The Grid
The grids are visual alert monitors, that give you a general feel of the projected inventory per product/package/location.
Open a grid
In Picaso, hit this icon: 
. It opens a list of Grids:
Use the search to find the one you need.
Once you find the one you were looking for, hit: 
The grids are sorted alphabetically.
Each grid's name starts with a number. Find the meaning of these numbers here
You may also create a grid (hit: 
) and/or understand how a grid works by looking at its properties (
)
Grids properties:
The grid properties, beside its name and description, is mostly its filters.
You may add, modify, or delete filters, which are really just selection criteria.
In this example, modifying the first filter (Product Name), shows how it works: this grid selects all products with a 'Product Name' name starting with PVDC. the '%' is a wildcard. (the other filter looks at another product property: product group = 'PREMIX').
Notice the 
checkbox; if activated 
it lets you fill in the value of that filter every time you open the grid:
Color coding & icons
The main screen shows an alert monitor which provides with visual on the projected stock situation:
| Icon / Color | |
|---|---|
| projected inventory negative |
| projected inventory positive, but lower than safety stock |
| projected inventory above safety stock, and below high target (= OK zone) |
| projected inventory above high target (=excess) |
| upper left black triangle shows a spot receipt (inbound stock transfer, or purchase) |
| lower left black triangle shows a spot requirement (outbound stock transfer, or sales order) |
| black solid line shows a continuous receipt (production) |
| red solid line shows a continuous requirement (consumption) |
Sorting
Sort items by:
| Sort name | Sort by |
|---|---|
| Product | Product Name / Location code / Package Code |
| Product Description | Prod Description / Location code / Package code |
| Locaiton | Location Code / Prod Name / Package Code |
| Init | Final inventory (see Stats) |
| Min | Min inventory (see Stats) |
| In | Xfers in (see Stats) |
| Out | Orders (see Stats) |
| Forecast | (see Stats) |
| Production | (see Stats) |
| Consumption | (see Stats) |
Each sort can be either ascending or descending.
Stats
Stats shows the key metrics that characterize the situation of a product/location over the horizon defined by the grid.
| Init | Starting inventory |
| Xfers In | Total inbound stock transfer volume over the grid's time span |
| Backord In | Total overdue inbound stock transfer volume |
| Orders | Total outbound volume over the grid's time span |
| Backords | Total overdue outbound volume |
| Final | Inventory at the end of the grid's horizon |
| Low | Lowest inventory point over the grid's time span |
The period of analysis can be found on the bottom of the Stats screen:
If a product/location hits an alert threshold over the time span of the grid, the most critical one is the one that shows on that screen.
Example, TXAU / S5 in AUA goes lower than safety stock towards the end of the horizon, and this is why it shows in yellow.
Months
Finally, the 'By Month' screen lets you show all stats by Month instead of over the entire period. The possible stats are on the bottom of that screen.
Careful with the period shown: the grid horizon spans from Oct 24 2022 through Dec 22 2022. This is what this summary shows too. It will not pull in any data outside of that period.
In this example, it shows the lowest inventory point of each month.
With or without forecast
This icon (
) non-ironically showing a crystal ball, lets you switch the forecast on or off. It affects what the grids tell you. Just hit the icon to switch it on or off.
with forecast (icon is blue)
without forecast (icon is greyed out 
)
TIME3 in CZ37 has forecast. It shows that when forecast is activated, inventory is globally in the green zone. When forecast is disactivated, it shows excess inventory.
Hammer settings
Hit the bottom right hand key that looks like a vintage hammer (hence, its name):
It lets you pick amongst the following configurations:
| Config | What it does |
|---|---|
| Combine Equivalent Products | The grids shows equivalent products as one single product (=aggregates inventory, receipts and requirements over one product) |
| Combine Equivalent Packages | Same with package codes of a product |
| Combine Equivalent Locations | The grids shows merged locations as one (everything on the parent location) |
| Use Only System-Generated Transfers | DRP Records factored in in the Grid, however only outside of the Time Fence (for more on Time Fences, check out the Inventory Targets and Preference section) |
| Ignore All System-Generated Transfers | DRP Records not factored in at all |
| Use All System-Generated Transfers | DRP Records factored in. |
Change your horizon
Change the Grid horizon with a right click anywhere on the screen. Select Grid Properties.
this is the number of days (here: 60) the Grid shows. You may change it up to 330 days:
This config applies to your user only; it also applies to all grids.
