r12 logistics rcd

RELEASE CONTENT DOCUMENT Release 12 Oracle Logistics Prepared by Oracle Logistics Product Management Team

Last Updated: 11/10/2006

Version: 1.5

Copyright © 2006, Oracle. All rights reserved.

R12 Logistics Release Content Document, Rev. 00 ii

Table of Contents

1. Disclaimer 1

2. Introduction 2 2.1. Purpose of Document 2 2.2. Reference Documents 2

3. Oracle Logistics 3 3.1. Inventory Management 3

3.1.1. Overview 3 3.1.2. Features 3

3.1.2.1. Deferred COGS Recognition 3 3.1.2.2. Depot Repair Enhancements 4 3.1.2.3. Genealogy Enhancements 4 3.1.2.4. Asset Tracking Transaction Attributes 4 3.1.2.5. Intercompany Invoicing of CTO on Internal Orders 5 3.1.2.6. Ledger Architecture Support 5 3.1.2.7. Legal Entity Support 5 3.1.2.8. Material Workbench Enhancements 5 3.1.2.9. Multi Org Access Control 6 3.1.2.10. OPM Convergence 6 3.1.2.11. Dual Unit of Measure Control 7 3.1.2.12. Material Status Control 7 3.1.2.13. Advanced Lot Control 8 3.1.2.14. Picking Rules Enhancements 8 3.1.2.15. Enhanced Manual Material Allocations 8 3.1.2.16. Material Aging Workflow 9 3.1.2.17. Support for Indivisible Lots 9 3.1.2.18. Enhanced Lot Transactions 9 3.1.2.19. Organization Parameter Changes 9 3.1.2.20. Performance - Pick Release Parallelization 10 3.1.2.21. Enhanced Reservations 10 3.1.2.22. Copy Organization Enhancements 10 3.1.2.23. Telco Recurring Charges 10 3.1.2.24. e-Tax 11 3.1.2.25. Telecommunications Service Orders with Equipment 11 3.1.2.26. Inventory Packing Slip 11 3.1.2.27. Oracle Receiving Changes 11

3.2. Oracle Shipping Execution 12 3.2.1. Overview 12 3.2.2. Features 12

3.2.2.1. Workflow-enabled Shipping Transactions 12 3.2.2.2. Ship Confirm Message Configuration 12 3.2.2.3. Shipping Purge 12 3.2.2.4. Flexible Documents 12 3.2.2.5. Enhanced LPN Support 13 3.2.2.6. Parallel Pick Release Submission 13 3.2.2.7. Customer Acceptance/ Deferred Revenue 13 3.2.2.8. Pick Release enhancements 13 3.2.2.9. Support for Miscellaneous Shipping Transactions 14 3.2.2.10. Inventory Convergence 14

3.3. Warehouse Management 15 3.3.1. Overview 15 3.3.2. Features 15

3.3.2.1. Oracle Process Manufacturing Support 15 3.3.2.2. Control Board Enhancements 15

R12 Logistics Release Content Document, Rev. 00 iii

3.3.2.3. User Extensible Label Fields 16 3.3.2.4. LPN Visibility in Shipping Execution 16 3.3.2.5. Labor Management 16 3.3.2.6. Locator Alias 16 3.3.2.7. Material Handling Integration 17 3.3.2.8. Multi Delivery Consolidation 17 3.3.2.9. Planned Crossdocking 17 3.3.2.10. RFID Compliance Update 18 3.3.2.11. Rules Engine Enhancements 19 3.3.2.12. Automated Task Prioritization 19 3.3.2.13. Locator Inquiry 19 3.3.2.14. WMS Support for EAM/CMRO Inventory Transactions 19

3.4. Mobile Supply Chain Applications 21 3.4.1. Overview 21 3.4.2. Features 21

3.4.2.1. Oracle Process Manufacturing Support 21 3.4.2.2. Oracle Enterprise Asset Management Support 21 3.4.2.3. Locator Inquiry 21

3.5. Oracle Transportation Execution 23 3.5.1. Overview 23 3.5.2. Features 23

3.5.2.1. Load Tender Enhancements 23 3.5.2.2. Routing Guide Rule Enhancements 23 3.5.2.3. Freight Rating Enhancements 23 3.5.2.4. Multi-Delivery Consolidation 23 3.5.2.5. Third-Party Warehousing Enhancements 24 3.5.2.6. Carrier Manifest Enhancements 24 3.5.2.7. Inbound Logistics Enhancements 24

3.6. Oracle Transportation Planning 25 3.6.1. Overview 25

3.7. Release Management 26 3.7.1. Overview 26 3.7.2. Features 26

3.7.2.1. Release Sales Order Start Date Enhancement 26

R12 Logistics Release Content Document, Rev. 00 Purpose of Document 1

1. Disclaimer This Release Content Document (RCD) describes product features that are proposed for the specified release of the Oracle E-Business Suite. This document describes new or changed functionality only. Existing functionality from prior releases is not described. It is intended solely to help you assess the business benefits of upgrading to Release 12.

This document in any form, software or printed matter, contains proprietary information that is the exclusive property of Oracle. Your access to and use of this confidential material is subject to the terms and conditions of your Oracle Software License and Service Agreement, which has been executed and with which you agree to comply. This document and information contained herein may not be disclosed, copied, reproduced or distributed to anyone outside Oracle without prior written consent of Oracle. This document is not part of your license agreement nor can it be incorporated into any contractual agreement with Oracle or its subsidiaries or affiliates.

This document is for informational purposes only and is intended solely to assist you in planning for the implementation and upgrade of the product features described. It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described in this document remains at the sole discretion of Oracle.

Due to the nature of the product architecture, it may not be possible to safely include all features described in this document without risking significant destabilization of the code.

R12 Logistics Release Content Document, Rev. 00 Purpose of Document 2

2. Introduction

2.1. Purpose of Document

The Release Content Document (RCD), produced as part of Oracle’s Applications Product Lifecycle (APL), communicates information about new or changed functionality in the specified release of the Oracle E-Business Suite. Existing functionality from prior point releases is not described. However, content introduced by Family Packs, Mini-Packs or Standalone patches since the prior point release has been included in this document and denoted accordingly.

