What You Need to Know
The Blue Yonder Category Management 2024.1 release marks a significant step in the company’s cloud migration, introducing the Platform Data Cloud (PDC) powered by Snowflake. This release includes inbound integrations to the PDC and some cloud-centric enhancements to Space Planning, Floor Planning, and Space Automation Pro, reinforcing Blue Yonder’s commitment to cloud innovation. However, the release offers minimal advancements for On-Prem customers, which highlights their focus on SaaS development. For those seeking improved planogramming capabilities, but not quite ready to make the jump to the cloud, you’ll be happy to know that Cantactix has built the incremental capabilities to help you move forward.
For On-Prem Users
In light of the latest Blue Yonder Category Management release, it’s clear that the future of retail and category management lies in innovative, scalable solutions. The recent release offers minimal advancements for On-prem customers using CKB or flat file systems, underscoring Blue Yonder’s shift towards enhancing their SaaS platform. This pivot to SaaS innovation leaves On-prem customers seeking more advanced planogramming and floor planning tools.
Cantactix steps into this gap with its software solutions, designed to augment your planogramming capabilities significantly. MissionControl leverages automation and a suite of powerful tools to streamline the planogramming process, making it faster, more efficient, and capable of handling complex retail and floor planning needs. It’s an ideal upgrade for those looking to extend beyond the limitations of On-Prem systems, ensuring that your category management remains cutting-edge without relying on new tools from Blue Yonder’s latest releases.
For Blue Yonder Cloud Users
For BY Cloud customers, the recent R&D efforts have focused on enhancing the infrastructure to better integrate CKB with the broader BY supply chain solutions, including seamless integration with BY’s Platform Data Cloud—Snowflake. This includes developments in SaaS-only Strategic Assortment and Space applications, with notable enhancements in the Planogram Generator, especially around merchandising in chests.
The phase-out of Data Manager and the change in the data type for the Store Number field are critical considerations. These changes signal the need for a transition to more modern solutions. Cantactix can facilitate this transition smoothly, offering pathways to integrate existing functionalities with new capabilities provided by MissionControl. This ensures a seamless upgrade and continued excellence in category management operations.
Whether you’re facing the end of support for Data Manager or looking to expand your planogramming capabilities beyond the latest Blue Yonder release, Cantactix’s solutions offer a robust, forward-looking alternative. With Cantactix software solutions, retailers can embrace the future of Category Management, leveraging automation and advanced data analytics to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving retail landscape.
Release Summary
The Blue Yonder Category Management 2024.1 release signals a major stride in the company’s efforts to move their business to the cloud. 2024.1 introduces the first glimpses of the Platform Data Cloud (PDC) backed by Snowflake. The Platform Data Cloud represents the data store of the future for Blue Yonder, underpinning a platform that will ultimately support and interchange data between all products in the Blue Yonder ecosystem.
2024.1 features a set of inbound integrations to CKB for Product, Store, Cluster, and Performance from the PDC and an outbound feed for Product Eligibility by Store that will return to the PDC. The PDC will feature data transfers set up in a standardized fashion so data from any application can be shared with any other. BY has shared that they have much on their roadmap to enhance these capabilities, and 2024.1 is but a taste of what is to come for those customers in the BY Cloud.
For those not in the BY Cloud, the release is not as impactful. Blue Yonder is prioritizing their cloud migration by shifting their focus towards enabling desktop applications to access CKB on the cloud, while slowing down development of these applications. Though a slowdown in development is an expected side effect of BY redirecting development resources to work on cloud-based projects from the desktop applications, the result remains.
Space Planning (SP), Floor Planning (FP), and Space Automation Pro (SA Pro) all had enhancements made to the Websocket capability enabling them to access a BY SaaS instance of CKB with little more done to the application. A new API and 75 new endpoints were added to Category Management Services and the last of the missing functionality from CKB Console was added to Open Access (OA) strengthening BY’s position in the cloud. Planogram Generator (PG) was enhanced with new actions and updates to existing actions as BY continues supporting automated workflows.
We’ve also been notified that the 2024.4 release tentatively scheduled for December of this year will be the last release to feature CKB Data Manager or CKB Console as they will be officially retired. Open Access will be the supported platform moving forward. Those users with customizations in Data Manager will need to begin considering their next steps. The final release of Data Manager will have version checking removed so it can be used with subsequent BY releases for the foreseeable future. However, it will not be officially supported, nor will it be updated or patched if there are issues.
