Mirror of Oracle documentation
Converted for search and offline reading. Authoritative source: Oracle. Diagrams and some complex tables are simplified — check the PDF when in doubt.
B
Appendix: Business Rule Engine in IPOCSDemand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment
Oracle Retail has designed the Business Rule Engine (BRE) to help IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment users set up business strategies to manage parameters used in the forecast approval and navigation processes, as well as the replenishment process. BRE - Demand Forecasting parameters include alert thresholds, alert calculation window, as well as navigation criteria. These parameters can be set up manually in the Forecast Setup workbook at the global, intermediate and final levels (override). With the Business Rule Engine, the parameter values at final level can be dynamically adjusted based on business strategy. No patching of the environment is required.
For example, a business strategy can be to set the alert error threshold to 10% for all item/ store combos with average sales larger than 10 units per week. For item/store with average sales less than 10 units per week, the threshold can be relaxed to 20%. This way high sellers have a tighter error threshold because they are more important for the business. IPOCSDemand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment users may want to review their forecasts more rigorously. In this approach, the parameter values were assigned to item/stores based on business strategy regardless of their hierarchy positions.
The BRE functionality is also utilized in the IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment module to set various supply chain and replenishment parameters. Databags in IPOCSLifecycle Allocation and Replenishment module, use BRE to range the scope of the replenishment workspaces. The Supply Chain Network and Replenishment Parameters workspace uses the BRE to define rules to set parameters based on the business strategy. The BRE then calculates the right set of parameters down to the product/location level. The BRE makes extensive use of attributes. The attributes used in the Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment module need to be enabled in the Attribute Review workspace. Additionally, at least one product attribute from the Product Attributes (PATR) hierarchy also needs to be enabled. Note that the attributes in IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment are handled differently than in the other solutions inside RAP.
In this appendix, several components of the IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment Business Rule Engine are introduced:
-
Hierarchies and Hierarchy Orders
-
Business Rule Attribute
-
How to Set Up Business Strategy for Approval
-
How to Set Up Business Strategy for Navigation
-
How to Use BRE Beyond What Is Available in GA
-
Custom Rule Group Type
Hierarchies and Hierarchy Orders
There are several internal hierarchies involved in the BRE:
May 15, 2026 Appendix B-1 of B-22
Appendix B Business Rule Attribute
Table B-1 Internal Hierarchies
| Hierarchy | Module |
|---|---|
| Business Rule Attribute (ATTH) | Demand Forecasting, Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment |
| Rule Condition (CONH) | Demand Forecasting, Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment |
| Business Rule (RULH) | Demand Forecasting |
| RULE (RUL) | Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment |
| Databag (DTB) | Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment |
| Final Levels (FLVH) | Demand Forecasting |
These hierarchies are required to be configured from innermost to outermost in the order previously listed. In IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment GA config, the hierarchy order is configured properly. Implementors can start from IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment GA config so that they do not have configure the hierarchy order themselves. But if they start from other configurations, they need to make sure the hierarchy order is correct.
Business Rule Attribute
The Business Rule Attribute hierarchy in BRE is different from current product attribute or location attribute hierarchy in IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment/MFPCS. It is a combination of product attribute, location attribute and prod/loc attribute. These attributes will be used in BRE to associate different prod/locs to different business strategy. The attribute data types can be string, numeric or date. The attribute values can come from 11 difference sources:
1. Attribute from product hierarchy, such as scls, clss, dept.
2. Attribute from location hierarchy, such as region, store format
3. Loaded product attribute, such as fabric, color. (This may be a subset of the product attribute hierarchy. implementor should only include product attributes that are to be used in business rule groups)
4. Loaded location attribute, such as store open date. (This may be a subset of the location attribute hierarchy. implementor should only include location attributes that are to be used in business rule groups)