2.2. Reference Documents

Name Location Completion Date

R12 Logistics Release Content Document, Rev. 00 Inventory Management 3

3. Oracle Logistics

3.1. Inventory Management

3.1.1. Overview

Following are the features that are new with Inventory in Release 12.

3.1.2. Features

3.1.2.1. Deferred COGS Recognition

Note: This change is in support of a feature in another product. For more information, please refer to the Oracle Cost Management section of this document.

Revenue managers are increasingly insisting on complying with International Accounting Standards (IAS- 18), which prescribes the accounting treatment for revenue arising from certain types of transactions and events. IAS18.14 in particular states that revenue arising from the sale of goods should be recognized when all of the following criteria have been satisfied:

• the seller has transferred to the buyer the significant risks and rewards of ownership;

• the seller retains neither continuing managerial involvement to the degree usually associated with ownership nor effective control over the goods sold;

• the amount of revenue can be measured reliably;

• it is probable that the economic benefits associated with the transaction will flow to the seller; and

• the costs incurred or to be incurred in respect of the transaction can be measured reliably.

It is critical, therefore, to de-couple the shipment of product and the recognition of COGS. Revenue should be recognized only when customer accepts the ownership of the goods.

With this enhancement, you have the flexibility to model the de-coupling the physical event of shipping goods from the recognition of COGS. Oracle Inventory can now defer the recognition of cost of goods sold until all contract contingencies have been fulfilled and revenue has been recognized in Oracle Receivables. In this manner both COGS and revenue are recorded in the same accounting period.

This feature aids organizations where strict revenue recognition policies are in place.


3.1.2.2. Depot Repair Enhancements

Note: This change is in support of a feature in another product. For more information, please refer to the Depot Repair section of this document.

Different applications use Inventory's "move order" capability to create, update, allocate, and transact move orders. In certain business processes, it is required to invoke the "transact move order" screen to complete move orders and minimizing key strokes is key to a great user experience. With this release, different applications can invoke "transact move order" screen by passing the Inventory organization and Sales order information, and the system will directly show the results of the search criteria by completely bypassing the 'find' screen and taking the user to the 'detail' screen.

3.1.2.3. Genealogy Enhancements

In many industries – due to predominant outsourcing, complex manufacturing of assemblies and regulatory requirements on product traceability it may be necessary to identify and build a genealogy for each end assembly. This genealogy links the final assembly to the various Lot and/or serialized components manufactured or procured from suppliers, so that rejects/product defects can be traced back to the root cause. This traceability can improve the handling customer complaints, streamline product recalls, retrace the source of any quality problems, etc.

In order to support increased product composition visibility in Oracle Inventory, the lot and serial genealogy inquiries have been consolidated. Users now have a combined view of lot and serial genealogy in one inquiry. In addition, for Oracle Discrete manufacturing users, operators performing the WIP issue transactions can tie their component lot and/ or serial numbers with a parent assembly. If this data is entered, a user in the genealogy form can see the direct genealogy construct between the parent assembly lot and child component lots rather than using the WIP job as the connection between the products.

As an additional failsafe measure, in order to preserve the integrity of the genealogy, Oracle Inventory will ensure that only the lots that were issued to the work order can be returned from the work order into inventory when performing a component return for a lot controlled item. Through a new tab on the genealogy form, users can now directly access Oracle Discrete or OPM Quality’s inspection results. For complex genealogies (or those of significant transaction volume), the same information available in the genealogy window is also available in a report.

3.1.2.4. Asset Tracking Transaction Attributes

Note: This change is in support of a feature in another product. For more information, please refer to the Asset Tracking section of this document.

In order to enable Oracle Asset Tracking users to better track assets that are issued to or received from various field locations, users can now mandate entry of the location field while defining transaction types in Oracle Inventory. When users perform miscellaneous transactions for these transaction types, they are required to specify a field location from/to where the asset is being received or deployed.


3.1.2.5. Intercompany Invoicing of CTO on Internal Orders

In today’s business environment, customers are demanding products that are tailored to their unique specifications. Successful companies must provide customized versions of products, at any volume and ship them from/to anywhere in the world. The Oracle Configure to Order Solution can also be leveraged for customer orders as well as internal orders, thus enabling users to configure products required for internal transfers. For customers using Oracle's Configure to Order functionality on internal orders, Inventory's intercompany invoicing can now determine the invoice price for an internal order based on the model and the options chosen. This eliminates the need to pre-define the configuration on a price list and can leverage Oracle Advanced Pricing's capabilities to determine a more intelligent invoice price.

3.1.2.6. Ledger Architecture Support

Note: This change is in support of a feature in another product. For more information, please refer to the Oracle Financials section of this document.

In order to support the new Ledger architecture in Oracle Financial Applications, Oracle Inventory now limits the accounts identified with an Inventory Organization, in the Organization Parameters form to be those accounts associated with the legal entity to which the inventory organization is assigned. An inventory organization still belongs to only one legal entity, however the transactions performed in that organization may use distribution accounts that are assigned to a different legal entity.

3.1.2.7. Legal Entity Support

Note: This change is in support of a feature in another product. For more information, please refer to the Oracle Financials section of this document.

In today’s global economy, many multi-national corporations are pursuing shared service center and single instance initiatives to combine and consolidate business operations for multiple legal entities into one or fewer instances for efficiency and economies of scale.

Currently, many of these legal entity attributes are defined at the operating unit, set of books, or some other level which makes it challenging and cumbersome to effectively perform accounting and reporting for an establishment (legal entity).With this Legal entity uptake, Oracle Inventory provides a mechanism whereby all transactions and accounting are based and validated from the new ledger–legal entity instantiated through the accounting flow setup.

This integrated approach facilitates further consolidation of data at an establishment (legal entity) level and eases financial accounting and reporting.

3.1.2.8. Material Workbench Enhancements

Viewing material in the facility is one of the most important tasks in a warehouse. Having a quick and accurate picture of inventory levels across organizations can allow warehouse managers to make informed decisions regarding the routing of inventory supply and demand.