Alerts
- Activation Codes have been updated for all applications in the suite.
- SQL Server 2017 is no longer supported. Support for SQL Server 2022 has been added, and Support for SQL Server 2019 remains.
- Oracle 19c is the only version of Oracle that will be supported. Though Oracle 23c has been released, it does not have a 32-bit client, which is a requirement for BY applications.
- Support for Revit 2024 has been added. Floor Planning also still supports Revit 2022 and 2023.
- CKB Data Manager and CKB Console official retirement announced for 2024.4, scheduled tentatively for December of 2024.
Click on the application name to jump to the summary:
Space Planning
Development on the Category Management Suite has slowed down in recent years due to the shift in Blue Yonder’s vision to move to a SaaS- based software model. While users have become accustomed to consistent updates to the flagship applications, it should be assumed that development resources must be diverted from existing projects in order to achieve anything new. This is an expected byproduct of shifting resources.
That said, some minor improvements were made to the 2024.1 version of Space Planning if you’re on BY SaaS. Performance improvements were made to the Websocket connection using multi-threaded object serialization and optimized data format conversions. Error handling and connection recovery methods were added to improve stability. Functionality of the Websocket was extended so it now supports Planogram Exchange Management (PEM), Lifecycle Management (LCM), and the Space Planning COM Automation Call for FetchProductIKBDBKeys.
Also, the base authorization level for the Planogram Generator Edit Action List command was lowered from 9 to 8 to give administrators an additional activation level for the configuration of PG users. The changes to Space Planning were small and localized, but development does continue on BY’s flagship CMS applications.
Space Planning Web
No new features were put into Space Planning Web for 2024.1. Blue Yonder instead focused on fixing a few technical issues.
Floor Planning
Blue Yonder has made some minor but impactful updates to Floor Planning for 2024.1, again if you’re in BY SaaS. The main enhancement is that the Web Socket Database Connection Functionality introduced last year for Space Planning will now be available in Floor Planning. This enables any customer with a hosted CKB Database in a Blue Yonder Azure environment the ability to connect directly to an installation of Floor Planning on a local device. This allows the implementation of Floor Planning to be more flexible as users can connect to a SaaS version of CKB locally without having to rely solely on accessing Floor Planning via Citrix.
For any customers using or considering the use of Revit to tie into your Floor Planning process, the latest version of Revit 2024 has been certified for use with the application. Past versions of Revit, including 2022 and 2023, will also continue to be compatible with the latest release. By introducing support for Revit 2024, BY has made additional API Integration’s available for sending and receiving data across both platforms.
CKB
2024.1 is the first release of the Blue Yonder suite with a connection to the Platform Data Cloud (PDC). For customers in the Blue Yonder cloud who are able to take advantage of this capability, the 2024.1 release features a set of integrations which will allow CKB to access data stored in Snowflake, the database technology underpinning the Platform Data Cloud.
Though this release is limited in what it offers in terms of the number of integrations it is capable of, it gives us a glimpse into the future of the Blue Yonder vision with some first real, tangible steps. This release will allow CKB to receive a subset of Product, Store, Cluster, and Performance data from the PDC and feed back item eligibility data per store based on merchandised planograms. Much more work is planned on the BY roadmap for future releases, and 2024.1 marks a first step into this new platform.
Some schema changes have been made to the CKB database for 2024.1. Most notably, the data type for the Store Number field has been changed to Varchar(80). This will enable users to store alphanumeric values for store numbers moving forward, which is more consistent with the way other Blue Yonder applications outside the CMS Suite currently work.
Please be aware that this could cause disruption to the way some current custom store integrations may work. If code has been written in such a way that it depends on the Store Number being in Integer, which is what it formerly was, then a sudden change from an Integer to a VarChar could cause a change in the behavior of that code.
Also, be aware that 2024.1, which was just released and 2024.4, tentatively scheduled for release in December of 2024, will be the final releases of Blue Yonder CKB Data Manager and CKB Console. Blue Yonder has officially announced the retirement of these applications. Please be aware, this is not the retirement of CKB, but the retirement of the older desktop management tools. CKB administered by Open Access is the officially supported platform moving forward.
