only way for an item to be added at a location is for it to be read at that location. If read multiple times at the same location (with- out moving to another location), subsequent reads verify the current location. Decreasing inventory at location: An item is to be removed from its last location if any of the following occur:
It is read at another location.
The item is recorded as sold.
The item is recorded as retired (typically after being noted as missing).
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 73 Report Prompts
The report prompt screen is shown below:
Primary Inventory Report Prompt
Select the Site Identifier from the dropdown list.
Enter the Product Name.
Enter the SKU.
Check Edit Expressions for Product Attributes for specifying the product based search filters.
Click Run Report to generate Report.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 74 Report Output
The report output screen is shown below:
Primary Inventory Report (i)
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 75 Primary Inventory Report (ii)
Display Column Description Total Inventory Total inventory in the store. Receiving Inventory Inventory in the Receiving location. Backroom Inventory Inventory in the Backroom location. Salesfloor Inventory Inventory in the Sales floor location. Other Inventory Inventory at other locations
Display Column Description SKU SKU of the item. Description Description of the item.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 76 Display Column Description Size Size of the item. Total count of the items for a specific SKU in the Total store. Receiving Number of items in the receiving room. Number of items of a specific SKU available in the Backroom backroom. Number of items of a specific SKU available in the Salesfloor sales floor. Other Number of items at other inventory locations. Target presentation value on the Sales Floor, that is, Target Sales Floor threshold. Number of items of a specific type that has to be Restock moved from other inventory locations to the Sales Floor. NOTE: Color black indicates that the item is in stock and in shelf. Color blue indicates that the item is in stock but not in shelf. Color red indicates that the item is neither in stock nor in shelf. Check Restock Only box and Click Search Again to display only SKUs with data in Re- stock Column. This Report can be drilled down by clicking SKU for the SKU Detail Re- port.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 77 100.1.1 SKU Detail Report Report Output
The report output screen is shown below:
SKU Detail Report
Display Column Description EPC EPC of a particular type of item. Location Location where the EPC was last read. Last Seen Time Time and Date, the EPC was last read. Last Seen Read Point The Read Point location. NOTE: The SKU Detail Report can be further drilled down by clicking on the EPC for an EPC History Report.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 78 100.1.2 EPC History Report Report Output
The report output screen is shown below:
EPC History Report
Display Column Description Location Business Location where the EPC was seen. Read Time Date and Time the item tag was read. Read Point Location of Read Point.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 79 100.2 Missing/Inactive Items Report
This report lists the latest activity for the items based on the last seen time read and last seen location read, at a given location within a chosen time window. This report can be used to identify items that have been not read since a chosen time and (op- tionally) retire them manually by clicking on the “retire” option. Report Prompts
The report prompt screen is shown below:
Missing/Inactive Items Report Prompt
Select the Site Identifier from the dropdown list.
Select the Location for which the Missing/Inactive items are to be reported. Single/ multiple/ all/ none of the Location can be selected.
Enter the Product Name.
Enter the SKU.
Check Edit Expressions for Product Attributes to search by Product Attribute filters.
Select one of the following radio buttons for Mode:
Missing Since - to find the inventories missing since the selected Date-Time.
Read Since - to find the inventories read since the selected Date-Time.
Select/ Input the Date (mm/dd/yyyy) and Time for which the Missing/Inactive Item search is conducted.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 80 Click Run Report to generate the Report. Report Output
The report output screen is shown below:
Missing/Inactive Items Report
Display Column Description EPC All EPCs. SKU SKU of the particular EPC. Description Description of the item. Size Size of the item. Location Location where the item was last seen. Last Seen Time Date and time the item was last located. Last Seen ReadPoint Read Point where the item was last read. Retire Select the checkbox to Retire the item
To Retire an item (EPC), select the reason for Retirement from the drop down list.
The MV application provides a standard set of retirement reason codes, but the reason codes can be configured as per customer preferences.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 81 Retirement Reasons
Confirm Retire with the selected Reason. NOTE: The default Merchandise Visibility Handheld Association Scenario instance should be running for the retirement to happen.
Retirement Confirmation
EPCs can be clicked for further details to get EPC History Report.This drill-down report provides a chronological view of the lifecycle of the item at the store – listing the var- ious locations where it was detected, starting from Receiving.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 82 100.3 Sold and Retired Report
The Sold and Retired Report lists all the tags that are sold or retired. Report Prompts
The report prompt screen is shown below:
Sold and Retired Report Prompt
Select the Site Identifier from the dropdown list.
Enter the Product Name.
Enter the SKU.
Check Edit Expressions for Product Attributes to search by Product Attribute filters.
Enter the ‘From’ and ‘To’ Date and Time for which the Sold and Retire Search Report has to be generated.