In order to allow advanced viewing capabilities, the Material Workbench now lets a user see material across organizations categorized into three "buckets":

• Inbound Intransit

• Receiving

• On-hand

Visibility to Purchase Orders, Advanced Shipment Notices, and Internal Orders through one form greatly increases the information available and facilitates better decision making. In addition to the summary view, the Workbench allows the user to drill down into each of the individual "buckets" to see detailed information about all material represented. Availability information is calculated according to the material location of the relevant material for Inbound Intransit, Receiving, and Onhand material. Finally, users can save their queries and allow others to reuse common inquiries.

These changes allow the business to have better information related to their inventory levels that is grouped in such a way as to maximize the ability to make effective decisions.

3.1.2.9. Multi Org Access Control

Note: This change is in support of a feature in another product. For more information, please refer to the Oracle Manufacturing section of this document.

In order to support the new operating unit access control flexibility within the e-Business suite which allows a user to view data across a set of operating units, Oracle Inventory now allows users to perform project issue and receipt transactions for any project defined in the set of operating units to which the user has access.

3.1.2.10. OPM Convergence

Over 40% of the world's manufacturing companies are process manufacturers. Companies that produce metals, paper, chemicals and foods face unique challenges in inventory and product quality and attribute tracking. Historically, customers in these industries have leveraged the Inventory Management module of Oracle Process Manufacturing. With this release, Oracle Inventory can now be used by customers of Oracle's Process Manufacturing modules in addition to the users of Oracle Discrete Manufacturing, Service, Logistics and all other applications modules. This integration provides the Oracle Process Manufacturing user seamless integration with the rest of the E-Business Suite.

In order to support the needs of process manufacturing organizations, several additional features have been added to Oracle Inventory as described below (namely dual unit of measure control, advanced lot tracking, enhanced picking rules and enhanced material allocation processing). These features will be available for all users of Oracle Inventory, regardless of their manufacturing orientation.

Note, however that not all modules in the e-Business Suite will support all of the features below (for example dual unit of measure control). To determine if a new Oracle Inventory feature will be supported by another Oracle application, please refer to that application’s section of this document.


3.1.2.11. Dual Unit of Measure Control

In the meat, poultry, metals or chemicals industry, "catch weight" is a term used to track inventory simultaneously in two different units of measure. To run their businesses, these industries need to know both the number of cases, bars or drums of product stored as well as the weight or potency of that product. Prices are calculated based on the shipment weight of the product not on the number of cases or units shipped. Oracle Inventory's Dual Unit of Measure Control enables users to transact inventory in two unrelated units of measure where the conversion between the measures vary from lot to lot or from one transaction to the next. If an item is dual unit of measure control enabled, during transactions, users will be prompted to enter the transaction quantity in both units and will be able to query on-hand balances, availability and reservations in both units for full supply chain visibility to all required handling units of measure.

Note that dual unit of measure control is available in Oracle Inventory, Purchasing & Receiving and Order Management and Shipping. To determine if other modules in the Oracle e-Business Suite support this functionality, please refer to each product’s Release Content Document.

3.1.2.12. Material Status Control

Quality Control and product lifecycle issues may require that certain material, although stored in a ready to use state in the warehouse or production facility, may not be usable for certain applications. A lot that has not yet passed inspection should not be shipped to a customer or consumed in production. A warehouse location that has been discovered to have erroneous inventory balances should not be included in available to promise calculations. The functionality previously only available to Oracle Warehouse Management users that enable users to assign a material status to the material in an inventory lot, serial, subinventory or locator and to use that status to restrict transactions is now available to all Oracle Inventory users. Those material statuses will dictate which transactions can be performed on the lot, the serial or the material that is stored in the subinventory or locator. In addition, Oracle's planning applications and Inventory's availability calculations can now take the material status into consideration when determining availability. Users can determine whether or not product of a particular status can be reservable, included in ATP calculations or netted in production planning. Using material status warehouse employees, materials managers, production planners and customer service representatives will be provided with a more granular and accurate picture of the inventory that is available for them to use for each business purpose.

Note that not all Oracle Applications will support the material status restrictions. To determine if an individual module in the e-Business Suite will support this functionality, please refer to that product’s section of this document.


3.1.2.13. Advanced Lot Control

Getting fast answers to certain questions may determine whether your company will survive a crisis. Questions such as 'Which lots were delivered to which customers’? Which other lots were produced from that production line during that shift? What was the quality of the components or ingredients and which suppliers sent them?' To enable better visibility to a lot, its genealogy and attributes, significant enhancements have been made to the lot tracking capabilities within Oracle Inventory. Sublot control allows users to track the parent lot from which multiple lots were created. The parent lot may refer to the production batch that spawned the lot but, if the output of that batch varied in term of grade or other QC attributes, multiple sublots might be received into inventory. Users can query lots in by their parent lot and view the parent lot in the lot genealogy form. Users can also now grade control their lot controlled items. The product can be queried by grade and the grade can be changed as required. Users can also track retest dates, expiration and retest actions among other lot attributes. In addition, a new concurrent request in Oracle Inventory can initiate a workflow if a lot or serial approaches any key milestone dates such as expiration, retest or best-by date. The genealogy form has also been enhanced to allow users to view quality inspection results, material status and grade change history and other information about the lot. These features and more will provide materials managers with the tools they need to enable faster turn around on quality, customer care and production issues.

3.1.2.14. Picking Rules Enhancements

Providing optimum customer service in an order fulfillment operation often requires that a warehouse or manufacturing facility be able to capture each customer’s individual product quality or material characteristics preferences. For example, a customer may require premium grade material while another, more price sensitive client, may have no such restrictions. Some customers may mandate a certain number of usable days left on product that is to be shipped to them. To manage these customer restrictions, the Oracle Inventory picking rules engine has been enhanced to incorporate certain restrictions on allocation logic in addition to the sort criteria for acceptable material. These restrictions are available for both sales order and work order allocation processes. With this functionality, a customer service representative can now guarantee that unacceptable product will not be shipped to a customer based on each customer’s individual product preferences.

