1. What do you mean by item attributes? What role do they play in Oracle E Business Suite?

Item attributes are information about an item, such as order cost, lead time, and revision control. Attribute control setting is one of the prerequisite for defining items. Item attributes can be controlled at either master level or organization level. Attributes maintained at the Master level have the same attribute values in each organization in which an item is assigned. For example, primary unit of measure at the Master level. Attributes maintained at the Organization level may have different attribute values in different organizations. For example, an item may be min-max planned in a distribution organization but material requirement planning (MRP) planned in a production organization. Org level Item attributes can be used to set item, with required characteristics in each organization. Similarly, common characteristics can be set with items in all orgs by Master level item attributes.

2. Can I use both min-max planning and ASCP planning as replenishment methods for the same item? ASCP does not consider min-max at all. Mixing these two planning methods sometimes causes confusion. Ex. if you have min-max set to 50-100. And your onhand is 60. You have one sales order for 15. When you ship the sales order, your onhand goes to 45. So Min-max creates a requisition for 55. But when you run ASCP, it sees this requisition as excess and tries to give cancellation message. There is no easy way for the planner to know that this cancellation message should not be acted upon. There are some options. Depending upon on business requirements 1) Make the planner on min-max items = "MINMAX". This way, when you look at the cancellation message in ASCP, you know to look further if planner is MINMAX. 2) Run sub-inventory level minmax and source all minmax items from your main warehouse. Make the destination sub-inventory non-nettable. This way, when the non-nettable subinventory runs low, it gets material from the warehouse and if warehouse goes low, ASCP creates purchase requisitions. You don't get cancellation messages. This may lead to some excess inventory (which is typical in a min-max planning method) 3) Write a personalization that fires when someone clicks on "release" on a cancel recommendation. The personalization checks if there are any min-max requisitions that are causing the cancel recommendations and displays message if appropriate. 3. What do you mean by status attributes and item defining attributes? Give couple of examples. Item defining attributes: An item-defining attribute identifies the nature of an item. What designates an item as an engineering item is the attribute Engineering Item, but what controls the functionality of the item is the collection of attributes that describe it. When item defining attribute set to Yes, the item gets automatically assigned to the default category set of the corresponding functional area as if Inventory Items set to Yes then item is automatically assigned to the default category set for the Inventory functional area.

Ex: Inventory Item, Purchased or Internal ordered item. Status attributes: Status attributes enable and disable the functionality of an item over time. Each status attribute allows you to enable the item for a particular use. Each Status attribute is dependent on at least one other attribute. For example, if you set the status attribute Purchasable to Yes, you can put the item on a purchase order. The status attributes are related to the item defining attributes. You cannot enable a status attribute if you do not set the corresponding item defining attribute to Yes. Stockable attribute cannot be set to Yes if inventory attribute is set to No. 4. What do mean by cycle counting? Cycle counting is periodic counting of individual items throughout the year to ensure the accuracy of inventory quantities and values. Accurate system on-hand quantities are essential for managing supply and demand, maintaining high service levels, and planning production. Count items of higher value more frequently than items with low value. The differences between the system quantity and counted quantity are adjusted to correct the system quantity and inventory value in the system. 5. What is difference between cycle counting and physical inventory? In what cases cycle counting is used? In what situation physical inventory is used? Physical Inventory or Cycle counting is used to streamline the inventory of the items within warehouse and the inventory shown in the system (that is to tally the actual inventory and the on hand showing in the system). A physical inventory is done once a year to check and correct the accuracy of physically available inventory. Physical Counts: Labor and time intensive Provides yearly data on inventory variances Requires business downtime Occurs once a year

A cycle counts purpose is to find systemic problems related with monitoring systems (processes and procedures). A cycle count finds those flaws and offers a chance to correct them. Cycle counting can be done on specific items or selective items But in physical inventory we have to count all items. Cycle counting can be done multiple time in an year , like monthly or quarterly for high value items but physical count is done once an year or at the most twice for all the items. Cycle Counting: More labor and time efficient Reduces inventory variances regularly No business downtime

Occurs on a regular basis

A physical inventory is usually performed to satisfy an accountant or bank regarding the value of inventory as of a point in time. All inventories in the warehouse are counted and valued as part of the physical inventory. The purpose of cycle counting is to maintain accurate inventory to support the day-to-day operation of the business. The goal of a good cycle counting program is to maintain 99% or better inventory accuracy at the item level. The bottom line is improved customer service and happier customers while saving sales, purchasing, and warehouse resources by better order promising date based on real scenario of inventory. 6. What is ABC classification? How is it enabled in Oracle Inventory? What is its business use? An ABC analysis determines the relative value of a group of inventory items based on a userspecified valuation criterion which is based on Paretos principle. ABC classification refers to assign rankings to items as, where "A" items are ranked higher than "B" items, and so on. This cuts down the costs involved in checking every item - every time by applying greater emphasis on key items. Criteria used for ABC Analysis are: Current on-hand quantity Current on-hand value Historical usage value Historical usage quantity Historical number of transactions Forecasted usage value Forecasted usage quantity Previous cycle count adjustment quantity Previous cycle count adjustment value MRP demand usage quantity MRP demand usage value etc. ABC Classification is used by inventory managers to put their efforts where greatest benefits, in terms of cost reduction as well as maintaining a smooth availability of stock, are attained. ABC Analysis provides Selective Inventory Control based on the criteria chosen for controlling the inventory items. A complete ABC Analysis includes the following 1. Define a ABC Compile 2. Define ABC Classes 3. Define ABC Assignment Group and Assign Classes to it 4. Assign Items to Various Classes Define an ABC Compile Navigation-- Inventory Superuser ABC CodesABC Compiles Enter a unique name for the ABC compile. Determine the scope of the analysis by selecting the content level for items to include in the compile.

