Oracle CRM Service Interview Questions - Part II

You can see few more questions on Install Base and Field Service here. Recently, I faced these questions during interview. 

What are the transaction types in Install Base?

OM_SHIPMENT, RMA_RECEIPT, FIELD_SERVICE, ORDER_CAPTURE, INTERNAL_SALES_ORDER, ISO_ISSUE, etc.

Why do you want to define Install Base Transaction Types and sub-types?

Transaction types and subtypes are used to specify the kinds of transactions that the interface program can use. The main purpose of the Source Transactions Subtypes window is to specify what kind of update can be done to an Oracle Install Base instance when transactions come from other applications.

What are item attribute setups for service item?

Service Request Enabled, Install Base Trackable, Debrief and Charges, Service Contract Coverage

When an Instance is created in Oracle Install Base?

When the item is received in Inventory

Whether Oracle Install Base can track both Serialized and Non-Serialized Items?

Yes

Whether you can relate an item instance to multiple parties in install base?

Yes. The item instance may have been sold to Party A, Owned by Party B and it can be shipped to Party C.

At which point, the install base supports Parent - Child Bill of Material structure?

At the Point of Sales Order Shipment

What happens when the debrief is submitted?

CSF_DEBRIEF_Lines  Concurrent is run and the Inventory is updated

How Install Base is updated on Inventory Receipt?

Thru Service Fullfillment Manager (SFM)

Oracle Order Management Interview Questions - Part II

What is a Standard Item?

A standard item is a finished good that is not an assembled or configured item, a service or a component.

What happens when you enter an Order?

After you enter an order, the items on the order are validated in Oracle Inventory; a price is calculated for the items using the pricing engine; the availability of the items are checked and may be reserved; the items are then pick released and shipped to the customer.

Explain about Processing Constraints

Processing Constraints are a security framework where you can define rules in Oracle Order Management that validate back-end operations such as Create, Update, Delete and Cancel.

Examples:

You cannot change the Order Type in the order header once the order is Booked.

You cannot delete the line in an order once the Order Status is Closed (if the order is ship confirmed or invoice interfaced).

What are Defaulting Rules?

Defaulting Rules enable you to speed up data entry by passing values in the window based on some key values you have entered.

Examples:

In the order header, Ship-To Address and Bill-To Address values default in the window once you enter the customer name or number.

If you enter an item number, the Unit of Measure and Item Description automatically default on the order line.

How Drop Ship Order is created?

Drop shipments are created as sales orders in Order Management, indicated as drop shipments when their Source Type is entered as External.

When will you create a Drop Ship Order?

Drop shipments are used due to the following reasons:

·         Customer requires an item that is not normally stocked

·         Customer requires a large quantity of the item which is not available with you

·         It is more economical when the supplier ships directly to the customer.

What are the types of Drop Ship Order?

There are three types of drop shipments:

Full Drop Shipment:

The seller sends the purchase order to the supplier for the full quantity that the customer had ordered

Normal Shipments and Full Drop Shipment:

The seller ships some goods from inventory to the customer, and the other goods are always shipped from an external source (supplier)

Normal Shipments and Partial Drop Shipment:

If the seller has only part of the quantity available for shipping to the customer, then that quantity is shipped.

The user looks at the availability for the order qty by using the ATP check and if the whole qty is not available the balance qty is fulfilled using the drop ship process.

A purchase order is created for the remaining quantity which the seller was not able to fulfill.

What is a Sales Agreement?

A Sales Agreement is a supplier’s representation of an agreement with a customer for the supplier to sell and the customer to buy goods or services.

What is ASN?

ASN stands for Advanced Shipment Notice. ASN is transmitted via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) from a supplier to let the receiving organization know that a shipment is coming. The ASN contains details including shipment date, time, and identification number, packing slip data, freight information, and item detail including cumulative received quantities, purchase order number, and returnable container information.

What are Modifiers and Qualifiers?

Modifiers are discount, surcharge or special charge that may be applied to the base price and may alter the value of the item. It can be applied either at order level or at the line level.

A qualifier helps you define who is eligible for a price list or modifier. A qualifier can be a customer name, a customer class, an order type, or an order amount that can span orders.