3.1.2.15. Enhanced Manual Material Allocations

Often, in smaller warehouses or facilities, inventory managers or material pickers enjoy the flexibility of selecting, for themselves, the inventory that should be picked for a given customer, work order or material transfer. The material picked should still honor customer restrictions but may not be the product that the system would have selected first. This product may be physically more accessible or more desirable for other reasons not visible to Oracle Inventory. In order to better facilitate manual allocation processes, the transact move order form can now present all allocation options to a user and allows the user to choose the allocations that he or she wishes to commit. This ensures that the allocations made honor the customer restrictions but still allows the warehouse operator the flexibility to choose the material that is most accessible for picking.


3.1.2.16. Material Aging Workflow

A significant aspect to any materials management business process that involves product with a limited shelf life is the management of expired or near expired material. In the simplest case, this product requires disposition and disposal. In some product categories, rework or refurbishment could further extend the usable life of the product. In all of these cases, however, the product must be located, isolated and proactively managed.

In order to better support these business processes, Oracle Inventory has introduced a new material aging workflow. This workflow can be leveraged to create work orders, send notifications to planners, update material status or request a movement of expired product to a quarantine or inspection area. This functionality is offered in a new concurrent request in Oracle Inventory which can search for any date attribute of a lot or serial (including flexfields) and will initiate the workflow for the lot or serial if the date attribute is within a user specified range around the current date. For example, the request could initiate the workflow for all lots that will expire in the next 5 days. Using this material aging functionality, materials managers can set up proactive handling procedures for date sensitive material.

3.1.2.17. Support for Indivisible Lots

In many industries, a single lot of product cannot or should not be physically broken into pieces for material movements. Examples might include lengths of metal pipe, reams of paper or rolls of carpet. In some cases, it would not be physically possible for a warehouse picker to break the product into two pieces, as in the case of metal sheets, coils or bars, to meet the exact customer order quantity. In other cases, color, potency or other attributes of lots may vary slightly such that there would be a noticeable variation in product and, hence, a warehouse might prefer to over or undership on product rather than breaking a lot into partial quantities and being forced to ship a remnant with another order.

In order to support items that fall into this profile, Oracle Inventory has introduced the concept of lot indivisibility. This item attribute will indicate to the system that, during reservations and allocation, the system must allocate the entire lot quantity in a given location or none at all. In order to meet this requirement, over and under allocation, within tolerances, will be supported automatically at pick release for indivisible lots. Users may still choose to transact part of a lot quantity during user initiated transactions but Oracle Inventory will not suggest these splits during allocation and any reservation created will have to specify the lot to be reserved and will have to reserve the full lot quantity.

3.1.2.18. Enhanced Lot Transactions

Companies who leverage Oracle Shop Floor Manufacturing to manage their semiconductor or other high technology assembly and fabrication processes have traditionally used lot control tracking on their finished goods and components. Some may choose to also serial control their finished goods. In order to support both lot and serial controlled items in typical high tech business processes, Oracle Inventory's lot split, merge and translate transactions can now be performed on items that are both lot and serial controlled.

3.1.2.19. Organization Parameter Changes

Additional inventory organization attributes have been added to the Inventory Organization Parameters form in order to enable new functionality in Oracle Inventory


and Oracle Warehouse Management. These new features include labor reporting, locator aliasing, EPC compliance support for RFID tagging, chargeable subcontracting and best fit quantity allocation. For more information on each of these features, please refer to the respective feature descriptions in the Inventory and Warehouse Management sections of this document.

3.1.2.20. Performance - Pick Release Parallelization

Today, the speed with which a system can release picks to the warehouse floor determines the start time for the order fulfillment process. In high volume order fulfillment operations, the ability to release orders as quickly as possible is of paramount importance to warehouse managers. In order to further support high volume facilities, pick release can now be run in a parallel or multi-threaded manner. This enables each item or ship set in the released batch to be allocated simultaneously so that the entire batch can complete in a more timely manner without sacrificing Oracle's built in comprehensive management for pick slip grouping and document printing, cartonization, ship set validation and other adaptive order fulfillment features.

3.1.2.21. Enhanced Reservations

In certain business models, specific supply is secured for a given end customer order. In these cases, availability can be guaranteed by creating reservations against on hand inventory or the purchase order or work order that were created to fulfill the customer order. Warehouse managers may want to use a specific lot being built in manufacturing or an item expected on a purchase order for a sales order or any other demand to ensure availability. This feature facilitates planned crossdocking in the warehouse and allows it to meet its crossdocking objectives by reserving the most appropriate inbound receipts for an outbound shipment

Oracle Inventory's reservations model now supports reservations to expected supplies such as purchase orders, internal requisitions, advanced shipment notices, manufacturing jobs, and process manufacturing's batches. New demand sources, such as parts for CMRO work orders and process manufacturing, are also supported for reservations. Users can create these reservations through Inventory forms and public APIs.

In addition, users can now reserve a specific serial number and Oracle Inventory will ensure that the reserved serial is allocated at pick release.

3.1.2.22. Copy Organization Enhancements

The Copy Inventory Organization feature is enhanced for performance, and now allows users to copy the following entities:

• Planning Parameters

• Shipping Parameters

• WIP Parameters

• WIP Accounting Classes

3.1.2.23. Telco Recurring Charges

Note: This change is in support of a feature in another product. Please see the associated RCD for more details.


In order to enable Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) in service industries (Telco, Utilities etc) to better identify and group various charges (recurring, one-time, usage based) on customer orders/quotes, users can now identity the nature of each charge item (recurring vs. non-recurring) and the periodicity (weekly, monthly, quarterly etc) while setting them up in the Item Master. Users can set a value for the Order Management system parameter “UOM Class for Charge Periodicity” to identify the available unit of measures to represent periodicity.

3.1.2.24. e-Tax

Note: This change is in support of a feature in another product. Please see the associated RCD for more details.

The new Oracle e-Tax Engine offers customers a flexible means of defining the tax codes to apply to a given commercial transaction. For E-Business tax computation, all products which require tax needs/computation need to integrate with the Oracle e-Tax product.

With this integration, Oracle Inventory populates the Accounts Payables interface tables after validation of data and Accounts Payables in turn interacts with the E-tax engine to compute tax for inter company invoicing.

