ORDER MANAGEMENT: interview questions and answers

1)    What are the Base Tables and Interface Tables for Order Management?
       Interface Tables    : OE_HEADERS_IFACE_ALL, OE_LINES_IFACE_ALL
                  OE_PRICE_ADJS_IFACE_ALL, OE_ACTIONS_IFACE_ALL
                  OE_CREDITS_IFACE_ALL (Order holds like credit check holds etc)
       Base Tables    : OE_ORDER_HEADERS_ALL: Order Header Information
  OE_ORDER_LINES_ALL: Items Information
              OE_PRICE_ADJUSTMENTS: Discounts Information
  OE_SALES_CREDITS: Sales Representative Credits.
Shipping Tables :WSH_NEW_DELIVERIES, WSH_DELIVERY_DETAILS,  WSH_DELIVERY_ASSIGNMENTS, WSH_DELIVERIES.
              
2)    What is Order Import and What are the Setup's involved in Order Import?
A)    Order Import is an open interface that consists of open interface tables and a set of API’s. It imports New, updated, or changed sales orders from other applications such as Legacy systems. Order Import features include validations, Defaulting, Processing Constraints checks, Applying and releasing of order holds, scheduling of shipments, then ultimately inserting, updating or deleting orders from the OM base tables. Order management checks all the data during the import process to ensure its  validity with OM. Valid Transactions are then converted into orders with lines, reservations ,price adjustments,  and sales credits in the OM base tables.
B)    Setups:
•    Setup every aspect of order management that we want to use with imported orders, including customers, pricing, items, and bills.
•    Define and enable the order import sources using the order import source window.

3)    Explain the Order Cycle?
i)    Enter the Sales Order
ii)    Book the Sales Order(SO will not be processed until booked(Inventory confirmation))
iii)    Release sales order(Pickslip Report is generated and Deliveries are created)
(Deliveries – details about the delivery. Belongs to shipping module (wsh_deliveries, wsh_new_deliveries, wsh_delivery_assignments etc)  they explain how many items are being shipped and such details.
iv)    Transaction Move Order (creates reservations determines the source and transfers the inventory into the staging areas)
v)    Launch Pick Release (
vi)    Ship Confirm (Shipping Documents(Pickslip report, Performa Invoice, Shipping Lables))
4)  Explain the Order to Cash Flow?
I.    Enter the Sales Order
II.    Book the Sales Order (SO will not be processed until booked (Inventory confirmation))
III.    Release sales order (Pick slip Report is generated and Deliveries are created)
   (Deliveries – details about the delivery. Belongs to shipping module (wsh_deliveries, wsh_new_deliveries, wsh_delivery_assignments etc) they explain how many items are being shipped and such details.
IV.    Transaction Move Order (Selects the serial number of the product which has to be moved/ shipped)
V.    Launch Pick Release
VI.    Ship Confirm (Shipping Documents (Pick slip report, Performa Invoice, Shipping Labels))
VII.    Auto Invoice  (Creation of Invoice in Accounts Receivable Module)
VIII.    Autolockbox ( Appling Receipts to Invoices In AR)
IX.    Transfer to General Ledger ( Populates GL interface tables)
X.    Journal Import ( Populates GL base tables)
XI.    Posting ( Account Balances Updated).

5.  What are the Process Constraints?
A. Process Constraints prevent users from adding updating, deleting, splitting lines and canceling     order or return information beyond certain points in the order cycle. Oracle has provided certain process constraints which prevent data integrity violations.
    Process constraints are defined for entities and attributes. Entities include regions on the sales order window such as order, line, order price adjustments,    line price adjustments, order sales credits and line sales credits. Attributes include individual fields (of a particular entity) such as warehouse, shit to location, or agreement.
6.  What are Validation Templates?   
A) Validation Templates are used to define the validation conditions in process constraints. A validation template names a conditions and defines the semantic of how to validate that condition. These are used in processing constraints framework to specify the constraining conditions for a given constraint. These conditions are based on
•    Where the entity is in its work flow.
•    The state of attributes on an entity.
•    Any other validation condition that cannot be modeled using the above condition.
 