Select the valuation scope for determining the ranking of items. Select the compile criterion. Enter a cost type, MRP forecast name, MRP plan name, start (from) date, end (to) date. Click the Compile button. This submits a request to run the compile program. Defining ABC Classes ABC classes to identify the value groupings to which your items belong. You define these classes using your own terminology. For example, you might define classes High, Medium, Low. ABC Assignment Groups ABC assignment groups link a particular ABC compile with a valid set of ABC classes.This allows selectively reducing or increasing the number of ABC classes to be used in item assignments for a particular ABC compile. Defining ABC Assignment Groups ABC assignment groups associate ABC classes with an ABC compile. Assign items to ABC classes within a particular group. Navigate to the ABC Assignment Groups window. Enter a unique ABC group name and enter the name of a valid ABC compile for organization. Save. Choose the Group Classes button and enter the sequence number in which classes are ordered. The lower the number, higher the importance of the class. Choose the Assign Items button to assign items to the group.

7. How is Oracle Inventory linked with other modules in Oracle E Business Suite? Oracle Inventory Management is fully integrated with other Oracle E-Business Suite modules. The following are the modules that are integrated with Oracle Inventory Management: Oracle Purchasing: Oracle Inventory Management is fully integrated with the Oracle Purchasing Suite. When a purchase order is raised, we need to specify where these goods will be shipped and we need to specify the inventory organization. The goods will be received at the receiving location and further operations such as inspections, returns, and deliveries take place on the received goods. For inventory items when a purchase order is raised, the charge account is always the material account in the case of an average costing organization. Oracle Purchasing shares the setup and master data with inventory such as items, inventory organization, subinventory locators, receiving options, and so on. Oracle Order Management: Oracle Inventory Management is fully integrated with Oracle Order Management. In Oracle Order Management, internal orders are created which are a result of the internal requisition created in Oracle Purchasing. The inventory is issued and transferred using internal orders. Oracle Order Management shares the setup and master

data with inventory, such as items, inventory organization, sub-inventory locators, rules, and so on. Oracle Payables: Oracle Inventory Management is fully integrated with the Oracle Payables Suite. When invoices against the purchase order arrive and enter Oracle Payables, these invoices are matched with receipts. In three-way and four-way matching controls, Oracle Payables validates whether or not the quantity has been received and accepted in the warehouse, else it applies a hold on the invoices. Oracle Advanced Pricing: Oracle Inventory Management is fully integrated with Oracle Advanced Pricing. We prepare different price lists for our items in Oracle Advanced Pricing, and calculate surcharges and discounts using different modifiers and formulae. Oracle Cost Management: Oracle Inventory Management is fully integrated with Oracle Cost Management. It is responsible for managing the accounting transaction for Oracle Inventory. It transfers the accounting entries to Oracle GL. In Cost Management SLA, various costing methods for product costing are maintained; for example, average, standard, LIFO, FIFO, and periodic costing. Costing for products and the costing history is also maintained in Cost Management. 8. What are important setups in Oracle Inventory? Define Your System Items Flexfield (Required) System Items Flexfield must be designed and configured before starting to define items. It must indicate how many separate segments system item flexfield has, how many characters each segment has, and whether values needs to be validated before assigning to the segments. After defining the structure of the Flexfield, it must freeze and compile to flexfield definition. All Oracle Applications products that reference items share the System Items Flexfield and support multiple segment implementations. Define Your Item Categories Flexfield (Required) Item Categories Flexfield must design and configured before starting to define items since all items must be assigned to categories. Multiple structures can be defined for Item Categories Flexfield, each structure corresponding to a different category grouping scheme which can then associate these structures with the categories and category sets you define. Define Your Item Catalog Group Flexfield (Required) Standard industry catalog for items can be created or to group items according to certain descriptive elements based on Catalog Group Flexfield. Even if you do not use item cataloging, you must enable at least one segment and compile this flexfield before you can define items. Define Your Stock Locators Flexfield (Required) To keep track of specific locators such as aisle, row, bin indicators for items, Stock Locators Flexfield needs to configured and implemented locator control in organization. Even if you do not implement locator control, you must still compile the Stock Locators Flexfield because all Oracle Inventory transaction and on-hand inquiries and reports require a frozen flexfield