This integrated approach would help streamline the process flow with regard to tax computation and provide for a logical and single integration point with the e-Business tax product.

3.1.2.25. Telecommunications Service Orders with Equipment

Note: This change is in support of a feature in another product. Please see the Oracle Configurator and Oracle Install Base sections of this document for more details.

Customers can now purchase equipment such as wireless handsets, modems, etc. while ordering telecommunications services. If such serialized equipment is shipped to a customer on a sales order, Oracle Inventory will ensure that serials shipped to a customer can only be returned into Inventory via an RMA receipt.

3.1.2.26. Inventory Packing Slip

A packing slip is a shipping document containing details about the goods being transported. With this feature, you can print the Inventory Packing Slip for Return to Vendor and Inter-Organization transfer transactions.

3.1.2.27. Oracle Receiving Changes

For information about changes made in Oracle Receiving as part of this release, please refer to the Oracle Purchasing section of this document. Receiving changes will not be discussed in this section.

R12 Logistics Release Content Document, Rev. 00 Oracle Shipping Execution 12

3.2. Oracle Shipping Execution

3.2.1. Overview

The following are the features that are new with Oracle Shipping Execution R12.

3.2.2. Features

3.2.2.1. Workflow-enabled Shipping Transactions

Oracle Shipping Execution will utilize Oracle Workflow to automate business processes by routing information according to user-defined business rules. Oracle Workflow integration will provide users with a powerful tool to automate specific tasks and customize output based on attributes of business objects. For example, using a configurable workflow, a user will be able to receive notification of delivery backorder and can be alerted to issues arising throughout the shipping process- from pick through ship confirm.

The workflow status monitor for deliveries and trips will enable the user to track and view statuses in a user-friendly display format. The graphical user interface will provide a history of key actions performed up to a certain point that can be viewed from the Shipping Transactions form and the Quick Ship user interface.

3.2.2.2. Ship Confirm Message Configuration

Oracle Shipping Execution users will now be able to configure certain warnings that occur at Ship Confirm to be hard errors based on their business process. These warnings can be tailored based on user role. For example, the existing warning of ‘A Shipset can not be broken during Ship Confirmation’ can now be configured to be a hard error in order to stop the ship confirm process.

3.2.2.3. Shipping Purge

The purge feature in Oracle Shipping Execution will be introduced to enable users to delete all shipping transactional data based on user-selected criteria. Purging permanently removes records from the active tables, which will allow the system to perform more efficiently. For example, queries will be completed more quickly and upgrades will be streamlined when fewer records exist.

3.2.2.4. Flexible Documents

The key objective of this feature will be to give the users more freedom to design key external-facing shipping documents (reports) that best match their business needs. Leveraging Oracle XML Publisher, Oracle Shipping Execution users will be able to create template-based, easy-to-use formats to quickly produce and easily maintain shipping documents unique to their business.


Additional attributes will be added to the XML templates for each report for added flexibility. For example, the Bill of Lading (BOL) and Master Bill of Lading (MBOL) will now be able to include the freight class as well as the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) code. The following reports will be included: Master Bill of Lading, Bill of Lading, Pack Slip, Vehicle Load Sheet, Mailing Label, Commercial Invoice and Pick Slip.

3.2.2.5. Enhanced LPN Support

Oracle Shipping Execution users will now have improved visibility to the Oracle WMS packing hierarchy at Pick Confirmation. The packing hierarchy, including the License Plate Number (LPN), will be visible in the Shipping Transactions form as well as in the Quick Ship user interface.

3.2.2.6. Parallel Pick Release Submission

This new feature will allow users to run multiple pick release processes in parallel to improve overall performance. By distributing the workload across multiple processors, users can reduce the overall time required for a single pick release run. Users will be able to specify the number of threads that are spawned by the pick release product for added configurability.

3.2.2.7. Customer Acceptance/ Deferred Revenue

This feature will allow for more sophisticated accounting to take place as a result of ship confirmation. When customer acceptance and other common contingencies are required prior to recognizing revenue for a shipment, Oracle Shipping Execution will support deferring the revenue through integration with Oracle Receivables. In addition to user-directed events, implicit acceptance will be supported using a number of days after shipping.

Please see the Oracle Receivables RCD for additional information.

3.2.2.8. Pick Release enhancements

Enhancements will be made to the Release Sales Order Form and the Release Rules Form to support planned crossdocking and task priority for Oracle Warehouse Management (WMS) organizations. Pick release will allow a user to specify allocation methods and if crossdocking is required, a cross-dock rule. The task priority will be able to be set for each task in a sales order picking wave when that wave is pick released. The priority indicated at pick release will be defaulted to every Oracle WMS task created.

Please see the Oracle Warehouse Management RCD for addition information.


3.2.2.9. Support for Miscellaneous Shipping Transactions

Oracle Shipping Execution users will now be able to create a delivery for a shipment that is not tied to a sales order via XML (XML-equivalent of EDI 940 IN). Once this delivery has been created, users will be able to print shipping documents, plan, rate, tender, audit and record the issuance out of inventory. Additionally, an XML Shipment Advice (XML- equivalent of EDI 945 OUT) will be supported to record the outbound transactions.

3.2.2.10. Inventory Convergence

Oracle Inventory and Oracle Shipping Execution will now be able to handle both discrete and process items in a single warehouse for more flexibility in their item handling. Process features have been added to Oracle Inventory to support process characteristics, such as dual units of measure, grade, child lots as a subdivision of lot-controlled inventory, and the use of material status. Oracle Shipping Execution will be able to include the new process item attributes in Flexible Documents.

Please see the Oracle Process Manufacturing RCD for more information.

R12 Logistics Release Content Document, Rev. 00 Warehouse Management 15

3.3. Warehouse Management

3.3.1. Overview

Following are the features that are new with Oracle Warehouse Management in Release 12.

