The i2 Difference:
From Weekly Forecasts to a Daily POScast™
Automated Retail Link Analysis
for Proactive Wal-Mart Replenishment
i2 Point-of-Sale Demand Sensing™ (i2 PDS) is the only solution designed to deliver true, automated exception manage-ment, giving Retail Link® replenishment analysts the ability to proactively respond to issues and opportunities. i2 Point-of-Sale Demand Sensing does more than just provide backward-looking reports on exceptions; Point-of-Sale Demand Sensing brings together all of the elements necessary to proactively manage the entire life cycle of the exception, from inception to identification to root cause analysis to resolution. These powerful capabilities add up to make i2 POS Demand Sensing the only comprehensive automated Retail Link replenishment solution for timely decision-making for every store, every SKU, every day.
Automated Data Evaluation
and Proactive Issue Identification
i2 POS Demand Sensing leverages your own business rules to automatically evaluate your daily store/SKU-level Retail Link POS data and other relevant information to proactively identify both current and future exceptions. These issues are presented, prioritized, and continuously updated, so you always know where to focus your attention.
Instead of spending hours tediously poring through spreadsheets and reports to uncover exceptions, you are able to maximize your time. You can take informed actions on issues within critical windows of opportunity—before an item either stocks-out or falls below an acceptable presentation quantity, during an active promotion, or before excesses are created
at the store.
Automated Root-Cause Analysis
With every issue identified, i2 POS Demand Sensing automatically determines and presents a root cause according to your organization’s business rules and your retailer’s require-ments. Behind-the-scenes analysis first rules out any internal supply chain causes like missed, short, or late deliveries. The solution then looks for store-related root causes like higher-than-expected demand, on-hand adjustments, or incorrect Retail Link settings. i2 POS Demand Sensing eliminates the need to run additional reports or log into multiple systems to investigate issues; with the click
of a mouse, you can easily navigate the status of every exception, including changes made to Retail Link settings, POS analysis, and order fulfillment analysis. When you’re ready to take action, you can email internal and external individuals right from the i2 Point-of-Sale Demand Sensing system, attaching any relevant analysis as the fact-based evidence to support recommendations for change.
Targeted Capabilities for Ongoing
Continuous Improvement
i2 POS Demand Sensing captures every exception, the action taken to resolve each, and the business context at the time the issue occurred, storing this data in a repository for future historical analysis. Armed with the hard facts about when, where, and why exceptions have occurred, users are able to more confidently recommend changes in business processes and retail policies to avoid repeating these problems in the future. What’s more, this repository of valuable data provides a solid foundation for fact-based selling back to Wal-Mart as well as to other internal groups.
Automated Business-AppropriateResolution Recommendations
i2 Point-of-Sale Demand Sensing not only identifies issues, but delivers them to you with resolution recommendations that make sense for your business and the situation, giving you several appropriate options from which to make an informed decision. These recommendations are automatically generated based on your business rules and best practices. i2 POS Demand Sensing leverages the most up-to-date information available to present only the strategies
that will effectively resolve the issue. For example, when i2 POS Demand Sensing proactively identifies a store that is running out of stock, the system will automatically present the distribution centers where replenishable inventory exists, orders that could be diverted, or your options for expediting—all without putting other stores at risk for stocking out.
Automated Issue and Strategy Tracking
i2’s built-in workflow keeps track of the issues for which you’re responsible and the actions you’ve already taken to address them. When an exception first appears on your list, it is identified as “new.” Once you take a look at it, the exception is automatically classified as “open.” When you take an action to address the issue, but are awaiting resolution, the issue moves to a “pending” status—for example, you’ve submitted a recommendation for a replenishment order, but are waiting for it to be accepted by Wal-Mart. Once the issue is resolved, it moves into the “closed” category, where it is saved for you to reference later on. If, for example, the replenish-ment order is not accepted by Wal-Mart within the timeframe you designate, the issue will move back to “new,” so you can take further action. This organized approach enables you to focus on the exceptions that require your attention, without the distraction of issues you’ve already tackled. Issues will not be repeatedly presented to you as noisy alerts, but rather will self-update as business conditions change.
Real-Time Replenishment Monitoring
Leveraging the most current Retail Link data available, i2 Point-of-Sale Demand Sensing presents comprehensive, graphical insight into your organization’s replenishment performance. These real-time dashboards deliver a continuous pulse of the business, keeping you on top of trends and metrics, so you are never surprised at the end of the week, month, or quarter. The drag-and-drop configuration shows the information you want, the way you want, automatically refreshed with the most up-to-date analysis. For example:
- Current in-stock percentage for your top 20 SKUs
as of last night
- Performance of promoted items on day one
of the promotion
- Fill rate as of last night for your top 10 SKUsEstimated lost sales of stocked-out SKUs over
the last two weeks
- New product introduction performance during
the first days of an introduction
The Next Step? Value Impact Analysis
i2’s Value Impact Analysis will show you how you can improve your organization’s replenishment performance in a matter of weeks. By analyzing two weeks’ worth
of your Retail Link data, we will quantify how our product can help you capture millions of dollars in additional potential annual profits by proactively responding to stock-outs, excess conditions, forecast variances, and store anomalies. To get started, contact us today.
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