5. Loaded prod/loc attribute, such as lead time
6. Calculated GA product attribute, such as number of stores carrying a sku
7. Calculated GA location attribute, such as number of skus sold in a store.
8. Calculated GA prod/loc attribute, such as historical average sales, historical relative standard deviation of sales.
9. Calculated custom product attribute, defined by implementor
10. Calculated custom location attribute, defined by implementor
11. Calculated custom prod/loc attribute, defined by implementor
Because the attribute value could come from such a diverse sources, it will be very inefficient to keep a centralized measure to store the attribute values. IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment takes a distributed approach on storing the
May 15, 2026 Appendix B-2 of B-22
Appendix B Business Rule Attribute
attribute values. The attribute value in 1 and 2 are part of hierarchy and no separate storage is needed.
For each final level, the loaded attributes can be stored in nine measures:
-
All measures based on sku/attd (string, numeric, date)
-
All measures based on stor/attd (string, numeric, date)
-
All measures based on sku/stor/attd (string, numeric, date)
If you want to use the Product Attributes from the PATR hierarchy in the BRE, then include the attribute entry in the atth.hdr.csv.dat Business Rule Attribute hierarchy file as shown in the following sample entry:
brand,Brand,3,String,ldprdattstr01,loaded Product Attribute 01,load,Loaded
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
Note
The application automatically populates and loads the ldprdattstr_CF_ file, when you specify the product attribute in the atth.hdr.csv.dat file and it exactly matches the attribute in the PATR hierarchy.
For each final level, the GA calculated attributes can also be stored in the same nine measures as loaded. The GA calculated attributes were stored in different measures from the loaded attributes for performance reason.
IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment batch is responsible for populating the GA calculated attributes. If additional calculated attributes are needed, the implementor can write custom rules to calculate them and populate the nine measures per final level that are reserved for custom calculated attributes. In total, 27 measures per final level will be created by IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment for attribute value storage as shown in Table B-2.
These measures can be divided based on data type, measure intersections and how they are populated. IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment special expressions have built in logic to perform attribute value lookup based on business rule attribute hierarchy info and the previously listed measures. (CF in the table is a token of the final level name)
Table B-2 Measures per Final Level
| Measure Name | Data Type | Intersection | Stored Attribute Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ldprdattstr_CF_ | String | Prod/attribute | loaded |
| Ldlocattstr_CF_ | String | Loc/attribute | loaded |
| Ldprdlocattstr_CF_ | String | Prod/loc/attribute | loaded |
| Ldprdattnum_CF_ | Real | Prod/attribute | loaded |
| Ldlocattnum_CF_ | Real | Loc/attribute | loaded |
| Ldprdlocattnum_CF_ | Real | Prod/loc/attribute | loaded |
| Ldprdattdat_CF_ | Date | Prod/attribute | loaded |
| Ldlocattdat_CF_ | Date | Loc/attribute | loaded |
| Ldprdlocattdat_CF_ | Date | Prod/loc/attribute | loaded |
May 15, 2026 Appendix B-3 of B-22
Appendix B Business Rule Attribute
Table B-2 (Cont.) Measures per Final Level
| Measure Name | Data Type | Intersection | Stored Attribute Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| clcprdattstr_CF_ | String | Prod/attribute | GA calculated |
| clclocattstr_CF | String | Loc/attribute | GA calculated |
| clcprdlocattstr_CF_ | String | Prod/loc/attribute | GA calculated |
| clcprdattnum_CF_ | Real | Prod/attribute | GA calculated |
| clclocattnum_CF_ | Real | Loc/attribute | GA calculated |
| clcprdlocattnum_CF_ | Real | Prod/loc/attribute | GA calculated |
| clcprdattdat_CF_ | Date | Prod/attribute | GA calculated |
| clclocattdat_CF_ | Date | Loc/attribute | GA calculated |
| clcprdlocattdat_CF_ | Date | Prod/loc/attribute | GA calculated |
| csclcprdattstr_CF_ | String | Prod/attribute | Custom Calculated |
| csclclocattstr_CF_ | String | Loc/attribute | Custom Calculated |
| csclcprdlocattstr_CF_ | String | Prod/loc/attribute | Custom Calculated |
| csclcprdattnum_CF_ | Real | Prod/attribute | Custom Calculated |
| csclclocattnum_CF_ | Real | Loc/attribute | Custom Calculated |
| csclcprdlocattnum_CF_ | Real | Prod/loc/attribute | Custom Calculated |
| csclcprdattdat_CF_ | Date | Prod/attribute | Custom Calculated |
| csclclocattdat_CF_ | Date | Loc/attribute | Custom Calculated |
| csclcprdlocattdat_CF_ | Date | Prod/loc/attribute | Custom Calculated |
All attributes from 1 to 5 and from 9 to 11 can be defined by implementor. An implementor can decided what prod/loc dimension and prod/loc attribute to be included in the attribute dimension. The GA calculated attribute are automatically appended to the business rule attribute hierarchy.
