What is an item?
Answer: An item is a part or services where you can Purchase, Sell,
Plan, Manufacture, Stock, Distribute and Prototype. Items can also be containers for items as well as components
you build into other items.
Explain Item Master Organization?
Answer: An item master organization is a logical entity where you
define the item. After you define an item in the item master, you can assign it
to any number of other organizations.
Define Inventory Organization?
Answer: It is a facility which will enable you to store and transact
the items. It can be a manufacturing unit, ware house, distribution center etc.
What is a subinventory?
Answer: Subinventiries are unique physical or logical separations of
material inventory. These can be raw material, finished goods or defective
material subinventory. You must define at least one subinventory.
Subinventories are of two types: Storage and Receiving.
Storage subinventories are intermediate or final put away
locations for material. Material that resides in a storage subinventory appears
in on hand quantity, and is tracked by the system. The system can book orders
against, and use manufacturing processes on material that resides in a storage
subinventory. You must define at least one storage subinventory for your
implementation.
Receiving type subinventory is only used for receiving
items. Items in this subinventories cannot be on-hand or reserved
In which table does the subinventory related information for
an item is stored?
Answer: MTL_ITEM_SUB_INVENTORIES
What is a stock locator?
Answer: Locators are structures within subinventories. Locators are
the third level in the enterprise structuring scheme of Oracle Inventory.
Locators may represent rows, racks, or bins in warehouses. You can transact
items into and out of locators. You can restrict the life of locators,
establish capacity of a specific locator in weight or units, as well as specify
dimensions which define a locator’s capacity by volume.
What are the Key flex fields in oracle Inventory?
Answer: Oracle Inventory provides the following flexfields:
System Items, Item Catalogs, Item Categories, Stock
Locators, Account Alias and Sales Order
What are the basic steps involved in defining an item?
Answer:
- Create an item in the item master form.
- Copy the template from the tools menu to assign specific
attributes to the item and save it.
- Assign the item to a category from tools menu and save your
work
- Select organization assignment from tools menu and assign
the item to different inventory organizations by ticking the checkbox next to
the inventory organizations.
What are item attributes?
Answer: Item attributes are the collection of information about an
item. These are used to store specific characteristics of an item, such as item
status, unit of measure, revision control, etc. these can be controlled at
either the master or the organization level. These attributes are stored in a
table named MTL_ITEM_ATTRIBUTES
What is the use of item template?
Answer: An Item template is a set of attributes that enable the user
to quickly create an Item. You can use the existing templates are you can
create your custom template.
What is an item category and category set?
Answer: A category is a logical classification of items that have
similar characteristics.
A category set is a distinct grouping scheme and consists of
multiple categories. An item can belong to any number of category sets. We can
assign item to one category within each category set. The categories can be
retrieved from the table ‘MTL_CATEGORIES_B‘ and item category set
from‘MTL_CATEGORY_SETS_B’.
Explain unit of measure (UOM) and UOM class?
Answer: The unit of measure (UOM) helps us count the number of items
involved in a transaction or the number of items that are stored in a
subinventory or a locator.
UOM classes let you group different UMO’s into one category.
Eg, quantitycould be a UOM class under which each, dozen, lot etc are separate
UOM’s.
Explain shipping method?
Answer: Shipping methods are the way you ship material. When you
create a shipping method, you must enable it before you can use it in a
shipping network. If you disable a shipping method, it cannot be used in a
shipping network.
Describe Interorganization Shipping Networks?
Answer: An inter-organization shipping network describes the
relationships and accounting information between a shipping organization and a
destination organization. You must define a shipping network between two
organizations before you can transfer material between organizations. When you
set up a shipping network you must select a transfer type:Intransit or Direct.
Intransit: Oracle Inventory moves material to an
intermediary state before it reaches the destination organization. After the
material arrives at the destination organization, you will need a receipt
transaction to retrieve it. If intransit is selected, you can define: Shipping Methods, GL Accounts to use in transit, Material
ownership during transfer, Planning lead times and Transfer Charges
Direct: Oracle Inventory moves the material directly to the
destination organization. However, for both
transfer types, you can determine default receipt routing and whether
internal orders are required to transfer material
In which tables are the transactional details are stored?
