Item Status Attributes

Item attributes are information about an item, such as order cost, lead time, and revision control.

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 are the collection of attributes that describe it. You can buy an engineering item if you want to; simply set Engineering Item, Purchased, and Purchasable to Yes. 

The following table presents item defining attributes and Item Status Attributes:

When you set an item defining attribute to Yes, the item is automatically assigned to the default category set of the corresponding functional area. 

For example, if you set Inventory Item to Yes, the item is automatically assigned to the default category set for the inventory functional area.

Item Status attributes

Item Status attributes are item attributes that enable key functionality for each item.

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. 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. 

Interdependencies for Status Attributes

Each status attribute is dependent on the value of at least one other attribute.

For example, you cannot set Stockable to Yes if you set Inventory Item to No. The interdependences for the status attributes are:

Flexfields

Flexfields

• A flexfield is a flexible data field that your organization can customize to your business needs without programming.
• A flexfield is a field made up of sub-fields, or segments.
• There are two types of flexfields: key flexfields and descriptive flexfields.

Key Flexfield

• A key flexfield appears on the form as a normal text field with an appropriate prompt and can customize to enter multi–segment values such as part numbers, account numbers, and so on. 
• The Oracle Applications store these "codes" in key flexfields. 
• Key flexfields are flexible enough to let any organization use the code scheme they want, without programming.
• For example, consider the codes your organization uses to identify general ledger accounts. Oracle Applications represent these codes using a particular key flexfield called the Accounting Flexfield. One organization might choose to customize the
• Accounting Flexfield to include five segments: company, division, department, account, and project. Another organization, however, might structure their general ledger account segments differently, perhaps using twelve segments instead of five. 
• The Accounting Flexfield lets your Oracle General Ledger application accommodate the needs of different organizations by allowing them to customize that key flexfield to their particular business usage.

Descriptive flexfield

• A descriptive flexfield appears on the form as a two-character-wide text field with square brackets [ ] as its prompt to enter additional information for which Oracle product has not provide any field.
• Descriptive flexfields provide customizable "expansion space" on your forms
• Descriptive flexfields have two different types of segments, global and context-sensitive, decided to use in a descriptive flexfield structure.
• A global segment is a segment that always appears in the descriptive flexfield pop-up window, regardless of context (any other information in your form). 
• A context-sensitive segment is a segment that may or may not appear depending upon what other information is present in your form.

Flexfields features : 

• Customize applications to conform to your current business practice for accounting codes, product codes, and other codes.
• Customize applications to capture data that would not otherwise be tracked by your application.
• Have "intelligent fields" that are fields comprised of one or more segments, where each segment has both a value and a meaning.
• Rely upon your application to validate the values and the combination of values that you enter in intelligent fields.
• Have the structure of an intelligent field change depending on data in your form or application data.
• Customize data fields to your meet your business needs without programming.
• Query intelligent fields for very specific information.

Basic Flexfield Concepts:

Segment

• A segment is a single sub-field within a flexfield. You define the appearance and meaning of individual segments when customizing a flexfield. A segment is represented in your database as a single table column.
• For a key flexfield, a segment usually describes a particular characteristic of the entity identified by the flexfield. For example, you can have a key flexfield that stores part numbers. The key flexfield can contain the part number PAD-YEL-NR-8 1/2x14, which represents a yellow, narrow ruled, 8 1/2" x 14" note pad. Each section in the part number, separated by a hyphen, describes a characteristic of the part. The first segment describes the object, a note pad, the second segment describes the color of the object, yellow, and so on.
• Note that we also refer to the fields in a descriptive flexfield pop-up window as segments even though they do not necessarily make up meaningful codes like the segments in key flexfields. However, they do often describe a particular characteristic of the entity identified elsewhere on the form you are using.

Values, Validation and Value Sets

• Your end user enters a segment value into a segment while using an application. Generally, the flexfield validates each segment against a set of valid values (a "value set") that are usually predefined. To "validate a segment" means that the flexfield compares the value a user enters in the segment against the values in the value set for that segment.
• You can set up your flexfield so that it automatically validates segment values your end user enters against a table of valid values. If your end user enters an invalid segment value, a list of valid values appears automatically so that the user can choose a valid value.
• You can think of a value set as a "container" for your values. You choose what types of values can fit into your value set: their length, format, and so on.
• A segment is usually validated, and usually each segment in a given flexfield uses a different value set. You can assign a single value set to more than one segment, and you can even share value sets among different flexfields. For most value sets, when you enter values into a flexfield segment, you can enter only values that already exist in the value set assigned to the segment.

