Demand Planning (DEMAND)

This document describes how to set up your Demand Plan Server, Client and/or Applets, and how to prepare your system to support a successful installation. 

Note: When installing the Demand Plan Server it is important that you run this as an ordinary application and not as a service even though it is possible to do so. The reason for this is that since the Demand Plan Server holds all the data in memory and windows only gives 30 seconds of warning time when shooting down a service before killing it. The Demand Server does not have enough time to upload/save the data in memory in 30 seconds, so running it as a service will result in LOST data an all sorts of problems. There are a few exceptions where running it as a service can be considered, but this is after at least one year of stabile use in production, never install it as a service the first time. If a customer wants to have it as a service after using it for a while, the recommendation is to contact R&D for a discussion.

Note: When using remote access software such as Microsoft's Remote Desktop Client or Terminal Server Client to remotely access the desktop of the Demand Plan Server PC multiple sessions will be started on the target PC. This may result in multiple running instances of the Demand Plan Server, a condition that will render the Demand Plan server inoperative. If the server hosting Demand Planning is running the Windows 2003 Server operating system, it is possible to use the /console option of Microsoft's Remote Desktop Client to avoid this situation. Other remote access programs such as VNC that display an image of the server console are also acceptable.

Contents

• Preparing Your System for Installation
• Installing the Server and Applet Components
  • Setting Up the DEMAND User Name and Access Permissions
  • Setting up the Applet
• Installing the Client Component
• Setting up the Demand Plan Server
  • Demand Plan Server command line parameters
  • Selecting the Server Start-up method
  • Loading data into the Server
• Setting up the Demand Plan Client
• Demand Plan server and applet security
• Registry Settings
• Creating a stand-alone demo

Preparing Your System for Installation

Certain systems and configurations must exist on your system prior to installation of IFS Demand Planning. Demand Planning Setup does not install or configure an IFS Applications database.

1. The database that Demand Planning will run against must already be set up and your site with data (transaction and inventory parts) must exist in the database.
2. Install Oracle Client software if this is not already installed. Configure a SQL*Net connection to the database you want to connect your Demand Plan Server. This must be done only on the computer where the Demand Plan Server is to be installed.
3. A build of the Demand component must be accomplished using the IFS Configuration Builder tool. Both Win32Client and Win32Server options must be built. The Fndbas component must also be built to get the setup.exe installer and other files required by the installer After the build, Setup.exe should be in the same directory as the Win32Client and Win32Server subdirectories (from Demand) and Win32Common subdirectory (from Fndbas).

Note: English language translation procedures have changed in Apps 7.5. If upgrading from a previous release, manually delete all *en.xml translation files.

You can run a demo version of IFS Demand Planning without any IFS Applications database. This feature is very useful when your only purpose is to run a demo of IFS Demand Planning. If you are installing only a demo version of Demand Planning you do not need to follow steps 1, 2, and 3. If you do not have SQL*Net installed on your computer and only want the demo version of Demand Planning, you must run a batch file, MakeDemo.cmd, that is located in your Demand Plan Server target directory. Additional information is in the section To make a stand-alone demo at the end of this document.

Installing the Server and Applet Components

Follow below steps to install Demand Plan Server component:

1. Run IFS Applications Installation Wizard (setup.exe) program located at the <Build_Home> folder.

2. Select "Server Environment" as a type of installation.

3. If the Server is running an operating system with 64-bit, then component “Demand Server 64-bit” can be selected from the list of components to be installed. Otherwise, chose the option “Demand Server”, which is a 32-bit version.

4. After selecting suitable options and pressing "Install" button in the Installation Wizard, setup program characteristic for "Demand Server/Demand Server 64-bit" element is executed.

5. The Demand Plan Server installer starts with following welcome window.

   

   Figure 1: Welcome screen

6. Browse to the Installation folder where Demand Server is installed

Figure 2: Select Installation Folder

7. Confirm the installation before starting

Figure 3: Confirm Installation

8. Press ‘Close’ button to complete the installation

Figure 4: Installation Complete

Setting Up the DEMAND User Name and Access Permissions

If the Demand Plan Server is going to be run without the use of the database appowner, it will require an Oracle user with the appropriate permissions granted to be able to access the database. Only one Demand user per database is required. During the installation of IFS Applications, a user for the Demand Server, (DEMANDSERVER) containing all of the required permissions, is created. Upon creation, this user is set to locked with the password expired.

