Revision,Locator, Serial, Lot Control

Why we need tracking and what are the different types of inventory tracking/controls available in Oracle suite?

Suppose, car manufacturer realized that one of the component of the engine is not working properly as there are lot of similar complaints by many customers. On further investigation, company finds out that one of the lots was faulty. Now, in order to maintain its brand name and credibility, Management decided to call back the cars manufactured between the specified time duration using that lot. All the cars which are using the item of that faulty lot will have the problem sooner or later. This is why we need to control the inventory items. Pharmaceutical is another industry where tracking is very important.

Inventory Control simply means how individual item or a group of items can be tracked when transactions are performed on it

We had a similar Headline in newspaper, Toyato calling back Camry.

Now, we will try to understand 4 different types of control available in the Oracle Inventory Module.

1)  Revision Control

·         Normally adopted for identifying a modified item

                  Placing item under Revision Control:

·         Item can be placed under revision control by checking the box `Revision control` in Inventory tab while defining new item or for existing item

                  Things to Note:

·         We will not be able to do any transaction without specifying a valid Revision for the item under revision control

·         We cannot change revision control when an item has on-hand quantity

·         We can have different revisions in different organizations if not defined at master level

2)  Locator Control

·         Normally adopted to find out where exactly the item is lying in a store

·         Generally for items smaller in size

              Placing item under Locator Control:

·         In organization definition under the Inventory Parameters region out of the 4 parameters, Select Locator Control field as Determined at Subinventory level

·         In subinventory definition, Select Locator Control field as Item Level

·         Now, Item can be placed under Locator control by choosing a value Prespecified in the field named ‘Locator Control’ in Inventory tab while defining new item or for existing item

               Things to Note:

·         We will not be able to do any transaction without selecting a valid locator for the item under revision control

3)   Lot Control

·         Adopted for an items that generally have the same characteristics or that came in as single big unit measured in kg/quintal like rubber

·         Lot No. Uniqueness:

·         Not set to across items: We can assign same lot no. to different items in same as well as different organizations.

·         Set to across items: We can assign only 1 lot no. to any one item

                  Placing item under Locator Control:

·         Define the values for Lot Control fields Like Uniqueness, Generation, Prefix, total length in your organization definition

·         Item can be placed under Lot control by choosing a value Full control in the field named ‘Lot Control ‘in Inventory tab while defining new item or for existing item

                 Things to Note:

·         Suppose, we have received some quantity of any item and want to add the stock into our on hand quantity using miscellaneous transactions, we will not be able save the transaction without generating and selecting a valid lot no. for the quantity received

4)  Serial Control

·         Used when we want to track individual unit of an Item

·         Serial Uniqueness Concept: 3 cumulative levels of serial Uniqueness

(i)    Within item: If we have defined in any serial no. for item A, we will not be able to assigned the same serial no. for another unit of the same item A

(ii)   Within an Organization: In addition to “Within items restrictions”, the same serial no. cannot be assigned for any other item in the organization say Item B

(iii)  Across Organization: In addition to “Within Organizations restrictions”, the same serial no. cannot be assigned to any other item in the different organization. Serial no. is unique across organization

                       Placing item under Serial Control:

·         Define the values for serial Control fields Like Uniqueness, Generation in your organization definition

·         Item can be placed under Serial control by choosing a value Prespecified in the field named ‘Serial Generation’ in Inventory tab while defining new item or for existing item

                         Things to Note:

·         Suppose, we have received some quantity of any item and want to add the stock into our on hand quantity using miscellaneous transactions, we will not be able save the transaction without generating and selecting a valid serial no. for the quantity received

Item can be under any combination of the above controls.