Some organizations build their primary bill in their master organization and then want to copy it versus commonizing it to select child organizations.

Oracle has provided a lot of “off the shelf” workflow business events to make this sort of non-obstructive customization possible.

If you have access to metalink, they even give you a nice white paper with instructions and sample code.  The note is 372814.1.

Basically, if you implement this functionality, you can create the bill in the master organization then save the record.  It will automatically (through a well developed subscription function added to a workflow business event) add the bom to the destination organizations that you have determined in advance.  You can do this sort of thing already with organization hierarchies but this is totally automated.  The other ways require a user to launch the process separately and subject to user input errors.  Commonizing bills restricts you from child organization specific differences.

I would read up on all the business events within the metalink note because I have a client who used another event on the list to keep the descriptive elements in synch with a PLM User Defined Attribute group.  It works really well and now there is no longer a need for users to go to each individual item and add the descriptive element values.  They simple load them through WebADI and it automatically updates or creates the values. 

If I was an Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) user with Inventory Management, Bills of Material, Configurator, and Engineering modules, I would consider adding the PIM functionality (11.5.10 or R12) to my list on this functionality alone.

I wrote up the requirements and we had working code within two weeks!

Again, thanks Anthony Shahen for helping me discover this functionality!

Hope this helps….

Bob

While I was at OAUG in Denver a few weeks ago, I was corrected by a very good chap from Oracle. 

He told me to start calling the Oracle “Item Catalog” functionality PIM (Product Information Management).

So from now on, please know that if you hear the following Oracle terms:

Product Lifecycle Management

Product Information Management

Advance Product Catalog

Engineering Online

When it comes to Oracle’s E-Business Suite (EBS), the above are essentially the same thing.

For those planning an implementation in 11.5.10 or R12, you can start using PIM instead of PLM.

Remember that Oracle just acquired a company called “Agile” and that company has a PLM product.  If you are out looking at job postings or putting a posting out yourself, use the terms Oracle PIM/APC/PLM for key work searches but don’t comfuse Oracle Agile product for the Oracle PIM product which is built into the Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS).  Oracle Agile PLM product is not the same thing and will require a degree of interfacing to plug into the EBS.  I would not be considered an Oracle Agile PLM expert by any means.  Resumes/CVs for Agile skillsets would be specific to Agile products.  Though, now they might have Oracle as a word in the CV itself. 

If you look at my white papers, they will be covering the Oracle PIM functionality only.  I will distinguish any other Oracle product in future white papers.

I am trying to submit the two white papers I have with Oracle Contractors for the UKOAG event in December.  If I get in, I will be in Birmingham for any deeper questions.  If I don’t get selected for the white papers, then I will come anyway.  The UKOUG is a lot of fun as well as being greatly educational.

I would like to take time to give Michael Ger, Anthony Shahen, and Edgar Arroyo from Oracle for all their help and support over the years getting my clients and myself the necessary information to implement this great product which I will now call Oracle PIM.

I hope this helps.

Bob

Please join OracleContractors.com in Joining Ahmad Bilal to the blog.

Ahmad has more than five years experience as an Oracle Applications Functional & Technical Consultant within the Oracle Financials and Supply Chain Modules. He has strong knowledge of Oracle Financials and Supply Chain Modules (Order Management, Inventory, Purchasing and Advanced Pricing) from Functionality, Implementation and Customization experience. He also has pocesses strong experience across Oracle Database Application Development using languages: SQL and PL/SQL and tools Developer and Designer.

Ahmad outside contract is the moderator for ERPStuff.com. Check out www.erpstuff.com this is a great networking tool for Oracle Independant Consultants globally. Also check out http://oracleebusinesssuite.wordpress.com/. 

We look forward to Ahmad’s contribution to Oracle Financials and Supply Chain Tracks.

During our last review we saw another common and expensive mistake.

Making simple modifications to Oracle Forms, Reports and Workbooks as part of an Oracle Applications implementaion cost our client an Application Server Enterprise Edition license for all of his users. I can’t say that they were very pleased. Some modifications include: Creating a new business object, new transforms, routing, cross reference tables, adding logo’s etc.

So What Are The Rules?

• No modifications - you get to use the Enterprise Edition of the Database and Application Server restricted to your e-Business Suite Applications free.
• Modifications to Forms, Reports or Workbooks, you will need to buy an EE license for the Application Server for all users or processors.
• Modification to the Database, you will need to buy a EE License for Database and Application Server for all users or processors.

I would suggest you will also need licenses for your Discoverer Admin users and iDS as well, to be on the safe side.

From a licensing perspective, I would prefer to see something similar to an ASFU (Application Specific Full Use) licence available to Oracle Applications Customers. In the mean time plan the costs vs benefits with the customer prior to any modifications.

Please leave me a comment if you have any issues with your Oracle licensing.

Over the last twenty years I have been engaged in over 70 Oracle Applications  Implementation projects.

In three of those previous projects I have come across fraud/inappropriate behaviour around the procure to pay process (paying for goods not authorised, overordering from non approved suppliers, small value invoices for non existant goods, payroll (Phantom employees), Inventory abuses etc… In each case I have had to painstakingly gather evidence of wrong doings, design controls to pick up further evidence and eliminate the problems in the future.

When I thought I had enough evidence I took it to senior stakeholders and discrete action was taken.

More recently I have come across a worrying trend in the UK which seems to be content to look the other way and pretend the problem doesnt exist.

Its no wonder we get such scare stories in the Sunday tabloids because people in senior positions have become scared to do the right thing. Is this a reflection of our current culture or is it something else?

I would be interested to know if any of our readers have had similar concerns?

As a result I am now spending more of my time looking at compliance solutions and investigating the cutting edge work being done by Jeffrey Hare in the USA and Craig O’Neill (Caosys) in the UK.

Other notable mentions is the PWC Gate programme and Deloittes Internal Controls programme.