WARWICK USER GUIDE XSB, INC. June Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

Transcription

1 XSB, INC. WARWICK USER GUIDE June Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

2 Warwick System User Guide: This manual provides an overview of the XSB Warwick Government Market Intelligence Tool and describes how to use the basic features and functionality of the system Warwick System Overview: Warwick is a web based tool designed to assist Suppliers across the public procurement marketplace access accurate, actionable data on sales, segmentation, competition, and price. Warwick tracks every product offered for sale, as well as all sales transactions processed through GSA Advantage! and DOD EMALL, the two largest government hosted online shopping and ordering systems. Warwick uses XSB s patented Master Data File technology to interpret and standardize a wide variety of manufacturer names, brands, part number representations, and packaging inconsistencies common to the supply chain. This enables the system to overcome data quality issues that complicate item comparison and evaluation. This standardization also ensures that suppliers are provided with the most accurate and comprehensive sales and pricing data available. Through Warwick users can access a wealth of market research and custom analytics designed to help them identify and track competitors, maximize sales opportunities, expand product lines, and manage prices more effectively. Logging in to the System: Figure 1 System Login Form To login to the Warwick system, open up a web browser and navigate to The login screen pictured above (Figure 1) will be displayed. Enter the username and password assigned to you and click the Login button. 2 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

3 Once logged on to the system, the Warwick home screen pictured below (Figure 2) will be displayed. This home screen is the launch point for all of the features and functionality of the system. From here previously-created jobs can be viewed and new jobs can be created for analysis. In addition, users can execute on-demand searches by product, manufacturer and supplier, access a list of the top selling SKUs across the market and perform a reverse NSN cross reference check. Figure 2 Warwick Home Screen Creating a Job: In Warwick, the Jobs Section allows users to upload a catalog file that will be processed by the system. This file can contain products currently on contract that warrant further market research, or a set of new products that are being considered as contract additions. Each job, or catalog file, must contain the required fields of information listed below in order to be processed by the system: Unique Item ID This is an identifier for the part to be matched; it can be a catalog number or any other unique ID that is used to relate results back to the file. Manufacturer Name (MN) The name of the company that manufactured the part. Manufacturer Part Number (PN) The Part number assigned by the Manufacturer who produced or made the part referenced in the catalog. Item Description A brief textual description of the part; when possible, include environmental attributes such as % of recycled material, this is used in the Green Product evaluation process. 3 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

4 Price A price must be supplied for each SKU in the file, this should be either the current pricing or proposed pricing for the item. This enables the system to compare the item price to all other known prices for the same part. Unit of Issue Identification of the Item s unit of measure such as Box, Carton, Ream, Each. Quantity per UOI Identification of the number of items within the Unit of Issue; such as 1 Each, 10 reams etc. Once the file is set up in Microsoft Excel format and is ready to load into Warwick, click on the Create New Job link. The form shown below (Figure 3) will be displayed with a field where a name for a new job can be entered. A list of existing jobs loaded under the account will be display under the title Current Job Names. The name for the new job must be different from all previously created jobs. Once a name is selected, click Submit to continue. Figure 3 - Specifying a Job Name Next, upload the file containing the catalog data to be associated with the job. To specify a file, click the Choose File button on the form shown in Figure 4a - Bringing Up File Selection Dialog. Figure 4a - Bringing Up File Selection Dialog 4 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

5 Clicking the Choose File button will cause the Open dialog box to appear. Use this interface to browse to, and select, the file for processing. Once the file is selected, click Open and the form will display the filename written in the Select Data File field, as shown in Figure 4b - Uploading the Data File. Click the Upload File button to upload the data file to the system. During the upload process, the system will display an upload progress screen; this indicates the file transfer progress and estimates the remaining time to complete the upload. Figure 4b - Uploading the Data File After the file has been uploaded, the Column Mapping Required screen will be displayed, as shown in Figure 5a - Selecting File for Column Mapping. To proceed, select the radio button next to the name of the file that needs to be mapped and click on the Next button. Figure 5a Selecting File for Column Mapping In this step, the key identifiers, or standardized column names, must be matched with the column names used in the uploaded file. To match the columns from the data file loaded, to the data fields required by the system, the column mapping screen will be used as shown in Figure 5b Selecting Column Mapping. This screen consists of two columns, the Key Identifiers column and the Catalog File Column Names column. The Key Identifiers column contains the various data elements that the system requires for processing the catalog file, while the Catalog File Column Names column contains a drop-down list containing all columns found in the uploaded file. Choose which of the 5 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