3.3.2. Features

3.3.2.1. Oracle Process Manufacturing Support

40% of the manufacturing taking place today can be classified as process manufacturing. These sites produce chemicals, pharmaceuticals, foods, paper and other textiles in a continuous stream of output or in a batch mode that is different from discrete production paradigms. In order to support process industries, Oracle Warehouse Management (WMS) will now support transactions in organizations that leverage Oracle Process Manufacturing for their production support. Users can now use WMS’s receiving, inventory control, replenishment, task dispatching and shipping user interfaces in Process or OPM enabled organizations.

In addition to supporting transactions in Oracle Process Manufacturing enabled organizations, Oracle WMS will also support the features that have been added to Oracle Inventory in order to better support process users. WMS will support transactions for items that are dual unit of measure controlled and sublot controlled. In addition, Oracle WMS’s material status functionality has been enhanced to allow users to indicate if material in a given status should be ATP-able, Net-able and Reservable (for all statuses except for serial status). For more information on Dual Unit of Measure control, and sublot control, please refer to the Oracle Inventory section of this document. Also note that as of this release, material status functionality will be available as part of core Inventory Management and will no longer require a WMS license. Further documentation and information on material status will henceforth be published in Inventory documentation.

3.3.2.2. Control Board Enhancements

Control Board is one of the key tools for the management at a Warehouse facility to manage and monitor the various activities to improve the operational efficiency. To aid the management personnel in this regard, this project enhanced and extended the capabilities of the Control Board to make it easier and flexible to select and manage the tasks.

With this release of the WMS, using the Control Board mechanism the user will be allowed to:

• Schedule a concurrent program to manage certain aspects on a regular basis.

• Queue a group of tasks to a user task type.

• Cancel inbound tasks.


• Manage tasks using additional shipping criteria: time left for the shipment and time left for shipment appointment.

• Manage Crossdock tasks as a group.

3.3.2.3. User Extensible Label Fields

Oracle offers users the capability to configure a label format for a particular use. The fields that can be included on that label format were previously restricted to a list of pre-defined variables seeded in the application. With this enhancement, users are now able to add their own variables without customizing the application, by simply defining in SQL the way to get to that data element.

3.3.2.4. LPN Visibility in Shipping Execution

Note: This change is in support of a feature in another product. For more information, please refer to the Shipping Execution section of this document.

This functionality stores License Plate Numbers in Oracle Shipping Execution and WMS in a common data structure. This ensures that LPNs in WMS and Shipping are unique and auto generation is supported in WMS and Shipping using the same organization level parameters.

3.3.2.5. Labor Management

Labor costs constitute a major portion of the operating expenses in a distribution center. Warehouse managers need a system to log user performance, accurately measure how much work has been completed and is left to complete, and reward employees accordingly.

The Oracle Labor Management feature provides valuable analytics that will help distribution managers optimize their resources. This feature allows you to view the amount of time that specific events within the warehouse would take, as well as define a benchmark for employees to strive for in terms of productivity. Engineered Labor Standards (ELS) benchmarks can be set by the distribution manager. This feature will compare the deviation of the actual productivity versus the expected productivity for individuals and groups of work. It will allow the warehouse manager to compare expected to actual times taken to perform work, forecast the amount of labor required and optimize labor usage.

The two main analyses offered by the Labor Management feature are the Expected resource/time requirements analysis and the Labor Productivity analysis.

3.3.2.6. Locator Alias

In warehousing operations, material is constantly retrieved and deposited into locators. When a user performs a retrieval/deposit, he/she typically confirms that a transaction was performed in a locator by scanning or entering the locator name in the mobile screen. By confirming a locator name, the user is simply stating that he/she acknowledges that the transaction should be or is being performed in that locator. With the introduction of the Locator Alias feature, Oracle WMS can now ensure that a user is physically present at a locator when performing a transaction. By not displaying the alias on the mobile screen and requiring the user to scan or enter the alias that is physically barcoded at the locator, in lieu of the locator, the user is forced to be physically present at the locator.


The usage of locator alias promotes operator discipline and increases inventory accuracy. It also ensures better execution when performing voice enabled transactions.

3.3.2.7. Material Handling Integration

Reduction of complexity in the management and integration of material handling equipment and automation systems with Warehouse Management Systems is a growing issue for logistic organizations. Logistics organizations are placing more emphasis on integration solutions that provide flexibility at the host application layer to achieve this reduction in integration complexity.

With this release, improvements in device integration setup, configuration and management provide you with the framework to create and maintain device integration capability that is flexible. You can reduce integration complexity and improve integration by taking advantage of this flexible framework for your systems. Catch Weight, Pick to Light, A-frame, Conveyors and ASRS systems are examples of the material handling equipment or automation systems that you can configure and integrate with this warehouse control system flexible framework.

This integration maintains the Open API device integration features for independent vendor integration solutions. Complementing this Open API is a built-in warehouse control system allowing you flexibility in the definition, configuration, and administration of various material handling equipment and automation systems integration requirements.

3.3.2.8. Multi Delivery Consolidation

For shippers who send products to deconsolidation centers managed by a third party, it may be convenient to pack items on the same pallet or container to save space and shipping costs even though they are bound for different end customers or ship to addresses. The third party logistics provider will then handle deconsolidation and freight forwarding at a later point not tracked by the shipper. Multi-delivery Consolidation will enable users to save on transportation costs by grouping deliveries that are traveling part of the way together, although not going to the same ultimate ship to locations. For example, users will be able to consolidate multiple deliveries into a truckload shipment for transport to a destination such as a deconsolidation facility. Once the consolidated delivery has reached the facility, the individual deliveries will be sent via an LTL carrier to the ultimate ship to location. Multi-Delivery Consolidation will enable users to consolidate deliveries as a single consolidation to achieve cost efficiencies on this first leg as opposed to managing each delivery individually. Multi-delivery Consolidation will enable the user to prepare shipments in a cost-effective manner that allows for the efficient movement of goods.

This feature allows warehouses to consolidate multiple deliveries residing in various License Plate Numbers (LPNs) into an outer/consolidation LPN prior to shipment and perform ship confirmation by scanning the outer LPN. The system directs users to consolidate appropriate LPNs based on pre-defined rules.