Structure

• A flexfield structure is a specific configuration of segments. If you add or remove segments, or rearrange the order of segments in a flexfield, you get a different structure.
• You can define multiple segment structures for the same flexfield (if that flexfield has been built to support more than one structure). Your flexfield can display different prompts and fields for different end users based on a data condition in your form or application data. Both key and descriptive flexfields may allow more than one structure.
• In some applications, different users may need a different arrangement of the segments in a flexfield (key or descriptive). Or, you might want different segments in a flexfield depending on, for example, the value of another form or database field.
• Your Oracle General Ledger application, for example, provides different Accounting Flexfield (Chart of Accounts) structures for users of different sets of books. The Oracle General Ledger application determines which flexfield structure to use based on the value of the GL Set of Books Name user profile option.

Intelligent Key

• An intelligent key is a code made up of sections, where one or more parts may have meaning. 
• An intelligent key "code" uniquely identifies an object such as an account, an asset, a part, or a job. Intelligent keys are useful in applications because they are usually easier for a user to remember and use than a unique number. 
• For example, a part number of PAD-YEL-11x14 is much easier to remember than a unique part number of 57494. However, unique ID numbers are easier to maintain in a relational database application because only one column is required for the ID number.

Combination

• A combination is a particular complete code, or combination of segment values that  makes up the code, that uniquely identifies an object. 
• For example, each part number would be a single combination, such as PAD-YEL-11x14 or 01-COM-876-7BG-LTN
• (where the dash "-" is the segment separator). If you had ten parts you would define ten  combinations. 
• A valid combination is simply an existing or new combination that can currently be used (that is, it is not out of date, is not disabled, and does not violate  cross-validation or security rules).

Qualifiers

Flexfield Qualifier

• A flexfield qualifier identifies a particular segment of a key flexfield.
• A segment qualifier identifies a particular type of value in a single segment of a key  flexfield. In the Oracle Applications, only the Accounting Flexfield uses segment
• qualifiers. You can think of a segment qualifier as an "identification tag" for a value. In the Accounting Flexfield, segment qualifiers can identify the account type for a natural
• account segment value, and determine whether detail posting or budgeting are allowed for a particular value.

The basic steps in defining a key Flexfields are as given below.

• Identifying Key flexfields that are required for you in apps installation
• Designing a Key flexfield structure
• Selecting the appropriate Key flexfield to define
• Defining structure information for the Key flexfield
• Defining segment attributes
• Defining flexfield qualifiers
• Defining segment qualifiers
• Implementing optional features as needed

STEPS

The steps for you to implement flexfield security are noted below. 

1. You enable security on the Value Set form (FNDFFMVS) by navigating

   through the following steps:

   a. You sign-on to the Oracle Applications and choose the System Administrator responsibility.

   b. You navigate to the Value Set form as follows:

      Application --> Validation --> Set

   c. You query the desired value set and click the "Find" button.

   d. You check the "Security Available" box.  In the 11.5 version, an  LOV of Security Type will appear.  Choose Hierarchical Security or  Non-Hierarchical Security. NOTE:  If you use a different responsibility, like General Ledger Superuser it will have a different navigation path.

2. You enable security on the Flexfield Segments forms (FNDFFMIS or 

   FNDFFMDC) by navigating through the following steps:

     a. You sign-on to the Oracle Applications and choose the System

      Administrator responsibility.

    b. You navigate to the Value Set form as follows:

      DESCRIPTIVE FLEXFIELD

      ---------------------

      Application --> Flexfield --> Key

      KEY FLEXFIELD

      -------------

      Application --> Flexfield --> Descriptive

   c. You query the desired value set and click the "Find" button.

   d. You must unfreeze the Flexfield description if it is frozen  before proceeding.

   e. You click the "Segments" button.

   f.  Click Open

   g. You check the "Security Enabled" box.

   h. You compile the flexfield.

   i. You freeze the Flexfield description.