Before installing the Demand Server, logon to the database and unlock the user by running the manualdeploy\UpdateDemandUser.sql script. You will be prompted for an appropriate password for the user.

Setting up the Applet

The applet is now installed under the Demand Plan Server installation path \Web\Applet\ This happens when you install the Demand Plan Server. Everything should work without any need of changes to registry or anything. The only thing needed is to setup the Outgoing Mail tab on the Demand Plan Server, to able to send mails.

The applet and dictionary file(s) will be copied to the destination folder. The following default English language files are copied automatically by the installer:

The Applet, by default, will display in English. To support other languages, a translation file (DemandAppletXX.xml) and optional help file (DemandAppletHelpXX.xml) in the desired language are required. The suffix ‘XX’ denotes the Trolley Sending Language Code, which is not necessarily the same as the ISO language code used for Client and Server translation.

A complete list of Trolley Sending Language Codes can be found by opening the Send Trolley dialog box in the Demand Plan Client.

Installing the Client Component

Follow below steps to install Demand Plan Client component:

1. Run IFS Applications Installation Wizard (setup.exe) program located at the <Build_Home> folder.

2. Select "Runtime Environment" as a type of installation and "Demand Client" as the component to be installed from the list of components.

3. After selecting suitable options and pressing "Install" button in the Installation Wizard, setup program characteristic for "Demand Client" element is executed.

4. The Demand Plan Client installer starts with following welcome window.

   

   Figure 5: Welcome screen

5. Browse to the Installation folder where Demand Client is installed

Figure 6: Select Installation Folder

6. Confirm the installation before starting

Figure 7: Confirm Installation

7. Press ‘Close’ button to complete the installation

Figure 8: Installation Complete

Setting up the Demand Plan Server

Demand Plan Server command line parameters

When the Server is started it automatically tries to find the latest version of data, it can be in Oracle or on a backup file. First it finds the latest backup file then it compares the date found on this file with the last time for a write-back to Oracle. The Server selects the newest data and loads that data and starts the Server. Searching for the latest backup file is done in the following way. The filename of latest backup file is written to registry. If this file exists it is selected, if not it searches the backup path and selects the newest file. The backup path is found in the Demand Plan Server Setup\Scheduling tab, in the IFS Applications Windows Client.

By adding command line parameters it is possible to force the Server to start from Oracle or file or manually. Here are the commands.

After installing, launch the Forecast Server in setup (manual) mode from the Windows Start menu Start | Program Files | Demand Plan | Setup Forecast Server.

Note: If this menu shortcut is not available, just launch the Forecast Server from the Start | Run menu or the command line with the /m parameter: (Drive:\path\ForecastServer.exe /m)

Now the Demand Planning Server will be started and visible on your screen.

Figure 9: IFS Demand Planning & IPR Server

Whenever the Demand Plan Server is up and running  you can see this in the system tray. The icon to the right is the Server icon, and it is indicating that the Server is empty.

Figure 10: Demand Planning Server icon

Now select the File-Setup menu. This opens the Forecast Server Setup window:

Figure 11: Forecast Server Setup - General tab

In this dialog there are several tabs that need to be filled out. We will start on the General tab.

General

Enable: Specify which parts of the Server you want to activate.

• Forecast only activates the Demand Planning part of the Server, equal to the old Demand Plan Server
• IPR activated the IPR calculation engine.
• Forecast & IPR activates both

Note: do not change this without having installed the same database component. This parameter is set during installation and should not be changed after that.

Approve: When checked in a forecast part, it is automatically approved for IPR calculations when you move to the next or close the Demand Plan Client. For users that do not have IPR leave this checked.

Client/Server Communication: Specify the port number used for Demand Plan Client and Server communication. If this is changed be sure to use the same port on the Client setup.

Note: Port 5000 is reserved on Windows XP for Microsoft Messenger. When running Demand Plan on XP, either choose a different port number or disable Microsoft Messenger.

Windows Service:

• Run as application 
• Windows Service(manual start) Start the Services manually in the Control Panel.
• Windows Service(auto start) Starts automatically if server rebooted.