This does not mean they will be unsupported, technically. The final release will remove any version checking ensuring users can continue to use them with future BY releases. However, BY will not make any patches or any additional developments to keep them viable. They will be unofficially supported until a change to Windows, SQL, or Oracle renders them unusable.
Please use this time to begin considering a transition plan. This could be a shift to Open Access or the Blue Yonder Cloud. This could also be a shift to MissionControl and/ or PogCloud offered by Cantactix. Please feel free to contact us and we would be happy to help you consider all available options.
Open Access
For 2024.1, the main Open Access landing page has been updated to a new React JS- based landing page featuring status charts for the main database objects. This page is not editable by the OA Administrator but the original page can be restored if it is preferred.
Open Access has also been updated with the ability to define Planogram Generator Scenarios. These allow a user to set up a request for Planogram Generator to run with minimal expertise or interaction necessary. An administrator can set up the various inputs and a user can select what they want and associate them to a new request streamlining the process for users unfamiliar with PG.
Open Access has also been updated with the settings necessary to configure Lifecycle Management. This was formerly done in CKB Console. This is some of the last of the major functionalities needed in Open Access to take over Console as a fully functional management system allowing Blue Yonder to make the decision to retire Console.
Category Management Services
The Category Management Services continue to be enhanced providing a new API and 75 new API endpoints. For 2024.1, these include:
- Materials – 32 new endpoints supporting Parts and Components
- Planogram Exchange Management (PEM) – 13 new endpoints
- Planogram – 5 new endpoints supporting PG Processing for Equipment Import
- System – 25 new endpoints supporting LCM, DBStatus Maintenance, and Job Execution
- User – A new endpoint allowing for the retrieval of a list of Web and CKB Users
Also, Category Management Services has been updated to use .Net Core 6 to extend the life of the .Net Core version used.
Space Automation Pro
For the 2024.1 release, the Web Database Configuration for Space Automation Pro has been updated. SA Pro will now use the LIAM Authenticated Websocket connection to connect to the database allowing it to be installed and run from a remote machine again providing an alternative to using the application via Citrix. This update replaces the older Open Access Web API connection which has been discontinued as of this release. No other features were added, though a number of customer- reported quality issues were addressed as a part of this release.
Planogram Generator
Unlike other applications in the suite, Planogram Generator has received quite a bit of development for the 2024.1 release.
PG Edit Action List command authorization min level 8
The default authorization level for editing a PG Action List has been lowered from 9 to 8. When upgrading, the existing ProSpace.aut file will retain the user’s current authorization level for that command. An administrator with level 10 access can set the authorization to 8, 9, or 10 and deploy the AUT file to the rest of the organization. During a new installation, the command will be set to level 8 by default.
New Actions
Can Define Maximum Number of Positions on Fixtures
In the Merchandising Options action under the Settings Phase, there is now the option to set the Maximum Positions for each uncombined shelf. This can be set to a specific number to apply to all shelves, or a formula can be created to filter to specific shelves. When multiple shelves are combined, the number set here will be the maximum number across all combined fixtures. This will work great for pallets, or situations where you need to control the number of items that are placed on shelves.
Note that this does not technically stop additional positions from being added to those fixtures. It simply flags the additional positions as being overfilled, which will allow relax or boost actions to attempt to move them to a fixture that does not meet the maximum number.
Limit Depth & Vertical Stacking
A new Reduce Units Deep and High action will be available in the Final Phase. This action will use the target inventory levels to reduce units deep and/or reduce units high. To achieve this, the position level MerchY and/or MerchZ settings will be set to Manual and values that limit the capacity to the Target Inventory will be set as maximums. When the planogram level capacities are being used within an organization to determine the ordering level, this feature is designed to show the desired value, rather than the full capacity of the position.
Enhancements to Existing Actions
STOP Action Renamed
The STOP action available in almost all phases has been renamed to Bypass Remaining Actions. There is no change to the purpose or functionality of the action,; it has been simply renamed to better represent what it does. It continues to ignore any actions that follow it in the Action List and generation halts.