Right now, IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment supports the GA calculated attributes listed in:
Table B-3 GA Calculated Attributes
| GA calculate Attribute | Label | Intersecti on | Data Type | Stored Measure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| locs4prod_CF_ | Number of Locations Carrying Current Product CF | Prod/ Attribute | nume ric | clcprdattnum_C F_ | 1. Aggregate sales from prod/loc/clnd to prod/loc by total. 2. Aggregate the result from Step 1. to prod by popcount |
| prods4loc_CF_ | Number of Products Carried in Current Location CF | Loc/ Attribute | nume ric | clclocattnum_CF _ | 1. Aggregate sales from prod/loc/clnd to prod/loc by total. 2. Aggregate the result from Step 1. to loc by popcount |
| recentavgsls_C F_ | Recent Average Sales CF | Prod/loc/ Attribute | nume ric | clcprdlocattnum CF | Average sales between today-curperiod_CF_ and today-1 |
May 15, 2026 Appendix B-4 of B-22
Appendix B Business Rule Attribute
Table B-3 (Cont.) GA Calculated Attributes
| GA calculate Attribute | Label | Intersecti on | Data Type | Stored Measure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| histavgsls_CF_ | Historic Average Sales CF | Prod/loc/ Attribute | nume ric | clcprdlocattnum CF | Average sales between today-histperiod_CF_ and today-1 |
| navifin_CF_ | Navigation Variance CF | Prod/loc/ Attribute | nume ric | clcprdlocattnum CF | Used in navigation tier. Maximum of all approve alert metric for unapproved prod/ location. |
| histrlstd_CF_ | Historic Sales Coefficient Of Variation CF | Prod/loc/ Attribute | nume ric | clcprdlocattnum CF | The ratio of average sales versus standard deviation of sales between today- histperiod_CF_ and today-1. |
Other than GA attributes, the implementor is responsible for creating and maintaining all custom attributes no matter if loaded or calculated.
IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment designed the attribute hierarchy to capture this complex information. There are five dimensions: attribute, attribute source, attribute data type, attribute type and attribute category. Figure B-1 displays the dimensions in the attribute hierarchy.
Attribute dimension : Examples are: scls, clss, dstr,regn, brand, color, size, planned life length, store assortment, recentavgsls01, recentavgsls02.
Attribute source dimension : Indicates the source of the attribute values. This can be either from a dimension in the prod hierarchy, a dimension in the location hierarchy, or measures. The position name along this dimensions is either a dimension name or a measure name.
Attribute data type dimension : Indicates the type of values for an attribute. It can be string, numeric or date. Use the value of RPASCE Measure data type.
Attribute type dimension : Indicates if an attribute is a hierarchy attribute, loaded attribute or calculated attribute.
Attribute intx dimension : Indicates the hierarchies/dimensions involved in obtaining the attribute value. These can be prod, loc, or prod/loc.
