Mariah Cossey
Introduction
With the ability to build formulas in DNA, Sourcing Teams do not need to worry about including these hidden calculations in the original Event sent out to Suppliers. Further, DNA also offers the capability to add data and create calculated columns that are unique to each Supplier. The Edit Column feature in DNA ensures users have the flexibility they need to run comprehensive analysis of Events in Scout.
In this article, we will cover:
How to Access Edit Mode in DNA
To access the Edit Columns feature in DNA, open the Analytics Toolbox and select “Edit” for the Edit Columns option:
Within the Edit Columns page you will see the Event data from your Worksheet, as well as the bid data for the Suppliers who have submitted their bid. These Columns can not be edited directly, but can be used to create additional calculated or reference columns.
To create a new column, click the “Add Columns” button:
This will open a side panel where we will define the column header names, analysis type, and expected data type to be entered.
There are two options for Analysis Type, “Reference” and “Bid Analysis”. Selecting “Reference” will create a reference column that can be used as the comparison for Outlier and Feedback Range functionalities. Formula based reference columns can pull information from Event Columns and Reference Columns. These columns can also be used in the Map Data tool to evaluate suppliers’ responses. For more on Reference Columns, please refer to this article. Selecting “Bid Analysis” will create a column that can be filled with unique data for each Supplier. We will take a look at an example of each type below.
Adding Reference Columns
This first example will create two Reference columns:
Once Saved, these Columns will appear in the References section of the data table, and data can then be entered manually or by copy and pasting from Excel.
To create a calculated column, create new or select “Edit Column” and set the Type to “Formula”. Click “Edit Formula” to define the function.
Data from both the original Worksheet and newly created reference columns will appear as variables on the left to select from.
Once you have completed adding or editing your reference columns, click "Save Formula".
At any point, you can edit the column by clicking "Edit Column" or by right clicking in the cell.
When you are finished making edits, click “Save and Exit” to leave DNA Edit Mode and return to the bid analysis.
Note: After you've exited edit mode, you may forget the formula you've entered into a column. For a quick view of the column details (including the formula), right click on the cells of the column in question and select "View Cell & Column Details". A side window will open with the column details.
Now, when mapping data or setting up Feedback Ranges or Outliers, you will see your newly created Reference Columns as options in the drop down menu for comparison variables.
Adding Bid Analysis Columns
With Bid Analysis Columns, Sourcing Managers are able to add columns to each Supplier’s current bids to analyze their responses individually. Within the Edit Column page, create a new column and set the Analysis Type to “Bid Analysis."
Once saved, you will see the newly added columns appear by the bid response columns for each Supplier:
You can now manually enter, or copy and paste in, unique sets of data for each Supplier.
To create a calculated Bid Analysis column, simply edit or add a new column and select “Formula” as the data type.
Once you have completed setting up your Bid Analysis column, click “Save and Exit” to return to the Analysis page. In the Item Details tab, the Bid Analysis columns will appear alongside the Supplier’s submitted bid information:
For more information on DNA, please view the DNA Section in our Knowledge Base.