Copy Data to Target
Within the Copy Data to Target action, there have always been options to Use Aauxiliary and to Use Anchor. When using an auxiliary template, products that only resided on the auxiliary would have data from the anchor’s primary template position copied across to the target. The functionality has been improved such that when a product only exists on the auxiliary template, those data points will be copied over to the target. The data for anchors will continue to come from the primary unless the Use Auxiliary option is selected.
Copy Tags to Target
Within the Copy Tags to Target action there are now options to use the template anchor product tags or use the auxiliary product tags. This action will copy all tag fields over and, there is no option to filter. Caution must be used if copying the tags from the auxiliary as it will replace all 16 tag fields in the target with the tags from the auxiliary. To copy individual tags, use the Copy data to target action.
Use Formulas in Relax and Boost Actions
Numerous releases ago, BY added the formula builder in the Product Phase to be used when including and/or excluding products. The functionality has now been extended to the Relax and Fill Out Phases.
There are now options to use a Template or Target formula to reduce/boost towards. This lets you use the same logic that may have been used to initially include the products during the Products Phase.
Simple vs Advanced Stacking in Chests
PG now offers more complex patterns for chest stacking. The current functionality has been renamed to “Simple”, while a new “Advanced” option adds multiple layers to optimize the chest fixture.
Below is a sample of the current Simple method. Products can be stacked behind other products, but the width of positions must align with the lead product.
Below is a sample of the new Advanced method. Products can still be stacked behind other products, however, the number of products stacked behind is now configurable by selecting from the options available.
In the Advanced method, multiple patterns can be enabled. If multiple actions are being used, the allowed patterns from each action are cumulative. When Advanced stacking options are selected, Simple stacking options are ignored.
Resequencing can be allowed for better fit to correct overflows. This will change the order of the positions for the template flow to better optimize the space requirements. Caution should be taken when this option is selected, as the best space allotment may not align with the merchandising strategy.
With this being used in a CHEST fixture, top and side capping are still not available. Depth capping however is applicable, and a maximum number of caps can be set in the action. Advanced stacking will set positions to Manual like PG does when banding, which means that actions like “Spread Evenly” will not be applicable.
Assortment Optimization
For the first time in several releases, Assortment Optimization 2024.1 contains some new features. Though there are not many, it is encouraging to see continued development and enhancement of the product. 2024.1 features the ability to set a custom location for the Framework User Settings File, which is the Assortment Optimization version of an INI file. This is consistent with Space and Floor Planning’s ability to set custom locations for such files and will provide some flexibility in environments where this file is maintained by an admin and needs to be consistently backed up or updated. There is also a new feature which will allow a user to remove all nodes from a product tree which have no products assigned to them with a single button click. In addition to this, BY continues to work on the health of the application as they have in past releases listing 9 customer- reported issues addressed in the release.
Our Takeaway
The 2024.1 release offers benefits to those who have a CKB implementation in the BY Cloud, who use Planogram Generator, or who plan to develop solutions using or otherwise utilize the Category Management Services API’s. Outside of these key areas, we don’t see a compelling reason to upgrade. That said, if you are a PG user or on the BY Cloud, there are some key capabilities here that may be of interest to you. Weigh them carefully with the understanding there is more on the roadmap for CKB and the PDC in the next release. You may have a compelling reason to wait such as budget concerns or IT constraints.
What we have not included in this review, because we are not getting enough information from Blue Yonder to have an informed opinion, are the “new in SaaS” applications – Strategic Space and Strategic Assortment.
In short, we are seeing a slowdown in the development of new features in the desktop applications, and the retiring of some, to make way for change. Those in the BY Cloud could benefit from Blue Yonder’s changes. Those not in the cloud need to begin considering long -term options. What are those options?
There are several and we stand ready as your strategic partner to help you consider them all to determine which is right for you. Do you need help implementing Open Access or migrating your business to the Blue Yonder Cloud? We’ve helped several clients with that, and we can help you. Would you like to consider a hosting option for your CKB outside of Blue Yonder? We host several clients, and we can host you.
Would you like to consider tools that will replace Data Manager and breathe new life into your Blue Yonder desktop suite? We can introduce you to Cantactix tools that will maximize your capabilities with the Blue Yonder CMS suite and can replace your automation in Data Manager. All we are interested in is what the right path is for you.
Please feel free to reach out and let us know how we can assist you in navigating these questions and making these plans.
Check out our previous release reviews here.