definition. Whenever you recompile the stock locator field definition, you must run the concurrent program. Define Your Account Aliases Flexfield (Required) To define logical references to frequently used account number combinations and use them as transaction source types, you need to configure your Account Aliases Flexfield and define account aliases. Define Your Sales Orders Flexfield (Required) To ship items from inventory to meet customer demand as specified in a sales order, Sales Orders Flexfield must be configured. Define Your Locations (Optional) Oracle Inventory and other Oracle Applications products use locations for requisitions, receiving, shipping, billing, and employee assignments. For this purpose names and addresses for the locations within organization as well as the location in the organization must be defined. Define Your Employees (Optional) Enter the names, addresses, and other personal details of employees. Employee information is used primarily to record the employees who perform cycle and physical inventory counts Define Your Organization Calendar (Required) To perform inventory forecasting, reorder point planning, available to promise analysis, shortage messages or cycle counting, workday calendar must be defined for organization. An exception set can be assigned to denote holidays, scheduled maintenance, or extended downtime. When Define Your Organizations (Required) Before starting to use Oracle Inventory, there is a need to define one or more organizations. Organizations describe distinct entities in your company and may include separate Manufacturing facilities, warehouses, distribution centers, and branch offices. Since Oracle Inventory implements multiple ledgers with multiple organizations, particular ledger is specified to particular organization. Define Your Organization Parameters (Required) Control options and account defaults for organization must be defined before defining items or performing any transactions. Change Organizations (Required) There is a need to identify a specific organization as current organization. Change to the organization can be made through Change Organization window Define Your Intercompany Relations (Required) Intercompany relations setups are required if there are intercompany relations between two operating units (typically the Shipping and Selling organizations) in a multi-organization environment. Oracle Inventory and Oracle Receivables must be installed before defining intercompany relations. If Oracle Payables is not installed, the fields in the AP Invoicing for Selling region are not required.

Define Receiving Options (Optional) To perform inter-organization shipments using intransit inventory, Receipts window must be used to receive items sent to organization. Before receiving items, options that govern receipts in your system must be defined Define Picking Rules (Optional) Picking rules must be defined before use Oracle Inventory and Oracle Shipping Execution to ship items to customers against sales orders. Picking rule is assigned to an item to define the priorities that Oracle Inventory uses to pick units of that item for a sales order. Define ATP Rules (Optional) ATP rules defines the options Oracle Inventory uses to calculate the available quantity of an item on a requested date and/or the first date on which a requested quantity of an item first becomes available. Define Planners To keep track of the names of the parties responsible for planning certain items or groups of items, planners are defined. Define Unit of Measure Classes (Required) To define unit of measure (UOM) classes and the base unit of measure for each class. UOM classes represent groups of units of measure with similar characteristics, such as Volume or Length. Define Units of Measure (Required) To define units of measure for tracking, moving, storing, and counting items. Each item that defined in Oracle Inventory must have a primary unit of measure and each transaction performed in Oracle Inventory must have a unit of measure associated with the transaction quantity. Define Unit of Measure Conversions (Optional) To define the conversion rates between the base unit of measure and other units of measure within a UOM class if an item to be transacted in units of measure other than its primary unit of measure. Oracle Inventory uses these conversions to automatically convert transaction quantities to the primary unit of measure of the item being transacted. Define Subinventories (Required) At least one subinventory needs to be defined for each organization. A subinventory is a physical or logical grouping of inventory, such as raw material, finished goods, defective material, or freezer compartment. Define Stock Locators (Optional) To implement locator control in whole organization or in a particular subinventory, stock locators must be defined. Locators identify physical areas within subinventories where items are stored, such as rack/bin or aisle/row/bin locations. Define Item Attribute Controls (Required)

Item attributes are information about an item, such as order cost, lead time, item status, revision control, tax code, list price, asset category, primary unit of measure, and so on. Define Categories (Required) Categories must be defined to group items that share similar characteristics. Define Category Set (Required) Category sets group categories into functional areas, such as inventory, cost, purchasing, order entry, and so on. You can associate different flexfield structures with each category set, thereby introducing different naming structures for categories. Define Default Category Sets (Required) Default category set must be defined for each of the seven predefined functional areas. Oracle Inventory will automatically assign items defined for use by a particular functional area to the category set associated with the functional area. Oracle Inventory defaults the appropriate category set in all the category set fields in the products that correspond to the functional areas. Define Statuses (Required) A status is a set of Yes/No values for the status attributes. Status attributes are flags that exist for each functional area like: stockable, transactable, purchasable, build in WIP, customer orderable, internal orderable, BOM allowed, and invoice enabled. Define Item Catalog Groups (Optional) An item catalog group consists of descriptive elements to which certain sets of values are assigned. Define Item Types (Optional) Oracle Inventory provides several predefined item types such as finished goods, option class, kit, purchased item, and so on. User can choose one of the predefined item types while defining an item. Oracle Inventory also provides several item templates to match the predefined item types. Define item Templates (Optional) Item templates can be defined to help user to avoid duplication of effort. An item template is a standard set of attribute values that user uses to define or update items. Define Items (Optional) Use this form to define and update items and the attributes associated with them, such as description, lead time, unit of measure, lot control, and so on. Define Cross-References Types (Optional) Cross-reference types can to be defined to maintain relationships between item numbers and other entities such as old item numbers. Define Item Delete Constraints (Optional) Item delete constraints can be defined to enforce specific business rules and add custom checks that will be performed before Oracle Inventory allows the deletion of an item, to supplement the standard item delete conditions. Oracle Inventory prevents user from deleting items if data does not meet these conditions.

