About Safety Stock and Available to Promise Inventory

Overview

ROM provides inventory visibility at either the enterprise level or at the seller level, depending on your setup and current touchpoint. This drives product visibility on webstores and confirms inventory through the lifecycle of the shopping experience. This topic explains how the ROM inventory touchpoints and safety stock rules interact to provide this visibility.

Inventory Touchpoints

Inventory visibility is available via the touchpoints shown in the following table.

Touchpoint	Purpose	Sender	Frequency	Level
ATP The quantity of inventory that can be used to fulfill orders on or before a specific date. Also called Available to Promise. Feed	Used to "light up" products on a website (Category Listing, Search Results, and so on) when inventory is available to sell.	ROM sends to client.	Full daily extract, with delta updates every 30 minutes.	Seller A seller is part of an organization. It can represent a sales channel, geographic region, or line of business. Organizations can have more than one seller, but a seller can have only one organization. level
Quantity Request API	Provides aggregated ATP inventory for a specific product within an Inventory Org or a Seller. Often requested when the shopper is viewing a Product Detail page and then adds the product to the cart.**	Webstore service call to ROM	On demand.	Inventory Org level or Seller level.*
In-Store Inventory Quantity API	Checks in-store inventory for an item in one or more stores. Often requested with In-Store Pickup A fulfillment process in which the shopper picks up orders in a retail store rather than having the orders shipped. Also called ISPU. See also Ship to Store. fulfillment type orders.	Webstore service call to ROM	On demand.	Specific to a node specified by the webstore
Inventory Detail API	Provides validation of inventory and estimated delivery date per line item. Identifies the sourcing locations for each item, which is necessary for origin-based taxes. Generally done when a shipping method is added to an order.	Webstore service call to ROM	On demand.	Specific to a node specified by the webstore
Reservation API (Create Allocation API)	Soft allocates inventory immediately after the order is submitted. It holds the inventory from the time the shopper begins the submit order process and the time the order is created. It prevents overselling by stopping another shopping session from reserving the inventory while the current submit order is processing.	Webstore service call to ROM	On demand

* The default is Inventory Org level. A separate configuration is required for ATP by Seller; for details, see Manage Node Groups. You should only use ATP by Seller if you sell in multiple countries, share the same product catalog across multiple countries, and have sourcing restrictions on where order lines can be sourced from based on the seller webstore that originated the order.

** When using the Quantity Request API:

• By Seller: Assign all nodes that are enabled for availability to a Node Group A collection of fulfillment nodes with a Seller ID.
• By Inventory Org: Leave the Seller ID field blank on all Node A fulfillment location. Can be a distribution center, dropshipper, or retail store. Groups.

ATP + Safety Stock

Safety stock acts as a buffer to ensure that not all inventory is promised online. This is a bigger challenge in an omnichannel environment than it is in a non-omnichannel environment. The ATP inventory calculation takes numerous variables into consideration, including safety stock. This section explains the safety stock calculation methods, safety stock rules, and how the rules interact with the ATP touchpoints.

Safety Stock Calculation Levels

Safety stock is normally calculated at the Inventory Org level; however, it can be calculated at the Seller level. The calculation level is set before launch; you cannot change it. Inventory Org level calculations affect all Sellers across the organization. Seller level safety stock is useful if your organization has Sellers located in different countries, where Sellers might need different safety stock levels due to fluctuations in demand or supply in each particular country.

Safety Stock Calculation Methods

ROM has two calculation methods:

• Deduct First: Ties safety stock to a node level. The safety stock is first deducted from each node, and then the remaining inventory is aggregated.
• Aggregate First: Does not tie safety stock to a node level. The inventory is aggregated across applicable nodes and then the safety stock is deducted.

For both calculations methods, when the supply quantity drops to negative after safety stock application, inventory is set to 0 for that level.

