Sterling Store Inventory

Management: Concepts
Guide
Release 9.1
 Copyright
This edition applies to the 9.1 Version of IBM® Sterling Store Inventory Management and
to all subsequent releases and modifications until otherwise indicated in new editions.
Before using this information and the product it supports, read the information in “Notices”
on page 27.
Licensed Materials - Property of IBM
IBM® Sterling Store Inventory Management
© Copyright IBM Corp. 2006 - 2011. All Rights Reserved.
US Government Users Restricted Rights - Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA
ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corp.

ii Concepts Guide
 Contents

Preface
Intended Audience ....................................................................................... vii
Structure .................................................................................................... vii
Documentation ............................................................................................ vii
Conventions .................................................................................................xi

1 IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management Overview

1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................... 1
1.2 Business Challenges ............................................................................ 1
1.3 Benefits of the IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management ........................ 3
1.4 A Networked Solution .......................................................................... 3
1.5 Process Centric Configurations .............................................................. 4
1.6 Inventory Management ........................................................................ 4
1.7 Outbound Planning and Execution ......................................................... 4
1.7.1 Shipping ....................................................................................... 5
1.7.2 Shipout......................................................................................... 5
1.8 Alert and Event Management ................................................................ 5
1.9 Comprehensive Product Management..................................................... 5
1.10 Complete Visibility............................................................................... 5
1.11 Optimized Operations .......................................................................... 6
1.12 Radio Frequency Identification .............................................................. 6
1.13 Return On Investment Driven by the IBM Sterling Store Inventory
Management ...................................................................................... 6
1.14 IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management Users ..................................... 9

iii
2 IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management Features
2.1 Overview ......................................................................................... 11
2.2 Store Configuration ........................................................................... 11
2.3 Create a Store .................................................................................. 12
2.4 Modify a Model Store ......................................................................... 13
2.5 Modify Store Processes ...................................................................... 13
2.6 Store Layout..................................................................................... 13
2.7 Define Locations................................................................................ 13
2.8 Devices............................................................................................ 14
2.9 Inventory Item Setup ........................................................................ 14
2.10 Inventory Control .............................................................................. 14
2.11 Inventory Adjustments....................................................................... 15
2.12 Inventory Searches ........................................................................... 15
2.13 Inventory Moves ............................................................................... 16
2.14 Inventory Audits ............................................................................... 16
2.15 Counts............................................................................................. 17
2.16 Cycle Count ...................................................................................... 17
2.17 Physical Count .................................................................................. 18
2.18 Manage Locations.............................................................................. 19
2.19 Receive Inventory ............................................................................ 19
2.20 Inbound Planning .............................................................................. 20
2.21 Inbound Execution ............................................................................ 20
2.22 Manage Users ................................................................................... 21
2.23 Shipping .......................................................................................... 21
2.24 Print Pick Tickets ............................................................................... 22
2.25 Search Shipments ............................................................................. 22
2.26 Record Back Room Pick ...................................................................... 23
2.27 Record Customer Pick ........................................................................ 23
2.28 Create Bill Of Lading .......................................................................... 23
2.29 Add Shipments to Manifest ................................................................. 24
2.30 Alerts .............................................................................................. 24

Notices

iv Concepts Guide
 Trademarks.................................................................................................30

Index

v
vi Concepts Guide
 Preface

This manual provides a brief glimpse into the IBM® Sterling Store
Inventory Management and lists its various features.

Intended Audience
This manual is intended to provide assistance to all users of the Sterling
Store Inventory Management.

Structure
This document contains the following chapters:

Chapter 1, "IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management Overview"

This chapter introduces the Sterling Store Inventory Management and
provides an insight into the business challenges, benefits, and scope of
the Sterling Store Inventory Management.

Chapter 2, "IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management Features"

This chapter provides a brief overview of the features of the Sterling
Store Inventory Management.

Documentation
For more information about the Sterling Store Inventory Management
components, see the following manuals:
Q
Sterling Store Inventory Management: Release Notes
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Suite: Applications Installation Guide

vii
 Q
Sterling Store Inventory Management: Deployment Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Suite: Applications Reference
Implementation Guide
Q
Sterling Store Inventory Management: Concepts
Q
Sterling Store Inventory Management: Implementation Guide
Q
Sterling Store Inventory Management: User Guide
Q
Sterling Store Inventory Management: Localization Guide
Q
Sterling Store Inventory Management: Javadocs
For more information about the IBM® Sterling Selling and Fulfillment
Foundation components, see the following manuals:
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Release Notes
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Installation Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Upgrade Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Configuration Deployment
Tool Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Performance Management
Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: High Availability Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: System Management
Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Localization Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Customization Basics
Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Customizing APIs Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Customizing Console JSP
Interface for End User Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Customizing the RCP
Interface Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Customizing User
Interfaces for Mobile Devices Guide