3.3.2.9. Planned Crossdocking

Crossdocking allows warehouses to increase its operational efficiency by transferring inbound material directly to an outbound area. It bypasses the inventory-holding function of a warehouse while still allowing it to serve its consolidation and shipping functions. Prior to this release, crossdock execution had many limitations such as outbound staging


to default locator, lack of consolidation support, etc. With this feature, crossdocking can be planned in the warehouse using a set of cross-dock criteria. The system can identify crossdocking opportunities in the warehouse by comparing expected receipts and outbound shipments. When a crossdocking opportunity is identified, the scheduled inbound receipt is pegged to the outbound shipment. A specific inbound receipt is identified based on whether the warehouse wants to maximize crossdocking or minimize wait time. In this release, Opportunistic crossdocking has been enhanced such that crossdocking occurs on the basis of cross-dock criteria. In addition its no longer necessary to have backordered sales orders to perform opportunistic cross-dock. The execution of crossdocking has been streamlined as well. This feature extends the Advanced Task Framework in the cross-dock execution process. Features such as consolidation, suggestion of staging lane, creation or merge with an outbound delivery etc. can be leveraged to better support your crossdocking material handling processes.

3.3.2.10. RFID Compliance Update

Many companies are faced with meeting various RFID mandates from retail customers and the U.S. Department of Defense. Phased in beginning in 2005, the scope of the mandates will expand in 2006 and 2007. And even if not faced with a customer mandate, using standardized RFID tags to label products can help bring efficiencies to the supply chain by reducing the incremental cost of data capture, such as allowing transactions to be automatically recorded with the movement of material, and enabling more accurate planning and more timely exception management.

The functionality provided here builds upon the RFID compliance features included in an earlier release. Specifically, it allows RFID labels to be printed alongside standard non-RFID labels, greater control over printer selection, and printing EPC labels for serialized product and for GTIN quantities that are not LPNs. With this release, the EPCs can be extracted from an ASN for automated receipt, and similarly, included in an outbound ASN to meet customer mandates. And finally, labels with or without EPC’s can be automatically printed for one or all levels of an LPN hierarchy.

The functionality enhancements also include several label printing features that improve the usability for RFID compliance, but are applicable even for standard label printing. These additional label printing features allow the user to define a “label set” which is a grouping of label formats of the same type that can all be printed together automatically, allow the printer to be determined by the format returned by the Rules Engine thereby allowing rules-based printer selection, and improve the process by which the Rules Engine can determine when labels should and should not be printed by not producing an XML label print request if the selected label format does not have any variables.

This functionality allows customers to easily meet the various RFID mandates with standard functionality, thereby avoiding costly customizations or supplier fines. The general label printing enhancements delivered as part of this functionality also allow customers to meet various complex label printing requirements – both internal and external – more easily with standard functionality.


3.3.2.11. Rules Engine Enhancements

As Oracle Warehouse Management is used in more complex environments, building a wider range of business logic in the Rules Engine, without sacrificing either performance or usability, becomes increasingly important.

To provide both greater flexibility and performance for complex scenarios required of the Rules Engine, rules and values can now be directly assigned in the Rules Workbench. For example, a user can explicitly assign a cost group in the Rules workbench to a particular item or for a particular supplier rather than creating a “dummy rule” with no restrictions. . Similarly, rules can be assigned directly in the Workbench, so that “dummy strategies” with single rules need not be created. This simplifies the setup, makes the Rules Engine logic more transparent, and also enables the Rules Engine to execute faster because assignments in the Rules Workbench can be evaluated orders of magnitude faster than individual rules.

3.3.2.12. Automated Task Prioritization

Whether in a high or low volume facility, warehouse managers require the ability to predetermine the priority of a given task based on the status and urgency of the new tasks with respect to the other pending work. Rush orders, for example, should be queued appropriately without further intervention from a warehouse user. Similarly, some tasks may always be designated as a lower priority (such as cycle counting tasks) unless an individual task is prioritized by a manager. Oracle Warehouse Management now supports the ability to automatically set the task priority for each task in a sales order picking wave when that wave is pick released. The priority indicated at pick release will be defaulted to every task created. In addition, users can now indicate a default priority on the task type definition form which will be applicable to all tasks of that type. These features will serve to provide more intelligent priority setting capabilities without requiring any additional user execution steps through the WMS Control Board.

3.3.2.13. Locator Inquiry

This feature enables a user to perform instant queries on warehouse locations through the mobile UI. Instead of having to query on a particular item number as the existing query form requires, this feature can be used to query on a subinventory or location. The system will indicate the material that exists in that locator on a summary level, summing up numbers of distinct lots and LPNs.

Rapid queries like this make the daily tasks of a warehouse worker much smoother, putting system information at their fingertips. This feature helps to provide as much information as possible to the user on the warehouse floor in the format that is most useful.

3.3.2.14. WMS Support for EAM/CMRO Inventory Transactions

One of the biggest costs in industry is the Asset maintenance cost. Manufacturers are becoming aware of the pivotal role asset management strategy plays in improving production. It improves quality, delivery time, and above all reduces costs associated with manufacturing. Oracle Enterprise Asset Management (eAM) improves utilization for asset intensive companies by optimizing asset capacity and manages reactive, planned, and predictive maintenance throughout the enterprise. Organizations that leverage Oracle eAM or Oracle Complex Maintenance and Repair Operations (CMRO) in order to manage asset repair within a facility may also choose to leverage Oracle Warehouse Management in order to manage the inventory movement within those


facilities. Oracle WMS task dispatching infrastructure can now be used to pick rotables for use in EAM or CMRO repair work orders. Now, regardless of the source of demand for parts and materials, Oracle Warehouse Management can be used to manage the fulfillment of those requests.

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3.4. Mobile Supply Chain Applications

3.4.1. Overview

Following are the features that are new with MSCA in Release 12.

3.4.2. Features

3.4.2.1. Oracle Process Manufacturing Support

40% of the manufacturing taking place today can be classified as process manufacturing. These sites produce chemicals, pharmaceuticals, foods, paper and other textiles in a continuous stream of output or in a batch mode that is different from discrete production paradigms. In order to support process industries, Oracle Mobile Supply Chain Applications (MSCA) will now support transactions in organizations that leverage Oracle Process Manufacturing for their production support. Users can now use MSCA’s receiving, inventory control, replenishment and shipping user interfaces in Process or OPM enabled organizations.