Explain One Step Pick Release Process

The one-step process consists of selecting the Auto Allocate box on the Inventory tab and the Auto Pick Confirm box on the Inventory tab when you run Pick Release, which means that the Pick Recommendation is automatically created and Pick Confirmed without any manual intervention.

Explain Two Step Pick Release Process

The two-step process consists of selecting Auto Allocate (not Auto Pick Confirm), which creates a move order that is automatically detailed.  It enables you to view the Pick Recommendation and provides the opportunity to change quantity, location, and subinventory. You can report a missing quantity at the Pick Confirmation step in the Transact Move Orders window. Once you have made your changes, you can transact the move order to Pick Confirm the inventory.

Explain Three Step Pick Release Process

The three-step process consists of selecting neither the Auto Allocate or Auto Pick Confirm check boxes. This creates a move order whose details you can enter manually or automatically in the Transact Move Orders window. After the details are entered, you can transact the move order to pick confirm the transaction.

What are various ways you can run Pick Release?

Release Sales Orders Window

Using a Concurrent Program

SRS – Pick Selection List Generation – SRS.

Release Rule Name need to be specified to proceed with the pick release when using the concurrent program or SRS.

At which stage the item is moved from ware house to staging inventory?

During Pick Confirm

What happens during Ship Confirm?

Ship Confirm indicate that the items are loaded onto the carrier from staging location.

At which stage the Oracle Inventory is decremented and Sales Order Line status is updated?

During Ship Confirm

What is Autoinvoice?

AutoInvoice is a concurrent program in Oracle Receivables that performs invoice processing at both the order and line levels. Once an order or line or set of lines is eligible for invoicing, the Invoice Interface workflow activity interfaces the data to Receivables. Oracle Order Management inserts records into the following interface tables: RA_INTERFACE_LINES and RA_INTERFACE_SALES_CREDITS. 

If the order or lines are On Hold, what happens during Invoice Interface?

The Invoice Interface workflow activity will complete with a status of On Hold and the order details will not be interfaced to Receivables.

What is Credit Check?

Credit Checking feature is the process by which orders are validated and released against your credit checking business rules.

What are the two Invoicing Rules?

Advance Invoice and Arrears Invoice

Read Oracle Order Management Interview Questions - Part I
and Oracle Shipping Interview Questions

Oracle Inventory Interview Questions - Part II

Where do you establish a Serial Number Control for an Item?

Serial number control for an inventory item can be established when you define it on the Item Master. The Drop down has the following options

·         No control,

·         Predefined,

·         At inventory receipt, or

·         At sales order issue

How do you generate serial numbers?

1.      Navigate to Generate Serial Numbers window

2.      Enter Serial Number Generation in the Name field. The Parameters window opens

3.      Enter an Item that is under serial number control

4.      Enter a quantity of serial numbers to define and reserve for the item. The quantity must be a positive integer.

5.      Click Submit to launch the process.

Whether two items can have the same serial number?

No

Can serial numbers and lot numbers co-exist for an item?

Yes

How do you assign a Serial Number to an Item at Issue or Receipt?

1. Click the Lot/Serial button from a transaction window. The Serial Number Entry window appears displaying the item and transaction information.

The Serial Entry window displays the item, revision, lot, subinventory, locator, UOM, quantity, and quantity entered. The Quantity field displays the total transaction quantity, and the Quantity Entered field displays the item quantity you have assigned to serial numbers.

2. Indicate whether to enter a range of serial numbers, or individual serial numbers for each item or lot quantity. If you select a range of serial numbers, the system assigns each item in the line item or lot quantity to a serial number within the range.

3. Enter a serial number for an individual item, or a beginning serial number for the range.

4.  If you are using a serial number range, enter an ending serial number for the range.

5. If you selected Individual for the serial number entry mode, enter the desired serial numbers.

6. Click Done to return to the Transaction Lines window.

Explain the use of material status

Material Status control restricts the movement and usage of portions of on-hand inventory. Using material status control enables you to control whether you can pick or ship an internal order or sales order, or issue material for a work order. You can also specify whether material needs to be quarantined until you inspect it. In addition, you can determine whether products with a particular status can be reserved, included in available to promise calculations, or netted in production planning.