viii Concepts Guide

Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Customizing Web UI
Framework Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Customizing Swing
Interface Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Extending the Condition
Builder Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Extending the Database
Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Extending Transactions
Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Using Sterling RCP
Extensibility Tool Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Integration Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Product Concepts Guide
Q
Sterling Warehouse Management System: Concepts Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Application Platform
Configuration Guide
Q
Sterling Distributed Order Management: Configuration Guide
Q
Sterling Supply Collaboration: Configuration Guide
Q
Sterling Global Inventory Visibility: Configuration Guide
Q
Catalog Management: Configuration Guide
Q
Sterling Logistics Management: Configuration Guide
Q
Sterling Reverse Logistics: Configuration Guide
Q
Sterling Warehouse Management System: Configuration Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Application Platform User
Guide
Q
Sterling Distributed Order Management: User Guide
Q
Sterling Supply Collaboration: User Guide
Q
Sterling Global Inventory Visibility: User Guide
Q
Sterling Logistics Management: User Guide

ix
 Q
Sterling Reverse Logistics: User Guide
Q
Sterling Warehouse Management System: User Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Mobile Application User
Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Business Intelligence
Operational Reports Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Javadocs
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Suite: Glossary
Q
Parcel Carrier: Adapter Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Multitenant Enterprise
Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Password Policy
Management Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Properties Guide
Q
Catalog Management: Concepts Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Pricing Concepts Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Setting Up Quotes in
Distributed Order Management
Q
Sterling Sensitive Data Capture Server, Release 1.0: Configuration
Guide
Q
Sterling Sensitive Data Capture Server, Release 1.0: PA-DSS
Implementation Guide
Q
Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation: Secure Deployment Guide
Q
Sterling Business Center: Item Administration Guide
Q
Sterling Business Center: Pricing Administration Guide
Q
Sterling Business Center: Customization Guide
Q
Sterling Business Center: Localization Guide
Q
Sterling Field Sales: Deployment Guide
Q
Sterling Field Sales: Implementation Guide
Q
Sterling Field Sales: Localization Guide

x Concepts Guide
 Q
Sterling Field Sales: User Guide
Q
Sterling Field Sales: Customization Guide
Q
Visual Modeler: Administration Guide
Q
Visual Modeler: Best Practices Guide
Q
Visual Modeler: Implementation Guide
Q
Visual Modeler: Installation Guide
Q
Visual Modeler: Tutorial Guide
For a description of the various documents in the Sterling Store
Inventory Management documentation set, see the Sterling Store
Inventory Management documentation home page at:
<YFS_HOME>/documentation/SOP_doc_home.html
where <YFS_HOME> is the /Runtime directory under the folder where this
application and Sterling Selling and Fulfillment Foundation are installed.

Conventions
The following conventions may be used in this manual:

Convention Meaning
... An ellipsis represents information that has been omitted.
<> Angle brackets indicate user-supplied input.

mono-spaced text Mono-spaced text indicates a file name, directory path,

attribute name, or an inline code example or command.
/ or \ Slashes and backslashes are file separators for Windows,
UNIX and LINUX operating systems. The file separator
for the Windows operating system is "\" and the file
separator for Unix and Linux systems is "/". The Unix
convention is used unless otherwise mentioned.
<INSTALL_DIR> User-supplied location of the Sterling Multi-Channel Ful-
fillment Solution installation directory and Sterling Store
Inventory Management installation directory. This is only
applicable for Release 9.1

xi
xii Concepts Guide
 1
IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management
Overview

1.1 Introduction
The Sterling Store Inventory Management is tailored to manage
operations in a store. Shipments may be shipped to consumers, retailers,
or mom and pop stores. The key problems solved by the Sterling Store
Inventory Management are shipment consolidation or transportation
optimization, customer compliance, integration of the online and offline
operations of retailers, instant gratification to customers, and
productivity.

1.2 Business Challenges

Managing inventory across a network is fraught with challenges.
Enterprise software systems must facilitate store inventory visibility and
control, even when inventory is managed in a network of diverse and
heterogeneous operating facilities. All too often, when selecting inventory
management systems, business decision makers tend to compromise on
a solution that can never achieve store inventory visibility and control.
Software applications make businesses more productive by eliminating
redundant data entry and potential errors. Software enables a business
to scale operationally while facilitating high levels of customer service
that are typical of the smallest organizations. However, for maximum
efficiencies, multi-site businesses require software applications that:
Q
Do not force major changes to operating practices
Q
Take advantage of today’s best practices

IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management Overview 1

Business Challenges

Q
Manage the complexities that are unique to how each particular
business drives value for its customers
Increasing customer demands and an ever-changing environment drives
businesses today. Some factors that influence business processes are:
Q
Mergers and acquisitions
Q
Introduction of new products or product lines
Q
Addition of new business channels
Q
Consolidation of facilities
Q
Business outsourcing
Q
Increasing transportation cost
Q
Poor utilization of resources such as labor, facilities, equipments,
locations, and so forth
Q
Servicing new customers and fulfilling each of their unique
compliance demands
Businesses must manage inventory in a variety of facilities that may
include Plant Warehouses, Regional Business Centers, Stock Rooms,
Stores, and Flow-through Distribution Centers.
The Sterling Store Inventory Management aids customers by providing
them with immediate gratification the opportunity to view and buy
additional items in a store and saving on shipping costs.
The increase in customer visits to a store is enhanced by stronger
integration between the channels, which in turn increases the revenues
and profits for the retailers. This also serves as a differentiating factor by
increasing the retail customers’ convenience.
In-store pickup is successful due to its effective coordination between a
retailers’ online and offline operations. Given the competitive pressures
and customer benefits associated with this service, the in-store pickup is
no longer an order winner for retailers, but a requirement for any
successful multi-channel retailer.