May 15, 2026 Appendix B-5 of B-22
Appendix B Business Rule Attribute
vndr,Vendor,3,string,vndr,vendor of product Hierarchy,hier,Hierarchy
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
regn,region,3,string,regn,region of location Hierarchy,hier,Hierarchy
Attribute,loc,Location Attribute
chnl,Area,3,string,chnl,area of location Hierarchy,hier,Hierarchy Attribute,loc,Location
Attribute
sfmt,Store Format,3,string,sfmt,store format of location Hierarchy,hier,Hierarchy
Attribute,loc,Location Attribute
brand,Brand,3,string,ldprdattstr01,loaded Product Attribute 01,load,Loaded
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
itemstatus,Item Status,3,string,ldprdattstr01,loaded Product Attribute 01,load,Loaded
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
collar,Collar,3,string,ldprdattstr01,loaded Product Attribute 01,load,Loaded
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
color,Color,3,string,ldprdattstr01,loaded Product Attribute 01,load,Loaded
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
fabric,Fabric,3,string,ldprdattstr01,loaded Product Attribute 01,load,Loaded
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
neckline,Neckline,3,string,ldprdattstr01,loaded Product Attribute 01,load,Loaded
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
pattern,Pattern,3,string,ldprdattstr01,loaded Product Attribute 01,load,Loaded
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
storopendt,Store Open Date,4,date,ldlocattdat01,loaded Location Attribute 01,load,Loaded
Attribute,loc,Location Attribute
leadtime,Lead time,2,real,ldprdlocattnum01,Loaded Product/Location Attribute
01,load,Loaded Attribute,prod/loc,Product/Location Attribute
If there are two final levels in the IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment configuration, the business rule attribute hierarchy file will look like Example B-2:
Example B-2 Business Rule Attribute Hierarchy File with Two Final Levels in the IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment Configuration
attd,attd_label,atdt,atdt_label,atsc,atsc_label,atst,atst_label,attp,attp_label
scls,subclass,3,string,scls,subclass of product Hierarchy,hier,Hierarchy
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
clss,class,3,string,clss,class of product Hierarchy,hier,Hierarchy
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
dept,Departmet,3,string,dept,department of product Hierarchy,hier,Hierarchy
Attributes,prod,Product Attribute
vndr,Vendor,3,string,vndr,vendor of product Hierarchy,hier,Hierarchy
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
regn,region,3,string,regn,region of location Hierarchy,hier,Hierarchy
Attribute,loc,Location Attribute
chnl,Area,3,string,chnl,area of location Hierarchy,hier,Hierarchy Attribute,loc,Location
Attribute
sfmt,Store Format,3,string,sfmt,store format of location Hierarchy,hier,Hierarchy
Attribute,loc,Location Attribute
brand,Brand,3,string,ldprdattstr01,loaded Product Attribute 01,load,Loaded
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
itemstatus,Item Status,3,string,ldprdattstr01,loaded Product Attribute 01,load,Loaded
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
collar,Collar,3,string,ldprdattstr01,loaded Product Attribute 01,load,Loaded
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
color,Color,3,string,ldprdattstr01,loaded Product Attribute 01,load,Loaded
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
fabric,Fabric,3,string,ldprdattstr01,loaded Product Attribute 01,load,Loaded
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
neckline,Neckline,3,string,ldprdattstr01,loaded Product Attribute 01,load,Loaded