In addition to supporting transactions in Oracle Process Manufacturing enabled organizations, Oracle MSCA will also support the features that have been added to Oracle Inventory in order to better support process users. MSCA will support transactions for items that are dual unit of measure controlled and sublot controlled. In addition, Oracle MSCA will also support the material status functionality that has been added to Oracle Inventory. For more information on Dual Unit of Measure control, sublot control and Material Status, please refer to the Oracle Inventory section of this document.

3.4.2.2. Oracle Enterprise Asset Management Support

One of the biggest costs in industry is the Asset maintenance cost. Manufacturers are becoming aware of the pivotal role asset management strategy plays in improving production. It improves quality, delivery time, and above all reduces costs associated with manufacturing. Oracle Enterprise Asset Management (eAM) improves utilization for asset intensive companies by optimizing asset capacity and manages reactive, planned, and predictive maintenance throughout the enterprise. Organizations that leverage Oracle eAM or Oracle Complex Maintenance and Repair Operations (CMRO) in order to manage asset repair within a facility may also choose to leverage Oracle MSCA in order to manage the inventory movement within those facilities. Oracle MSCA pick confirm pages can now be used to pick rotables for use in EAM or CMRO repair work orders. For customers who do not use the component pick release capabilities, material transactions can now be performed against EAM work orders in MSCA user interfaces. Now, regardless of the source of demand for parts and materials, Oracle Mobile Supply Chain Applications can be used to manage the fulfillment of those requests.

3.4.2.3. Locator Inquiry

This feature enables a user to perform instant queries on warehouse locations through the mobile UI. Instead of having to query on a particular item number as the existing query form requires, this feature can be used to query on a subinventory or location. The

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system will indicate the material that exists in that locator on a summary level, summing up numbers of distinct lots and LPNs.

Rapid queries like this make the daily tasks of a warehouse worker much smoother, putting system information at their fingertips. This feature helps to provide as much information as possible to the user on the warehouse floor in the format that is most useful.

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3.5. Oracle Transportation Execution

3.5.1. Overview

The following are the features that are new for Oracle Transportation Execution R12.

3.5.2. Features

3.5.2.1. Load Tender Enhancements

Load tender enhancements consist of new data elements that will be incorporated into the load tender request message. These new data elements include freight class, hazardous material information, dock close time, freight terms, delivery number (s) and consignee’s order number. This information will be communicated to the carrier when the loader tender request message is sent.

3.5.2.2. Routing Guide Rule Enhancements

The routing guide rule user interface will be enhanced to allow users to search by the rule name in the routing guide rule search page. This will eliminate the need to search for a rule using a customer site, customer, organization, or enterprise. Additionally, the routing guide rule setup process will be reduced to three steps providing a streamlined user interface allowing users to expedite the rule setup process.

3.5.2.3. Freight Rating Enhancements

Truckload rating functionality will be expanded to provide additional rating user flows. Users will have the ability to rate truckload services from Order Management user interfaces, the Shipping Transaction Form and the Delivery Workbench. Additional flexibility will be added allowing users to optionally specify a vehicle type when rating truckload shipments. Oracle Transportation Execution will now provide support for automated rating of multi-leg deliveries.

3.5.2.4. Multi-Delivery Consolidation

Multi-delivery Consolidation will enable Oracle Warehouse Management users to save on transportation costs by grouping deliveries that are traveling part of the way together, although not going to the same ultimate ship to locations. For example, users will be able to consolidate multiple deliveries into a truckload shipment for transport to a destination such as a deconsolidation facility. Once the consolidated delivery has reached the facility, the individual deliveries will be sent via an LTL carrier to the ultimate ship to location. Multi-Delivery Consolidation will enable users to consolidate deliveries as a single consolidation to achieve cost efficiencies on this first leg as opposed to managing each delivery individually. Multi-delivery Consolidation will enable the user to prepare shipments in a cost-effective manner that allows for the efficient movement of goods.

Oracle Transportation Execution will support Multi-Delivery Consolidation process flows by enabling users to perform actions such as Freight Rating, Applying Routing Guide Rules, Load Tendering, and Tracking.

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3.5.2.5. Third-Party Warehousing Enhancements

A new concurrent program will be introduced to facilitate the automation of shipment request data from Oracle Shipping Execution to a third-party warehousing system. Users will be able to setup the concurrent program to automatically run periodically, eliminating the need for manual user intervention for transmission of shipment pickup requests to a third-party warehousing system.

3.5.2.6. Carrier Manifest Enhancements

Enhancements will be made to the carrier manifest integration with the introduction of the shipment request cancellation process. A new XML cancellation message will be used to notify the carrier manifesting system that the original shipment request has been cancelled. This feature will automate the cancellation process for the Oracle Transportation Execution user by eliminating the need to cancel in the manifest partner application.

3.5.2.7. Inbound Logistics Enhancements

The electronic ASN and iSupplier Portal will be enhanced to include Ship From location. This enhancement will facilitate the receipt to delivery matching process. Additionally, the Inbound Reconciliation User Interface has been modified to display the Ship From Location.

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3.6. Oracle Transportation Planning

3.6.1. Overview

No new features in Release 12.

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3.7. Release Management

3.7.1. Overview

The following are the features that are new with Release 12.

3.7.2. Features

3.7.2.1. Release Sales Order Start Date Enhancement

In prior releases, when the Demand Processor created a new Release Sales Order, the effective dates of the order were calculated based on the earliest calculated request date, for the first item on the schedule. In this enhancement, the Demand Processor looks across all items on the schedule that relate to the same Blanket Sales Order. Once it finds the earliest start date across all items, it uses that date as the effective date of the Release Sales Order. This enhancement improves how the Demand Processor behaves when integrating demand for a blanket.

• For the setup “Release Across Items”, the initial Release Sales Order effective date is calculated based on the earliest date for the blanket in the schedule

For the setup “Release Per Item”, the Release Sales Order effective date is calculated based on the earliest date for the item, as in prior releases.