Cancellations in Order

Management
An Oracle White Paper
May, 2001
 Cancellations in Order Management

EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW
Canceling is the process of voiding an order or line. There are points in an order
process where it is not possible or logical to cancel. For instance, you should not
be able to cancel an order or line that has invoiced. Individual companies differ
regarding when it is acceptable to cancel an order or line. Release 11 provided a
fixed point after which standard items could not cancel. The new functionality of
Order Management cancellation merges with Processing Constraints to provide
users with significantly more flexibility. This paper outlines differences affecting
cancellation between Order Entry and Order Management.

INTRODUCTION
At first glance, one of the most obvious differences with Order Management is that
there is no Cancel form on the Navigator. It’s no longer necessary to go to a
separate form to cancel an order or line. Cancellations can now be made within the
Sales Order Form. But there are other differences that are not so obvious.
• You can define your own cancellation point using Processing Constraints.
Once the line reaches the defined cancellation point in the flow, a reason is
required for the cancellation. The Processing Constraints form also allows
you to define the point from which cancellations are not allowed.
• There are two ways to cancel. One way is to press the Actions button and
select Cancel. This can be done at either the order or line level. Select Actions
from the Order tab for a header level cancellation, or Actions from the Lines
tab to cancel at the line level. Another way to cancel is to reduce the quantity
ordered on the order line. If you reduce the quantity ordered at or after the
cancellation point, it is a cancellation and a reason must be provided. If you
reduce ordered quantity before the line reaches its cancellation point, it is
merely a decrease in quantity, not a cancellation.
This paper discusses the new concepts of cancellation used by Order Management.

BACKGROUND
Oracle Order Entry 11.0.3 and before (OE) included canceling functionality.
However, the way that cancellations are implemented is quite different in Order
Management R11i.

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Functional Differences
OE provided fixed a fixed point of cancellation; it was not possible to cancel after
Pick Release. Reasons were required for all cancellations, and they were stored in
the SO_ORDER_CANCELLATIONS table. In OM, the
SO_ORDER_CANCELLATIONS table no longer exists. It has been replaced by
the OE_ORDER_LINES_HISTORY table, which stores details such as line
records with reasons, comments, and last cancelled quantity.
With OE, a decrement was simply a decrease in the ordered quantity. With Order
Management, a decrement in quantity can be a cancellation if it is after the
cancellation point in the order flow.
Processing Constraints replace the Security Rules that were used in OE. With OM,
the Processing Constraints form (Setup / Rules / Security / Processing
Constraints) can be used (1) to define the cancellation point in the order cycle and
(2) the point at which cancellations are not allowed. Two types of actions are
associated with the Cancel operation:
• Give Reason. This defines the cancellation point. At whatever time a reason is
required to decrement quantity, the decrease in quantity is regarded as a
cancellation. Validation Templates are seeded for conditions such as Booking,
Pick Release, and Ship Confirm. Implementers can select the one that meets
their business requirements.
• Not Allowed. Choosing this action will prevent cancellations from occurring
at or after the point defined using the Validation Template.
If both Give Reason and Not Allowed are assigned to the same point, i.e. Pick
Released, the Not Allowed action will override the Give Reasons action. In other
words, there will be no opportunity to provide a reason for the cancellation at that
point because cancellation is not allowed.
If you cancel a model, the ordered quantity of 0 will cascade to classes, options, and
included items. If you partially cancel a model, i.e. decrease ordered quantity, the
value of the reduced quantity will also cascade. For this to occur, the line must
have reached its cancellation point, i.e. where a reason is required to cancel.

Key Enhancements

OM has many excellent enhancements for cancellations:

• There is more flexibility. You can define a point in the flow where
cancellations are not allowed, rather than using pick release as the fixed point
preventing cancellation.
• Using Processing Constraints, you can define the point when reasons are
required for cancellation. This determines your cancellation point, because

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 cancellations always require a reason. At this point the system will regard a
decrement in quantity as a cancellation.
• There is more flexibility for partial cancellations.
• Users do not have to leave the Sales Order Pad to cancel.
• Canceling the ordered quantity of a model causes the cancellation to cascade to
classes, options, and included items of the model.
• You can cancel in batch mode using Order Import or EDI.
• Mass change functionality can be used to cancel.
• Internal sales orders are treated as any other order, and can be canceled
accordingly. (This functionality is under review but at the time of this writing.
If changed, it will force the cancellation to come from the Purchasing where
the requisition was created.)
• A Cancel Remaining feature now supports canceling all eligible lines in an
order from the header level. As an example, constraints are set up to allow
canceling up until the point of ship confirmation, and there is an order with
five lines. Two lines are shipped and three lines are awaiting shipment. You
can cancel the three eligible lines from the header level.