2 Concepts Guide
 A Networked Solution

1.3 Benefits of the IBM Sterling Store Inventory

Management
The Sterling Store Inventory Management is designed to manage
fulfillment and distribution across a network of facilities, including
regional distribution centers, master distribution centers, fulfillment
centers, stockrooms, repair centers, and more. With its high degree of
configurability and service-oriented architecture, the Sterling Store
Inventory Management enables responsive customer fulfillment,
improved operational efficiency, greater flexibility for growth, and
ultimately, a lower total cost of ownership in large scale, complex
fulfillment environments.
In short, the Sterling Store Inventory Management enables you to:
Q
Make better decisions by automating business processes
Q
Reduce time-to-market by reacting quickly to market changes
Q
Increase revenue through effective collaboration
Rich in features and functionality, the Sterling Store Inventory
Management provides:
Q
A Networked Solution
Q
Process Centric Configurations
Q
Comprehensive Product Management
Q
Complete Visibility
Q
Optimized Operations

1.4 A Networked Solution

The Sterling Store Inventory Management is unique in its architecture. It
is built on a service-oriented, component-based architecture.
The Sterling Store Inventory Management provides lower cost of
ownership, higher flexibility, and consistent customer service.

IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management Overview 3

Outbound Planning and Execution

1.5 Process Centric Configurations

The Sterling Store Inventory Management is process centric, making it
highly configurable. Traditional store solutions are services intensive, and
provide data-centric configurations.
The process management model in the Sterling Store Inventory
Management is optimized for supply chain operations, and integrates
monitoring with event and task management.
The Sterling Store Inventory Management is adaptive to changes in
facilities and operations. It also provides the ability to configure business
processes.

1.6 Inventory Management

Inventory management delivers one of the most powerful, scalable,
flexible, and stable solutions for store execution.
This module provides the following key capabilities:
Q
Setup of store layout
Q
Adjusting the inventory
Q
Comprehensive control of the movement of inventory
Q
Cycle Count generation
Q
Physical Count generation
Q
Comprehensive inventory audit trial

1.7 Outbound Planning and Execution

Outbound Planning and Execution is the process taken from the point of
shipment creation up to the point when the shipments are picked up by
or delivered to the customers. The Sterling Store Inventory Management
supports customer pick up of shipments from stores or delivery of
shipments to the customer. Shipments can be delivered through a load or
manifest.

4 Concepts Guide
 Complete Visibility

1.7.1 Shipping
Store pickup in the Sterling Store Inventory Management enables a store
associate to manage customer pick up of items from a store.

1.7.2 Shipout
Delivery is the process taken from the point when pick tickets are
generated for an outbound shipment up to the point when the packages
are loaded into trailers or added to a parcel manifest.

1.8 Alert and Event Management

A store dashboard lists all alerts generated by the system. This needs
manual intervention.

1.9 Comprehensive Product Management

The Sterling Store Inventory Management is built to track and control
inventory of products or items across an organizational network. The
various parameters and granular definitions bundled into the Sterling
Store Inventory Management ensures consistent handling and
measurement of inventory, and accurate handling of variable goods.
The Sterling Store Inventory Management provides the capability to
improve inventory accuracy by tracking various inventory attributes such
as the Unit Of Measure (UOM).

1.10 Complete Visibility

The Sterling Store Inventory Management enables effective management
of store operations by providing wall-to-wall visibility of all critical
information about inventory or shipments. A store operation benefits
from visibility of into this information. By leveraging the Sterling Store
Inventory Management’s Alert Framework, the information regarding
shipment and inventory processes is proactively monitored for potential
problems, thereby enhancing productivity levels.
The Sterling Store Inventory Management raises proactive and reactive
events, and raises appropriate exceptions through the Event
Management layer.

IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management Overview 5

Return On Investment Driven by the IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management

1.11 Optimized Operations

The Sterling Store Inventory Management offers real-time,
constraint-based optimization of processes in stores, thus improving
productivity and reducing labor costs, cost to customers, and shipping
costs.

1.12 Radio Frequency Identification

The Sterling Store Inventory Management is designed to enable for
adoption of Radio Frequency (RF) technology, allowing the definition of
new RFID-driven business processes in store operations.