Material statuses can be assigned at four levels:

·         Subinventory,

·         Locator,

·         Lot, and

·         Serial

List some of the seeded material transaction types

Some of the seeded material transaction types are Active, Hold, Immature, Almost Mature

Status	Active	Hold	Immature	Almost Mature
Allowed	Everything	Subinventory transfers	Picking and Shipping for Internal Customers	Picking for Customers
Disallowed	Nothing	Picking, Shipping and Production	Picking and Shipping for External Customers	Shipping for Customers

What are transaction source types?

A transaction source type is the type of entity against which Oracle Inventory charges a transaction.

Eg: Account, Internal Requisition, Internal Order, Sales Order, Move Order, Purchase Order, RMA, Cycle Count, etc.,

What are the Control Options and Restriction for Inventory Transactions?

1.      Locator Control

2.      Lot Control

3.      Serial Number Control

4.      Revision Quantity Control

5.      Subinventory and Locator Restrictions

6.      Defaulting Subinventories and Locators

7.      Converting UOM

What is a Transaction Action?

A transaction action is a generic type of material movement or cost update with no specificity regarding the source of the transaction.

Eg: Issue from Stores, Subinventory Transfer, Direct Organization transfer, Intransit Receipt, Intransit Shipment, Receipt into Stores, Assembly Completion, Assembly Return, Staging Transfer, Ownership Transfer, Negative Component Issue and Return, etc.,

What is a Transaction Type?

A transaction type is the combination of a transaction source type and a transaction action. It is used to classify a particular transaction for reporting and querying purposes.

Few Examples:

Sales order Issue (Txn Type) + Issue from stores (Txn Action) = Sales Order (Txn Source Type)

Move Order Transfer (Txn Type) + Subinventory Transfer (Txn Action) = Move Order (Txn Source Type)

RMA Receipt (Txn Type) + Receipt into Stores (Txn Action) = RMA

Miscellaneous Receipt (Txn Type) + Receipt into Stores (Txn Action) = Inventory

What is a Miscellaneous Transaction?

Miscellaneous transaction allows you to issue material to or receive material from general ledger accounts in your current organization. This allows you to issue material to groups that are not inventory, receiving, or work in process such as a research and development group or an accounting department. Manual adjustments can also be made to the general ledger by receiving material from one account to inventory, and then issuing that material from inventory to another account.

What do you mean by Item Reservation?

A reservation creates a permanent data link between a supply source and a demand source, and represents a guaranteed allotment of material to a specified demand source.

What are the two types of Item reservation in Inventory Supply?

There are two types of reservations,

1.      High level reservations, and

2.      Low level reservations

High level reservations contain information about the item and the organization.

Low level reservations contain more detailed information about the item such as revision, lot, subinventory, serial, and locator.

What do you mean by Crossdocking?

At supply receipt, the system directs you to move the material to appropriate staging lane instead of to a storage location to fulfill an order.

What is the difference between move order and subinventory transfer?

1. Move orders require approvals on the transaction from the warehouse manager while subinventory transfer does not require any approvals.

2. Move orders create allocations. So Hold can be placed on the material with the intention of picking it up a little later while in subinventory transfer, there is no reservation / allocation.

3. Move Order can generate Pick Slip while Subinventory transfer doesn't create Pick Slip.


Read Oracle Inventory Interview Questions - Part I

Oracle Inventory Interview Questions - Part I

What is an Item?

Item is a part or service you Purchase, Sell, Buy, Plan, Manufacture, Stock, Distribute and a Prototype. It can also be the containers and the components you build into other items.

What is Item Master Organization?

An item master organization is a logical entity that you use to define items. After you define an item in the item master, you can assign it to any number of other organizations. You should also define one item master organization per implementation. When you define an item, Oracle automatically changes your current organization to the master organization.

What is an Inventory Organization?

Inventory Organization is a facility where you store and transact items. It can be a manufacturing unit, warehouse, distribution centre, item master organization (logical entity), etc.

What is subinventory?

Subinventories are unique physical or logical separations of material inventory, such as raw inventory, finished goods, or defective material. All material within an Inventory Structure organization is held in a subinventory therefore, you must define at least one subinventory.

What is Locator?

Locators are structures within Subinventories. Locators are the third level in the enterprise structuring schema of Oracle Inventory. Locators may be a row, bin, aisles in a warehouse. Stock locators are used to identify physical areas where you store inventory items. Item quantities can be tracked by locator. Items can also be restricted to specific locators.