3. You enable Concurrent Program Parameters Security from the Concurrent

   Program Definition form (FNDCPMCP) by navigating through the following

   steps:

   a. You sign-on to the Oracle Applications and choose the SystemAdministrator responsibility.

   b. You navigate to the Program Parameter Value Set form as follows:

      Concurrent --> Program --> Define

   c. You query the desired Program and click the "Find" button.

   d. You click the Parameters button and check the "Enable Security" box.

   

4. How security rules interact?

   It is important for you to understand how the rules interact before   defining them.  For example, more than one security rule can be defined   for a segment and each security rule may consists of one or more "RULE   ELEMENTS" (e.g., sometimes referred to as CLAUSES).  A "RULE ELEMENT",   or clause, specifies a RANGE of values within the same value set to   include or exclude based on security access.  

   a. Single Rule, or One Rule with OVERLAPPING RANGES behaves: 

       All values included in either range are included by the rule because it performs as a union.  

         EXAMPLE:  100 - 500, 400 - 800 (two clauses)

         RESULT :  100 union 800  

   b. Single Rule with NO OVERLAPPING RANGES behaves:

       All values that satisfy ANY of the include clause are returned.

        EXAMPLE:  100 - 500,  600 - 800 (two clauses)

        RESULT :  100 - 500 union 600 - 800  

   c. Multiple Separate Rules with OVERLAPPING RANGES behaves:

       It is an INTERSECTION.  

        

       ONLY the values included in the overlap between both rules

       are available. 

         EXAMPLE:  100 - 500 (rule 1)  

                   400 - 800 (rule 2) 

         RESULT :  400 intersection 500

   d. Multiple Separate Rules with NO OVERLAPPING RANGES behaves:

        No values are included to satisfy all the rules. 

          EXAMPLE:  100 - 500 (rule 1)  

                   600 - 800 (rule 2) 

          RESULT :  empty set 

               

5. You define the security rules from the Define Value Set form (FNDFFSRN)

   by navigating through the following steps:

  a. You sign-on to the Oracle Applications and choose the System Administrator responsibility.

  b. You navigate to the Value Set form as follows:

      Security --> Responsibility --> Value Set --> Definition

   c. You query the desired value set by the value set name or any       flexfield segment or concurrent program parameter that uses the value set.  If security is not enabled as qualified in Step #1  above, then nothing will appear.

   d. You should specify include and exclude rule elements for values     in the Security Rule Elements block within the form (FNFFSRN).  All values you enter must pass all security rules for it to appear in  any List of Values (LOVs).  

6. You assign your security rule to a responsibility in the Assignment

   form (FNDFFSRA) by navigating through the following steps:

 a. You sign-on to the Oracle Applications and choose the System Administrator responsibility.

  b. You navigate to the Value Set form as follows:

      Security --> Responsibility --> Value Set --> Assign

  c. You query the desired value set and click the "Find" button.

  d. You assign value security for value sets, flexfield segments, or concurrent programs in this form.  You can apply security      rules to more than one responsibility, and a single responsibility can have more than one security rule.   (Ref Note Id : ID 73743.1)

Item Attributes

Item Attributes

1 . Main Attributes

Item Main Attributes

• You can define and control items that you stock in inventory. Once defined, you assign items to organizations.
• Primary Unit of Measure is the stocking and selling unit of measure.
• Tracking attribute controls how on-hand balances are tracked.
• Pricing attribute controls if pricing is based on the primary or secondary unit of measure. If you set the value to secondary, the system reprices the orders line at ship confirmation.
• Secondary specify the Secondary unit of measure.
• Item types and item status are discussed previously.