6 columns in the uploaded data file correspond to the various Key Identifiers. To assist in this process, a sample set of data from the file uploaded will be presented in the lower half of the screen. Figure 5b Selecting Column Mapping Once the column mappings are matched, click the Submit button to confirm the column mappings. The system will perform a simple validation of the records in the uploaded data. It ensures, among other things, that all required fields are properly populated, and that an Item ID does not occur too many times. During this time, the Warwick home page will indicate that the Job is Validating as shown in Figure 6 Job Validation in Progress below. Figure 6 - Job Validation in Progress 6 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

7 Figure 7 Approving Valid Records for Processing When the system has finished validating the data, an will be sent to the address associated with the User account. The home screen will display Validation Approval Required next to the Job name. By clicking the View button below the Job name, the Data Status screen shown in Figure 7 - Approving Valid Records for Processing will be displayed. The Data Status screen displays the results of the validation process including the number of "valid" and "invalid" records, and a record of the various kinds of errors. To view any records with errors, click View Records with Errors. If the validation results look reasonable, click on the Accept button at the bottom of the Data Status screen to submit your job for processing. Job Processing: Once the validation results have been accepted, the job will begin processing and will go through numerous workflow steps to complete the sales and pricing analysis. The first of these steps is the Manufacturer Name and Part Number (MN/PN) standardization step which is key to obtaining accurate sales and pricing data for the parts. Data quality between vendors in the Government market varies greatly. Take the Manufacturer Name Hewlett-Packard as an example, XSB has identified almost 300 different variations of this Manufacturer Name (HP, HEW, HEW IS, HEW PAC etc.). Part Numbers are also represented by vendors in a variety of ways. In order to provide customers with accurate sales and pricing data, the MN/PN representations are standardized to a single convention stored in a Master Data File. This standardization draws on XSB s core strengths in data classification and statistical matching, and uses our domain knowledge of companies, inter-company associations, and part number standardization to organize the MN/PN in the catalog file to a single representation. This relates 7 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

8 individual parts to all sales, competition, and pricing data on in our global item master database - regardless of the many ways vendors represent a part on the portals. Processing time for a job can vary greatly based on the load on the system, the complexity of the item descriptions, the number of matches in the system, and of course, the count of records in the given job. However, most jobs are completed within 12 hours. When the system has completed processing the job and reports are ready for review, this will be indicated with the message Ready for Viewing on the home screen next to the job name. In addition, as soon as a job is complete, an automated will be sent from Warwick indicating that the job is complete and the results can be accessed. View Completed Job Reports: To view the results of any completed and processed job, simply click on View under the job's name. This will display the results in the browser window. When a completed job is opened, six report tabs will be displayed: NSN Matches, DOD EMALL Matches, GSA Advantage Matches, DOD EMALL Price Report, GSA Advantage! Price Report and Green Items. To view the results under each report, click on that Tab to expand the report view. NSN Cross References Report: In the Government market, many products are searched for and purchased using National Stock Numbers. Many suppliers do not know what NSNs are associated with their products and therefore lose out on sales opportunities. The NSN Matches report tab identifies which parts in the catalog file have NSNs assigned to them as illustrated in Figure 8a NSN Matches below. Figure 8a NSN Matches 8 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

9 By clicking on any item in the NSN Match report, Users can access NSN item details along with attributes about the NSN from the Government s FLIS database as shown in Figure 8b NSN Technical Attributes. Figure 8b NSN Technical Attributes Warwick s goal in providing the technical characteristics for the NSN is to enable vendors to improve and refine their catalog descriptions. Many federal buyers search using keywords, while others search by Manufacturer Name, Part Number, or NSN. With diverse search preferences in mind, Warwick makes it easier than ever for vendors to refine and improve the quality of their item descriptions using technical characteristics or attributes related to the part that buyers are looking for. The NSN Match report can be downloaded into an Excel, PDF, or Text file by clicking on the Download link provided on the right hand side of the screen. DOD EMALL and GSA Advantage! Match Reports: Once the Manufacturer Names and part numbers in the file or job are standardized, Warwick is able to match these SKUs to sales across both the DOD EMALL and GSA Advantage! from all other suppliers in the Government market for these same parts. The DOD EMALL and GSA Advantage! Match Reports provide detailed sales (procurement) and competition analysis for each item in the catalog file. At the top of the DOD EMALL and GSA Advantage! Match Reports, the aggregated sales information for the parts in the catalog file or job will be displayed. This identifies the total combined annual sales for all SKUs in the file across the portal and from the users own contract. The Commercial Total Sales column shows how much the Government has spent over the past 12 months procuring the items in the catalog file from all commercial vendors (via the Government hosted ecommerce site). The My Total Sales column shows sales for those products over the last 12 months from the vendor s contract, and 9 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