Can you copy inventory org structure?

Yes. But can copy only organizations within the same operating unit.

What is Shipping Network?

An inter-organization shipping network describes the relationships and accounting information between a shipping organization and a destination organization. You must define a shipping network between two organizations before you can transfer material between organizations. When you setup a shipping network you must select a transfer type as Intransit or direct.

Explain Intransit and Direct Transfers?

In Intransit transfer, Oracle Inventory moves material to an intermediary state before it reaches the destination organization, and a receipt transaction is required in the destination organization once the material arrives in order to retrieve it.

In Direct transfer, Oracle Inventory moves the material directly to the destination organization.

Explain UOM and UOM class?

Unit of measure classes represent groups of units of measure with similar characteristics. For example, quantity is a unit of measure class and each, dozen, and gross are examples of units of measure within the class.

What is the difference between category and category set?

Categories and Category Sets can be used to group the items for various reports and programs.

A category is a logical classification of items that have similar characteristics.

A category set is a distinct grouping scheme and consists of categories.

How do you assign items to item categories?

1. Navigate to the Category Set window.

2. Enter a category set.

3. Choose Assign. The Item Assignment window appears.

4. Select the item from the current organization to assign to the category.

5. Select a category.

The list of values contains categories with the same flexfield structure as the category set you selected in the Category Set window. If Enforce the list of valid categories is selected the list is limited to those categories.

6. Save your work.

(Or)

1. Navigate to the Master Items Summary or Organization Items Summary window.

2. Select an item.

3. Choose Categories from the Tools menu.

The item you selected appears at the top of the Category Assignment window.

4. Select a category set

5. Select a category.

The list of values contains categories with the same flexfield structure as the category set you selected. If Enforce the list of valid categories is selected the list is limited to those categories.

6. Save your work.

How do you load / import items?

Navigate to Items à Import Items

Items can be imported using Open Item Interface.

You can import and update items, and their category assignments from any source into Oracle Inventory and Oracle Engineering using the Item Interface.

With this interface, you can convert inventory items from another inventory system, migrate assembly and component items from a legacy manufacturing system, convert purchased items from a custom purchasing system, and import new items from a Product Data Management package.


Read Oracle Inventory Interview Questions - Part II

Oracle Shipping Interview Questions

What is a trip?

A trip is an instance of a specific freight carrier departing from a particular location containing deliveries.

A trip is a carrier specific and contains at least two stops, such as a stop to pick up goods and another stop to drop off goods and may include intermediate stops.

Can we create trip manually?

Yes, trips can be created manually and later assign delivery lines.

Eg: For a regular trip scheduled to depart every Friday, you can manually setup a trip ahead of time and then assign delivery lines.

Can we create trip automatically?

Yes, trips can be auto created from deliveries or delivery lines without delivery.

·         Navigate to Query Manager Window

·         Query the Delivery / Delivery Line

·         Select the multiple lines you want to group and create a trip

·         Select the 'Auto-Create Trip' from ACTIONS drop down menu

·         Click GO

How do you associate freight cost to a trip?

·         Navigate to Query Manager Window and find the trip.

·         From the Actions menu, select Assign Freight Costs.

·         Click Go to display the freight cost window

What is Bill of Lading?

The Bill of Lading prints all sales orders that have been confirmed from a selected delivery.

This document lists the ship date, carrier, bill of lading number, delivery name, shipper, ship-to address, carrier name, waybill number, quantity and description of unpacked items, quantity and total of items packed in containers, total quantity of items, and weight/volume information defined in shipping. Any shipping notes you may have created are also printed.

What is Quick Ship?

The Quick Ship window enables you to process shipments quickly, using the minimum shipping requirements. You can access deliveries, trips, and delivery lines/LPNs within the Quick Ship window.

What is Ship Confirming?

Ship Confirming the item removes the existing reservations and performs the sales order issue transaction

What is Delivery?

Delivery consists of a set of delivery lines that are scheduled to be shipped to a customer’s ship to location on a specific date and time.

Can you group multiple deliveries together to create a trip?

Yes.

Can we create Delivery manually?

Yes

Can we create Delivery automatically?

Yes

How do you auto create a Delivery?

You can auto create deliveries at pick release by selecting Auto-Create Deliveries in the Shipping tab.