2.  Inventory Attributes

Item Inventory Attributes

• Inventory Item indicates whether to stock and transact this item in Oracle Inventory.
• Stockable indicates whether to stock this item in Inventory. You can set this attribute only when you turn on the Inventory Item option. Turning this option on enables you to set the Transactable item attribute.
• Transactable allows Inventory transactions.
• Revision Control decides whether to track inventory balances by revision.
• Reservable indicate whether you can create material reservations. If the Reservable attribute is checked, Oracle Order Management allows reservation of the item during order entry. If material hasn’t been reserved prior to pick release, pick release creates reservations for material when the pick wave move order is allocated.
• Check Material Shortages indicate whether the system will check this item for material shortages. Turn this option on to trigger a material shortage alert and shortage notification during transactions of this item.
• Lot Expiration control governs how long items in a given lot remain available.
• Shelf life days Specify a number of days for all lots of an item, beginning on the day you create the lot by receiving the item. You receive a warning message that the lot expires after the specified number of days.
• If Lot Control is Full control then oracle track inventory balances by lot number. You must specify a lot number for issues and receipts. Enter a starting prefix and starting number for lot numbers you define for this item.
• Cycle Count Enabled allows automatic cycle counting and creates adjustments automatically if the count is within error tolerance. Serial generation at inventory receipt create and assign serial numbers when you receive the item.
• At sales order issue option create and assign serial numbers when you ship the item against a sales order. P
• redefined option assign predefined serial numbers when you receive the item.
• Locator Control :
• Dynamic entry - Define locators when you use them, either as you receive or ship items.
• No control - Locator control not established.
• Prespecified - Define locators before you use them.
• Restrict Subinventories indicate whether to restrict transactions of this item to or from a subinventory specified in a list you define with the Item/Subinventory Information window
• Restrict Locators indicate whether to restrict transaction of this item to or from a locator specified in the list you define with the Item/Subinventory Information window.

3. BOM Attributes

Item BOM Attributes

• BOM Allowed allows you to define a bill of material for an item, or to assign the item as a component on a bill.
• BOM Item Type :
• Model - This item’s bill of material lists option classes and options available when you place an order for the model item.
• Option Class - This item’s bill of material contains a list of related options. Option classes group like options together. Oracle Order Management does not allow ordering of classes outside a model.
• Planning - This item’s bill of material contains a list of items and planning percentages. A planning item can represent a product family or demand Channel. Its bill of material facilitates master scheduling and/or material planning. The total component planning percentages on a planning bill can exceed 100%. Oracle Order Management does not allow ordering of Planning bills.
• Product Family - This item can be used as a product family for planning at an aggregate level. 
• Standard - include purchased items, subassemblies, or finished products.

4. Purchasing Attributes

Item Purchasing Attributes

• Purchased indicate whether to purchase and receive an item.
• Purchasable indicate whether to order an item on a purchase order.
• Use Approved Supplier indicate whether to use only approved suppliers. If you turn this option on, Oracle Purchasing prevents you from approving a purchase order for an item if you do not use an approved supplier.
• Allow Description Update indicate whether to allow updates to the item description on a purchasing document line for an item.
• RFQ Required indicate whether to require an item quotation when requesting an item.
• Outside Processing Item indicate whether you can add the item to an outside processing purchase order line.
• Outside Processing Unit Type can be Assembly or Resource Taxable indicate whether the supplier charges a tax.
• Oracle Purchasing uses the taxable status together with the tax code you associate with a location to determine whether a purchase order shipment is taxable, and what the tax code that applies to this shipment is.
• Tax Code - Select the appropriate tax code for the item. The tax code shows the tax authorities and rates that are available to use for this item.
• Receipt Required (Three-Way Invoice Matching) - Indicate whether you must receive an item before you can pay the invoice. Inspection Required (Four-Way Invoice Matching)- Indicate whether to inspect an item upon receipt from the supplier, before paying the corresponding invoice.
• Default Buyer - Enter the buyer assigned to purchase an item. Oracle Purchasing displays the buyer you enter here as the suggested buyer for a requisition. 
• Unit of Issue - Enter the unit of measure you typically use to issue the item from inventory. 
• UN Numbers - Enter the United Nations identification number to identify specific materials (hazardous materials, for example) for  international trade purposes.
• Hazard Class - Oracle Purchasing uses hazard classes to identify categories of hazardous materials for international trade purposes.
• List Price - Enter the value that Oracle Purchasing uses as the default price on a purchase order, requisition, RFQ, or quotation.
• Market Price - Enter the market value for an item. Oracle Purchasing copies the market price to the purchase order lines you create.
• Enter the price tolerance percent, the maximum price percentage over the normal price range for an item. For example, if the tolerance percent is 5, the maximum acceptable price on a purchase order is 5% over the requisition price. Any purchase order price 5% above the requisition price is unacceptable, and you cannot approve the purchase order.
• Rounding Factor -Enter a number between 0 and 1. This factor determines how to round the quantity on an internal requisition that results from conversions between the requisition line unit of measure and the item unit of issue. 
• Encumbrance Account - Enter the default encumbrance account Oracle Purchasing uses when receiving an item. You encumber, or reserve against funds, when the purchase requisition or purchase order is approved. When you deliver into a subinventory you reverse the encumbrance. The total receipts plus encumbrances equals your total funds spent.
• Expense Account - Enter the default inventory account for expense items. Asset Category - Enter the asset category for the item. Oracle Assets uses this attribute to classify your fixed assets. 