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
May 15, 2026 Appendix B-7 of B-22
Appendix B Business Rule Attribute
pattern,Pattern,3,string,ldprdattstr01,loaded Product Attribute 01,load,Loaded
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
storopendt,Store Open Date,4,date,ldlocattdat01,loaded Location Attribute 01,load,Loaded
Attribute,loc,Location Attribute
leadtime,Lead time,2,real,ldprdlocattnum01,Loaded Product/Location Attribute
01,load,Loaded Attribute,prod/loc,Product/Location Attribute
locs4prod01,Number of Locations Carrying Current Product
01,2,Real,clcprdattnum01,Calculated GA Prod Numeric Attribute 01,gacalc,GA Calculated
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
prods4loc01,Number of Products Carried in Current Location
01,2,Real,clclocattnum01,Calculated GA Location Numeric Attribute 01,gacalc,GA
Calculated Attribute,loc,Location Attribute
recentavgsls01,Recent Average Sales 01,2,Real,clcprdlocattnum01,Calculated GA Prod/loc
Numeric Attribute 01,gacalc,GA Calculated Attribute,prod/loc,Product/Location Attribute
histavgsls01,Historic Average Sales 01,2,Real,clcprdlocattnum01,Calculated GA Prod/loc
Numeric Attribute 01,gacalc,GA Calculated Attribute,prod/loc,Product/Location Attribute
navifin01,Navigation Variance 01,2,Real,clcprdlocattnum01,Calculated GA Prod/loc Numeric
Attribute 01,gacalc,GA Calculated Attribute,prod/loc,Product/Location Attribute
histrlstd01,Historic Sales Coefficient Of Variation
01,2,Real,clcprdlocattnum01,Calculated GA Prod/loc Numeric Attribute 01,gacalc,GA
Calculated Attribute,prod/loc,Product/Location Attribute
locs4prod02,Number of Locations Carrying Current Product
02,2,Real,clcprdattnum02,Calculated GA Prod Numeric Attribute 02,gacalc,GA Calculated
Attribute,prod,Product Attribute
prods4loc02,Number of Products Carried in Current Location
02,2,Real,clclocattnum02,Calculated GA Location Numeric Attribute 02,gacalc,GA
Calculated Attribute,loc,Location Attribute
recentavgsls02,Recent Average Sales 02,2,Real,clcprdlocattnum02,Calculated GA Prod/loc
Numeric Attribute 02,gacalc,GA Calculated Attribute,prod/loc,Product/Location Attribute
histavgsls02,Historic Average Sales 02,2,Real,clcprdlocattnum02,Calculated GA Prod/loc
Numeric Attribute 02,gacalc,GA Calculated Attribute,prod/loc,Product/Location Attribute
navifin02,Navigation Variance 02,2,Real,clcprdlocattnum02,Calculated GA Prod/loc Numeric
Attribute 02,gacalc,GA Calculated Attribute,prod/loc,Product/Location Attribute
histrlstd02,Historic Sales Coefficient Of Variation
02,2,Real,clcprdlocattnum02,Calculated GA Prod/loc Numeric Attribute 02,gacalc,GA
Calculated Attribute,prod/loc,Product/Location Attribute
Condition Hierarchy
This hierarchy only has one dimension: condition. It is used to organize the strategies used in defining a business rule. In the IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment GA configuration, there are four available conditions. The implementor can modify the number of positions they want along the condition dimension by changing the condition hierarchy load file.
Example B-3 is an example of the Condition Hierarchy file.
Example B-3 Condition Hierarchy File
cond,cond_label,
cond01, condition 01
cond02, condition 02
cond03, condition 03
cond04, condition 04
Business Rule Hierarchy
There are two dimensions: rule and rule-group. Rule rolls up to rule group. This hierarchy should have an order that is after the condition hierarchy but before Prod/loc.
This hierarchy is mainly used in the IPOCS-Demand Forecasting module.
May 15, 2026 Appendix B-8 of B-22
Appendix B Business Rule Attribute
Example B-4 is an example of the Business Rule Hierarchy.