1.13 Return On Investment Driven by the IBM

Sterling Store Inventory Management
The Sterling Store Inventory Management solves business challenges and
provides solutions, thus driving new levels of Returns On Investment
(ROI).
The following table describes the ROI driven by the Sterling Store
Inventory Management:

6 Concepts Guide
Return On Investment Driven by the IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management

Table 1–1 The IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management ROI

Sterling
Sterling Store
Inventory
Management
makes it
To solve... possible to... Driving a new level of ROI by...
Problems Share inventory Q
Lowering IT costs with centralized
associated with and order data deployment
locally between stores Q
Lowering inventory with visibility
deployed and other
applications business entities Q
Increasing asset utilization
that are not such as supply Q
On boarding utilities - designed for a
integrated chain and
phased roll out not a big on-time bang
merchandising
go live
Operational Offer capabilities Q
Increasing customer service level
inefficiencies to the retailer to attainment
and the lack of rollout best Q
Enforcing corporate cycle count regimes
best practices practices at the
in inventory store level to Q
Increasing productivity
management optimize Q
Reducing receiving and handling errors
in retail stores customer
service, shelf
availability, and
productivity
Problems Integrate the Q
Increasing product availability
associated with store into other Q
Allowing retailers to compete and
the channels for
perform new levels of operations
introduction of "buy anywhere-
new initiatives return Q
Reducing costs and errors associated
to improve the anywhere" with "work around solutions"
customers’ strategies as Q
Increasing sales through better visibility
experience well as endless
aisle, special
orders, and
home delivery

IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management Overview 7

Return On Investment Driven by the IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management

Table 1–1 The IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management ROI

Sterling
Sterling Store
Inventory
Management
makes it
To solve... possible to... Driving a new level of ROI by...
The use of Use the same Q
Reducing training costs
multiple store processes for: Q
Reducing errors
systems Q
receiving DC Q
Increasing Higher productivity
shipments
and vendor
shipments
Q
customer
pick up or
home
delivery
Problems Offer four Q
Speeding roll-outs
caused by different modes Q
Reducing implementation and training
different store of inventory and
costs
layouts and task control:
sizes Q
Reducing costs and time associated with
Q
no locations
phased operational changes
Q
one location
Q
3 locations
Q
many
locations
Which lets
retailers
incrementally
improve
operations by
allowing stores
to move from
one mode to
another.

8 Concepts Guide
 IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management Users

1.14 IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management

Users
The Sterling Store Inventory Management can be used by any customer
who has one or more facilities in the supply chain network.
Retailers are the most potential users of the Sterling Store Inventory
Management. They use the Sterling Store Inventory Management to
manage operations in their distribution centers, ship to stores, or
fulfillment centers for their direct-to-customer channels.
Retailers may be:
Q
Traditional retailers who use the Sterling Store Inventory
Management in their distribution centers to manage shipping to
stores.
Q
Online or catalog retailers who use the Sterling Store Inventory
Management to ship directly to customers.

IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management Overview 9

IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management Users

10 Concepts Guide
 2
IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management
Features

2.1 Overview
The Sterling Store Inventory Management helps a store manager to set
up a store and streamline business processes to meet specific needs of a
store. The Sterling Store Inventory Management enables a store
associate to design, execute, monitor, and analyze programs and
processes performed for inventory management in the stores. This
Sterling Store Inventory Management delivers one of the most powerful,
scalable, flexible, and stable solutions for store operations.
The Sterling Store Inventory Management provides the following key
capabilities:
Q
Setup of store layout
Q
Adjusting the inventory
Q
Comprehensive control of the movement of inventory
Q
Industry standard count procedure
Q
Comprehensive inventory audit trial

2.2 Store Configuration

The Sterling Store Inventory Management enables a store manager to
set up a store and modify its processes.
Configuring a store involves:
Q
Creating a Store

IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management Features 11

Create a Store

Q
Modifying a Model Store
Q
Modifying Store Processes
Q
Store Layout

2.3 Create a Store

When you create a new store, it is either created according to an existing
model store or as a new model store. A model store is a store from which
processes are inherited by additional stores. The impact of where and
how inventory is stored in a store directly influences the time taken to
putaway, replenish, or pick inventory. The Sterling Store Inventory
Management provides comprehensive functionality to effectively manage
the layout of a store.
A store can be modelled as:
Q
No location — In such stores, the user cannot track inventory using
the Sterling Store Inventory Management.
Q
A single location — In such stores the user cannot perform inventory
move operations. However, the user can perform all other inventory
operations such as receiving, adjusting, and so forth.
Q
As three locations — In such stores, one location is designated as the
customer service area, one as the receiving or shipping dock, and one
as the back room.
Q
With multiple inventory tracking locations — In such stores, one
location is designated as the customer service area and one as the
receiving or shipping dock. Other multiple locations are designated as
back rooms.
Once on board, you can designate any store as a model store or a
follower store.
A store can be modelled as a seller where the user can define the
Inventory and Catalog Organization code for a store. However, the store
always uses the Inventory and Catalog Organization code of the
enterprise.