Deduct First Safety Stock Rules

ROM currently supports the following Deduct First global safety stock rules. As you set up safety stock rules in the ROM user interface, keep in mind that:

• When you use these rules, you cannot configure safety stock at the Seller level.
• More than one Deduct First safety stock rule can be configured.
• When Deduct First safety stock rules are configured, the ATP Feed does not deduct any safety stock. The ATP Feed only considers the Aggregate First safety stock rules.
• Only one safety stock rule can deduct the supply quantity.
• When Deduct First safety stock rules are configured, the rule hierarchy is  applied in the following priority order for both the Quantity Request and Inventory Detail calls:
  1. If a Node Item is set up, then use the Node Item safety stock rule.
  2. If no Node Item set up, and a Node Type Indicates the kind of node; for example, Retail Store, Distribution Center, Dropshipper, and so on. Item is set up, then use the Node Type Item safety stock rule.
  3. If no Node Item or Node Type Item are set up, then use the Node Item Attribute safety stock rule.
  4. If no Node Item, Node Type Item, or Node Item Attribute are set up, then use the Node Type Item Attribute safety stock rule.
  5. If no Node Item, Node Type Item, Node Item Attribute, or Node Type Item Attribute is set up, then use the Global Node Type safety stock rule.
  6. If no Node Item, Node Type Item, Node Item Attribute, Node Type Item Attribute, or Global Node Type is set up, then use the Global Supply The quantity of product that is currently available (On Hand supply) or will be available in the future (PO, INTRANSIT). safety stock rule.

The following examples assume that ATP is being returned at the Inventory Org level.

Node Item Safety Stock

Example

Node Type Item Safety Stock

Example

Node Item Attribute Safety Stock

Example

Node Type Item Attribute Safety Stock

Example

Global Node Type Safety Stock

Example

Global Supply Safety Stock

Example

Aggregate First Safety Stock Rules

ROM currently supports the following Aggregate First global safety stock rule types:

• Aggregated Global

• Aggregated Global Node Type

• Aggregated Global Node Type Item

• Aggregated Global Node Type Item Attribute

Notes:

• When an Aggregate First safety stock rule is configured, do not configure any other rules because the calculation method is different. The user interface allows you to configure other safety stock rules, but Radial does not recommend this practice.
• When an Aggregate First safety stock rule is configured, the ATP Feed deducts the configured safety stock.
• If the Safety Stock rule is set to Seller, then this rule aggregates the safety stock across all nodes/node types at the specified Seller. You can only set Seller level safety stock when you use these rules.

The following example assumes that ATP is being returned at the Inventory Org level.

Aggregate First Safety Stock

Example

Seller Level Safety Stock

When an Administrator sets up safety stock rules and values with Seller Level Safety Stock, the values apply to the Seller that the Administrator is working with. Moreover, the Seller level values can only be set when the Aggregate First Safety Stock Rules are used. The following examples show how Seller Level Safety Stock is allocated and sourced, and how the ATP inventory is calculated.

Note: Seller Level Safety Stock is set at the Inventory Org level by Radial Administrators.

Assume that SuperMart is the Inventory Org. SuperMart has three Sellers:

• SuperMart France (SM-FRA)
• SuperMart Germany (SM-GER)
• SuperMart Belgium (SM-BEL)

Safety Stock Settings by Seller

Eligible Nodes for Sellers

ATP Calculation

ATP by Seller

The following example illustrates how the ATP by Seller feature works with the Quantity Request API.

Setup

Assume that the following node groups have been set up to handle ATP by Seller.

Italy: Seller Id TMSEB2

• Node 100801- Italy DC
• Node 100802 - Rome, Italy Store
• Node 100803- Milan, Italy Store

Czech Republic: Seller Id TMSEB3

• Node 100804- Czech Republic DC
• Node 100805 - Prague, Czech Republic Store

Slovakia: Seller Id TMSEB4

• Node 100804 - Czech Republic DC
• Node 100806 - Bratislava, Slovakia Store
• Node 100807 - Trnava, Sloakia Store

Example of Seller ATP Being Returned

The following table shows the setup and sourcing restrictions.

Here's the onhand inventory and eligibility.

The Quantity Request API returns the following ATP at the Seller level.

If ATP by Seller was not configured, then the Quantity Request API returns the ATP at the Inventory Org level.

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