I wanted to share with you the R12 changes to item attributes and inventory organization parameters because I feel these configurations are at the heart of all Supply Chain modules.  These configurations will determine how items are planned, purchased, built, costed, ordered, and shipped.  The R12 changes to the item attributes and inventory organization parameters are mainly the result of new integrations with Process Manufacturing and Chargeable Subcontract Manufacturing.  Before R12, Process Manufacturing was more of a stand-alone module with its own inventory organization setups.  Now Discrete Manufacturing and Process Manufacturing share the same inventory module.  Chargeable Subcontract Manufacturing is new functionality that allows you to support outsourcing the manufacturing of subassemblies and finished goods.  This type of manufacturing is common in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. In Japan, this is referred as Shikyu.  So let’s look at the R12 changes.

R12 Changes to Item Attributes

Here’s my tab by tab analysis for item attributes:

Main Tab – No Changes

Inventory Tab

To support the integration of Process Manufacturing, Oracle added additional Lot attributes and new grade control attributes.  There is also a new material status field.  Material status allows you to control what transactions can occur for a specific status.  For example, you can have a material status of called “QC Hold” that will not allow you to pick or ship. Material status can be assigned to a subinventory, a locator, a lot, or an on-hand balance.

R12 Changes Item Attributes - Inventory Tab

R12 Changes Item Attributes - Inventory Tab (part 2)

Bill of Materials Tab – No Changes

Costing Tab – No Changes

Purchasing Tab

To support Chargeable Subcontract Manufacturing, Oracle added an outsourced assembly field.  Also the tax field is now integrated with the E-Business Tax module.

R12 Changes Item Attributes - Purchasing Tab

Receiving Tab – No Changes

Physical Attributes Tab – No Changes

General Planning Tab

To support Chargeable Subcontract Manufacturing, Oracle added a subcontracting component field.

R12 Changes Item Attributes - General Planning Tab

MPS/MRP Planning Tab

There are new repair attributes to integrate the Depot Repair module with planning.

R12 Changes Item Attributes - MPS MRP Planning Tab

Lead Times Tab – No Changes

Work in Process Tab – No Changes

Order Management Tab

To support recurring charges in Order Management, Oracle added the periodicity field.

R12 Changes Item Attributes - Order Management Tab

Invoicing Tab – No Changes

Process Manufacturing Tab

All of these fields were added to support the integration of Process Manufacturing into the Inventory module

R12 Changes Item Attributes - Process Manufacturing Tab

Service Tab – No Changes

Web Option Tab – No Changes

R12 Changes to Inventory Organization Parameters

Like the item attributes, the changes to inventory organization parameters was the result of integration Process Manufacturing, Landed Cost Management module, and new functionality.  Here’s my tab by tab analysis of these changes.

Inventory Parameters Tab

Four new fields were added to this tab.  The Default On-hand Material Status was added to support the new material status functionality.  The Manufacturing Partner Organization flag was added to support the Chargeable Subcontract Manufacturing functionality and the Landed Cost Management flag was added to support the new Landed Cost Management module.  There was also a Locator Alias Uniqueness flag added.

R12 Changes Org Parameters - Inventory Parameters

Costing Tab – No Change

Revision, Lot, Serial, LPN Tab

A new region for Child Lot Control fields and the Auto Create Lot UOM Conversion field were added to support Process Manufacturing.  The Allow Different Material Status field was added to support controlling transactions by material status (for example, not ship items with a status of “QC Hold”).  Material status can be assigned to a subinventory, a locator, a lot, or an on-hand balance.  Lastly, there is a new region for LPN Generating Option fields.  These fields are used to support Warehouse Management (WMS) enabled organizations.

R12 Changes Org Parameters - Revision Lot Serial and LPN

ATP, Pick, Item-Sourcing Tab

A new “Enable Rules Override for Lot-Level Reservations” flag was added to this tab.  Since Process Manufacturing required more functionality around lots, this flag is most likely used by Process Manufacturing.

R12 Changes Org Parameters - ATP Pick Item Sourcing

Inter-Org Information Tab – No Change

Other Accounts Tab

Two new accounts were added to this tab.  The first one is the Deferred COGS Account field.  This account is used by the Sales Order Issue transaction type to deferred COGS until AR recognizes revenue. The second account is the Landed Cost Management (LCM) variance account.  This account is used by the new Landed Cost Management module.

R12 Changes Org Parameters - Other Accounts