12 Concepts Guide
 Define Locations

2.4 Modify a Model Store

Administrators can change processes in a model store. Once changes are
done, the follower stores are synchronized with the model store.
Synchronization ensures that the follower stores have the same
processes as that of the model store. For example, consider a model
store with multiple locations. In the Sterling Store Inventory
Management, an administrator can model the entire store configuration
as one location. If this store is designated as a model store, even the
follower stores are modelled as a single location store.

2.5 Modify Store Processes

In the Sterling Store Inventory Management, an administrator can
change some processes in a particular store. This process change is
specific to a particular store. The allowed changes are usually those that
are specific to each individual store and are not generic enough to be a
part of the model store.
It is also possible to change a store to follow another model store. For
example, consider a small store modelled as a single location. If it needs
to be upgraded to track inventory by multiple locations, administrators
need to change the model store to a multi-location model store.

2.6 Store Layout

The impact of where and how inventory is stored in a store directly
influences the time taken to putaway, replenish, or pick inventory.
The Sterling Store Inventory Management provides comprehensive
functionality to effectively manage inventory in a store. The store
infrastructure comprises of:
Q
Defining Locations
Q
Devices

2.7 Define Locations

A location in a store is a space where inventory is stored.
In the Sterling Store Inventory Management, a store can be modelled as:

IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management Features 13

Inventory Control

Q
No inventory control — In such stores, the user cannot track
inventory using the Sterling Store Inventory Management.
Q
Entire store is modelled as a single location — In such stores the user
cannot perform inventory move operation. The user can perform all
other inventory operations such as receiving, adjusting, and so forth.
Q
Store modelled with three locations — In such stores, one location is
designated as the customer service area, one as dock, and one as
back room.
Q
Store tracks inventory in multiple locations — In such stores, one
location is designated as the customer service area and one as dock.
Multiple locations are designated as back room.

2.8 Devices
Using the Sterling Store Inventory Management, a store associate can
configure printers to print labels or reports.

2.9 Inventory Item Setup

In the Sterling Store Inventory Management, a store associate can define
the attribute of each item. In any store, inventory is stored in Stock
Keeping Units (SKU).
The Sterling Store Inventory Management provides the ability to define
UOM for each item. A single item may have several UOMs associated with
it. An item may have alternate UOMs defined, which can be used to
record inventory operations in a store. In the Sterling Store Inventory
Management, an item can have only one base UOM and product class.

2.10 Inventory Control

Once inventory items have been set up for a store, the Sterling Store
Inventory Management enables store associates to perform the following
inventory tasks:
Q
Inventory Adjustments
Q
Inventory Searches
Q
Inventory Moves

14 Concepts Guide
 Inventory Searches

Q
Inventory Audits
Q
Counts
Q
Managing Locations

2.11 Inventory Adjustments

You adjust inventory in a store when the quantity of items in a location is
not the same as the quantity of items recorded. This can occur for a
number of reasons. For example, if products in a store are damaged, the
amount of inventory available must be adjusted to reflect that situation.
Inventory adjustments are either initiated manually, or as part of a cycle
count or physical count process. When performing inventory
adjustments, you must enter an appropriate reason code to indicate why
the modification was made. For example, if the reason code is entered as
"Scrap", the system automatically reduces the on-hand quantity.
Examples of inventory adjustments are:
Q
Adjusting on-hand quantity — Based on the reason code entered by
the store associate, the system automatically increases or decreases
inventory at a location. For example, if an item is damaged, the
system allows the store associate to reduce the on-hand quantity for
the item.
Q
Adjusting multiple items — A store associate can select multiple items
and perform an inventory adjustment.

2.12 Inventory Searches

The Sterling Store Inventory Management provides extensive search
capabilities for a store associate to search for specific items and their
locations. Based on the search criteria, the Sterling Store Inventory
Management provides visibility to item attributes. In the Sterling Store
Inventory Management, different attributes are configured for different
items. For example, when you search for a digital camera, the attributes
such as choices for resolution and zoom range choices display. The same
attributes do not display when you search for a television. The Sterling
Store Inventory Management enables you to search inventory using
mobile devices.
The Available to Promise (ATP) rule enables you to set up a monitoring
system to track the availability of an item for current and future demand.

IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management Features 15

Inventory Audits

This determination makes the most efficient use of inventory so that

items are not set aside for future orders when they can be used to fulfill
more immediate demands.
The Sterling Store Inventory Management also provides additional
information such as item accessories, kit components of an item, item
specifications, and up sells and substitutions for an item, if any.

2.13 Inventory Moves

The Sterling Store Inventory Management provides the ability to track
the movement of inventory from one location to another in a store. This
process is applicable only to stores that track inventory in multiple
locations within the store. A store associate tracks inventory moves on
paper and later enters them into the system. You can also track
inventory moves through mobile devices.
Using the Sterling Store Inventory Management, a store associate can
view the inventory quantity for an item that is currently available in a
particular location. The Sterling Store Inventory Management does not
allow you to track tag controlled items.