Click Run Report to generate the Sold and Retired Report.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 83 Report Output
The report output screen is shown below:
Sold and Retired Report
Display Column Description EPC EPC of the item. SKU SKU of the item. Description Description of the item. Size Size of the item. Retirement Reason Code Reason for Retirement Retirement Time Date and Time, the EPC was retired. Click on the EPC of the item to get the EPC History Report. .
EPC History Report (for Sold and Retired Report)
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 84 NOTE: The parameters for this report are explained in EPC History Re- port. 100.4 Cycle Count Discrepancy Report
This report can be used to validate the completeness/accuracy of a Cycle Count by means of comparing the number of items counted (by SKU) with the inventory expect- ed at that location, as maintained in OATxpress. The report displays by Supplier/SKU, the count of items Cycle Counted and the variance since the chosen time. Once the cycle counting has been completed, this report helps the operator to identi- fy the SKU/brand of items that have significant gaps (between inventory and cycle count values). The operator can then perform cycle counting in those specific areas of backroom or front room, where the particular brands are stored. Report Prompts
The report prompt screen is shown below:
Cycle Count Discrepancy Report Prompt
Select the Site Identifier from the dropdown list.
Select the Location where Cycle Counting has been completed and for which discrepancy analysis is required.
Select the Date and Time. NOTE: All the EPCs not Cycle Counted since this time, and in system inventory, are reported as missing. The Default Value is Midnight and Current Day.
Click Run Report. Report Output
The report output screen is shown below:
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 85 Cycle Count Discrepancy Report
Display Column Description Supplier Supplier. Inventory Number of items in the inventory. Item Cycle Counted Number of items Cycle Counted. Difference between the Inventory and the Items Cy- Difference cle Counted. Percentage Percentage of Items Cycle Counted. Clicking on the Supplier provides a detailed report for the Cycle Count Discrepancy by SKU for a particular Supplier. 100.4.1 Cycle Count Discrepancy By SKU
Cycle Count Discrepancy By SKU NOTE: The Report Output is similar to the Report Output for the Cycle Count Dis- crepancy Report. This report displays the details of the SKU.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 86 100.5 Associate Activity Report
This report is envisioned to be used by supervisors and managers to monitor staff compliance. It provides a history of all Cycle Counting operations conducted by vari- ous sales associates/partners in the store. It displays the following information by As- sociate for each day of the week.
Number of Cycle Counts performed
Average items counted per stock count
Average duration per count Report Prompts
The report prompt screen is shown below:
Associate Activity Report Prompt
Select the Site Identifier from the dropdown list.
Enter the Date for which the Associate Activity Search Report is generated. NOTE: The Report is generated for the whole week. The week is defined from "Sunday" to "Saturday" In the system. The user can select any date that falls in the middle of the week, for example, 9/19/07 (Wednesday), in which case the Week starting 8/17/07 (Sunday) is included in the report results.
Click Run Report to generate the Report. Report Output
The report output screen is shown below:
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 87 Associate Activity Report
Display Column Description Associate The Sales Associate name. Counts Number of Cycle Counts performed. Items (Avg) Average number of items Cycle Counted. Duration (Avg) Average duration of each Cycle Count.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 88 100.6 Historical Inventory Report
This report lets the store associates track the inventory movements in various loca- tions of the store for example, Receiving, Backroom, and Sales Floor as of any past date. Report Prompts
The report prompt screen is shown below:
Historical Inventory Report Prompt
Select the Site Identifier from the dropdown list.
Enter the Date for which Inventory Search has to be carried out.
Click Run Report to generate the Report.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 89 Report Output
The report output screen is shown below:
Historical Inventory Report
Display Column Description SKU SKU of the item. Description Description of the item. Size Size of the item. Total Total number of the specific items. Receiving Number of specific items received. Back Room Number of specific items available in the Backroom. Number of specific items available in other inventory Other locations. Sales floor Number of specific items available in the Sales floor. NOTE: Color Red indicates Total Inventory =0 and Yellow indicates either Sales Floor or Backroom=0 100.7 Picklist Report
This report is used to display information on all the Picklists requested by store asso- ciates for a given date. The Picklist Report displays items for which the Sales Floor in-
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 90 ventory has fallen below the expected threshold and has inventory in the Backroom/Storage locations which can be used for restocking. Report Prompts
The report prompt screen is shown below:
Picklist Report Prompt
Select the Site Identifier from the dropdown list.
Enter the Date for which Picklist Search has to be carried out.