Figure 12: Forecast Server Setup - Directories tab

Directories

Log Directory: Specify the location of the Server’s log files.

Language File: Specify the translation file for the language the Server GUI will show when the Server is started.

Help File URL: Specify the address for the Server help start page called SfrmServerGUI.htm, here you must write the address of that page. This is only necessary if help should be available when you push F1 in the Demand Plan Server GUI.

Web Server Name / Applet Path: Specify the URL where the applet files are installed. This is only important if you are going to use the Trolley / Collaborate forecasting functionality. The Demand Plan/IPR Server has an internal web server installed. The web files is installed in the installation path of the Server under /Web/Applet/

Figure 13: Forecast Server Setup - Database tab

Database

If you only are installing a demo of Demand Planning and are going to use a backup file as the Demand Plan database, then you don’t have to fill in this tab.

Appowner: The User Id of the Appowner.

Note: if you run the Demand Plan Server with the appowner user, you can leave this filed empty.

Username: Specify the name of the Demand Server user on the IFS Applications database installation. Either the appowner or the DEMANDSERVER user.

Password: The password of the user written in the Username field above.

Oracle Server: Specify the Oracle SID for the database (This is the same as the host string in SQL*Plus).

Forecast Server ID: Specify the ID of the Server setup that this Server is going to read and use from the database. For setting up a Server definition see the help files in IFS Applications Client.

Read Buffer Size: Specify the number of records to be fetched from Oracle in a single block.

Figure 14: Forecast Server Setup - Outgoing Mail tab

Outgoing Mail Tab

This tab contains the name of the Server used to send e-mail. Outgoing mail is used to export data from your Server to other Demand Plan Servers, and sending trolleys. If you do not plan to use these functions, it is not necessary to set up this tab. The Demand Plan Server sends mail using the SMTP protocol.

Outgoing mail (SMTP): Specify the name of the outgoing SMTP mail server.

Outgoing mail port (default 25): Specify the port used to connect to the mail server. Normally it should be 25, but some mail servers use a different port.

Name: Specify the name of the sender, in a free text field. This information is displayed in the From: field on e-mail received from the Demand Plan Server.

Reply address: Specify the mailbox used to send the mail. It can consist of the entire e-mail address, short version of e-mail address or any alias connected, depending on configuration of mail server. This can be the Demand Plan Server’s sysadm e-mail address so that the sysadm gets feedback to trolleys if the receivers try to send a reply on them.

Loading data into the Server

Now it is time to load the Server with some data. The easiest way of doing this is to load the test data set, which is distributed along with the installation. This data set can be useful for demo purposes and for testing that the Server and Client are setup correctly before you start to set up a Demand Plan Server in IFS Applications.

Loading the test data

Now it is time to load the test data into the Server, selecting File-Restore form the Server menu does this. Select the Demand300STDTestData.bac file from the Open dialog and push the Open button.

Figure 15: Open dialog

Figure 16: Stop icon

After the load is done the icon in the system tray changes to the stop icon shown in the figure above. This indicates that data is loaded into the server.

Loading data from the database

To be able to load data from the database into the Demand Plan Server you first have to describe how you want the Server to work. To setup a Demand Plan Server in IFS Applications is described in the help files of the Demand Planning component, see the help file frmForecastServerSetupContainer.htm. After the Demand Plan Server has been set up you can load from the database by selecting File-Load from DB

Note: you will not be able to load data into the server when the test data is loaded.

Adding groups to the Demand Plan Server

The Demand Plan Server can make forecasts for groups of parts. The predefined group fields are:

• Part Product Family
• Part Product Code
• Abc Class
• Type Code
• Lead Time Code
• Planner Buyer
• Asset Class
• Prime Commodity
• Second Commodity
• Demand Model
• Life Cycle
• Frequency Class

In addition to the predefined groups can be added by inserting records into GROUP_FIELD_LIST_TAB. Group field list has the following fields:

To clarify this, lets take an example: For some reason we want to group parts by the unit code. We can use any GROUP_ID we want but to be sure we do not crash with new standard ones we use 100. GROUP_NAME is the name group it is displayed to the user. The unit code for each part is stored in the table INVENTORY_PART_PUB. It is stored in the field UNIT_MEAS. Description can be found by using the function ISO_UNIT_API.Get_Description(UNIT_MEAS,NULL).