(Or)

·         Navigate to Query Manager Window and find the delivery lines.

·         Select the delivery lines for which you want to create a delivery.

·         From the Actions menu, select Auto-Create Deliveries and Click Go.

How do you assign a delivery to a trip?

Trip is made of one or more deliveries. When a new delivery is ready to ship and if it can be combined into existing vehicle route then it makes lot easier to plan logistics. Using 'Assign Deliveries to trip' functionality you can assign deliveries to an existing trip.

What is License Plate Number (LPN)?

A packing container has a license plate number for unit identification and reporting capability, so containers are also called LPNs in Oracle Shipping Execution.

What is a Pick Release?

Pick Release finds and releases eligible delivery lines that meet the release criteria, and creates move orders.

You can pick release by order, trip, stop, container, delivery, warehouse, and customer, scheduled or requested dates, shipment priority, or combinations of the above criteria.

What is a Pick Slip?

The Pick Slip Report prints all picking line details in a picking batch. This report is used by warehouse personnel to collect all items included in shipments.

What is One Step Shipping?

One Step Shipping is the process of picking, optionally packing, and ship confirming delivery lines in one step.

For interview questions in Oracle Order Management referhttp://oracleapplicationsfunctional.blogspot.com/2011/06/oracle-11i-order-management-interview.html

Oracle 11i Apps General Questions

Here are few general Oracle Apps questions I've faced during my interviews. Most of the questions I've published in the blog are the questions I came across during my interviews.

What is Flexfield?

A flexfield is a field made up of segments. A flex field is a flexible data field that your organization can customize to your business needs without programming. Oracle Applications uses two types of flexfields, key flexfields and descriptive flexfields.

What is a Set of Books (SOB)?

Set of Books is a financial entity that shares a common Chart of Accounts, Functional Currency and Accounting Calendar (3Cs).

What is 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.

What is a Value Set?

The flexfield validates each segment against a set of valid values that are usually predefined are called Value Sets.

What is Cross Validation?

A cross-validation rule defines whether a value of a particular segment can be combined with specific values of other segments

What are the different types of tables in Oracle 11i Apps?

B – The Main base tables

_ALL – Contains multi-org data

_V – View created on base table

_TL – Table that supports multi language

_VL – View created on multi language tables

_F – Data tracking tables. Used in HRMS

_S – Sequence related table

_DFV / _KFV – The DFF/KFF table created on the base table

What is the difference between Request Group and Request Set?

A request group is a collection of reports or concurrent programs.  A System Administrator defines report groups in order to control user access to reports and concurrent programs.  Only a System Administrator can create a request group.

Request sets define run and print options, and possibly, parameter values, for a collection of reports or concurrent program. End users and System Administrators can define request sets. A System Administrator has request set privileges beyond those of an end user. 

What are different types of validations of Value Sets?

None (not validated at all)

Independent

Dependent

Table

Special (advanced)

Pair (advanced)

Can you change the validation type of the existing Value set?

No.

What are the validation types supported by Accounting Flexfield?

Dependent, Independent, Table

What is the difference between Discrete Manufacturing and Process Manufacturing?

Discrete manufacturing is a manufacturing process where distinct products are built or manufactured in discrete batches on manufacturing floor. The resulting product is what you can count. It uses Bills of Materials (BOMs) and assembles along a routing.

Eg: Computer Manufacturing, Machinery Manufacturing, Automobiles, etc

Process manufacturing is a manufacturing process in which the end product manufactured are undifferentiated. It uses formulations or recipes and blends in a batch.

Eg: Pharmaceutical, Food and beverages, Refineries, etc

What are Shared Entities in Oracle 11i Apps?

Shared entities enable one-time definition of object and are accessed by several products/Modules.

Few shared entities and the owned applications are

Set of Books – General Ledger

Items – Inventory

Unit of Measure – Inventory

Suppliers – Purchasing

Customers – Receivables

Locations – Human Resource

Employee – Human Resource

Organization – Human Resource

How data are secured (partitioned) in Oracle 11i Applications?

General Ledger and Fixed Assets – Set of Books

Human Resource – Business Group

Order Management, Accounts Receivables, Accounts Payables, Purchasing, Cash Management, Projects, Service, Sales Compensation, Sales and Marketing – Operating Unit

Inventory, Manufacturing – Inventory Unit