Terminology

Cancellation has always meant voiding an order or line. This concept of

cancellation has been extended so that decrements to ordered quantities, once the
line or order reaches the defined cancellation point, are also cancellations.
A partial cancellation at the line level means reducing the ordered quantity to be
less than initially ordered. A partial cancellation at the header level means that
some lines have shipped but the remaining lines are canceled.
Processing constraints provide implementers with a way to allow or prevent
changes to the sales order. One of the Constraints operations is Cancel. When
used with Give Reason, the Processing Constraints define the cancellation point.
When used with Not Allowed, Constraints prevent canceling at a user-specified
point.

Conditions

Implementers are able to define the point in the order flow when a cancellation
occurs. To do so, define a point such as Booking or Picking when a cancellation
requires a reason. Once defined, it will always be necessary to give a reason for the
cancellation.
Order Management actually seeds the following user-defined constraint but it is not
flagged as seeded because it is user-defined in the sense that it can be changed. It
requires providing a reason for canceling once the order is booked. From booking

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onward in the flow, a reduction in quantity will require a reason. Canceling from
the Actions menu always requires a reason.

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The Processing Constraints form can be found at Setup / Rules / Security /
Processing Constraints. In the example below, the Require Reason action is
associated with the Cancel operation.

Operation Attribute User Action System Changes User Changes

Cancel Requires a
Reason

The condition tab on the same form sets Booked as the condition.

Group Scope Validation Entry Record Set Validation Template

100 Any Order Line Line Booked

Because this user-defined constraint is not flagged as seeded, it can be modified or

deleted at any time. If you want picking (instead of booking) to be the condition
that defines the cancellation point, use Pick Released as the Validation Template.
Both Booked and Pick Released are seeded validation templates. Other Validation
Templates are also available.

FLEXIBILITY

Previously the cancellation point was fixed, preventing cancellation after pick
release. Now seeded constraints are moved farther down in the order processing
flow. Shippable lines can be canceled up until ship confirm. Non-shippable lines
can be canceled until invoicing. For returns, seeded constraints allow canceling
until an RMA has been received. These seeded constraints cannot be changed, but
you can define cancellations to occur up until these points.
You can cancel in one of two ways, both without ever having to leave the Sales
Order Pad. One option is to use the Cancellations window on the Actions menu,
available on both the Order and Lines tab. Alternatively, you can decrement the
quantity ordered directly on the Lines tab. If this is done at or after the defined
cancellation point, the system regards the change in quantity as a cancellation, and
will require a reason.

PARTIAL CANCELLATION
You can cancel part but not all of a line. To partially cancel a line, reduce ordered
quantity on the Lines tab. If this is done at the point in the flow where a reason is
required to cancel, the decrement is actually a cancellation.
It’s also possible to partially cancel an order. For example, suppose that two of five
lines on the order have invoiced and are no longer eligible for canceling. From the
Order tab, select Actions / Cancel and set the flag to cancel remaining lines. This

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will cancel all remaining lines and partially cancel the order. Alternatively, you can
highlight the remaining lines on the Lines tab, and then select Actions / Cancel.
Canceling from either tab, Order or Lines, will require a reason.

MODELS AND KITS

If you change the ordered quantity of a model or kit to 0 and the line flow has
reached its cancellation point, the quantity of 0 will cascade to the option classes,
options, and included items. The reason for the cancellation, provided for the
model or kit, will also cascade to the option classes, options, and included items.
(This is not working right now. Bug 1774292.) If you change the ordered quantity
to 0 before the line reaches its cancellation point, the model classes, options, and
included items are deleted.

