Conference 7.286::digital

    Check with one of the Operations (Business Management) Specialists. 
    The information is available to them thru the USCIC cluster in
    Marlboro, frequently utilized in the financial modeling to determine
    profitability of various scenarios.  

Sorry, I don't have the information you need, but I do have to ask:

Assuming that this is for Your Job as a DIAL (Digital Idle Assets Listing)
Administrator, am I hearing that conditions (i.e. Cost Center budgetary
considerations) in the company do not permit you to use the known internal
source of an item of information you need?

Just had to ask.

    The reason I am asking the question is because VTX DIAL users are
    asking me.
    
    When we put DIAL on VTX, we were not allowed to publish the standard
    cost.  Because VTX DIAL is not protected with passwords, security
    classifications deem that standard cost may not be displayed.
    So when you look up a part number on DIAL, under the cost column
    it simply says "std cost".
    
    I've had quite a few phone calls from people asking me where they can
    find standard cost and I don't know what to tell them.
    

    Is the new measurement for this the Business Unit Price? (BUP?)  Seems
    that is now the price we pass inventory on to the salesforce for
    calculating profit in a sale.  
    
    Standard cost (cost to manufacture) isn't really the total cost to
    Digital for the product...there's also advertising, admin, admin,
    admin, VP's, and janitorial expenses...  8')
    

Re: 1600.2 & 1600.3

Thanks for the explanation and please excuse my asking.  I just couldn't
believe that the benefit of the service DIAL provides to DEC wasn't worth
the money required to get the data to support it.

I take that back - the reason I replied was that I COULD believe it.

Regards,

           Try VTX LOGPIC.  To get an account, contact Claudia Stein @
           275-2181 or CSLALL::STEIN.
           
           It has both MLP & STD costs for logistics parts.
           
           Steve
           

Another source is PFR (Product Financial Reporting System).  You can
    get an account by contacting Claire McCabe at DTN 223-9560.  I 
    must warn you that this is NOT a user-friendly system and requires
    a knowledge of 1032 to use.  Appix, albeit expensive, is a better
    source.
    
    TD
    

    APPIX is the official source for Standard costs.  That information is
    also available on DSPS, the official price file. 
    
    What I would do is go to the folks who provide MIS support for your
    organization, or perhaps even better go see your manager, and tell them
    you need to have access to that sort of information.  If you truly need
    to have that information to do your job, then you need to have it, and
    hang the cost.  
    
    By the way, there are differing levels of accounts on APPIX.  I
    understand that if all you need is transfer cost information, they can
    give you an account that is limited to that level of access for one
    heck of a lot cheaper than a full access account.
    
    Good luck
    
    Mike

    Why would any user of DIAL need this information?
    
    The transfer cost of DIGITAL products has always been expressed as a
    fixed percentage of list price.  The idea is to recover the costs of
    manufacturing equipment to internal customers without the burden and
    risks of distributing another price list.  As I understand the process,
    IEG forcasts demand for the upcoming quarter, the cost of meeting this
    demand is calculated and the resulting number id divided by the CLP of
    the forcast.  This yields a fraction (lately around 30%) which is
    published by IEG.  As an example, if I want to buy a system which lists 
    at $55,000 I know then that I need $16,500 in capital.  It makes life
    very simple for everyone involved in the transaction.  Even with NMS,
    it's not clear to me that we either need or want to change this
    process.
    
    Of course, this is a subtle form of allocation as the users of high
    margin equipment subsidize the users of low margin stuff, but it's
    still all Digital money. At some point I suppose we decide whether or 
    not the expense of correcting this inequity is worth the benefit (if
    there is any).  If you've been around for a while you'll notice that
    the transfer cost has been creeping upwards for several years (from
    around 15% when I started) as the mix of internal consumption has shifted 
    from minis to desktop devices.
    
    
    Al
    

RE: 1600.*

	Please keep in mind that "ALL" cost are Digital Confidential and
	should not be redistributed within the corporation with out consent
	of the custodian of the data (APPIX). The distribution is restricted
	on a need to know basis so as to reduce the risk of sensitive data
	being transmited to the outside. It would compromise our marketing and
	sales effort if our competitors or customers had access to costing
	information. 

	If you have a valid "and secure" need for the data please contact 
	APPIX at 223-9898.

	
					Mark Lifland
				    Project leader for central costing systems	
				    MEM Finance IM&T   (not part of APPIX)

    Thanks for all this great input.  I guess the bottom line is that
    the information is not easily accessible without an account on
    some system somewhere.
    
    You see, I have no problem in getting standard cost information.  I
    have access to other accounts that provide this to me.  But I don't
    want to have to look up standard cost for everyone that calls and
    asks me what it is.  Putting DIAL up on VTX was supposed to make
    my job easier.
    
    I was hoping I could refer people to a source to get standard cost
    without them having to get an account.  I guess what I'll just
    have to do is tell them to call the person advertising and ask
    THEM how much is costs!  
    
    However, all of this input you are giving me is helpful, because
    I do want to put some pointers on the VTX DIAL application that
    at least tells people how they can get standard cost information
    (even though they would need an account on some other system).
    
    Cathy
    

    But the discussion has pointed out, for me at least, one of the
    built-in conflicts that needs to be sorted out.
    
