Oracle EBS Inventory Setup & Transactions - Interview Q&A
1. Item and Item Master
Q: What is an item?
A: A part or service that can be purchased, sold, stocked, manufactured, etc.
Q: What is the Item Master Org?
A: A logical entity defining the item, assignable to multiple inventory orgs.
2. Inventory Organization & Subinventory
Q: Define Inventory Organization.
A: A facility (warehouse, manufacturing unit) for storing and transacting items.
Q: What's a subinventory?
A: A physical/logical partition within an inventory org. Two types:
- Receiving: staging area (no on-hand)
- Storage: tracked inventory
3. Locators & Flexfields
Q: What's a locator?
A: A bin/rack within a subinventory for transactions.
Q: Which key flexfields are used in Inventory?
A: System Items, Item Catalogs, Item Categories, Stock Locators, Account Alias, Sales Order.
4. UOM & Templates
Q: Define Unit of Measure and UOM Class.
A: UOM counts items; UOM Class groups UOMs (e.g., each, dozen).
Q: What is an item template?
A: A preset collection of item attributes for easy item creation.
5. Subinventory Transfer & Move Order
Q: Subinventory Transfer vs Move Order?
A: Both move items within org. Move Order includes pick slip; subinventory transfer doesn't.
6. Transaction Types & Flow
Q: What is a transaction type?
A: A combination of source (e.g., Purchase Order, Move Order) and action (e.g., issue, receipt).
Q: Transaction flow overview?
A: Transactions enter via interface tables (e.g., MTL_TRANSACTIONS_INTERFACE), processed by
interface workers, and inserted into MTL_MATERIAL_TRANSACTIONS, with accounting in
MTL_TRANSACTION_ACCOUNTS.
7. Inter-org Transfer
Q: Explain inter-org transfer types.
A: - Direct: shipped straight to destination.
- In-transit: intermediate stage; requires receipt.
8. Control Features
Q: What control options exist?
A: Locator, Lot, Serial, Revision control-ensure traceability and valid entry.
Q: Revision control?
A: Tracks versions of items/BOMs; flagged during item definition.
9. Physical & Cycle Count
Q: Physical vs Cycle Count?
A: - Physical: full stock count, often during shut-down.
- Cycle: periodic counts on subsets of stock.
10. Infrastructure Setup (Interview Setup Qs)
Q: Setup steps for Inventory?
A: 1. Define 7 key flexfields
2. Inventory org parameters
3. Subinventories
4. UOM & classes
5. Item categories
6. Item statuses
7. Intercompany relations
8. Shipping networks
9. Cost types
10. Profile options
11. Accounting periods
