JDA Category Management 8.2 Release ReviewThe latest release of the Intactix software was made available for general use on November 21, 2014.
Short Read: The name of the Suite has been changed from Intactix Enterprise Suite or IES to "JDA Category Management". The Intactix Knowledge Base (IKB database) received the bulk of the improvements in this release. There were some performance improvements but the bigger changes come to LifeCycle Management and Open Access. If you are using IKB and either of those tools an upgrade would be beneficial. Assortment Generator is now available in limited release. |
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Space Planning
Key enhancements were made to the Assortment Optimization interface allowing a more seamless operation. If you are using or considering using Space Automation Professional, there is now a recorder built in to Space Planning to allow automated script creation. Business Rule Validation (BRV) can now be used from Space Automation Professional when opening or saving to IKB.
Floor Planning
There were several enhancements made to this application that have been a long time in the making. Most notable is the ability to release the same planogram to different stores on different dates.
There were also changes made to the adjacency support within floor plans. Users now have the ability to define the distances and angles of rotation within fixtures and sections that are considered adjacent. Another enhancement is the ability to run Space Automation Professional files natively in Floor Planning, this is a first step and more is expected to be done in future releases.
Space Automation Professional
The biggest change is the ability to create and use BRV scripts for loads and saves to IKB. Additional Space Planning and Floor Planning commands have been added as well as exposing parent objects for use in 'where' clauses. Floor planning templates have been added for selection and use from the Floor Planning tools menu. This last item requires at least a run time license of Space Automation Professional.
Space Automation
No news for this excellent tool. It just keeps on working.
Intactix Knowledge Base (IKB)
IKB has received more performance improvements in this new release. There have been quite a few changes and improvements made to Open Access. Open Access now includes pages for LifeCycle Management (LCM) and store-specific dates for individual planograms has been added to LCM (enabling a single planogram to go live on different dates in different stores). A validation column was added to the object assignment page to indicate whether the assignment was successful or not.
Floorplan viewer has been re-written to support more browsers. This initial release will support floorplan display and object selections.
Category Advisor was enhanced around the fact database and analysis cube.
As mentioned before, you can now use Space Automation Professional scripts for validations.
Planogram Generator (PG)
PG now supports copying signs and the use of flex space.
Assortment Optimization
This release introduces the concept of a virtual assortment - these are assortments stored in IKB to be used an example. This allows the assortment to be opened or removed from Assortment Optimization more quickly once defined as a virtual assortment. Category Advisor data can also be used to “update only” performance data in an existing assortment.
The big news is the limited availability release of Assortment Generator. This application is separately licensed and is similar in nature to Planogram Generator. Stay tuned for more information to come in future releases.
Our take on this Interim Release: Definite Upgrade
If you use IKB in addition to any combination of the other applications, consider a full upgrade. This will keep you current and makes any future upgrade much easier.
If you are just a Space Planning user, upgrade immediately and get all of the recent fixes such as the correction to fixture-on-fixture functionality.
If you are a Floor Planning user outside of IKB, you may not realize the new positional improvements.
Open Access is the future direction of Intactix so get started now if you haven’t already.
Cantactix is available should you wish to discuss the upgrade to 8.2, or any other version.
You can order your upgrade from JDA at support.jda.com.
Other Reviews
JDA Category Management 2017.1 February 2017
JDA Category Management 2016.1 August 2016
JDA Category Management 9.1 December 2015
JDA Category Management 9.0 July 2015
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Intactix Enterprise Suite 8.1.2 July 2014
Key enhancements were made to the Assortment Optimization interface allowing a more seamless operation. If you are using or considering using Space Automation Professional, there is now a recorder built in to Space Planning to allow automated script creation. Business Rule Validation (BRV) can now be used from Space Automation Professional when opening or saving to IKB.
Floor Planning
There were several enhancements made to this application that have been a long time in the making. Most notable is the ability to release the same planogram to different stores on different dates.
There were also changes made to the adjacency support within floor plans. Users now have the ability to define the distances and angles of rotation within fixtures and sections that are considered adjacent. Another enhancement is the ability to run Space Automation Professional files natively in Floor Planning, this is a first step and more is expected to be done in future releases.
Space Automation Professional
The biggest change is the ability to create and use BRV scripts for loads and saves to IKB. Additional Space Planning and Floor Planning commands have been added as well as exposing parent objects for use in 'where' clauses. Floor planning templates have been added for selection and use from the Floor Planning tools menu. This last item requires at least a run time license of Space Automation Professional.
Space Automation
No news for this excellent tool. It just keeps on working.
Intactix Knowledge Base (IKB)
IKB has received more performance improvements in this new release. There have been quite a few changes and improvements made to Open Access. Open Access now includes pages for LifeCycle Management (LCM) and store-specific dates for individual planograms has been added to LCM (enabling a single planogram to go live on different dates in different stores). A validation column was added to the object assignment page to indicate whether the assignment was successful or not.
Floorplan viewer has been re-written to support more browsers. This initial release will support floorplan display and object selections.
Category Advisor was enhanced around the fact database and analysis cube.
As mentioned before, you can now use Space Automation Professional scripts for validations.
Planogram Generator (PG)
PG now supports copying signs and the use of flex space.
Assortment Optimization
This release introduces the concept of a virtual assortment - these are assortments stored in IKB to be used an example. This allows the assortment to be opened or removed from Assortment Optimization more quickly once defined as a virtual assortment. Category Advisor data can also be used to “update only” performance data in an existing assortment.
The big news is the limited availability release of Assortment Generator. This application is separately licensed and is similar in nature to Planogram Generator. Stay tuned for more information to come in future releases.
Our take on this Interim Release: Definite Upgrade
If you use IKB in addition to any combination of the other applications, consider a full upgrade. This will keep you current and makes any future upgrade much easier.
If you are just a Space Planning user, upgrade immediately and get all of the recent fixes such as the correction to fixture-on-fixture functionality.
If you are a Floor Planning user outside of IKB, you may not realize the new positional improvements.
Open Access is the future direction of Intactix so get started now if you haven’t already.
Cantactix is available should you wish to discuss the upgrade to 8.2, or any other version.
You can order your upgrade from JDA at support.jda.com.
Other Reviews
JDA Category Management 2017.1 February 2017
JDA Category Management 2016.1 August 2016
JDA Category Management 9.1 December 2015
JDA Category Management 9.0 July 2015
-
Intactix Enterprise Suite 8.1.2 July 2014