Categories, Category Sets

and Default Category Set Up

for Oracle Inventory
Author: Michele Veilleux
Contributor: Lee Ewertz
Oracle Corporation

ITEM CATEGORIES
Oracle Inventory allows a logical
classification of items that have
similar characteristics through the
use of Categories. You can use
categories and category sets to
group your items for various reports
and inquiries. For example, suppose
you have a category set named
Inventory. Within this set you
maintain subsets called Office
Supplies. This enables you to run
reports for items which are classified
as Final Assembly by sorting on the
Office Supplies category, without
having to number your Final
Assembly parts in a sequential
range.
The following are examples of uses
within Oracle Inventory.

Inventory items: You can use

categories to group inventory
items.
Summarizing demand histories:
Oracle Inventory can summarize
demand history for a particular
category of items.
Loading forecasts: Oracle
Inventory can compile a
statistical or focus forecast for a
particular category of items.

Performing min-max planning:

Oracle Inventory can perform
min-max planning for a particular
category of items.
Performing reorder point
planning: Oracle Inventory can
perform reorder point planning
for a particular category of items.
Reports and Inquiry windows:
You can enter category
information in reports and inquiry
windows where you are required
to specify a list of items. The
reports or inquiries then include
only those items in the category
you select.

There are several steps to setting up

Categories, and some points to
consider prior to populating your
Inventory Item Master. This paper
serves as a guide to completing
these steps and provides some
precautions.
Define Item Category Flexfield
Structures
Multiple segment structures can be
defined for the Item Categories
Flexfield. Each segment structure
may have its own display prompts
and fields. In other words, you may
choose to have a structure with one
segment while another structure may
have multiple segments. You can
build specific meaning into each
segment of this flexfield for tracking
details such as product families,
color codes, and product lines as
suits your enterprise's needs. For
example, if you want to group items
according to product line and
product information, then you can
use the first segment to represent

product line and the second segment

to represent the product.
The Item Categories Flexfield must
be designed and configured before
defining items, since all items must
be assigned to at least one category.
The Item Categories Key Flexfield
has a flex code of 'MCAT'. If at any
time you see an error in the system
which gives an Application (App)
error and the following text: 'Appl =
401, Structure =101, Code= MCAT',
you may interpret this as
Application_Id 401 = Inventory,
Flexfield Structure 101 for Key
Flexfield Item Categories. These
errors typically point to a conflict in
the flexfield structure, the validity of
the flexfield values or that the
flexfield needs to be re-compiled.
Navigate to Setup > Flexfields > Key
> Segments to setup the Item
Category Key Flexfield.

If the flexfield is displayed as

Frozen, you must first uncheck
this box before making changes.
Choose an existing structure or
create a new one.

Plan out how many segments you

want to create and click on
Segments.

Create the number of segments

you wish to use for the structure.
Attach a value set to each
segment by placing the cursor in
the Value Set column and
choose a value set from the list of
values. (Value sets can be
shared among segments).
Be sure to check the Enabled
box on the far right of the
Segment Summary form.
Save your work, and freeze the
flexfield in the Key Flexfield form.
The flexfield must have the
'Freeze Flexfield Definition' box
checked before the Compile
radio button becomes active.
Be sure to press compile, which
will generate the flexfield view
MTL_CATEGORIES_KFV
necessary for the system.
Check Help > View My Requests
to be sure that the view
generates successfully.

Please note: creating the Item

Categories Flexfield with
"dynamic insert" checked is not
allowed within the Application.

defining a category. They are not

valid categories until you define
categories as explained later in this
document.

Navigate to Setup > Flexfields >

Validation > Sets to create a new
value set or to review the seeded
ones.

Values must also be entered into the

value set used for the flexfield if you
choose 'Independent' or 'Dependent'
as the validation type for the value
set attached to each segment of the
flexfield. This provides a predefined
list of values (LOV) for a segment,
and is defined in the Segment
Values window.
Navigate to Setup > Flexfields >
Validation > Values to insert the
values to validate the 'Independent'
or 'Dependent' segments. This step
is not required for segments with
value sets having a validation type
of 'None'. Since a None value is
not validated, segments with a
validation type of None are not
provided a LOV to select from when
you define the segment.

