Getting Started

The SC Navigator documentation describes SC Navigator page by page. This means that every page in the application matches to a page in the documentation. However, this particular page called Getting Started is an exception and does not match any page in the application. Instead, the purpose of this page is to describe some concepts/terms which we are using throughout the application and the documentation.

Load Data Dialog

On several places in the application you can load data, see the section Scenario Page Actions for loading scenario data. In all these cases, you will see a dialog like the following:

../../../_images/whiteboard_load_data_dialog.png

In the top part of this dialog there are three options: Upload an Excel File, navigate to the Whiteboard, and Download an Excel Template. The option to upload an Excel file is only available when loading the input data and not for the scenarios. Navigating to the Whiteboard allows users to create a diagram of their supply chain network. This diagram can be automatically translated into an Excel template that can be uploaded to SC Navigator via the Upload Excel File button.

../../../_images/start_load_dialog_2.png

You can import the data by performing the following three steps:

  1. Click the plus sign button.

  2. Select the Excel file you want to load.

  3. Click the save sign button to import the data.

After the last step the dialog will disappear.

Important

This last step is very important, no data will be loaded if this step is not completed.

In the bottom part of the dialog (which is the only part in many pages), you can select the dataset (scenario) which you want to load. You can do this by checking the checkbox for the column Selected of the dataset which you want to load, followed by clicking on the Load button in the lower right corner of the page.

../../../_images/start_load_dialog_3.png

Save Data Dialog

In many cases you can find a Save Data dialog similar to the Load Data dialog. The Save Data dialog page consists of two parts. In the first part you enter the details of the element to be created, while in the second part you see an overview of the existing datasets.

The first part consists of a widget to enter the Name and the Description.

../../../_images/start_save_dialog_1.png

The length of the name must be less than 64 characters. We recommend keeping it short, but still provide some suggestive information in the name. Furthermore, use the description in order to provide more details, so that the next time you see this name and this description, you know what it is about.

The bottom part of the screen shows all the existing datasets. The purpose of showing these is two-fold:

  • It helps you to see which names have been already used.

  • It helps you to keep up a certain naming structure.

../../../_images/start_save_dialog_2.png

Page Actions

The buttons in the bottom right corner of a page are called the Page Actions and these may vary from page to page. Once they have been expanded, the page actions look as in the following picture:

../../../_images/scenario_page_actions.png

In case there are more than three items, by default the top icon looks like this help icon. If you click on this, then its contents will be expanded and you will be able to see all items.

Group elements in the Data

There are two ways to specify group data in the Excel file with input data, which are handled differently in the model. Assume that we have a product group Cold Storage Products, then you can use this in the Excel file as follows:

  1. Cold Storage Products

  2. {Cold Storage Products}

If you specify the group element in the first way, then the model will apply the data to all the elements in that group. For instance, if you specify $15 for the attribute Variable Cost and Cold Storage Products, then the model interprets this as the Variable cost is $15 for each product in the group Cold Storage Products.

If you specify the group element in the first way, the model will interpret this in the same way unless that group and attribute are mentioned in the table below.

If a group is specified as {Group} and the group type and attribute are mentioned in the table below, then this value is interpreted as the total for all products in that group. For instance, if you specify the value 150,000 for the attribute Maximum Capacity and {Cold Storage Products}, then the model interprets this as the Maximum Capacity is 150,000 for all products combined in that group.

The following combinations allow for {group} elements. If you specify the brackets {}, but that attribute is not in this table, then SC Navigator will handle this in the same way as without the brackets {}.

Database Table

Attribute

Period

Product

Resource

Customer

Location

Supplier

Transportation Mode

Bill Of Material

ProductLocation

Maximum # of Source Locations

x

x

x

ProductLocation

Maximum # of Destination Locations

x

x

x

ProductLocation

Minimum # of Open Locations

x

x

x

ProductLocation

Maximum # of Open Locations

x

x

x

BillOfResource

Minimum Capacity

x

x

x

x

BillOfResource

Maximum Capacity

x

x

x

x

TransportationTypeProduct

Minimum Capacity

x

x

x

x

TransportationTypeProduct

Maximum Capacity

x

x

x

x

TransportationTypeProduct

Base Case Volume

x

x

x

x

TransportationTypeProduct

Force Open

x

x

x

x

TransportationTypeProduct

Take Or Pay Volume

x

x

x

x

TransportationTypeProduct

Take Or Pay Fixed Cost

x

SupplierProductStep

Variable Cost

x

x

x

x

SupplierProductStep

Minimum Capacity

x

x

x

x

SupplierProductStep

Maximum Capacity

x

x

x

x

SupplierProductStep

Force Open

x

x

x

x

SupplierProductStep

Variable Cost is for all steps

x

x

x

x

ResourceProductStep

Variable Cost

x

x

x

x

ResourceProductStep

Minimum Capacity

x

x

x

x

ResourceProductStep

Maximum Capacity

x

x

x

x

ResourceProductStep

Force Open

x

x

x

x

ResourceProductStep

Variable Cost is for all steps

x

x

x

x

ResourceProductStep

Minimum Capacity (Inventory)

x

ResourceProductStep

Maximum Capacity (Inventory)

x

ResourceProductStep

Target (Inventory)

x

ResourceProductStep

Variable Cost (Inventory)

x

TransportationTypeProductStep

Cost Per UOM

x

x

x

x

TransportationTypeProductStep

Minimum Capacity

x

x

x

x

TransportationTypeProductStep

Maximum Capacity

x

x

x

x

TransportationTypeProductStep

Force Open

x

x

x

x

TransportationTypeProductStep

Variable Cost is for all steps

x

x

x

x

SupplierStep

Variable Cost

x

x

x

SupplierStep

Minimum Capacity

x

x

x

SupplierStep

Maximum Capacity

x

x

x

SupplierStep

Variable Cost is for all steps

x

x

x

SupplierStep

Limit Openings

x

SupplierStep

Maximum Openings

x

SupplierStep

Limit Closings

x

SupplierStep

Maximum Closings

x

ResourceStep

Variable Cost

x

x

x

ResourceStep

Minimum Capacity

x

x

x

ResourceStep

Maximum Capacity

x

x

x

ResourceStep

Variable Cost is for all steps

x

x

x

ResourceStep

Limit Openings

x

x

ResourceStep

Maximum Openings

x

x

ResourceStep

Limit Closings

x

x

ResourceStep

Maximum Closings

x

x

CustomerProduct

Minimum Fulfillment Rate

x

x

x

x

CustomerProduct

Maximum # of Source Locations

x

x

x

x

Help

On every page there is a Help icon at the end of the status bar. The status bar is located at the bottom of the page and the Help icon on it looks like this help icon.