Example B-4 Business Rule Hierarchy
ruld,ruld_label,rulg,rulg_label
r001,Rule 1,g001,Rule Group 1
r002,Rule 2,g001,Rule Group 1
r003,Rule 3,g001,Rule Group 1
r004,Rule 4,g001,Rule Group 1
r005,Rule 5,g001,Rule Group 1
r006,Rule 6,g002,Rule Group 2
r007,Rule 7,g002,Rule Group 2
r008,Rule 8,g002,Rule Group 2
r009,Rule 9,g002,Rule Group 2
Rule Hierarchy (RUL)
This is similar to the RULH hierarchy and is only used in the IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment module. Following is an example of the RUL hierarchy file:
Example B-5 Rule Hierarchy
rull,rull_label,rlgp,rlgp_label
r.01.01,R.01.01,rg.01,Rule Group 01
r.01.02,R.01.02,rg.01,Rule Group 01
r.01.03,R.01.03,rg.01,Rule Group 01
Databag Hierarchy (DTB)
Databag Hierarchy allows the grouping of data in IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment module to define the scope of a user’s workspace. Databag Scope workspace sets up the databags and Databag Review workspace defines the conditions for each databag. Following is an example of the DTB hierarchy file:
Example B-6 Databag Hierarchy
dtbg,dtbg_label,dtbp,dtbp_label
dtb.01.01,Databag 01.01,dp.01,Databag Partition 01
dtb.01.02,Databag 01.02,dp.01,Databag Partition 01
Final Level Hierarchy
This hierarchy file is generated by the IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment plug-in instead of being user provided. There are two dimensions: rule group-type and final level. rule group-type rolls up to final level. There are two GA rule group types per final level, approve and navigation. The implementor can specify additional custom rule groups type through the IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment plug-in. Each final level can have its own custom rule group type. The Rule Group-type hierarchy data file will be generated at domain build/patch time.
An example of rule group type hierarchy file generated from a IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment configuration with two final levels:
Example B-4 is an example of the Business Rule Hierarchy.
May 15, 2026 Appendix B-9 of B-22
Appendix B How to Set Up Business Strategy for Approval
Example B-7 Rule Group Type Hierarchy File Generated from a IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment Configuration with Two Final Levels
rgtp,rgtp_label,flvl,flvl_label
aprv01,approve 01,01,01 Weekly Units Forecast
navi01,navigation 01,01,01 Weekly Units Forecast
cust101,cust rule group,01,01 Weekly Units Forecast
aprv02,approve 02,02,02 Daily Units Forecast
navi02,navigation 02,02,02 Daily Units Forecast
How to Set Up Business Strategy for Approval
The rule/rule group dimensions together with condition dimension and rule group type are used to implement business strategies. It is extremely flexible and powerful. The following describes how to set it up using the current IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment GA configuration as an example.
IPOCS-Demand Forecasting has the following two rule group types built-in per final level:
-
Approval —Approval is a rule group type for business strategy related to exception parameters used to approve the forecasts.
-
Navigation —Navigation is a rule group type for business strategy related to navigation in the Forecast Review workbook.
To set up the business strategy for approval, the implementor need to set up rule group and rules using the following steps.
1. Set up rule group to rule group type association .
Open the Business Rule Group Administration workbook. In the Figure B-2, the implementor can assign:
- A rule group type for a generic rule group and enter a rule group description.
In the example, each department, Beverage, men’s shoes and Missy have its own rule group for approval and navigation.
- Priority for a rule group.
Priority lower bound and upper bound is meant to assign a range of priority for rules within a rule group. An implementor can assign several rule groups to approval but only set up rules for one of them. In that case, only enable the one rule group that is needed. This helps with performance.
May 15, 2026 Appendix B-10 of B-22
Appendix B How to Set Up Business Strategy for Approval
5. Set up the Business Rule Condition in the Figure B-6.
The rule criteria is set up in a measure based on business rule/condition. IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment GA‘s condition dimension has four positions. It allows four conditions to be specified for a business rule. Implementors can modify the condition hierarchy file to allow more or less conditions per business rule.
Example 1
In this example, Beverage’s Approval rule group has three rules:
-
Key item
-
High volume
-
Low volume
The key item are the item/store with HighPriority Item 01 ==1.
The high volume items are item/store combos satisfying (recent average sales 01>=200) && (historic average sales 01 >=100). If an item/store satisfying both key item condition and high volume items conditions, it will be associated with both Rules.