2.14 Inventory Audits

The Sterling Store Inventory Management audits all inventory
transactions that occur in a store. Audits are written in the Sterling Store
Inventory Management for each transaction along with appropriate
reasons and item attributes for tracking purposes. The combination of
item attributes tracked for audits are better illustrated through the
following examples:
Q
View all transactions for a particular modification type:
Criteria used include modification type and date range.
Q
View all inventory adjustment performed based on cycle count:
Criteria used include reason and date range.
Q
View all transactions performed by a user for a specified date range:
Criteria used include user identifier and date range.
Q
View all items in a particular location:

16 Concepts Guide
 Cycle Count

Criteria used includes location identifier and date range.

Q
View specific item details:
Criteria used includes item identifier and date range.

2.15 Counts
The accuracy of inventory levels is critical to a store. The inventory level
is the key to customer satisfaction, demand planning, and labor costs.
For example, if the system assumes that there are 100 pieces of an item
on the shelf, when there are only three pieces available, the system does
not replenish inventory when needed or order the right quantity.
The count system provides vital in-house cross checks on inventory in
the store. It identifies quantities on hand and matches them to the
current records catching any discrepancies that may exist. The count
system allows you to execute count in a planned or ad hoc manner. A
common type of count employed is year-end inventories. While this is
exhaustive, it is also time consuming and does not ensure accuracy
throughout the year. The other method to adopt is to count items every
quarter based on velocity or price. However, the best method to adopt is
to count items periodically.

2.16 Cycle Count

To ensure accurate stock level information, the Sterling Store Inventory
Management provides the ability to count a small subset of inventory on
a regular basis. It is a method of inventory auditing that supplements the
annual physical counting. This can be ad hoc or system generated.
Counts can be performed either through paper-based or mobile devices.
By counting items more frequently, you can improve inventory accuracy
and avoid costly errors in material planning and scheduling.
Count requests can be automatically generated by setting up a cycle
count program and strategy. The Sterling Store Inventory Management
provides a list of items that need to be counted every day. Counts that
are not performed on a particular day are carried over to the next day. A
store associate may select all items or a subset of items from the list,
which need to be counted for that day, and print count worksheets for
the selected items. For count sheets that are pending entry in the

IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management Features 17

Physical Count

system, a store associate can either choose to reprint all count sheets or
a selected count sheet.
The Sterling Store Inventory Management enables you to count items on
an ad hoc basis.
After completing the count process, a store associate enters the count
quantity for each item in the count worksheet. A store associate can also
record any quantity found at additional locations, which were not part of
the count sheet. The count quantity recorded is compared against the
inventory to display any potential variance. When a store associate finds
variance, the store associate reviews the inventory audit for specific
items to analyze the cause for the variance.
A store manager can cancel all pending counts at the end of every
month. Based on the input criteria, a store manager can view archived
count sheets. The input criteria can be date range, items, or the status of
the count task.
The summary of count activities performed in a day is also available.
Details include the number of counts requested, the number of counts
performed, the number of counts cancelled, and total variance for the
day.

2.17 Physical Count

Outstanding customer service and optimum inventory management
require accurate, up-to-date inventory information. A physical count
provides comprehensive reports that details the store’s physical
inventory.
During a physical count, every item in the inventory is counted, and the
balance is adjusted to reflect the actual quantity on the shelf. Inventory
transactions are not performed during the count process, except for
recording the count quantity.
Using external systems, you can print blank count sheets to record the
count quantity. After completing the count process, you enter the item
and its count quantity in the system.
In the Sterling Store Inventory Management, a store manager can view
the missing count sheets based on the count sheet numbers.

18 Concepts Guide
 Receive Inventory

You can view the variances at any point during the physical count
process. A store manager can view the variance of count quantity with
the quantity of items.
Q
If the variance is due to a data entry error, a store manager can
change the count quantity.
Q
If the variance is due to a counting error, a store manager may want
to recount selected count sheets.
All unresolved variances require manual acceptance to complete the
physical count.
The Sterling Store Inventory Management enables a store manager to
view count sheets and variances for the last physical count that was
performed. A store manager can also cancel a physical count.

2.18 Manage Locations

The Sterling Store Inventory Management enables a store manager to
manage back room locations in a store. This process is applicable only to
stores that track inventory in multiple locations within the store.
A store manager can view all back room locations available in a store.
The Sterling Store Inventory Management allows a store manager to
delete existing locations to be one by one. Before deleting any location,
the store manager must clear inventory in that location. A store
associate can add new back room locations, when needed.

2.19 Receive Inventory

Many stores track their inbound receiving in an attempt to reduce costs
and save time. This is enhanced by providing better visibility to both on
hand inventory and expected inventory. The Sterling Store Inventory
Management provides real-time visibility of the incoming inventory and
facilitates accurate inbound planning.
Inventory can be received against an order or a shipment. An order is
not closed until the receiving process is complete. The inventory
information is updated upon recording each receipt. The Sterling Store
Inventory Management supports receiving inventory through
paper-based and mobile devices.

IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management Features 19

Inbound Execution

2.20 Inbound Planning

The Sterling Store Inventory Management provides visibility to inbound
inventory upon creation of transfer orders, purchase orders, or advanced
ship notices. This provides specific information regarding SKUs or
quantities ordered, and when the shipment is scheduled to arrive. The
Sterling Store Inventory Management maintains and tracks shipment
details from various sources.

2.21 Inbound Execution

The receiving process in a store involves the acceptance of goods from
the carrier, the physical process of checking the inventory received, and
receipt of the inventory. A store receives inventory from various sources,
which includes inventory received from other stores, distribution centers,
or vendors. The process of acceptance is to verify the quantity received
against the bill of lading (BOL) or packing slip that the carrier provides. A
receiving worksheet is printed for the shipment received to record its
contents.
Recording inventory received is an offline process. In the Sterling Store
Inventory Management, a store associate can select the expected
receipts and print receiving worksheets for the expected inventory. Along
with the receiving worksheets, sales order labels are also printed. These
labels can be used to identify inventory assembled for sales orders.
The Sterling Store Inventory Management also supports blind receiving.
Blind receiving is the receipt of inventory when no BOL or order number
exists in the system.
Once inventory is received, a store associate records inventory details in
the receiving worksheet. After recording, a store associate enters data
from the receiving worksheet into the system.
The Sterling Store Inventory Management enables a store associate to
enter quantity up to two alternate UOMs.
A UOM translates to the type of packaging of a SKU. For example,
consider inventory being received, procured, and ordered. Typically,
inventory is also received in multiples of inventory UOMs such as a case
of 4-pack batteries or a pallet of milk cartons. These measures define
alternative methods of addressing an inventory UOM. They have a direct
relationship to the inventory UOM. In the Sterling Store Inventory

20 Concepts Guide
 Shipping

Management, these UOMs are called as alternate UOMs. Alternate UOMs

are case pack of 20 6-pack batteries, a half-pallet of 1 gallon cartons of
milk, or a pallet of air-conditioners.
The Sterling Store Inventory Management enables a store associate to
record discrepancies against the shipment, if found. The discrepancy can
be overages, shortages, or damages.

2.22 Manage Users

User security enables a store manager to ensure that users have access
to information that is appropriate for carrying out their tasks. Users can
access only those system resources for which they have permissions.
A store manager can search for users, assign user groups, or transfer a
user to another store.
Users
A user is an individual who can perform certain tasks such as Hub
Administrator or Store Manager, depending on what role the user plays in
the organization. Each organization has its own users. The Sterling Store
Inventory Management does not allow users to manage their own
credentials.
User Groups
A user group is a collection of users who perform a similar task. For
example, a group of store associates may be collectively placed under a
store associate user group. A single user can belong to multiple user
groups. Each user group has a set of assigned permissions. If a user
belongs to multiple user groups, the user retains the permissions set for
all user groups.

2.23 Shipping
Shipping is the process followed from the point when shipments are
created up to the point when shipments are picked up by the customers,
or delivered to the customers. The Sterling Store Inventory Management
supports customer pick up of shipments from stores or delivery of
shipments to the customer. For shipping, a store is modelled to perform
both back room pick and customer pick, or only customer pick. During
customer pick or back room pick, the Sterling Store Inventory

IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management Features 21

Search Shipments

Management allows you to scan items using a UPC code. The user can
also print a BOL for a particular load.
The Sterling Store Inventory Management enables you to perform the
following tasks:
Q
Printing Pick Tickets
Q
Searching Shipments
Q
Recording Back Room Pick
Q
Recording Customer Pick
Q
Creating Bill Of Lading
Q
Adding Shipments to Manifest

2.24 Print Pick Tickets

Pick ticket is a sheet containing the list of items that need to be pulled
from inventory to fill an order. You can print pick tickets manually for a
specific shipment, all pending shipments, or shipments of a particular
order. Based on the generated pick ticket, you can pick items from the
back room.

2.25 Search Shipments

The Sterling Store Inventory Management enables extensive search
capabilities for a store associate to search for specific shipments and
their status. The Sterling Store Inventory Management provides visibility
to the list of shipments that are yet to be shipped depending on the
search criteria. You can also view the details for a particular shipment
and the line price of each item in the shipment.
The Sterling Store Inventory Management enables you to undo backroom
pick, if required, which changes the status of the shipment. For example,
consider a store where a store associate has performed back room pick
for an order and the customer cancels the order. Now, the items need to
be moved to back room and status of the shipment needs to be changed.
Once a shipment has been added to load, you can Undo BOL, if required.
This changes the status of the shipment. For example, consider a store
where a store associate has added a shipment to a load but later decides

22 Concepts Guide
 Create Bill Of Lading

to add the shipment to a different load. The user can remove the
shipment from the load by performing Undo BOL.
Using the Sterling Store Inventory Management, you can add, delete, or
modify the container information for any shipment. It also enables you to
remove any shipment from the manifest.