DEFINING AND REVIEWING REASONS

You can define reasons for canceling that make sense for your business needs.
This is done using the Order Management Lookups (Setup / QuickCodes / Order
Manaagement). Use Cancel_Code to define and to enable your reasons.
You can view the reasons used for cancellations from the Sales Order Pad. To see
the reason history, go to the Actions menu and select Additional Line Information.
Then select the Quantity History tab. This can be done on either the Order or
Lines tab. The following shows Quantity History access from the Lines tab:

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The Reason field on the Sales Pad indicates that a reason is stored. Its purpose is
to accept input but it does not display the reasons.

BATCH CANCEL USING ORDER IMPORT OR EDI

It is possible to batch cancel those orders imported through Order Import. Two
types of operations are possible:
• You can cancel the complete order. To do so, send only the header
information. The operation is Update. Set the Cancelled_Flag column to
Yes (Y). For the Change Reason Code, use an existing, valid Lookup
code.
• You can cancel individual lines. To do so, send the header information
and also the line information. The operation is Update, the Quantity is 0,
and you must supply a valid Change Reason Code. When canceling
individual lines, do not set the Cancelled_Flag at the header level column
to Yes.

MASS CHANGE WITH CANCELLATION

You can use the Mass Change feature to cancel either at the order or line level. The
Mass Change feature is on the Tools menu, available from the Lines Tab or from
the Order Organizer. If you want to mass change at the header level, use the
Order Organizer to query a group of orders. Highlight those you want to change
using the control or shift key with the mouse selection. Then select Tools / Mass
Change for the lines, or Actions / Cancel for the order level mass change.

WATCH OUT FOR

Here are some exceptions you will need to understand.

There is a difference in behavior between canceling using the Actions menu and
canceling by reducing ordered quantity. The difference is that Canceling using the
Actions / Cancel form will always require a reason, even if the order or line has not
reached its cancellation point. However, the system will not ask you to provide a
reason for reducing ordered quantity until the line has reached its cancellation
point. The Actions menu cancellation behavior is not consistent with the
processing constraints setup, but its behavior is intentional. The system assumes
that if a user consciously goes to the Cancel action, the intent is to cancel, not just
reduce quantity or fix a keying error. A cancellation using the Actions menu will
require a reason without checking where the cancellation point is set up in

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Processing Constraints. It does honor the point at which cancellations are not
allowed, however.
All provided reasons are saved, but they are not displayed in the Reasons field.
This is because it is possible to have many reasons for incremental cancellations.
To view reason history from the Sales Order Pad, go to Actions / Additional Line
(or Order) Information / Quantity History.
Once the line reaches its cancellation point, a decrement in quantity is regarded as a
cancellation. Scroll over on the Main tab to the Reason Code field, and provide a
reason. On the reason window, there is the option of entering comments. Once
Audit Trail functionality is released, the scrolling will be replaced with a popup
window asking for the reason and comments.
Examine your business processes carefully when deciding where to set your
cancellation point. Changes you make to the sales orders affect Shipping
Execution. If you sometimes physically ship goods before ship confirming on the
system, you will want to set your cancellation point earlier in the flow than ship
confirm. Instead you could set the cancellation point to be pick confirmed or
staged.
If your cancellation point is ship confirm, your business practice should be to soft
close the delivery. This allows you ship confirm without interfacing to Order
Management. To do this, uncheck “Set Delivery in Transit” on the Shipping
Transaction form. While the delivery is in the status of soft close, lines can be
cancelled. When the delivery is picked up by the carrier, close the stop to initiate
the OM and Inventory interfaces. Once that is done, it is not possible to cancel
lines.
If you partially cancel an order, the status of the order will not change to Canceled.
For example, in an order of five lines, you might have two lines that are closed. But
you can cancel the remaining lines using the Actions button on the Order
Information tab. The status of the canceled lines will change to Canceled, but the
status of a partially canceled order cannot cancel because some lines have already
closed. If some lines are open and have progressed at least until booking, and some
are Canceled, the Order status will be Booked.
If you cancel all lines on an order, the order is eligible to be fully canceled but it will
not happen automatically. You will have to cancel it from the Order Information
tab. This is because in some cases users may want to add more lines to an open
order consisting of canceled lines.

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The Canceled Quantity field can exceed the initial value of the Quantity field. In
the following example, ten items were ordered, the current ordered quantity is two,
and the canceled quantity is 11. Note that the value of Canceled Quantity increases
with each cancellation.