    For legitimate reasons we restrict access to standard cost information. 
    People use "public" sources of information like VTX DIAL to get
    information to do their jobs.  But when someone has a legitimate, but
    occasional, need for information the bureaucracy to validate the
    legitimacy gets in the way.
    
    I don't think we have any means of reducing the bureaucracy and
    protecting the information.
    
    Dick

	I called the APPIX hotline number mentioned earlier.  There
	has been talk of eliminating the fees for APPIX accounts,
	however, that hasn't happened yet.

	According to CLIFF (sorry, I didn't get a last name), the
	current charge for an inquiry account is $500 per year per
	cost center.  I realize everyone has budget restraints, but
	I feel that this cost is probably well within most budgets.

	Charlie
	(Who use to work for EWIS (APPIX/PROPS))

Can anyone explain to me why we charge people for access to information they
need to do their job?

Bob

    re: -1
    
    I think the more pertinent question is the one I asked earlier (though
    probably not clearly), to wit:  Why does anyone using DIAL need to know
    this information?
    
    The "real" cost of Digital products IS NOT used when conducting
    internal transaction, except at a very high planning level.
    
    The "real" cost of Digital products is EXTREMELY sensitive information
    and need-to-know should be demonstrated.
    
    And, at any rate, in the world of P&L there is a cost to Digital for every 
    piece of information you need to do your job whether or not you are 
    directly charged for it.
    
    Al
    

    
    	re -1	on why a DIAL user may need the STD COST (Xfer Cost) info
    
    	DIAL offers USED , IDLE and Customer Return hardware
    	for internal use.  The intention is to offer this equipment
    	to internal customers to meet our needs, utilizing "used" HW and 
    	also decreasing the need for us to order from IEG, removing 
    	NEW equipment that could be sold to non-internal customers for real 
    	money.  Checking DIAL for used/available equip is mandatory for 
    	all "good" corporate citizens (this has been a paid political 
    	announcement).
    
    	The cost of this equipment is offered at several different discounts,
    	all based upon std cost (xfer cost).  The need for a CAR is based upon
    	the price AFTER discount.  Anyone ordering such equipment off
    	of DIAL needs to know what their CC will be charged, or if they
    	need to create a CAR.
    
    	Sounds to me that this has become an issue where locations HAD
    	a focal point with DIAL accounts who have the tools they need
    	to access the pricing.  With VTX DIAL, we increase the volume
    	of users who are cruising, and either are unaware they have 
    	access to the tools they need, or are not authorized to have
    	that information.  
    
    	Great work on getting DIAL info onto VTX, I have told people that
    	they can search for their own hardware and not wait for	me to forget 
    	to look for them.  There is a nightmare here though, one being the 
    	increased volume of "what's std cost on this" and the other is
    	having people bring in pieces and parts for $ nn of expense money
    	when they don't control that budget or even know enough to care.
    	In other words, they are spending someone elses money and equate 
    	expense money to not needing to be tracked or recovered.  
    
    	The latter issue sounds like a personal problem, eh? :-)
    
    	I hope this answers at least the "why" question.
    
    							- Ed

Re: .9

>    The transfer cost of DIGITAL products has always been expressed as a
>    fixed percentage of list price.

That is not true if by "transfer cost" you mean Standard Cost.  The
Standard Cost as a fraction of list price (MLP) can vary very widely.  I
know of things where the Standard Cost has been less than 10% of MPL, and
of others where it is nearer to 50%.  The Standard Cost is essentially the
cost of manufacturing a product. 

jb

Ahhh Gi'day...

    I have  access to a general APPIX account, I don't think we get charged
    for  it,  you  just  have to send mail to get registered and you log on
    without  a  password.   The  captive account looks you up to see if you
    have access.

    Are you getting standard cost information from this "general" account?
    
    Where did you send mail to get registered?
    
    Cathy
    

    
    I manage the EWIS Customer Support Group for EWIS, we are the owners of 
    APPIX as well as FMAP applications to name a few.
    
    I usually follow this conference from the Shadowed Notes, but this
    particular subject hits home.
    
    I had my registrar prepare the following answer.
    
    As a side note, we do not have "General Accounts".  In order to use the
    APPIX information you must be registered.
    
    


Standard Cost is available through accessing the APPIX application in two
flavors:

APPIX Weekly Standard Cost Extract

Annual Standard Cost Setting

Its access is not free however,  there is a cost.  The charge is rolled
up to a higher level of funding but there is a charge.


If you are interested in obtaining another APPIX account please send
your request to ACADMY::CUSTSERV.  We will respond to your request and
are able to quote you a price for each product you wish to inquire
against or receive.

If you should like to speak to someone, please call our EWIS Customer
Support line on DTN:  223-9898  Outside:  508-493-9898.


If I can be of further assistance to you please do not hesitate to contact
me.




Denise Costigan
EWIS - CSG 
DTN - 223-9878

    

    
    
      The Information Resource Center (used to be called the old F/S
      Library) in the CSC/CS can also provide Standard cost from APPIX.
      They are available to any Digital employee at 800-525-7104 (press
      1 to get to the Library). They are available 6am-6pm (mountain time).
      They also have a person available on standby for pricing information.
    
      Also, as far as we know, the standard cost is simply the cost to
      maufacture.
    
      Kathy Hough
      US Area F/S Library
      Customer Support Center
      Colorado Springs CO
    
    

    Thanks Kathy.  That worked like a charm.
    
    Cathy Kennedy