Unit measurement can be added by executing the statement:

INSERT INTO GROUP_FIELD_LIST_TAB(
	GROUP_ID, GROUP_NAME, FIELD_NAME, FIELD_DESCRIPTION,
	TABLE_NAME, ROWVERSION) 
VALUES ('100', 'Unit Measurement', 'UNIT_MEAS',
	'ISO_UNIT_API.Get_Description (UNIT_MEAS,NULL) ',
	'INVENTORY_PART_PUB', SYSDATE);

Setting up the Demand Plan Client

Start the Client for the first time, then this dialog appears

Figure 17: Setup dialog

The Demand Plan Server Name is the machine name where the Demand Plan Server is running.

Port Number: Specify the port number on which the Server is listening. It must be the same port number specified in the setup for the Demand Plan Server.

Log Directory: Specify the directory location for the log file.

Language File: Specify the language file to be used by the Forecast Client.

Helpfile (URL): Specify the web location for the Client start help file. The start help file is called CfrmDemandPlanClient.htm. If help functionality on the Client is not important then skip it. e.g. C:\Documentation\DemandClient\CfrmDemandPlanClient.htm

Send to: These parameters specify which attachment types will be included in the File/Send to functionality. Selecting Send Excel File and or Send HTML will result in an Excel file and or HTML version of the tables. If Send Bitmap is selected it will generate a bitmap image of the graphs. If Include Detail View is selected then the detail view will also be included in the mail.

Note: Port 5000 is reserved on Windows XP for Microsoft Messenger. When running Demand Plan on XP, either choose a different port number or disable Microsoft Messenger.

Now you should be able to log on and look at the parts and their forecasts.

Figure 18: Demand Plan Client logon dialog

The User ID is the same user as in IFS Applications.

The Password is the password of the user (same as in IFS Applications)

The Forecast Server is the name of the computer where the Demand Plan Server is running. This can also be an IP address. Remember that Win 2000  computer names are case sensitive.

Note: If you only are installing the demo of Demand Planning the User ID = DEMAND and the password should be left blank.

Pushing the Setup button opens the dialog described in Figure 8-2. Setup dialog.

Demand Plan Server and applet security

If the collaboration part is used, and applet mails are to be sent to destinations outside of the firewall, then certain ports must be opened for the Applet and Demand Plan Server to communicate. This diagram illustrates the different ports that must be open. The Displayed port numbers are the default port numbers and all port numbers can be changed.

Figure 19: Collaboration settings

To achieve the maximum amount of security it is recommended to put the server running Demand Plan Server and Applet Web Server in the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). Then only 2 ports have to be opened into the DMZ, one for the applet download from the web server to the collaboration partner PC, default port number 80. The other port is for the communication between the applet and the Demand Plan Server, default port number 5000. There also have to be opened 2 ports from the DMZ into the LAN. One port is for the communication between the Demand Plan Server and the Demand Plan Client, default port number 5000. This port must be the same as the Applet port number. The other port from the DMZ and into the LAN is the port used to connect to the Oracle database.

Registry Settings

Both the Demand Plan Client and the Demand Plan Server have different registry settings that can be set. Normally there should not be any need for changing these values, but in some installations there may be a need for such changes. For example, when the customer is using another period version than monthly then some best fit search parameters and season profile detection variables may be considered changed. For more information on how to change these parameters see the file SfrmRegistrySettings.htm.

When users don't have read or write access to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE part of the registry then it is possible to set the Demand Plan Client to only write to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER portion of registry, avoiding this obstacle.

For details about these registry settings see the SfrmRegistrySettings.htm and the CfrmRegistrySettings.htm files in the demand documentation path, for the Demand Plan Server or the Demand Plan Client.

Creating a stand-alone demo

To make a stand-alone demo on a PC that does not have SQL*Net locally and is supposed to run the demo without access to the network, you must run the batch file MakeDemo.cmd. To remove this standalone demo you must run the remove file RemoveDemo.cmd. These files are located in the directory where you installed the Demand Plan Server.