10 the NSN Total Sales column shows the Supply Center and Depot sales for those products over the same period. Figure 9 Aggregate Sales Data Warwick also identifies how individual sales compare to overall market sales by product category or class; this data allows for quick identification of product classes that have solid market traction as well as product classes that should be selling better based on Government demand (Figure 10). Figure 10 Annual Sales Vendor VS. Market by Product Category SKU based sales analysis is displayed for each product in the catalog file and sales and market data is presented in four sections as illustrated in Figures 11a 11d below. The first section, Item Details, provides the information to identify the product (Item ID, Manufacturer Name and Manufacturer Part Number). Figure 11a Matches Report Item Details Section 10 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

11 The Next section of data, My Data, contains sales data for each part in the catalog file based on sales only through the vendor s own contract(s). Data provided includes: Market share - % of the total sales volume for the SKU over the last 12 months that was earned by the vendor My Sales total annual sales in $ for the SKU sold through the vendor s individual contract(s) Units Sold total number of units of the SKU over the last 12 months from the vendor s individual contract(s) # of Sales Transactions - total number of sales transactions for the SKU over the last 12 months from the vendor s individual contract(s) Figure 11b Matches Report My Sales Section The third section, Commercial Data, provides sales transaction and market information for each product in the file across the portal from all commercial catalog vendors who have sold that part in the past 24 months. Warwick provides data on the total spend or demand looking at the last 12 months and the previous 12 months; this helps analyze whether the SKU has an expanding or shrinking market opportunity. In addition, the total number of sales transactions and total number of units sold for each product from all commercial catalog vendors over the past 12 months is provided. Warwick also provides a count of the number of vendors with the item approved on contract as well as the number of vendors who have actually sold that item in the last 12 months. This data provides the information on how large the pool of competition is for each item in the catalog file. 11 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

12 Competition Identify the # of vendors on the portal with this SKU on contract Market Potential Annual Government procurement of the SKU Identify high demand products Figure 11c Matches Report Commercial Sales Section The last section, NSN Data, provides sales information on each product in the catalog file procured through a supply center or depot over the past 12 months. These are sales outside of commercial vendor contract sales. Figure 11d Matches Report NSN Sales Section To view additional item details on a particular SKU, including seasonality, market segmentation, competitor price analytics, and buyer information (by Agency), click on an item in the top level match report; this will open the Item Sales Summary Report. At the top of this report, the item details (an identification and overview) are displayed along with two graphs: Sales On Item Per Vendor Over the Past Year, and Average Price of Item Per Vendor Over the Past Year (Figure 12a). 12 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

13 Each of the different colors on the graph represents a unique commercial supplier who has sold this same part on the portal (DoD EMALL or GSA Advantage!) in the last 24 months. The Sales on Item Per Vendor Over the Past Year chart provides a view of how large the competition pool is for the product and when the Government historically buys this item. The second graph, Average Price of Item Per Vendor Over the Past Year, shows the product s price trends over the past 24 months. Determine when the Government historically buys this item Figure 12a Item Sales Summary Report Identify competition and how their price may fluctuate in response to changes in Government demand The next set of data lists all of the suppliers who have sold the item by name and contract number. In this section, each supplier s total sales for the SKU is reported including, the number of units sold, and the average price for the item during that sales period. This price comparison to that of a competitor s and can assist in determining when a proposed price for an item is too high, or alternately, an opportunity to increase the price and still remain price competitive. In addition, this information can help determine if any pricing patterns are emerging. The Manufacturer Name and Part Numbers used by competitors is also provided. This data validates that Warwick is drawing on all of the various representations of the item and ensures accurate sales and pricing data for a particular SKU. Since data quality varies between individual suppliers, all of the various representations will help identify how top suppliers of a SKU have the part listed. This analysis can identify If a SKU with high demand and low sales volume is being listed differently compared to the top suppliers. Changing the MN/PN listing may increase exposure and sales for that part. 13 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

14 Figure 12b Item Sales Summary Report Supplier Details Identify which vendors have sold this SKU by name, contract # and contract type View your competitor s sales and price by month Determine how to best list your SKU by MN/PN to increase exposure to buyers The final set of data presented on the Item Sales Summary Report is a view of the Government agencies procuring this item. Data is presented in two charts the first shows each agency that has bought this item from a commercial vendor on the portal along with a roll up of the total dollars spent by the agency for the part (Figure 12c). The second chart shows each agency and the dollars spent procuring the item directly from the vendor s contract(s). These charts are useful in determining which agencies are the largest consumer of each product and can help identify which agencies are ideal for targeting with product marketing and promotional materials. 14 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