5 Planning Attributes

Item Planning Attributes

• Enter planning method for the item viz: MRP planning - Choose this option for non-critical items that do not require manual planning control, typically dependent demand items.
• MPS planning - You master schedule the item and require manual planning control. Choose this option for items with independent demand, items that are critical to your business, or items that control critical resources.
• DRP Planned - Choose this option when you have multiple organizations for which you are exercising Distribution Requirements Planning for the item.
• MRP/DRP Planned - Choose this option when you want both MRP and DRP planning for the item.
• MPS/DRP Planned - Choose this option when you want both MPS and DRP planning for the item.
• Select a Forecast control  option to determine the types of demand you place for the item. This guides the key processes of two-level master scheduling: forecast explosion, forecast consumption, planning, production relief, and shipment relief. This is appropriate only for items that are models, option classes, options, or mandatory components of models and option classes.
• Planned Inventory Point  : Indicates if the item is an Inventory Point item. This means that material can be stored at the item level without losing materials or quality characteristics. Inventory Points generally point to major stocking phases in the manufacturing cycle.
• Create Supply indicates if supply can be suggested for this item.
• Critical Component allows you to plan master scheduled items with respect to only critical component Shrinkage Rate - Enter a factor that represents the average amount of material you expect to lose during manufacturing or in storage. The planning process inflates demand to compensate for this expected loss. Enter acceptable early number of days such that planning process will not reschedule orders if due date <= plan date +early days. 
• Indicate whether to plan material requirements in repetitive daily rates. The planning process suggests repetitive schedules you can implement using the Planner Workbench. Turn this option off to plan material requirements in discrete quantities.
• If Oracle Work in Process and Oracle Purchasing are installed, you get automatic production relief when you create a discrete job, purchase requisition, or purchase order. In this case, you would typically set this attribute to None.

5. Ordering Attributes

Item Ordering Attributes

• Customer Ordered means whether to allow an item to be ordered by external customers.
• Customer Orders Enabled indicate whether an item is currently customer orderable. You can initially define an item with Customer Ordered Item turned on and Customer Orders Enabled turned off. This means prices can be defined for the item, but no orders can be placed for it.
• Shippable indicate whether to ship an item to a customer.
• OE Translatable indicates whether shipment transactions are interfaced to Oracle Inventory.
• Default Shipping Organization - Enter the Oracle Shipping Execution primary shipping organization.
• Default SO Source Type - This item attribute determines if an item is to be drop-shipped. If the value is internal, the item will not be drop-shipped. If the value is external, the item will be drop-shipped. 
• Picking Rule - Enter the picking rule that defines the order in which sub inventories, locators, lots, and revisions are picked. 
• Pick Components - Indicate whether an item has a bill of material with options, classes, or included items picked from finished goods inventory. Pick-to-order items must have this attribute turned on.
• Assemble-to-order items and items without a bill of material must have this attribute turned off. Assemble to Order - Turn this attribute on if an item is generally built for sales order demand.
• Check ATP - Select Check Material Only, Check Material and Resources, Check Resources Only, or None to indicate whether to check available to promise and/or capable to promise information when placing demand.
• ATP Components - Indicate whether to include, in available to promise checking, additional components in the bill of material for ATO and PTO items. These components are included in ATP checking if Check ATP for the component is turned on.
• ATP Rule - Enter a user-defined available to promise rule. ATP rules define supply and demand sources, time-fence parameters, and available-to-promise calculation methods.
• Ship Model Complete - Indicate whether any configuration derived from this model can ship only when all required quantities of all configuration components (options or included items) are available.

6. Service Attributes

Item Service Attributes

• Service attributes are used in Oracle CRM modules like Tele service, Service entitlement, Install base etc.
• Attributes like service request enabled, track in Install base, contract item type while enabled, this item would appear in those applications.Web option attribute like web status published enables the item to be visible in iStore.