Oracle Inventory Release 10.7 has

two category flexfield structures
provided by default: Item Categories
and PO Item Category. Release 11
provides three by default: Item
Categories, PO Item Category, and
Product Family.
See Oracle Applications Flexfields
Guide for further information on
flexfield setup.
Setting Up Categories and
Category Sets
Categories and category sets are
setup in four steps.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Define Categories.
Define Category Sets.
Assign Default Category Sets.
Assign Items to Categories.

Note: At this point in the setup, these

values only represent a list of valid
values you can choose from when

Define Categories
The category information is stored in
the MTL_CATEGORIES table and
holds the system generated
CATEGORY_ID, which is a number
field, as the primary key.
Navigate to Setup > Items >
Categories > Category Codes to set
up categories.

Item Category Set list will be

displayed for you to choose from.
After completing the above steps,
commit the record. Plan ahead:
the categories assigned to a
category set must be assigned to
the same flexfield structure that is
assigned to the category set.
To make a category inactive,
enter the date on which the
category becomes inactive in the
fourth column on the form in DDMON-YYYY format for both
release 10.7 and release 11.
As of the inactive date, you can
no longer assign the category:

The Find Categories window will

appear. Choose the 'New' button.
Choose the name of the flexfield
structure you wish to assign to
the category from the list of
values in the first column (for
example, Item Categories).
In the second column, enter a
unique name for the category
and enter the description for the
category in the third column.
A LOV of categories is available
here. With the cursor in the
category field, click the LOV
button. The Item Category popup window displays, and the LOV
for a single segment is grayed
out. Click the multiple LOV and
the long list find window displays.
Enter the wild card character %,
press the OK button, and the

As the default category of a

new category set
As a valid category of a
category set
As a valid category of an item
catalog group
To an item

Note: You cannot assign an

inactive date to a category that is
the default category for a
mandatory category set.
Define Category Sets
The category information is stored in
the MTL_CATEGORY_SETS table
and holds the system generated
CATEGORY_SET_ID, which is a
number field, as the primary key.
An item in the Item Master may
belong to many category sets, but
can only belong to one category
within the same category set.

Also, a category may be assigned to

multiple category sets at the same
time.

Choose one of the following

control levels for the 'Control At'
field value:

Navigate to Setup > Items >

Categories > Category Sets. This is
where the subset category defined in
the Category Codes form is
assigned to a larger set (Category
Set).

Master Level: The Items

assigned to this category set
have the same category value in
all organizations where they are
assigned.
Org Level: The items assigned to
this category set may have a
different category value in each
organization where they are
assigned.

Enter a unique category set

name in the 'Name' field and
provide a description that is
meaningful to you in the next
field.
The 'Flex Structure' field allows
you to select one of the item
categories flexfield structures
defined earlier from the list of
values. Reminder: The
categories assigned to the
category set must have the
same flexfield structure as the
category set. This is true even
if you choose not to validate
the category list by checking
the 'Enforce List of Valid
Categories'.

Choose a 'Default Category' from

the list of values. This is the
default category used by the
system to assign an item to a
category set even if no category
set is assigned by the user when
the item is defined. See Define
Default Categories for further
information.
To enforce the list of valid
categories, check the 'Enforce
List of Valid Categories' box.
If you do not use this feature, you
can assign an item to any
category defined that uses the
same flexfield structure as this
category set. If you use this
feature, you can only assign an
item to those categories defined
as valid categories for this
category set. If you are using
Oracle Purchasing, you must
use this checkbox for category
sets you will use in
Purchasing. (Purchasing only
recognizes categories assigned
to the Purchasing category set
even if a category uses the same