The low volume items are (recent average sales 01 <20)
Example 2
The Men’s shoes –Approval rule group also has three rules:
-
Key item
-
High volume
-
Low volume
The key items are the item/store combos with (HighPriority Item 01 ==1 && class match 1312Casual).
The high volume items are the item/stores with recent average sales 01 >= condition Measure Value numeric 1
Note how the recent average sales 01 are not compared to a static value to decide high sellers. For maximum flexibility, the values to be compared to are stored in a measure, which can have multiple values.
The low volume items are the item/stores with recent average sales 01 <2
Differences
Beverage and Shoes were items with different sales pattern (grocery versus fashion). They would have different criteria. Condition measure value numeric 1 is IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment GA provided numeric measure based on class.
Implementors can set the values either through data load or rules. It allows the same condition to be used with different parameter values for items in different class. This conceptually similar to Example 2 regarding high sellers in Men’s Shoes.
Condition Value Measures
IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment GA provides 10 condition value measures like Condition measure value numeric 1 out of the box. Six numeric measures, two string measures and two date measures. The implementor can specify which condition value measures can be available for selection per rule group type in the Rule Setup workbook through the IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment plug-in. The intersection of these 10 measures can be
May 15, 2026 Appendix B-13 of B-22
fe] Forecasting Parameters
New Item Lifecycle Forecast
Appendix B How to Set Up Business Strategy for Navigation
based on rull dimension. Implementers can create a data file for the measure to load the predefined measures list.
The format can be:
-
r.01.01,”condmeasvalnum1(condmeasvalnum1), condmeasvalstr1(condmeasvalstr1)”
-
r.01.01,”condmeasvalnum2(condmeasvalnum2), condmeasvalstr2(condmeasvalstr2)”
The measures like condmeasvalnum1 and condmeasvalnum2 can be edited through custom workbook, measure analysis, loaded or populated with a rule.
For IPO-DF, the Condition Value Measure (rulecondmeas) is defined as measurerange= condmeaspicklist . The measure, condmeaspicklistis, a GA loaded measure based on rulg dimension.
How to Set Up Business Strategy for Navigation
In the current IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment batch flow, frcst_post consists of the following steps:
1. The system forecast is imported from RDX tables,
2. Adjust the system forecast to generate adjusted forecast.
3. Calculate attributes needed for Approval rule-group
4. Generate approval rule membership
5. Assign parameter values to sku/store based on rule membership
6. Run the approve alerts
7. Approval forecast and calculate the mask for unapproved item/store.
8. Calculate eligibility for navigation tier. All item/store with valid forecast and unapproved will participate in navigation grouping.
9. Calculate attributes needed for navigation rule groups
10. Generate navigation rule membership.
11. Assign navigation tier based on navigation rule membership.
From the previous flow, there are two important differences between approval and navigation.
Eligibility
First the item/stores that are eligible to be assigned to approval and navigation rules are very different. All item/stores that have a forecast are eligible to be assigned to approval rules. However, only the unapproved item/stores that have a forecast are eligible to be assigned to navigation rules.
An item/store can be unapproved for two reasons:
-
Its approval method is Manual.
-
Its approval method is an approve alert and the alert was triggered.
During the initial stages of implementation, the Rule Conditions are typically set up after validating the Forecast in the Forecast Review workspace. The eligible masks required for the rule setup workspace are calculated in the Post Forecast Batch. If the intent is to set up rules prior to the Post Forecast Batch being run, then an implementer either has to load or write custom rules to populate these measures, where _CF_ is a token for the final level:
May 15, 2026 Appendix B-17 of B-22
Appendix B How to Set Up Business Strategy for Navigation
-
eligmasknavi_CF_
-
eligmaskaprv_CF_
-
attbpicklistovr
Attributes
Second the attributes used for approval and navigation rule groups are different. In IPOCSDemand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment GA, the most important attribute used in the navigation rule group is the navigation variance.