Define Cost Types (Required) Cost types must be defined before entering item costs. A cost type is a set of costs, used for historical, current and future costs, as well as for simulation purposes. User can create as many cost types as per needs, but Oracle Inventory is installed with three predefined cost types: Frozen, Average, and Pending. These are costs currently in use for an item and include material and overhead charges. Define Cost Activities (Optional) To measure the cost and performance of the work performed in your organization, cost activities must be defined. Activities are processes or procedures that consume costs and time. In addition to the cost element and cost code, all costs are associated with an activity. The goal of activity based cost accounting is to accurately identify product costs, especially overhead costs. Define Material Sub-Elements (Optional Material sub-elements are defined to have greater item cost visibility and flexibility. Subelements are a smaller classification of the cost elements. Define Material Overheads (Optional) Material overheads are defined to keep track of overhead rates for organization such as freight, customs, purchasing, and so on. Define Default Material Overhead Rates (Optional) To enter default rates at the organization or category level. Define Freight Carriers Freight carriers are defined to keep track of the names of and transportation costs charged by carriers. Use these freight carriers whenever performing direct inter-organization transfers or transfers via intransit inventory. Oracle Inventory automatically charges the Freight costs to the freight carrier account. Define Organization Shipping Network (Optional) Shipping network is defined to move items from one inventory organization to another, Define Your Shipping Methods (Optional) The Shipping Method code defines specific shipping methods. For example: Ground, Express, or Air. Define Movement Statistics Parameters (Optional) Movement Statistics Parameters window to define the parameters for gathering movement statistics is used for reporting purpose. Inventory uses this information to validate entry of statistical movement transactions and to properly report the information. Define Economic Zones (Optional) The Economic Zones window must be defined to define the economic zones for which to collect Movement Statistics.

Define Account Aliases (Optional) One or more account aliases can be used while performing miscellaneous issue or receipt transactions. An account alias is a logical reference to a frequently used account number combination. Define Transaction Source Types (Optional) Transaction source types are used to perform transactions. Transaction source types enable user to classify transactions according to their origins, such as purchase order, sales order, account number, physical inventory, and so on. Oracle Inventory provides several predefined source types: purchase order, sales order, account, job or schedule, account alias, internal requisition, internal order, cycle count, physical inventory, standard cost update, RMA and inventory. Define Transaction Types (Optional) To use own terminology for certain kinds of transactions, user can define his own transaction types. User can create a transaction type by combining a transaction source type with a transaction action. A transaction action is a predefined method of changing the quantity and/or location and/or cost of an item. Define Transaction Reasons (Optional) Transaction reason codes are defined to associate a predefined explanation with each transaction. User may then use these reason codes to view and report transactions. Define Purchasing Options (Optional) To perform inter-organization shipments using intransit inventory, user must use the Receipts window to receive items sent to organization. User need to define certain default control options in the Purchasing Options window to save time when he creates receipts. Open Your Accounting Periods (Required) Before using Oracle Inventory to enter transactions, there is a need to open an accounting period. User must define accounting periods in Oracle General Ledger, and open them for Oracle Inventory using the Inventory Accounting Periods window. Request Interface Managers (Optional) Material transaction and material cost interface managers must be started before performing transactions in the background or concurrent processing modes.

Set Profile Options (Required) Profile options specify how Oracle Inventory controls access to and processes data. In general, profile options can be set at one or more of the following levels: site, application, responsibility, and user. Oracle Inventory users use the Personal Profile Values window to set profile options only at the user level. System administrators use the System Profile Values window to set profile options at the site, application, responsibility, and user levels. Define Container Types Container Types are used in defining physical attributes of items.

Define Commodity Codes (Optional) Customer Item Commodity Codes are used to group customer items and can be entered during the definition of customer items. Define Customer Items (Optional) To track the item numbers used by customers, user must define these items as customer items in Inventory. Define Customer Item Cross References (Optional) To relate customer items with item numbers, customer item cross references must be defined. Define Notification List (Optional) To notified subinventory planners about approved move orders with material coming into or going out of their subinventories, a list of individuals who will receive notification messages is defined. Define Shortage Parameters (Optional) To use shortage messages, demand sources and the individuals who will receive notification messages are defined. Define Kanban Pull Sequences (Optional) To use kanban functionality, user must define kanban pull sequences. Use the Kanban Pull Sequences window to define the source of replenishment for a kanban planned item in a kanban location.

9. In what way Oracle Inventory is a Foundation of Oracle E Business Suite? Inventory is at the heart of almost any business and is central to the planning process. Commonly, Inventory will be installed during the implementation of Order Entry, Purchasing, Manufacturing, or Supply Chain Management. Every other module within Oracle Applications that needs to name types of objects looks to the Inventory Item Master for details regarding an item. These objects include products ordered through Oracle Order Entry, items invoiced through Oracle Receivables, items purchased through Oracle Purchasing, items paid for through Oracle Payables, items maintained through Oracle Service, and items charged against projects in Oracle Projects. Every module in the Manufacturing suite (Engineering, Bills of Material, Work in Process, Master Production Schedule/Material Requirements Planning, and Cost Management) deals with items named in Inventory. Thus Oracle inventory is a Foundation of Oracle E-Business Suite. 10. Explain what is a legal entity, an operating unit and an inventory organization? Legal Entity:

Legal Entity represents a legal company for which Fiscal and Tax reports are prepared. A Legal Entity can Model to an Enterprise, a Designated Legal unit which is recognized by legal authorities in a country. Legal entity is a business entity that is known to exist to the outside world. Internal organizations or divisions are not legal entities themselves, but are just part of it. In the Multi Organization structure various legal entities could share the same ledger. Both legal entities and operating units are associated with the ledger and the relationship between the legal entity and operating unit is derived based on the ledger. A legal Entity can be associated to Single Ledger, Multiple Legal Entities can be Associated to a Ledger. Operating Unit: An operating Unit represents a business unit in an Enterprise which has a business need to secure transaction data, Setups and Seed data. It can be a major division, sales office, a department, or a separate company within an enterprise. Since the transaction Information is secured at operating unit level for the various modules within Oracle applications, A single application responsibility can access, process, and report on data for one or more operating units that is assigned to its Security profile. An Operating unit can be associated to a Single Legal Entity and Ledger. But multiple operating units can be Associated to a Single Legal entity and Ledger. Inventory Organization: An Inventory organization represents a business entity of an enterprise for which the inventory transactions and inventory balances are tracked. It could be modeled to a Manufacturing plant, warehouse, Distribution center, Sales Office Etc. All the Oracle Application Products which include inventory transactions and inventory balances secure information at Inventory Organization Level. An inventory Organization points to only one Operating Unit but can be referenced by any Operating unit within the same Ledger. 11. Can a single inventory organization be shared among multiple operating units? If yes why? If no why? No. Single inventory organization cannot be shared among multiple operating units. It can only be referenced by any operating unit within the same Ledger. As inventory organization represents a business entity of an enterprise for which the inventory transactions and inventory balances are tracked, it will duplicate the transaction records if assigned to multiple operating units. 12. What do you mean by item categories? How item categorizations help business functions? A category is a logical classification of items that have similar characteristics. A category set is a distinct grouping of categories. Categories and category sets group your items for various reports and programs. The flexibility of category sets allows user to report and inquire on items in a way that best suits to his needs.

13. What are category sets? What do you mean by a default category set for a business function? Can you have different category sets for Inventory, purchasing and planning? Category sets may be used as a means to develop custom lists of items on which to report and sort. The category set Inventory is seeded while installing Oracle Inventory. The category set Purchasing is seeded while installing Oracle Purchasing. To use Order Managements group pricing functionality with item categories, user must add the categories to the Order Entry category set. While installing Oracle Inventory, a default category set to each of the must be assigned to following functional areas: Inventory, Purchasing, Order Management, Costing, Engineering, and Planning. Inventory makes the default category set mandatory for all items defined for use by a functional area. If item is enabled for a particular functional area then user cannot delete the item's corresponding default category set assignment. Default category sets are required so that each functional area has at least one category set that contains all items in that functional area. 14. What are the important reports available in Oracle Inventory? Inactive Items Report This report is used to isolate inactive items that have become inactive (that have not had an inventory transaction) since the specified date and verify their status. Item Reservations Report This report is used to determine how many units of an item are reserved for an account, an account alias, or for userdefined source types. Lot Transaction Register Used for lot transaction audits. This report is used to audit lot transactions for a specified time interval, for a range of dates, for ranges of items or categories, of for other criteria. This report is also used to analyze the cost and value of transacted items under lot control. Material Account Distribution Detail This Report is used to view the accounts charged for inventory transactions. It also enables to review inventory transaction values transferred to the general ledger by GL batch. Move Order Pick Slip Report This Report is used to print move order pick slips before or after the move order transaction is committed. Material Account Distribution Summary Used for reviewing inventory accounting activity. This Report is used to verify inventory account activity against inventory valuation increases or decreases for the accounting period. Serial Number Transaction Register Used for serial number transaction audits. This report is used to audit serial number transactions for a specified time interval, location or group of locations, reason or group of reasons, or other

criteria. The monetary value of serial numbered items in inventory or of items under serial number control that have been shipped can also be determined by this report. Transaction Historical Summary Report This report is used to report past item quantities, past item value, or past inventory balances. The report calculates historical balances based on a rollback date. You can use the Balance and Value version of the report totals to determine the gross change in monetary value of a subinventory or inventory for a period of time. Also used for reporting the volume of throughput in the inventory and analyzing the source of the transactions that have raised and lowered the quantity or value for the items by category. Transaction Register This report is used: as an audit report to review the transaction date versus the exact date an item was transacted to review the reason an item was moved into a subinventory by running the report for reason only and limiting from and to subinventory to check the value of inventory to report the categories of items that have shipped and the total unit cost for the category for tracing serial numbers by location Transaction Source Type Summary Use the Transaction Source Type Summary to report onhand quantities and transaction sources that produced the quantities or inventory value. This report is also used for determining how many transactions have been processed for sales orders; by limiting the source type to sales orders and selecting option Frequency. Shortages Summary Report The Shortages Summary Report provides information on the following: items for which shortages are detected, the jobs or orders that exist as unfulfilled demand for those items, Quantities needed. This report allows expediting material to where it is most needed, based on outstanding shortages. Shortage Parameter Report Use the Shortage Parameter Report to view information about the shortage parameter setup. Global Transaction Purge Use the Global Transaction Purge Report to purge inventory transactions across multiple organizations set up in an organization hierarchy. Open Period Status Control Use the Open Period Status Control program to open a period across multiple organizations and periods. Close Period Status Control