15 Figure 12c Item Sales Summary Report Agency Procurement DOD EMALL and GSA Advantage! Price Reports: To improve price competitiveness and to assist in vendors in negotiations with Contracting Officers evaluating their offers, Warwick provides detailed price reports for catalog files that compare the vendor s proposed price for a SKU to all other known prices for the part from other suppliers (Figure 13a). The DOD EMALL and GSA Advantage! Price Reports compare individual item pricing with the maximum, minimum and median sale and list price (contract approved price, not MFR list price) for each SKU in the file uploaded for evaluation. A price ranking is provided to show how the vendor s price ranks against the competition for each SKU within the appropriate price/package group. Note that in order for the price reports to be generated for a catalog file, a price must be provided when uploading a file. Figure 13a Top Level Price Report 15 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

16 A more detailed price report can be accessed by clicking on a SKU in the top level price report (Figure 13b). This report displays each supplier in the market for the SKUs along with their sale or list price and analysis of how a price compares to a competitor. This detailed pricing data provides a view into all supplier pricing in the marketplace. Prices are broken out into price groups so to ensure price decisions are made based on comparably packaged and priced items. For example, remanufactured or compatible toner pricing will be separated out from OEM toner pricing. Figure 13b Detailed Price Raking Report Green Product Identification Report: XSB has been identifying Green Products for the DoD for many years. Our work in this area has helped to ensure that federal buyers from more than 13,000 locations remain compliant with Federal Green Procurement Mandates. We have now incorporated this feature into Warwick to enable suppliers to leverage this intelligence as well. Warwick s Green Product Identification report is helping to eliminate Green washing by providing vendors with a timely and comprehensive list of their environmentally friendly products. Vendors can then market these Green compliant products to customers committed to Green Procurement practices and enable them to take advantage of this rapidly growing market. XSB tracks and continually updates a knowledge base of Green Compliant products and federal Green procurement mandates; some of which change from day to day. By comparing each item in a catalog file against various knowledge bases, it can be determined whether the SKUs in a catalog, qualify as Green or environmentally friendly. To determine whether a part is Green compliant, the Manufacturer Name and Part Number is cross referenced with a Qualified Products List (from Energy Star, FEMP, Water Sense etc.) and is flagged as being Green based on reference data. The item descriptions provided, when a file is loaded in the system, is reviewed for environmental attributes such as % recycled material, and compared to current regulations. If the environmental attributes provided meet the standards in effect while the file is processed, they will be flagged as Green items determined by Description. 16 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

17 Figure 14 Green Product Identification Report Downloading Reports: Each of the completed job reports has a download link in the top right corner of the report. To download the report and use offline, simply click on the Download link. This will open a new window which will prompt for the desired download format (Figure 15). NOTE: If a catalog is very large, it may take several minutes for this window to appear. Figure 15 Report Download Window Searches: Part Number Search: At times an entire catalog file may not need to be loaded into Warwick for processing. Instead the system can be used to perform on-demand market research on a single part to determine sales volume, pricing, and competition information. Warwick s Part Number search taps into the entire Warwick sales database to obtain sales and pricing data on any SKU sold to the Government through DOD EMALL and GSA Advantage! To initiate this search, simply enter a single SKU into the Part Number Search Box (Figure 16a) and hit the Search button. 17 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

18 This will return a list of all parts sold on GSA Advantage! and DOD EMALL that match a part number input string (Figure 16b). This report will indicate the annual sales volume, average price per unit, # of sales transactions, and # of units sold. By clicking any row in the results a more detailed sales report for that SKU showing the seasonality, vendors who have sold that SKU and Agencies who have procured that SKU. Note: As more than one manufacturer can use the same part number, the Manufacturer name may also be required to narrow the results. Figure 16a Part Number Search Figure 16b Part Number Search Results Manufacturer Search: The Manufacturer search enables a search across the entire Warwick database to obtain a comprehensive list, including sales and pricing data, on all SKUs from a particular Manufacturer sold to the Government through DOD EMALL and GSA Advantage! To initiate this, simply enter a Manufacturer Name into the Manufacturer Search Box (Figure 17a) and hit the Search button. 18 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

19 Figure 17a Manufacturer Search This will return a list of all parts sold on GSA Advantage! and DOD EMALL that are associated with the Manufacturer searched for (Figure 17b). This report will indicate the annual sales volume, average price per unit, # of sales transactions, and # of units sold for each SKU associated with the Manufacturer searched for. If any row is clicked within the results, it will pull up a more detailed sales report for that SKU showing the seasonality, vendors who have sold that SKU and Agencies who have procured that SKU. Figure 17b Manufacturer Search Results 19 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