Related grid
Related Grid lets you check out the grid of the product you right click on:
| By Product: all locations for that product |
|
| By Location: all products for that location |
|
Column layout:
RIght click on the column header of the grid; it lets you pick additional columns for display:
Tips: the 'SKU Resp' tells you if a product is defined as MTS or MTO (defined in Inventory Targets and Preferences):
Product / Location specific supply / demand data
(aka: SKU Details)
A right click on a product/location takes you to the detailed screen that lets you analyze the situation of said product / location.
Plot
A graphical view of the projected inventory.
Legend:
Summary
A monthly breakdown of the in- and outwards movements, with resulting EoM inventory and Days of Sale.
Lots
On hand inventory, broken down by lot.
The 'Used' field indicates whether the lot goes to your available inventory. Here, it shows that both lots are considered available.
It is determined automatically based on the UD code and the stock status of each lot in SAP:
| UD | Stock status | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| A* | Unrestricted | 1 (available) |
| R* | * | 0 (unavailble) |
| * | Blocked or Restricted | 0 (unavailable) |
| blank (still in QC) | * | 1 (available) |
You may modify the value of that field. A double click on a lot gets you to a window where you can switch the checkbox on or off:
If you switch it off, it'll affect the available inventory in Picaso right away. See below:
| Lot is 'Used' | 'Used' checkbox switched off |
|---|---|
|
|
|
|
The 'used' field will be overwritten overnight.
Inbound and Outbound orders
All inbound (inbound stock transfers) and outbound (sales orders and outbound stock transfers). This screen also shows DRP records.
Use these checkboxes to filter in or out what you want to see.
Ignoring an order:
A double click on an order takes you to the details for this order. From there, you may disable it (without deleting it) by switching the 'Ignore Order' box.
You can also do this with a simple contextual right click on the order 
Status of an order
H: means that the order item has a delivery block (TBC)
Forecast Overview
- From the Picaso forecasting module (real time update)
- Forecast = 1 value per month
- Inv. projection: forecast broken down into daily buckets
A contextual right click on any line 
lets you navigate to the detailed forecast vue of the product / customer / location. It also allows you to redirect the forecast.
For more about these two topics, check out the Demand Management section.
Remaining FC
Monthly forecast, unconsumed by sales orders (open or shipped). Looks at months M0 → M2
Forecast is Ignored the last 7 days of the month
FC v Ord
Compares forecast and order for the current month.
In this example, the forecast is 100 kg, the customer has placed an order for 250 kg (open order, not shipped yet), and the difference is -150 kg.
Production Schedule Overview
- From the Picaso production schedule module (real time update)
- Picaso schedule copied to SAP overnight
WIP
unused (TBC)
Equivalent
Shows which elements (locations, packages, products) are merged, if relevant.
In this example, RB86 and 6006 are merged locations.
More about material equivalent (and merged packages and locations) here
General
ID of the product / location. Also tells you
Follow this link to know more about product class. Follow that link to know more about location class.
Inventory Target
Lets you:
- know what is the forecast error
- know what is the current Safety stock and corresponding service level.
- set a high target and a safety stock (doing this updates ADM)
- know what is the suggested safety stock based on a given service level
- set a minimum order quantity, which drives how DRP works.
- know what is the total target, which is the expected average inventory level
When you hit the save button (
), it updates ADM.
More about Inventory targeting,
TargetPlot
Historical inventory level, goes back 9 months.
Also shows variations of safety stock and high target settings.
Distribution Requirement Planning
automated generation of a distribution plan