Use the Close Period Status Control program to close a period across multiple organizations and periods. Expired Lots Report Use the Expired Lots Report to: isolate lots that are about to expire find lots which have already expired find serial numbers assigned to lots that are going to expire Item Categories Report Use the Item Categories Report to list items and their associated categories. Item CrossReferences Listing Use the Item Cross References Listing to report crossreferences associated with each item. Item Definition Detail Use the Item Definition Detail report to view comprehensive information for items. Use this report to verify items have been classified in conformance with decisions made regarding how the parts are to be planned, costed, and located. Item Definition Summary Use the Item Definition Summary report to print a limited amount of information about items, such as description, status, and cost. Item Demand History Report The item demand history shows user what the item demand is for each period and for each transaction source type. This report is also used to review the sales demand for daily, weekly, or monthly time periods. Item Relationships Listing Use the Item Relationships Listing to list items with related or substitute item relationships. Item Statuses Report Use the Item Statuses Report to view the item statuses. ItemSubinventory Report Use the ItemSubinventory Report to list items assigned to Subinventories. This report is also used for review items restricted to subinventories identify items minmax planned at the subinventory level review the default requisition information used by the replenishment processor for items assigned to subinventories Item Template Listing Use the Item Template Listing to review the template definitions. Serial Number Detail

Use the Serial Number Detail report to print information about current serialized units of inventory items. Supplier Lot Trace Report Use the Supplier Lot Trace Report to trace a specific lot to its supplier lot. Tracing shows user the lot transactions related to the request. Also provides information about transaction dates, inventory items, lot numbers, and transaction quantity. Customer Item Commodity Codes Listing Use the Customer Item Commodity Codes Listing to print a listing of customer item commodity codes with their inactive dates. Customer Item Cross References Report Use the Customer Item Cross References Report to print a listing of customer item cross references. Customer Items Report Use the Customer Items Report to print a listing of customer items. Item Organization Assignment Report Use the Item Organization Assignment program to assign an item, range of items, category set, or range of categories to multiple organizations belonging to the same Item Master Organization. Period Close Value Summary Use the Period Close Value Summary to see summary balances for subinventories. For a closed accounting period, this report displays the subinventory values at the end of that period and for an open period; this report displays the subinventory value at the point in time user ran the report. Forecast Rule Listing Use the Forecast Rule Listing to view the data you entered for forecast rules. Item Replenishment Count Report Use the Item Replenishment Count Report to review the counts entered for items before creating requisitions. MinMax Planning Report Use the MinMax Planning Report to show planning information for all items, or items with on hand balances either below or above their assigned minimum or maximum onhand quantities. ABC Assignments Report Use the ABC Assignments Report to print the ABC assignments of items. ABC Descending Value Report Use the ABC Descending Value Report to view the results of an ABC compile. The report is sorted by descending value or quantity, depending on the compile criterion. Use this report to evaluate the break points for assigning ABC classes to items.

Cycle Count Entries and Adjustments Report Use the Cycle Count Entries and Adjustments Report to monitor inventory accuracy. The report shows counts and adjustments for the items and calculates the monetary value of the adjustments to inventory value. This report is also used as an accounting tool to review adjustments to inventory value. Cycle Count Hit/Miss Analysis The Cycle Count Hit/Miss Analysis is a summary report on cycle count accuracy. Use this report to view inventory accuracy performance. Cycle Count Listing Use the Cycle Count Listing to show inventory items for cycle counting. Physical Inventory Item Accuracy Report Use the Physical Inventory Item Accuracy Report to report on physical inventory adjustments. Physical Inventory Adjustments Report Use the Physical Inventory Adjustments Report to view physical inventory adjustments created by count entries. Physical Inventory Counts Report Use the Physical Inventory Counts Report to validate the count information entered for a physical inventory. The report includes the count and the counted by information essential to review for recount. The report can also used after all counts have been entered to determine the new inventory value for the physical inventory. Cycle Count Open Requests Listing Use the Cycle Count Open Requests Listing to report items, which have been counted and require a recount. Cycle Count Unscheduled Items Report Use the Cycle Count Unscheduled Items Report to audit the cycle count scheduler. This report lists items which are not scheduled in the specified schedule interval. Cycle Counts Pending Approval Report Use the Cycle Counts Pending Approval Report to review adjustments waiting for approval. The report can be used as an approval document before data entry in the Approve Adjustments window. Physical Inventory Tags Use the Physical Inventory Tags report to print physical inventory tags. Physical Inventory Tag Listing Use the Physical Inventory Tag Listing to review the tags created by the generate physical inventory tags process. This can be used as a history document after all counts have been completed.