The navigation variance is a GA calculated attribute. When calculating the approval alerts, we flag item/stores that were violated the approval business rule. For instance, an item/store is set to be approved using the forecast versus recent sales rule.
The threshold is 10%, meaning that a deviation of less than 10% is acceptable and the item/ store is approved. However, the deviation is 15% - which becomes the navigation variance, so the item/store will go into the calculation of the navigation tiers. A navigation variance is calculated for every GA alert except for the max Sales Peak versus Frcsted Peak Factor. The reason is that all but this alert has variance calculated as percentage, while this one compares units.
A custom approve exception’s variance is also included in the calculation.
To set up business rules for navigation perform the following steps.
Note
Steps 1-3 are the same as in How to Set Up Business Strategy for Approval and different for Steps 4-7.
1. Same as How to Set Up Business Strategy for Approval Step 1.
2. Same as How to Set Up Business Strategy for Approval Step 2.
3. Same as How to Set Up Business Strategy for Approval Step 3.
4. Create the Business Rule Setup workbook.
Select navigation in the rule group type wizard to build the Rule Setup workbook for navigation. Implementors can set up rule description, rule priority and enable rules on the Figure B-10.
In this example, four business rules are set up for each navigation rule group. Each rule corresponds to one navigation tier. The number of navigation tier is defined in IPOCSDemand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment plug-in input.
The rules are:
-
Urgent
-
Required
-
Optional
-
Informational
You can define the criteria that associate different item/stores to each rule later. If an item/ store is associated with multiple business rules, the rule priority is used to establish the precedence. The rules with lower priority number will have higher precedence. The
May 15, 2026 Appendix B-18 of B-22
Appendix B How to Use BRE Beyond What Is Available in GA
The Forecast Review workbook has built in logic to create workbook alerts using navibuckets01 . One workbook alert is created for each navigation tier. These workbook alerts are guiding users to review and approve item/stores in order of their importance, as well as by how much they have violated the approval business rules.
How to Use BRE Beyond What Is Available in GA
So far we have described about what IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment GA provides with the rule engine. It is fairly straightforward for implementors to add new business rule attributes and add their own business rule definitions for approval or navigation.
Suppose an implementor is perfectly happy with using IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCSLifecycle Allocation and Replenishment’s default, intermediate and final setting of approve method and alert parameters and would want to totally bypass the rule based assignment for all or most of their items. The following needs to be set up:
1. Set runrulgeligga_CF_ to false. This will disable the GA generation of eligible mask for approve rule memberships ( rulgeligmask_CF_ ).
2. Implement hook_populate_aprvrulg_eligiblemask_CF_ as a custom batch step to set rulgeligmask_CF_ to what the implementor desired.
Suppose an implementor would like to configure different navigation rules using custom calculation of navigation variance and custom attributes. The implementor can implement the hook_navi_attb_CF_ as a custom batch step.
Custom Rule Group Type
Implementors should perform the following steps to add a custom rule group type.
1. In the IPOCS-Demand Forecasting / IPOCS-Lifecycle Allocation and Replenishment plugin, from the final level attributes table, click within the business rule group type cell. A dialog displays a business rule group type table.
Click P to add a new Business Rule Group Type.
Type in a Rule Group Type Name and Label. The name is used as position name along Rule Group Type dimension so make sure it satisfies RPASCE requirement for position names. The name need to be unique among all rule group type position names.
2. Assign parameters associated with the rule group type by clicking on the cell of user specified parameters. Another dialog allows implementors to add or remove parameters.
The Select Measures box in the Figure B-13 displays all GA parameter measures. Most of these measures were forecasting parameter at final. Any custom measure with intersection = forecast intersection without clnd dimension and have a valid db is available for selection too. For each selected measure, a measure at the business rule is created and added to the parameter for <rule group type> worksheet for user input.
May 15, 2026 Appendix B-21 of B-22