2.26 Record Back Room Pick

Back room pick is the act of pulling inventory from the back room of a
store to fill an order. You can pick items from the back room based on the
pick ticket and move them to the customer pick location. The store
associate records information such as the quantity ordered and pick
quantity in the pick ticket. The information is later entered in the system.
The Sterling Store Inventory Management also allows a store associate
to record any shortage of items and enter appropriate reasons for their
shortage.

2.27 Record Customer Pick

Customer pick is when customer visits a store to pickup a product that
has been previously ordered. If shipments are not available in the
customer pick location, the store associate prints a pick ticket for the
order and ensures that the shipment is made available to the customer.
The store associate can apply the latest store prices to the order. The
customer can choose to pick an entire order or a part of an order. The
customer can pick the remaining items of an order later.
The Sterling Store Inventory Management also enables you to cancel an
entire order or a part of an order, as per the requirements of the
customer.

2.28 Create Bill Of Lading

In the Sterling Store Inventory Management, shipping facilitates the
shipping of products ordered by a customer. Less-than-Truck load (LTL)
or Truck Load (TL) shipments are delivered as load and parcel shipments
as a part of a manifest.
A store associate can print a Bill Of Lading (BOL) for a load. The
shipment number from the pick ticket or the order number is used as a

IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management Features 23

Alerts

reference to create a load. The Sterling Store Inventory Management

provides visibility to other shipments that have common customers or
destinations. This enables you to consolidate shipments. When shipments
are chosen for consolidation, the system updates the cumulative weight
or volume of the load. The store associate can determine the weight and
volume of the load.
You can create a new load from the consolidated shipment, or merge the
shipment with the existing load. After creating the load, you can modify
it. After confirming the load, the system generates a BOL number and
prints it for that load. Upon confirming the load, all shipments that are
added to the load are shipped. Once a load is confirmed, the store
associate cannot modify that particular load.

2.29 Add Shipments to Manifest

The Sterling Store Inventory Management enables you to add shipments
to an existing manifest or a new manifest. The shipment number or order
number is used as a reference to open a manifest. You can enter the
shipment container details and the appropriate carrier needs to be
selected. If a manifest is already open for the selected carrier, the store
associate can add the current shipment to the open manifest. If the
manifest is not open for the carrier, the store associate can create a new
manifest for the shipment. However, if a manifest is already open for a
carrier, the store associate cannot create a new manifest for that carrier.
Upon closing the manifest, all shipments that are added to the manifest
are shipped. Once a manifest is closed, the store associate cannot modify
that particular manifest.

2.30 Alerts
The Sterling Store Inventory Management provides an underlying
mechanism for setting and monitoring alerts that enables store managers
to respond quickly to unplanned events. The system raises alerts when
specific events occur. For example, if inventory adjustments over a
threshold value occur, the system generates an alert.
An alert is a message directed to a user or queue about a transaction
that may need manual intervention or manual review. If an alert is
directed to a user, only that particular user can handle the alert. If it is
assigned to a queue, all users subscribed to the queue are able to view

24 Concepts Guide
 Alerts

the alert. Queues are configured to distribute alerts to users. The

administrator can set up alert priorities and raise certain actions when
specific conditions are met for the alert.
Additionally, unresolved alerts can be escalated to different queues when
a specified number of unresolved exceptions are reached, or the
exceptions have not been resolved within a given time frame.
Different queues are configured depending on the type of alerts. For
example, all inventory related alerts are assigned to one queue, and
sales order related alerts are directed to another queue.

IBM Sterling Store Inventory Management Features 25

Alerts

26 Concepts Guide
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30 Concepts Guide
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31
32 Concepts Guide
 Index

A K
alerts, 24 key problems, 1
audits, 16
M
B
managing users, 21
Bill Of Lading, 23 manifest
business challenges, 1 add shipments, 24
model store
modifying, 13
C
comprehensive product management, 5 N
configuring stores, 11
counts, 17 networked solution, 3
cycle count, 17
physical count, 18
O
creating
stores, 12 online or catalog retailers, 9
customer pick optimized operations, 6
recording, 23

P
D
pick tickets
documentation home page, xi printing, 22
process centric, 4
I process centric configurations, 4

inventory adjustments, 15
R
inventory item setup, 14
inventory moves, 16 radio frequency identification, 6
inventory search, 15 receiving, 19
inbound execution, 20

33
 inbound planning, 20
retailers, 9
return on investment, 6
returns and exchanges, 14
returns on investment, 6

S
shipments
searching, 22
shipping, 21
store layout, 13
devices, 14
locations, 13
store processes
modifying, 13

T
traditional retailers, 9

U
users, 9

V
visibility, 5

34 Concepts Guide