Physical Inventory Missing Tag Listing Use the Physical Inventory Missing Tag Listing to identify tags that have not been counted. If a tag was created by the generate physical inventory tags process, it may have a system onhand quantity. If the tag was missed when the counts were done, it creates an adjustment to inventory quantities. Physical Inventory Trend Report Use the Physical Inventory Trend Report to review physical inventory accuracy over time. The trend report provides a summary for the number of counts and transactions entered for the physical inventories. Physical Inventory Summary Report This report provides a summary for the number of counts for the physical inventory and for the number of transactions processed for the adjustment. Print Cycle Count Entries Open Interface Data This report is used to print cycle count entries open interface data. Purge Cycle Count Entries Open Interface Data This report is used to purge all cycle count entries from the open interface. Import Cycle Count Entries from Open Interface This report is used to import cycle count entries open interface records into the database. Cycle Count Schedule Requests Report This report is used to report the schedules generated by the Automatic Scheduler and entered through the Manual Schedule Requests window. Item Quantities Summary Report This report is used to report just the item and the quantity. The report is useful to provide a fast list of the items in the inventory. Locator Quantities Report This report is used to identify items and their quantities stored in the specified locators. Also This report is used to review volume and weight of onhand quantities for storage capacity and usage. Subinventory Quantities Report This report is used to show inventory item quantities by subinventory. VMI Onhand by Supplier Report This report is used to view onhand inventory by supplier across organizations. Account Alias Listing This report is used to show account alias information. Freight Carrier Listing

This report is used to validate the freight carrier codes established for this organization. The report lists the default account for each freight code. Freight carriers are used for Internal transfers between organizations, as well as shipments for customers and suppliers. Interorganization Shipping Information Listing This report is used to verify the organizations to which current organization ships and receives. Locator Listing This report is used to list locators defined. This report can be used to review volume and weight allowed in a location before transacting items. Organization Parameters Listing This report is used to show the organization parameters for Oracle Application. Planner Listing This report is used to list material planners or planning entities. Status Attributes Listing This report is used to show the item statuses that are assigned to items. Subinventory Listing This report is used to list subinventories. Units of Measure Listing This report is used to list units of measure used for tracking, issuing, receiving, and storing inventory items. Intercompany AR Invoices Report This report is used to create intercompany receivables invoices for product shipment and freight charges initiated from sales orders and internal orders initiated by another operating unit. Oracle Inventory retrieves information such as customer, customer site, and transaction type from the intercompany relations definitions. Intercompany AP Invoices Report This report is used to copy intercompany receivable invoices into Oracle Payables. Reorder Point Report This report is used to show planning information for items for which the Inventory Planning Method is set to Reorder Point. Organization Hierarchy Exceptions Report This report is used to display all organizations belonging to the user specified legal entity, but not assigned to any organization hierarchy. Inventory Transaction by Cost Center and Account Report This report is used to conduct detailed investigation of financial transactions. This report should be used when the need to get detailed about a specific charge to a cost center or account arises, and is normally used for endofperiod tasks.

Inventory Charges and Product Usage Report This report is used to provide cost center controllers detailed information on collateral and product usage charges for each cost center grouped by sales order. This report lists, within a specified date range, detailed inventory charges and product usage information including, Cost Center, Order Type, Account Number, Requestor, Order Number, Freight, Item Number, Cost, and other additional order and shipping information. Movement Statistics Exception Report This report is used to list exceptions that occurred during the movement statistics gathering and reporting process. This report includes data for the legal entity and period specified during the execution of the concurrent program. Movement Statistics Reset Status Report This report is used to reset the status of movement statistics records that have been frozen. Movement Statistics Report This report is used to review and finalize the movement statistics entered for receipts, shipments, and other material transactions. In addition to the above Oracle Inventory Reports, following reports from other modules can also be submitted from Oracle Inventory All Inventories Value Report Cost Type Comparison Report Detailed Item Cost Report Elemental Cost Report Elemental Inventory Value Report Intransit Value Report Inventory Value Report Item Cost Reports Overhead Report Subinventory Account Value Report Forecast Comparison Report Forecast Detail Report Expected Receipts Report Invoice Price Variance Report Overdue Supplier Shipments Report Purchase Price Variance Report Receipt Adjustments Report Receipt Traveler Receiving Account Distribution Report Receiving Exceptions Report Receiving Transactions Register Receiving Value Report by Destination Account

15. If a supplier is to be modeled as inventory organization what are the steps involved? 1. Define a Supplier name. Navigate to either the Suppliers window. Enter a unique Supplier Name, Alternate Name, general Supplier information, such as Category, Tax Code, Tax Calculation, Supplier address, Supplier Contact etc. 2. Use Supplier name to define an organization. Navigation: Inventory > Setup > organizations > organization Click on New. Enter information about Name, Type, From Dates, Location and Location Address. Enter Inventory Organization in Organization Classification field. Select External to associate it with Supplier defined in earlier step. Click on Others tab and select Customer/Supplier Association. Select accounting Information and attach the Ledger, Legal Entity and Operating Unit. Enter the details and select Ok, again in next window Ok. This will ask for a confirmation, select Yes. 16. If a customer is to be modeled as an inventory organization what are the steps involved? 1. Define a customer name. Navigate to either the Customers or the Customer Summary window. Enter a unique Customer Name, Alternate Name, general customer information, such as Category, Tax Code, Tax Calculation, and Order Entry information, Customer address, Customer Contact etc. 2. Use customer name to define an organization. Navigation: Inventory > Setup > organizations > organization Click on New. Enter information about Name, Type, From Dates, Location and Location Address. Enter Inventory Organization in Organization Classification field. Select External to associate it with Customer defined in earlier step. Click on Others tab and select Customer/Supplier Association. Select accounting Information and attach the Ledger, Legal Entity and Operating Unit. Enter the details and select Ok, again in next window Ok. This will ask for a confirmation, select Yes. 17. What do mean by attribute control? At what level attribute controls can be set? Attributes are information about an item, such as order cost, lead time, and revision control. One of the prerequisites for defining items (and assigning values to item attributes) is setting attribute controls. This attribute control type determines whether you have centralized (Master level) or decentralized (Organization level) control of item attributes. Attributes maintained at the Master level have the same attribute values in each organization in which an item is assigned.