Click Run Report to generate the Report. Report Output
The report output screen is shown below:
Picklist Report
Display Column Description Associate who requested the Picklist generation on the Partner handheld device. Time the Picklist was requested by the associate on the Time Generated handheld device. The Picklist report can be further drilled down by clicking Time Generated. Click
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 91 Time Generated for the Picklist Detail Report. 100.7.1 Picklist Detail Report Report Output
The report output screen is shown below:
Picklist Detail Report
Display Column Description SKU SKU of the item. Description Description of the item. Location Location where the items are available. Quantity Number of items available. 100.8 Receiving Activity Report
The Receiving Report is used to review/track the Receiving Activity at a store as of a certain date range (could be a date in the past). The report retrieves and displays the dates in the week when Receiving activity took place at the store (subject to any Search Criteria specified). Report Prompts
The report prompt screen is shown below:
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 92 Receiving Activity Report Prompt
Select the Site Identifier from the dropdown list.
Enter the Product name for which the search is conducted.
Enter the SKU.
Check Edit expressions for Product Attributes to search by Product Attribute filters.
Enter the From and To date and time.
Click Run Report to generate the report.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 93 Report Output
The report output screen is shown below:
Receiving Activity Report
Display Column Description Receiving Date Date the items were received. Item Count Number of items received on a particular date. The Receiving Report can be further drilled down for a Receiving SKU Detail Report by clicking on the Receiving Date or the Item Count.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 94 100.8.1 Receiving Activity SKU Detail Report Report Output
The report output screen is shown below:
Receiving SKU Detail Report
Display Column Description SKU SKU of the items. Description Description of the items. Item Count Number of items of a particular SKU. The Receiving SKU Detail Report can be further drilled down by clicking the Item Count or the SKU for a Receiving Activity Item Details Report. Click on View All SKU Item Data for the Receiving Activity All Item SKU Details Report.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 95 100.8.2 Receiving Activity Item Details Report Report Output
The report output screen is shown below:
Receiving Activity Item Details Report
Display Column Description EPC EPC of the item. Receiving Time Date and time of receiving the item. Operator Associate who received the item. Attribute Attribute of the item. Receiving ReadPoint Read Point at which the item was received.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 96 Re- ports
100.8.3 Receiving Activity All Item SKU Details Report Report Output
The report output screen is shown below:
Receiving Activity All Item SKU Details Report
Display Column Description SKU SKU of the items. Description Description of the items. EPC EPC of the item. Receiving Time Date and time of receiving the item. Operator Associate who received the item. Attribute Attribute of the item. Receiving ReadPoint Read Point at which the item was received.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 97 Re- ports
100.9 Out of Stock Report
The Out of Stock Report is used to find out the time, at which the product went out of stock at a location, the inventory of that product at other locations, and the time at which that product was replenished at that location (if replenished). It is also used to know how efficiently products that are out of stock at a location are replenished. This report is generated at location type level. For example, out of stock is tracked at Sales Floor as the location; even if there are multiple sub-locations within the Sales Floor, out of stock at the sub-locations are not tracked. By default, this report tracks the out of stock condition only at backroom, layaway, storage area and sales floor location types. See the OAT Merchandise Visibility Instal- lation and Configuration Guide for instructions to modify the location types that are tracked. There may be a large number of products configured in the system, but many of them may not be seen in the store. The report will not list these unused products. For the product to appear in the Out Of Stock Report, at least one item of the product should have existed in the location and then moved to a different location type, sold or re- tired. Report Prompts
The report prompt screen is shown below:
Out of Stock Report Prompt
Enter the SKU and click on Add a Product button to choose a list of products for filtering the Out Of Stock Report. Click Remove to remove the product from the list. This is an optional parameter. If no products are selected then the report will show information for all the products.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 98 Re- ports
Select Products
Select the site from the Site Identifier dropdown. This is a required parameter.
Select one or multiple Location Subtypes. You can do multiple selections by holding the ctrl button and clicking on an item. This is a required parameter. Note that the prompt refers ‘location subtype’ and not ‘location type’. This is the technical term defined by a standard.
Enter the date and time from which the Out Of Stock Report has to be generated in the From Date field.
Enter the date and time to which the Out Of Stock Report has to be generated in the To Date field.
Click Run Report to generate the report.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 99 Re- ports
Report Output
The report output screen is shown below:
Out of Stock Report
Display Column Description SKU SKU of the item. Product Name Description of the item. Size Size of the item. The location type at which the out of stock is Location Type being reported. The time at which the item went out of stock at Out Of Stock Time the location type. Inv. at Out Of Stock The number of items available at locations other OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 100 Re- ports Display Column Description than this location type. The time at which the item was replenished at Replenishment Time the location type. NOTE: Color black indicates that the location went out of stock but has been re- plenished. Color blue indicates that the item went out of stock at the location but has not been replenished yet. Color red indicates that the item went out of stock at the location but there are no items available anywhere to replenish. The Report as of date is the date and time at which the out of stock data was gathered by the server.
OAT Merchandise Visibility User Guide 101