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Content in this track:

What are Fluent OMS Entities? (Entity)

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Content in this track: Data by Design

Essential knowledge

Author:

Agnes Schliebitz-Ponthus

Changed on:

7 July 2025

Overview

The Fluent Metrics Library is a standardized resource for understanding business performance through metrics. This page will teach you the importance of embedding data considerations into the Fluent OMS solution design, as real-time data can be used to optimize order and inventory management. Making use of Fluent OMS data within an ecosystem can lead to increased inventory turns, sales, and reduced returns.

Key points

Shape your data in a way that will enable you to
- Empower staff with insights to take action today within the Fluent OMS, Store, and Inventory app user interfaces they use today (embedded analytics)
- Accumulate the correct data to unlock more value in the future. As you grow your valuable data repository, you are set to identify new patterns and thus new ways to optimize
Use real-time data from Fluent for the highest accuracy and refined context it contains that your other systems do not capture. Fluent event-driven architecture captures anything that happens in real time to your order and inventory along their full life cycles

What do we mean by Data by Design?

Data considerations should be intentionally and systematically embedded at every layer of your Fluent OMS solution design, including account/retailer/location networks design, workflow/rules design, and web app user experience design. Data should not be treated as a side-effect of operational workflows, but as a primary design input.

Research: How might we unlock the highest value data?

One key guiding principle is that existing implementations should require minimal to no change to take advantage of the Fluent Metrics Library.Customer Research: We gathered input from Fluent's customer base to understand the metrics and reports they use today and the ones they plan to have.Analyst Inquiries and Reports: We reviewed research from Gartner, Forrester, and other analysts to build a practical metrics library for our customers.

Analyst Framework Example: Gartner Hierarchy of Supply Chain Metrics

The Gartner Hierarchy of Supply Chain Metrics is a framework that categorizes key performance indicators (KPIs) into a tiered structure to help organizations assess, diagnose, and improve their supply chain performance. It emphasizes the inter-dependencies between metrics and how they contribute to overall business objectives.

Key aspects of the Gartner Hierarchy

1. Three-Tiered Structure:

The Gartner Hierarchy of Supply Chain Metrics is a framework that categorizes key performance indicators (KPIs) into a tiered structure to help organizations assess, diagnose, and improve their supply chain performance. It emphasizes the inter-dependencies between metrics and how they contribute to overall business objectives
Mid-Tier (Supply Chain Diagnostic): A composite metric, often focused on cash flow, used for initial diagnostics
Bottom Tier (Supply Chain Correction): Functional metrics that support root-cause analysis and corrective actions

2. Interconnected Metrics: Unlike approaches that view metrics in isolation, the Gartner framework highlights how different metrics interact and influence each other.3. Benchmarking: The framework is often used for benchmarking, allowing organizations to compare their performance against industry peers and identify areas for improvement.4. Actionable Insights: By analyzing the relationships between metrics, organizations can gain actionable insights into where to focus their efforts to optimize performance

Metric	Gartner Description
Demand Forecast Accuracy	The difference between forecast and actual demand
Perfect Order (OTIF)	An order that is complete, accurate, on time, and in perfect condition
Supply Chain Management (SCM) Total Cost	All fixed and variable costs associated with end-to-end supply chain operations, including direct purchasing operating cost, manufacturing operating cost, transportation cost, warehouse/distribution center operating cost, inventory holding cost, and customer service operating costs, taken as a percent of revenue
Cash-to- Cash Cycle Time	The length of time between when a company spends cash to buy raw material to the time cash flows back into the company from its customers; includes accounts payable (AP; aka days payables outstanding [DPO]), total inventory days and accounts receivable (AR; aka days sales outstanding [DSO]).
Inventory Total	Total inventory days of supply, measured as the sum of quarterly average raw material, wip, and finished goods
Supplier Quality	Percentage of supplier receipts that passed quality standards
Supplier On Time	Percentage of supplier receipts that were received on time
RM Inventory	Raw materials inventory
Purchase Costs	Overhead and operating costs of the procurement team
Perfect Order Detail	Component breakdown of total perfect order work in progress, and finished goods inventory
WIP and FG Inventory	Work in progress and finished goods inventory
Plant Utilization	The total actual annual utilization as a percent of maximum annual capacity
Production Schedule Variance	The difference between forecast and actual production items
Order Cycle Time	Time from the receipt of an order from a customer to the receipt of the product by the customer
Cost Detail	Component breakdown of total SCM cost

Sharing Fluent OMS data within your ecosystem

Sharing Fluent OMS data across your ecosystem could achieve business goals such as increasing inventory turns, sales, and reducing returns. Take a look at the table below for some examples.

Tool	Value	Tool Examples
Demand Forecasting	Increase forecast accuracy with digital demand signals (stock availability checks).	RelexToolsgroup
PIM	Prioritize product information updates based on transactional data displayed in the PIM. Return Rate SKU Velocity Availability check to orders conversion rate Inventory on Hand	Akeneo
Commerce Search	Optimize search results based on inventory availability data to increase conversions.	AlgoliaConstructor
Ad Platform	Optimize ad spend to maximize sell-through based on inventory availability data and stop wasting ad spend on out-of-stock items.	Ruller Analytics
Pricing Engine	Optimize pricing recommendations based on inventory availability data to increase sales and margins.	Quick Lizard

Integrating data into design processes ultimately leads to actionable insights and measurable improvements across the organization.

Fluent Metrics Library

The Fluent Metrics Library is designed to provide a standardized and comprehensive approach to understanding and measuring key aspects of your business such as those mentioned above. It serves as a foundational resource for anyone seeking to gain deeper insights into your performance through a common language of metrics.

Knowledge Tracks Related To This Topic

Data by Design - Fluent DOM Metrics Library

Data by Design

Domain Model

What are Fluent OMS Entities? (Entity)

Content in this track:

Data by Design

Domain Model

What are Fluent OMS Entities? (Entity)

End Of Track

Data by Design

Data by Design

Overview

Key points

What do we mean by Data by Design?

Research: How might we unlock the highest value data?

Analyst Framework Example: Gartner Hierarchy of Supply Chain Metrics

Key aspects of the Gartner Hierarchy

Sharing Fluent OMS data within your ecosystem

Fluent Metrics Library

Agnes Schliebitz-Ponthus

Knowledge Tracks Related To This Topic

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