flexfield structure as the

Purchasing category set).
Select a valid list of categories
on each blank line. These are the
valid categories which the
'Enforce List of Valid Categories'
feature will check against.
Define Default Category Sets
Oracle Inventory requires you to
assign a default category set to each
of the following seven functional
areas: Inventory, Purchasing,
Planning, Service, Costing,
Engineering and Order Entry.
Oracle Inventory makes the default
category set mandatory for all items
defined for use by a functional area.
If an item is enabled for a particular
functional area, the item's
corresponding default category
assignment cannot be deleted.
Oracle Inventory assigns default
category sets so that each functional
area has at least one category set
that contains all items in that
functional area. This occurs
automatically when defining an item
using the Define Master Item form or
when importing items through the
Item Open Interface utilizing
MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS_INTERFACE.
The default category set information
is stored in the
MTL_DEFAULT_CATEGORY_SETS
table and holds the system
generated CATEGORY_SET_ID (a
number field), as the primary key
along with the
FUNCTIONAL_AREA_ID (also a
number field), as an additional
primary key. The category set for a

functional area is guaranteed to

have a category assignment for each
item defined for use by the functional
area. For example, the category set
for the Inventory functional area is
mandatory and is the default for all
items defined as Inventory items.
The FUNCTIONAL_AREA_ID
quickcodes and values for each
functional area are as follows:
Column

QuickCode Type

FUNCTIONAL_AR
EA_ID

MTL_FUNCTIONAL
_AREAS
1
2

QuickCode
Table
MFG_LOOK
UPS
Inventory
Purchasing

3
4
5
6
7

Planning
Service
Cost
Engineering
Order Entry

Navigate to Setup > Items >

Categories > Default Category Sets.
This is where the default category
sets for each functional area are
defined.

Plan Ahead: Once a default

category has been set up and an
item has been defined, the only way
to change the default category set
for a functional area is to update all
items with the new default category
set before updating the default

category set associated with a

particular functional area. Failure to
do so will result in Application errors
similar to the following:

'App-5115 You must assign all

items of this type to the new set
first'.
Note: The Purchasing category set
should not be changed after
requisitions or purchase order lines
have been created using any of the
categories assigned to the category
set.
Enable an item for a functional area
by using that functional area's item
defining attribute. An item defining
attribute identifies the characteristics
of an item. For example, what
designates an item as an
'engineering item' is the attribute
Engineering Item. If a functional
area's item defining attribute has a
control level of Organization, then
that function area may only have an
organization level default category
set.

The item defining attributes are:

Functional
Area
Oracle
Inventory
Oracle
Purchasing
Oracle
Master
Scheduling/
MRP
Oracle
Service

Item Defining Attribute

Service Item,
Serviceable Product

Yes,
Yes
MRP
Planning
MPS
Planning
Yes
Yes

Oracle Cost
Mgmt
Oracle
Engineering
Oracle
Order Entry

Costing Enabled

Yes

Engineering Item

Yes

Customer Ordered
Item

Yes

Inventory Item
Purchased Item
Internal Ordered Item
MRP Planning Method

Enabling
Value
Yes

Assigning Items to Categories

Assigning items to categories can be
achieved several different ways. If
you are importing your items for the
first time into Inventory, the category
will default from the Default
Categories. You cannot assign a
category when importing your items
through the Item Open Interface.
Currently, the Import Item process
does not support populating the
category set when inserting items.
However, default category
assignments can be changed using
the forms discussed below.
There are two ways to assign an
item to a category set within the
application. While defining an item in
the Item Master form, you may click
on Special from the toolbar >
Categories and the Category
Assignment window will pop up and
allow you to add a category.

Summary
This document explains the process
of setting up Categories, Category
Sets and Default Categories with
emphasis on setup considerations.

About The Author

Michele Veilleux is a Senior Technical
Analyst for Oracle Support Services in
Orlando, Florida

Also, you can perform this task from

the Organization Items form once
you have assigned the item to an
organization and the category set is
defined as controlled at the
organization level.
Additionally, when defining category
sets, you can press the Assign
button and list the items you want to
assign to a category set.

Credits
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q
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Oracle Inventory Reference Manual,

Release 11
Oracle Inventory Technical Reference
Manual, Release 11
Oracle Inventory Reference Manual,
Release 10SC
Oracle Inventory Technical Reference
Manual, Release 10
Oracle Inventory Application
Oracle Applications Flexfields Guide