Attributes maintained at the Organization level may have different attribute values in different organizations. Control level of some attributes can be changed in special cases, or in certain circumstances.

18. What do you mean by an item master organization? Why item master org is not typically used as a transaction org? An item master organization is used for item number maintenance and validation. This master organization serves as a data repository storing items and item attributes, master level categories and category sets, master level cross references, and numerous data defaults. On-hand balances, inventory movements, and other on-going inventory activities are not performed in an item master organization. Generally, the master organization is used as the validation organization for Purchasing and Order Entry. It is recommended that a single item master organization be defined, even in multiple organization, multiple sets of books environments. Transaction (inventory) organizations are the execution level organizations. They hold on-hand balances and transaction history. Here is where inventory users execute their daily activities, such as receiving and issuing material, performing cycle counts, and viewing material availability and transaction history. Accurate, comprehensive item master data is the critical foundation for many essential business processes. Consistency and synchronization between the various instances of the data are typically nonexistent as each system, location and user group uses different data standards, naming conventions, and classification taxonomies. The problem grows exponentially over time as underlying systems and users change and evolve. Duplicate entries, incomplete records and out of date information may become commonplace. Therefore item master org is not typically used as a transaction organization. 19. What factors will you consider while deciding whether an organizational entity needs to be defined as legal entity or an operating unit or an inventory organization? Legal Entity: A legal company for which fiscal or tax reports are prepared. Tax identifiers and other legal entity information are assigned to this organization. Multiple legal entities may share the same set of books. Operating unit: Operating unit refers to the single organization that uses cash management, Order Management and Shipping Execution, Oracle Payables, Purchasing and Oracle Receivables. Large organization can have multiple operating units of which one tracks details of Finished Goods, one for spares and one for raw materials etc. Each operating unit is associated with a legal entity. Data of each operating unit is secured from the other; the users also see the data relevant to their operating units. This is done by via responsibilities in oracle. Data in the

system is accessed by the users by querying data by navigating to a particular responsibility which is assigned to a given operating unit. Inventory organization: It is an organization for which we track inventory transactions and balances. An Inventory organization may refer to a business warehouse, godown or sales office. The following applications secure information by inventory organization: Oracle Inventory, Bills of Material, Engineering, and Work in Process, Master Scheduling/MRP, Capacity, and Purchasing receiving functions. To run any of these applications, user must choose an organization that has been classified as an inventory organization. 20. What is Kanban? How is it enabled in Oracle Inventory? Kanban is a means of supporting pull-based replenishment in manufacturing systems. A Kanban system is a self-regulating pull system that leads to shorter lead times and reduced inventory. Kanban systems are typically applied to items that have relatively constant demand and medium-to-high production volume. Kanbans represent replenishment signals that are usually manual and highly visible, such as a color-coded card that moves with the material, a light that goes on when replenishment is required, or an empty bin that is moved to the supply location to trigger replenishment. The system includes an API that can be called by external systems, such as bar code readers, to trigger replenishment signals. Kanbans can be replenished from an external supplier or an internal organization. The four types of kanbans available in the system trigger transactions that pull material from different replenishment sources. Kanbans are generally replenishable and cycle through the system from full to empty, remaining active until they are withdrawn. One-time signals, called non-replenishable kanbans, are used primarily to manage sudden spikes in demand.

Defining Kanban Pull Sequences Use the Pull Sequences window to view, update, and define the source of replenishment for a kanban planned item in a kanban location. Generating Kanban Cards Use the Generate Kanban Cards process to automatically generate kanban cards. Printing Kanban Cards Use the Print Kanban Cards process to batch print kanban cards with card status Active and Hold. You can print cards individually in the Kanban Cards window

21. What is re-order point planning? How is it enabled in Oracle Inventory? Reorder point planning is a method of determining size and time of item replenishment orders.

Reorder point planning uses the following piece of information: Safety Stock Replenishment lead time Item Demand Carrying cost Order cost Reorder point planning method is used for items under independent demand and for the entire organization. Reorder point planning is used for items where tight control is not needed and items are of inexpensive type. Reorder point planning steps: 1. Enter item planning attribute 2. Select reorder point as a planning method Enter carrying cost percentage Enter an order cost Specify a fixed lot multiplier Select minimum order quantity Select maximum order quantity Enter lead time (preprocessing lead time, Processing lead time, Post processing lead time) Define safety stock

Following methods can be used for defining safety stock. User defined quantity- Enter safety stock quantity and date for which each quantity is effective. User defined percentage- Safety sock is calculated based on specified percentage of Forecast Demand. Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD) where, Safety Stock= (Z*1.25*MAD) Z= Appropriate value from Standard normal distribution table based on expected service level. MAD is a measure of how the forecast demand deviates from the actual demand. 3. Forecast item Demand 4. Run reorder-point report.