20 Contract Search: Warwick s Contract search enables a search across the database and obtain a comprehensive listing of all SKUs and approved prices associated with a particular Contract. This displays the SKUs that competitors have approved on the contract and at what prices. To initiate this, simply enter a Contract name into the Contract Search Box and hit the Search button (Figure 18a). Figure 18a Contract Search Figure 18b Contract Search Results 20 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

21 Note that if there are a large number of items associated with the contract being searched, typically greater than 50k, the query will execute and the results file will be ed to the address associated with the account; the file will not automatically download. Commodity Sales Analysis: A searchable sales analysis by product category displays the top selling products in a variety of product classes along with the annual sales volume and pricing data associated with those items. This is a powerful way to quickly identify the top selling products in the Government market; these are the items needed to add to a catalog to meet Government demand and increase sales. To initiate this search, select one of the Commodity Sales Analysis links from the Warwick home page (Figure 19a). There is a separate view of the top selling products across GSA Advantage! DOD EMALL, and DOD EMALL Open Market Contracts. Figure 19a Selecting a Commodity Sales Analysis Report Once the Commodity Analysis report opens up, a list of product categories on the left side of the screen and the associated annual sales figures are displayed within that category on the right. Each product class or category (organized according to the UNSPSC taxonomy) looks like a separate folder (Figure 19b). 21 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

22 Figure 19b Commodity Sales Analysis Report Categories To identifying the top selling products in a product category, click the folder to open the report for that category of products. This report will display, ranked from highest to lowest sales volume, all of the SKUs (both commercial parts and NSNs) sold to the Government over the past 12 months within that product category. Sales and pricing data will be displayed for each item. In addition, any item in the report can be selected to access a more detailed analysis showing sales by date, supplier and vendor data and Agency procurement information. Figure 19c Commodity Sales Analysis Report Top Selling SKUs 22 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

23 In addition to searching by product category or class within the Commodity Sales Reports, Warwick enables Keyword searches across the report. To initiate the Keyword search, simply enter the keyword that identifies the type of products to identify the top sellers (Figure 19d). This search will isolate the product sub-category in the list of possible product classes on the left hand side of the screen (Figure 19e). To open and access the report showing the top selling SKUs within this sub-class of products, click on the product name link. This displays from highest to lowest, the sales volume of all the SKUs (both commercial parts and NSNs) sold to the Government over the past 12 months within that product subcategory. Sales and pricing data will be displayed for each item. In addition, any item can be clicked on in the report to access a more detailed sales analysis showing seasonality, supplier and vendor data and Agency procurement information. Figure 19d Commodity Sales Analysis Report Keyword Search Figure 19e Commodity Sales Analysis Report Keyword Search Results Federal Business Opportunities: Within the Federal Business Opportunities section a batch file of National Stock Numbers (NSNs) can be uploaded to the system. The file must be in the form of a plain text file (.txt) with each NSN on a separate line. To upload a batch file, select the NSN Batch File link under the Federal Business Opportunities Section of the Warwick site (Figure 20c). This will open up an upload FBO NSN Batch File interface (Figure 20d). Simply select the file from the computer that contains the NSNs to match against business opportunities and click Upload. When a solicitation is issued for one of the NSNs in the file, an 23 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

24 will be sent from the system identifying the opportunity and providing a link to the solicitation documents. Figure 20c Federal Business Opportunities Batch File Link Figure 20d Federal Business Opportunities Batch File Upload Reverse NSN Match: Warwick s Reverse NSN Match feature is useful in identifying what commercial parts are associated with a particular NSN a customer is looking to procure or which commercial parts might be associated with a particular NSN the Government recently issued a solicitation for. To initiate a Reverse NSN Match, click on the Upload Batch File link under the Reverse NSN Match section of Warwick (Figure 21a). This will open up an upload Batch File interface (Figure 21b), input a name for the batch file and the select the file from the computer that contains the NSNs to have matched against commercial parts in our database. Click Upload to transfer the file to the system for reverse NSN matching. The file must be in the form of a plain text file (.txt) with each NSN on a new line. After the file is loaded, a new link will appear under the Bill of Materials Matches section with that file name. Click on the link to view the results of the cross referencing. Note that you want to focus on matches with an RNCC/RNVC code of either 3/2 (Primary Source) or 5/2 (Secondary Source). 24 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.

25 Figure 21a Reverse NSN Match Link Figure 21b Reverse NSN Match File Upload Figure 21c Reverse NSN Match File Results Help and Support: If you need additional assistance or support with the system, please call our help desk at and select Option 2 for product support. 25 Warwick System User Guide: XSB, INC.