7.  What are different types of Holds?
•    GSA(General Services Administration) Violation Hold(Ensures that specific customers always get better pricing for example  Govt. Customers)
•    Credit Checking Hold( Used for credit checking feature Ex: Credit Limit)
•    Configurator Validation Hold ( Cause: If we invalidate a configuration after booking)
8. What is Document Sequence?
A) Document sequence is defined to automatically generate numbers for your orders or returns as you enter them. Single / multiple document sequences can be defined for different order types.
Document sequences can be defined as three types Automatic (Does not ensure that the numbers are contiguous), Gapless (Ensures that the numbering is contiguous), Manual Numbering. Order Management validates that the number specified is unique for order type.
9. What are Defaulting Rules?
A) A defaulting rule is a value that OM automatically places in an order field of the sales order window. Defaulting rules reduce the amount of information one must enter. A defaulting rule is a collection of defaulting sources for objects and their attributes.
It involves the following steps
•    Defaulting Conditions  - Conditions for Defaulting
•    Sequence – Priority for search
•    Source – Entity ,Attribute, Value
•    Defaulting source/Value
10. When an order cannot be cancelled?
A) An order cannot be cancelled if,
•    It has been closed
•    It has already been cancelled
•    A work order is open for an ATO line
•    Any part of the line has been shipped or invoiced
•    Any return line has been returned or credited.
11. When an order cannot be deleted?
A) you cannot delete an order line until there is a need for  recording  reason.
12. What is order type?
A) An order type is the classification of order. It controls the order work flow activity, order number sequence, credit check point and transaction type. Order Type is associated to a work flow process which drives the processing of the order.
13. What are primary and secondary price lists?
A) Every order is associated to a price list as each item on the order ought to have a price. A price list is contains basic list information and one or more pricing lines, pricing attributes, qualifiers, and secondary price lists. The price list that is primarily associated to an order is termed as Primary price list.
The pricing engine uses a Secondary Price list if it cannot determine the price of the item ordered in the Primary price list.
14. What is pick slip? Types?
A) It is an internal shipping document that pickers use to locate items to ship for an order.
•    Standard Pick Slip – Each order will have its own pick slip with in each picking batch.
•    Consolidated Pickslip – Pick slip will have all the orders released in the each picking batch.
15. What is packing slip?
A) It is an external shipping document that accompanies the shipment itemizing the contents of the shipment.

16. What are picking rules?
A) Picking rules define the sources and prioritization of sub inventories, lots, revisions and locators when the item is pick released by order management. They are user defined set of rules to define the priorities order management must use when picking items from finished goods inventory to ship to a customer.
17. Where do you find the order status column?
A) In the base tables, Order Status is maintained both at the header and line level. The field that maintains the Order status is FLOW_STATUS_CODE. This field is available in both the OE_ORDER_HEADERS_ALL and OE_ORDER_LINES_ALL.
18. When the order import program is run it validates and the errors occurred can be seen in?
A) Responsibility: Order Management Super User
     Navigation: Order, Returns > Import Orders > Corrections


Frequently Asked Questions:

Q1. What is a Drop ship PO?

A: Oracle Order Management and Oracle Purchasing integrate to provide drop shipments. Drop shipments are orders for items that your supplier ships directly to the customer either because you don’t stock or currently don’t have the items in inventory, or because it’s more cost effective for the supplier to ship the item to the customer directly. Drop shipment was introduced in R11.

Q2. How is a Drop Ship PO created?
A: Drop shipments are created as sales orders in Order Management. The Purchase Release concurrent program or workflow in Order Management creates rows in the Requisition Import tables in Purchasing. Then Purchasing’s Requisition Import process creates the requisitions. Drop shipments are marked with the Source Type of External in Order Management and Supplier in Purchasing.

Q3. What is the setup required for Drop ship PO?
A: ITEM ATTRIBUTES:
Navigate: Inventory -> Items - > Organization items
Purchased (PO) Enabled
Purchasable (PO) Enabled
Transactable (INV) Enabled
Stockable (INV) Optional
Reservable (INV) Optional
Inventory Item (INV) Optional
Customer Ordered (OM) Enabled
Customer Orders Enabled (OM) Enabled
Internal Ordered (OM) Disabled
Internal Orders Enabled (OM) Disabled
Shippable (OM) Optional
OE Transactable (OM) Enabled
All Drop Ship items must be defined in the organization entered in the profile option OE: Item Validation Organization and in the Receiving Organization.
All drop ship sub-inventory must have Reservable box checked. If the sub-inventory is not Reservable the sales order issue transaction will not be created in MTL_TRANSACTIONS_INTERFACE. After drop ship inventory organization is created, subinventories should be defined. To create the subinventory, go to an inventory responsibility and navigate to Setup -> Organizations -> Subinventories. Asset subinventories must have the reservable and Asset boxes checked. Expense subinventories must have the Reservable box checked and the Asset box unchecked.
Subinventory Attributes for Asset Subinventory
Reservable/Allow Reservations
Asset Subinventory
Subinventory Attributes for Expense Subinventory
Reservable
Asset-must NOT be enabled.

