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Design Tip #167 Complementary Fact Table Types
Bob Becker on June 17, 2014
There are three fundamental types of fact tables in the data warehouse presentation area:
transaction fact tables
[1]
, periodic snapshot fact tables
[2]
, and accumulating snapshot fact
tables
[3]
. Most DW/BI design teams are very familiar with transaction fact tables. They are
the most common fact table type and are often the primary workhorse schema for many
organizations. Many teams have also incorporated periodic snapshot fact tables in their
presentation areas. Fewer organizations leverage the accumulating snapshot fact table.
Design teams often dont appreciate how an accumulating snapshot fact table can
complement transaction and/or periodic snapshot fact tables.
Each of the fact table types is a design response to the wide variety of requirements posed
by the business community. Often the best design response is a combination of two, or even
all three, fact table types. The multiple fact tables complement one another, each supporting
a unique view of the business processes that would be difficult to achieve with only one fact
table type.
A logistics supply chain is an excellent scenario to illustrate all three fact table types working
together to support a rich set of business requirements. Well use a simplified view of the
finished goods logistics pipeline of a large auto manufacturer to help understand the
strengths and appropriate use of each fact table type.
Our auto manufacturer has plants where vehicles are assembled. The finished vehicles
eventually find their way to dealers where they will be sold to the ultimate owners. Our
fictitious auto manufacturer maintains finished goods inventory in a large parking lot really
a warehouse located just outside the assembly plant doors. Vehicles (inventory) are
shipped from the finished goods warehouse via freight train to one of several regional
parking lots. From these regional warehouses, the inventory is shipped via carrier truck to
dealer locations. Once the vehicle arrives at the dealer, it is prepped and put on the dealer
lot (store inventory) for final sale.
The logistics business users need to understand the number of vehicles flowing out of final
assembly, in and out of each warehouse, and the final customer demand for various vehicle
types, colors, models, and so on. The company also needs to understand and analyze the
inventory levels at each stage of the logistics chain. Logistics management wants to
understand the time it takes for a vehicle to move from the assembly plant to the final
customer, depending on vehicle type, warehouses, and carriers. Moving vehicles more quickly
and efficiently through the logistics pipeline helps the company minimize inventory levels and
reduce carrying costs.
A robust design to support our auto manufacturers finished goods logistics pipeline
illustrates all three fact table types.
Transaction Fact Table
A key component of the logistics pipeline is the flow of inventory from one location to
another. The flow of vehicles is captured in a series of inventory movement transactions. An
assembly plant releases a vehicle into the finished goods inventory via an inventory
movement transaction. The vehicle is then shipped via rail to the regional warehouse where
it is received into its inventory; later it is removed from inventory and shipped via truck to the
dealer where it is received into the dealer inventory. For each of these inventory moves, an
inventory movement or shipping/receiving transaction is generated. The inventory flow is a
great opportunity for a transaction fact table. The grain of this fact table is one row for each
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inventory movement transaction for each vehicle. Similarly the final sale of the vehicle should
be captured in a sales transaction fact table with one row for each vehicle sold.
Transaction fact tables are an appropriate design response to business requirements that
look for an understanding of the intensity or quantity of a business process. Transaction fact
tables help answer the how many? question. For example, how many white sports utility
vehicles (SUVs) were sold last week? What were the dollar sales? How many all-wheel drive
vehicles were released by assembly into salable inventory? How many vehicles did we ship
with a given carrier? How many vehicles were received by our dealers this month? Compared
to last month, last quarter, or last year? Theres a reason transaction fact tables are the
workhorse fact table type: they support critically important business requirements. On the
other hand, transaction fact tables are less effective in answering questions regarding the
state of our inventory levels or the speed/efficiency of the logistics pipeline. To support these
business requirements, we look to other fact table types to complement transaction fact
tables.
Periodic Snapshot Fact Table
The second requirement is understanding the total amount of inventory at any point in the
pipeline. Supporting analysis of inventory levels is a task well suited for a periodic snapshot
fact table. At any point in time, each vehicle is in a single physical location such as finished
goods inventory at the plant, in a regional distribution center, on a dealer lot, or in-transit on
a railcar or truck. To support inventory analysis, the periodic snapshot fact table has a grain
of one row per vehicle each day. A location dimension will support the analysis of inventory in
each point of the pipeline.
The periodic snapshot fact table does an excellent job of helping understand the volume of
vehicles in our pipeline. It answers the how much? question. How much total inventory do
we have? How much inventory is available in white vehicles? SUVs? Four doors? Sport
models? In California? On dealer lots? Compared to prior months, quarters, or years? The
periodic snapshot supports trending of inventory levels over time. The inventory movement
transaction fact table and inventory periodic snapshot together support a wide range of the
business requirements surrounding the logistics pipeline. However, even with both of these
fact tables, it will be difficult to address the pipeline efficiency requirements. To complete the
picture, an accumulating snapshot fact table will complement the transaction and periodic
snapshot fact tables.
Accumulating Snapshot Fact Table
The third set of requirements for the logistics pipeline is supporting analysis of the speed at
which vehicles travel through the pipeline (no pun intended). Each vehicle will pass through a
series of milestones during its travels to the final owner. To support the analytic
requirements for measuring and understanding the efficiencies of our logistics pipeline, an
accumulating snapshot fact table will be populated with one row per vehicle. As each vehicle
moves through the pipeline, the accumulating snapshot will be updated with the date of
each movement and current location of the vehicle. The accumulating snapshot will have
numerous date keys, such as date released by assembly, date shipped to distribution
center, date received at distribution center, and so on until date of final sale. Fact table
metrics will include a series of date lags that measure the time it took for a vehicle to move
between pipeline steps .
The accumulating snapshot fact table supports the key efficiency measures of velocity. How
quickly do vehicles move through the pipeline? Whats the average length of time from
assembly release to final customer sale? Is it different for autos than SUVs? Hybrids versus
non-hybrids? White versus red vehicles? Which carriers/railroads are most effective? The
accumulating snapshot will be updated daily for vehicles currently in the logistics pipeline.
Thus, the accumulating snapshot can also be used to look at the current state of the pipeline
to identify stuck vehicles, such as find all the vehicles that have been at a regional
distribution center or on a dealer lot for more than n days. How many vehicles have been
in transit via rail or truck for more than n days? Where are all the SUVs? This fact table can
help the logistics team identify and move the vehicles in highest demand, identify efficiency
improvement opportunities, and identify preferred shipping partners.
In the case of our auto manufacturer, it is clear that the three fact table types complement
one another. Implementing all three fact table types is an appropriate response to the rich
set of business requirements. Implementing only one or even only two of the fact table types
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would have made it very difficult, if not impossible, to support all the requirements.
Article printed from Kimball Group: http://www.kimballgroup.com
URL to article: http://www.kimballgroup.com/2014/06/17/design-tip-167-
complementary-fact-table-types/
URLs in this post:
[1] transaction fact tables: http://www.kimballgroup.com/data-warehouse-business-
intelligence-resources/kimball-techniques/dimensional-modeling-techniques/transaction-
fact-table/
[2] periodic snapshot fact tables: http://www.kimballgroup.com/data-warehouse-business-
intelligence-resources/kimball-techniques/dimensional-modeling-techniques/periodic-
snapshot-fact-table/
[3] accumulating snapshot fact tables: http://www.kimballgroup.com/data-warehouse-
business-intelligence-resources/kimball-techniques/dimensional-modeling-
techniques/accumulating-snapshot-fact-table/
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