Answer:
MTL_MATERIAL_TRANSACTIONS
MTL_TRANSACTIONS_INTERFACE
MTL_MATERIAL_TRANSACTIONS_TEMP
MTL_TRANSACTION_ACCOUNTS
What is revision control in Oracle Inventory?
Answer: A revision is a particular version of an item, bill of
material, or routing. Revision control is normally enabled for identifying a
modified item. Item can be placed under revision control by checking the box
`Revision control` in Inventory tab while defining new item or for existing
item. Base table for Item Revision is MTL_ITEM_REVISIONS.
What is Picking Order of Subinventory or Locator? Where will
you define the order?
Answer: The value indicates the priority with which we pick items
from subinventory or Locator, relative to another subinventory or locator,
where a given item resides. A picking order of means that order entry functions pick items
from the subinventory or locator before others with a higher number (such as
2,3 and so on). The subinventory order is defined in the subinventory
definition and the locator order is defined in the locator definition. The
default order for both the subinventory and the locator are defined in the
organization.
What are the different inventory transactions?
Answer: A transaction is an item movement within, into or out of
inventory. A transaction changes the quantity and location of an item
The following are the different inventory transactions:
- Receive an item into an organization from GL account number
- Issue an item from an organization into a GL account number
- Transfer items from one subinventory to other in the same
organization.
- Transfer of items between various inventory organizations
- Reservation of items
Describe various inventory transactions?
Answer: Miscellaneous transaction: This transaction is used to do
adjustments in stock due to damage, obsolescence, issuing items for R & D
or issuing track able expense items.
Subinventory transfer: This transaction is used to transfer
goods from one subinventory to another within the same inventory organization.
InterORG transfer: This transaction is used to transfer
goods from one inventory organization to another.
Receiving transaction: This transaction is used to move
goods from receiving dock to specified subinventory and locator.
Sales issue: This transaction is used to move goods from
pick subinventory to staged subinventory.
WIP issue: This transaction is used to issue materials
against production orders
What is the difference between a subinventory transfer and a
move order?
Answer: Both these transactions are used for the movement of items
from one subinventory to the other. The difference is that move order generates
a pick slip and a subinventory transfer doesn’t.
Move order requires ‘approval’. Also, move orders create
allocations. So you can place hold on the material with the intention of
picking it up a little later. In subinventory transfer, there is no reservation
/ allocation.
What are the Components used in Customizing a Transaction?
Answer: The following are the three components used in a transaction
Transaction Source Type
Transaction Action
Transaction Type
A Transaction Source Type and a Transaction Action come
together to form a Transaction Type.
What is a Transaction source type?
Answer:
A Transaction Source Type is defined as an entity against
which Oracle Inventory charges a transaction. The following transaction source
types come seeded with Oracle Inventory:
Purchase Order
Account Alias
Move Order
Internal Order
Standard Cost Update
Internal Requisition
Sales Order
Cycle Count
Periodic Cost Update
Physical Inventory
Account
RMA (Return Material Authorization)
Inventory
Job or Schedule
What is a transaction type?
Answer: A transaction type is a combination of a transaction source
type and a transaction action. It is used to classify a particular transaction
for reporting and querying purposes. Ex:
Sales order issue (txn type) + issue from stores (txn
action) = sales order (txn source type)
Move order transfer (txn type) + subinventory transfer (txn
action) = move order (txn source type)
Name any four purposes where miscellaneous transaction can
be used?
Answer: Cycle count adjustment, Physical inventory adjustment,
adjusting inventory quantity within an inventory organization and decrementing
on-hand balances from a subinvemtory
Explain inventory control?
Answer: Inventory Control is the process by which inventory is
measured and regulated according to predetermined norms such as economic lot
size for order or production, safety stock, minimum level, maximum level, order
level etc.