Q4. How can we avoid the miscounting of supply as logical organization is involved?
A: You must receive drop-ship items in a logical organization. If you use Oracle master Scheduling/MRP and Oracle Supply Chain Planning, to avoid miscounting supply you may not want to include logical organizations in your planning. If you choose to include logical organizations, ensure that doing so does not cause planning and forecasting complications.

Q5. If you make changes to a sales order after the Purchase Order (PO) has been generated, will the order changes automatically be updated on the PO?
A: Order changes will not be automatically updated on the PO. Pulling up the Discrepancy report will allow you to view the differences between the Sales Order and PO. However, you will have to manually update the POs in the Purchasing application.

Q6. If items on a Drop Ship order are cancelled, does the system automatically generate a PO Change to the PO originally sent to the supplier?
A: No, Drop Ship functionality in this regard remains the same as in R11. There is a discrepancy report available that will report differences between the PO and the Sales Order.

Q7. Does Order Management 11i have functionality to do serial number management with Drop Shipments?
A: You are able to receive serial numbered Drop Ship stock. Order Management will receive the serial number noted on the PO.

Q8. Can Configurable Items be drop shipped?
A: Currently only Standard Items can be drop shipped. Functionality for Configurable Items will be added in future releases.

 Q9. How do I drop ship across operating units?
 A: Release 11i does not currently support this functionality.
 

Q10. How are over/under shipments handled in drop shipment?
A: If part of a drop-ship line ships, and you do not wish to fulfill the remaining quantity, cancel the line. Over shipments must also be handled manually. If the supplier ships more than the ordered quantity, you can bill your customer for the additional quantity or request that they return the item. Use the Drop Ship Order Discrepancy Report to view differences between your drop-ship sales orders and their associated purchase requisitions and orders.

Q11. Will Blanket PO's work with Drop Shipment?
A: Blanket PO's will not work with Drop shipment because the PO must be created when OM notifies PO that a drop ship order has been created. This PO is linked to the drop ship order so that when the receipt is done (partial or complete) .OM is updated to receiving interface eligible. Drop ship lines do not use the pick release, ship confirm or inv interface order cycles.

Q12. Can we cancel drop shipment after it is received?
A: Drop shipments cannot be cancelled once Oracle Purchasing obtains the receipt. A user who wants to cancel a drop ship sales order line must ensure no receipts have been created against the line and that the requisition and/or purchase order associated with the line is cancelled. Cancellation of a Partial Drop Ship receipt is allowable. But only the portion that has not been received can be cancelled. If you cancel a drop shipment line for which you have not shipped the entire quantity, the order processing splits the line. The first line contains the quantity shipped and the second line contains the non-shipped quantity in backorder. You can cancel the second line the backorder on the sales order. The PO line quantity should be changed to reflect the new quantity.

Q13. What debugging tools are available for Drop shipments?
A: 1. Diagnostic scripts can be used for troubleshooting problems with sales orders.
2. Debugging receipt transaction or the sales order issue transaction, Set the following profile options:
RCV: Processing Mode to Immediate or Batch
RCV: Debug Mode to Yes
OM: Debug Level to 5
INV: Debug Trace to Yes
INV: Debug level to 10
TP: INV Transaction processing mode to Background
-Then go to Sys Admin: Concurrent: Program: Define; query up the Receiving Transaction Processor and check the Enable Trace box.
-Save the receipt for the deliver transaction (destination type will say Inventory for the deliver transaction).
-View the Receiving Transaction Processor log file, the Inventory Transaction Worker log file, as well as, the trace for the errors.

Q14. What is the Import source and status of PO generated from Drop Shipment?
A: Import source is Order Entry.
Status of PO will always be Approved.