Quantity Ordered Quantity Changed To Canceled Quantity

10 5 5
8 5
6 7
5 8
2 11

Partial cancellations after a partial pick release are handled differently than after a
partial ship confirm. This is because the system splits the line after a partial ship
confirm. The line that shipped cannot be canceled. The line that has not shipped
can be either canceled in full or partially canceled. However, a partial pick release
will not split the line. If you want to cancel what you did not pick, you will need to
manually cancel the remaining quantity on the Sales Pad line. You will need to do
this by changing the quantity ordered field. For example, if you picked only 8 of 10
and want to cancel the remaining quantity, change the quantity ordered from 10 to
8.
The result of changing the quantity of a model to 0 is different, depending on the
point in the line flow. If the line has reached its cancellation point, the 0 quantity
will cascade to the children. If the line is not yet at its cancellation point, the option
classes, options, and included items will be deleted.
If a constraint is not performing as expected, evaluate all your constraints to get a
clear picture of the system setups. You may have one constraint that defines pick
release as the cancellation point, and yet be required to give a reason when you
reduce the quantity of a booked order. This will happen if you have a second
constraint that defines the cancellation point earlier in the flow.
All constraints not flagged as seeded can be modified and deleted. Seeded
constraints should not and cannot be changed. They are required for system
integrity, i.e. you cannot cancel an invoiced line.
If you want to restrict canceling after Pick Release, which was standard
functionality in Release 11, you will need to change the Processing Constraint that
is provided (no canceling after invoicing) to one that does not allow cancellations
after Pick Release.

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EXAMPLES

Example 1

The following constraint is provided out of the box. It is seeded in the sense that
the product ships with this constraint. But it is not flagged as seeded because it is a
user-defined constraint, meaning that it can be changed. Unless another constraint
has been set up defining the cancellation point earlier in the flow, this constraint
makes it unnecessary to give a reason for reducing quantity on the Sales Pad when
the order status is Entered, but it will be required if the order is Booked.
However, remember that you will have to give a reason if you cancel an Entered
order from the Actions menu.

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 Example 2

In this example, the business requires a reason if any lines are canceled from the
time of pick release. To do this, set up Pick Release as the cancellation point using
Processing Constraints, using Require Reason as the Action and Pick Released as
the Condition.
Remember that you will not have to give a reason when reducing quantity on the
lines until pick released. If there is a problem, evaluate all other constraints to
identify what needs to be changed.
Also remember that you will always be asked to provide a reason when canceling
using the Actions menu.

The Requires
Reason action
implements
Cancellation.

Pick Released is
the point where a
reason is required.

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Example 3
In this example, the business requirements are to prevent cancellation once the
product is pick released. Notice that the highlighted action for Cancel is Not
Allowed.
This example sets the point where canceling is not allowed to the same point it was
in previous OE releases, Pick Released. However, you always have the option to
disallow canceling at a point later in the flow, if you wish.

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Example 4

You can use Mass Change functionality to cancel multiple lines from the Sales Pad.
Highlight the lines before invoking Mass Change from the Tools menu. Then
change the quantity to 0 and give a reason.
This example has highlighted only two lines. However, you can select as many lines
on an order as you want, provide a reason, and set the ordered quantity to 0. All
selected lines will cancel, assuming the line flow has reached its cancellation point.

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Example 5
You can cancel at either the header or lines level using Mass Change functionality
from the Order Organizer. The following example shows canceling at the order
header level. You must highlight the orders before going to the Actions menu to
cancel. After selecting Cancel, supply a reason. That reason will be stored for all
highlighted orders.

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Example 6

This last example shows the cancel pop-up window, which appears on
the Order Organizer, the Order Header, or the Order Lines. The
Reason is required. Comments are optional.

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CONCLUSION

OM provides great flexibility in cancellation functionality. To use this feature

successfully, you need to understand processing constraints and also the exceptions
outlined in this paper. With correct setups and understanding, you have greater
flexibility than ever before to make this feature suit your business processes. OM
cancellations are also easier to use because it is no longer required to leave the sales
order form to cancel.

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Cancellations in Order Management
July 2001
Author: Linda Henry
Contributing Authors:

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