What are the objectives of inventory control?
Answer: To meet unforeseen future demand due to variation in
forecast figures and actual figures.
To average out demand fluctuations due to seasonal or cyclic
variations.
To meet the customer requirement timely, effectively, efficiently,
smoothly and satisfactorily.
To smoothen the production process.
To facilitate intermittent production of several products on
the same facility.
To gain economy of production or purchase in lots.
To reduce loss due to changes in prices of inventory items.
To meet the time lag for transportation of goods.
To meet the technological constraints of production/process.
What are the factors that affect inventory control?
Answer:
Type of product
Type of manufacture
Volume of production
Define ABC analysis?
Answer:
ABC analysis determines the relative value of a group of
inventory items based on a user specified valuation criterion.
This technique divides inventory into three categories A, B
& C based on their annual consumption value.
It is also known as Selective Inventory Control Method (SIM).
Click here for more on ABC Analysis
What is consignment inventory?
Answer:
Consignment Inventory is inventory that is in the possession
of the customer, but is still owned by the supplier. In other words, the
supplier places some of his inventory in his customer’s possession (in their
store or warehouse) and allows them to sell or consume directly from his stock.
The customer purchases the inventory only after he has resold or consumed it.
The key benefit to the customer should be obvious; he does not have to tie up
his capital in inventory. This does not mean that there are no inventory
carrying costs for the customer; he does still incur costs related to storing
and managing the inventory
What are the different planning methods available in Oracle?
Answer: Re-order point planning
Min-Max planning
Kanban cards
Subinventory replenishment planning
When should the material be ordered?
Answer:
When on-hand quantity + supply – demand is less than safety
stock (safety stock is nothing but minimum inventory level)
[On-hand quantity] + [supply] – [demand] < [min inventory
level]
Explain re-order point planning?
Answer: Reorder point planning uses demand forecasts to decide when
to order a new quantity to replenish inventory. Reorder point planning suggests
a new order for an item when the available quantity (on-hand quantity plus
planned receipts) drops below the item’s safety stock level plus forecast
demand for the item during its replenishment lead-time. The suggested order
quantity is an economic order quantity that minimizes the total cost of
ordering and carrying inventory. Oracle Inventory can automatically generate
requisitions to inform your purchasing department that a replenishment order is
required to supply your organization.
If the forecast is correct and the order arrives on time,
the inventory level should be right at the safety stock level at the time of
receipt. In cases where the desired safety stock level changes during the order
lead time, Oracle Inventory uses the largest safety stock quantity during the
lead-time.
When an order is triggered, the EOQ is the size of the
triggered order.
EOQ = square root of: [(2 X annual demand X order cost) /
(carrying cost percent X Unit cost)]
Oracle Inventory calculates annual demand as the current
demand rate annualized by multiplying the current period demand forecast by the
number of periods per year (2 or 3).
Reorder point planning can be performed at the organization
level only.
Explain min-max planning technique?
Answer: Min-Max planning is a tool for planning inventory that looks
at user-defined minimum and maximum inventory levels. It does not consider lead
times. We can perform this technique at org level or subinventory
level.
Click here for complete cycle
Define cycle counting and explain its use in oracle
inventory?
Answer: Cycle Counting is a process of periodic counting of
individual item / all the items throughout the course of the year to ensure the
accuracy of inventory quantities and values.
We can do the cycle counting at Organization / Sub Inventory
Level.
Cycle count is used to:
To reconcile system on-hand balances with actual counts in
inventory
Maintain control over the items that have higher value
When do you perform physical inventory and explain the steps
involved in it?
Answer: Physical inventory can be performed, whenever there is a
need to verify the accuracy of system on-hand quantities. This can be done for
entire organization or can be confined to a specific subinventory.
Steps to perform physical inventory:
Define physical inventory
Take a snapshot of system on-hand quantities
Generate physical inventory tags
Enter counts
Do physical inventory adjustments by approving or rejecting
Post adjustments
Purge physical inventory information
