MGMT-3220 - Mgmt Information System

Lab 3 – ERPsim Quarter Two Report

 You will prepare a Word document that contains a set of pivot charts. Each pivot chart will be followed by a brief explanation (1-2 sentences per chart) of what that chart tells you that is notable within the context of your company operations. Do not make general statements such as “This chart shows our sales of products in quarter 1 vs. quarter 2” but rather statements such as “This chart shows our units sales of products in quarter 1 and quarter 2, illustrating that 1 kg blueberry was our top seller in both quarters and 1 kg strawberry was our worst seller.”

 Make sure that each of your pivot charts has a clear, explanatory title set in Excel. Make sure that all extraneous elements are removed from charts so as to focus the reader on the main point of communication.

 Create the following pivot charts:

1. Your sales revenue, per quarter per product. (One bar per product, per quarter.)

2. Your unit sales, per quarter per product. (One bar per product, per quarter.)

3. Your daily unit sales of a product that had an interesting sales history for the most recent quarter.

4. Your unit sales per area (i.e. region of the country) per product per quarter

 Note that the above 4 pivot charts are illustrated in the Basic ERPsim Pivot Charts on pages 2-6 of this document. Compare your charts to those listed on the attached pages (realizing that your data will be different) to check their accuracy in reporting. Take care to always ask yourself “Does this data make sense?” If not, you have made an error in chart construction.

5. A chart of your own choosing that you believe illustrates something notable about your company. It can be a variation on one of the previous charts as long it illustrates something notable that is not shown in a prior chart.

6. Another charts of your own choosing that you believe illustrates something notable about your company that is different from any of the charts shown from the examples below.

 Your report should consist of 6 pivot charts where each pivot chart is followed by a short block of explanatory text.

 Pages 2 – 6 provide some basics of Pivot Charts in ERPsim  

ERPsim Pivot Chart Basics There are a variety of useful pivot charts that can be created in Microsoft Excel using data from ERPsim Reports. This page provides some examples. Note that in the charts shown below, elements like the "Material Description" field selector are shown for clarity in chart preparation. In your lab submission, these elements should not be present, as discussed in class.

Sales Pivot Charts using ZVC2

Comparison of revenue--all products, multiple quarters:

Comparison of units sold--all products, multiple quarters:

Note that in the above example, 1kg Raising Muesli sold the greatest number of units in quarter 2, however, when compared with the upper chart it can be observed that greater revenue was received from 1kg Strawberry

It is often useful to look at the evolution of product sales over time. Comparison of daily units sold--all products, multiple quarters:

Note that although the chart above contains a lot of data, there is really too much information being displayed to be able to truly understand what is going on. Converting this to a line chart may assist in resolving this:

While the above chart may be an improvement, it still is hard to observe anything meaningful with all the products showing. Looking at a given product in isolation provides the most meaningful insight.

Note that in the above chart days without sales do not appear. It can be most significantly observed that sales of 500g Strawberry Muesli spiked significantly at the end of quarter 1 and going into quarter 2. After day 3 of quarter 2 however none of this product was again until day 14. Also notice that none of this product was sold from day 15 of quarter 1 until day 30 of quarter 1. Why? This chart doesn't answer that question but it does help us observe this unusual sales pattern.

Sales Pivot Charts using ZVA05

Note that to create the above chart (1) the price pivot chart control had to be changed to average (otherwise it would sum up the prices and suggest that muesli was selling for 14

euro per box) and (2) in the pivot table (not chart) the pricing field was adjusted to display two decimal digits.