The Oracle Spares Management Planner's Desktop enables field service operations to plan, view, and monitor the status of technician and warehouse inventories to ensure that each is properly stocked with the parts necessary to service technician needs. It also provides tools for creating automated min-max inventory recommendations that define stocking levels for field technician trunk stock and warehouse inventories.
This chapter covers the following topics:
The Planner's Desktop provides functionality to plan and view inventory across the entire field service supply chain.
A planner can generate min-max inventory recommendations based on the personal usage of a specific technician, the norm for the territory, or the product norm. The product norm uses failure rates and product populations to plan the technician or warehouse inventory.
The Planner's Desktop consists of the planning tree, as well as a series of tabs that provide details for the node, warehouse, or subinventory that you are viewing. Point-and-click functionality connects the planning tree to the tabs that provide information on planning parameters, inventory status, failure rates, stock list, min-max recommendations, and warehouse replenishment notifications.
When you select a node, the Planning window displays three tabs: Planning Parameters, Parts Status, and Failure Rates.
When you select a subinventory, the Planning window displays a Stock List tab and a Recommendation tab along with the previous three tabs. When you select a warehouse, all five tabs appear for the subinventory, along with a Notifications tab that is used for warehouse replenishment planning.
Oracle Spares Management planning functionality begins with creating a tree structure in the Planner's Desktop that includes all components of the field service supply chain. The purpose of the tree structure is to define and organize supply chain components. You should include in the tree any supply chain component that needs inventory planning and replenishment or any component where you need to view the inventory status. The normal components of a field service supply chain include technicians, warehouses, and repair suppliers (both internal and external).
The Spares Management module comes with a default Spares Planning node that serves as the top level of the planning tree. From this node, you can create subnodes that you can populate with organizations and subinventories.
Spares Management enables you to create separate subinventories to handle usable and defective parts. Typically, each field technician is assigned at least one subinventory for each condition. Warehouses, through their subinventories, can also be modeled as usable or defective.
Note: In Spares Management warehouses are modeled as inventory organizations and technicians are modeled as subinventories. Repair suppliers are modeled as inventory organizations.
After a planning tree is created, you can use point-and-click functionality to plan, replenish, and view inventories for organizations and subinventories. You can also view inventory status at the node level in the planning tree, which is a summary of the warehouses and technicians that appear under the node.
You can search the planning tree by using the Find function. The tree automatically expands to display the appropriate node, resource, or region. The following parameters are available for search criteria:
Resource type
Resource name
Region name
Node name
You can also use the Find function to search the Parts Status tab when that tab is active.
When you set up your planning tree, each subinventory that you create requires that you enter the condition in the Planning Parameters tab of the Planner's Desktop. Planning parameters set at a higher-level node propagate downward through the tree, unless you override the parameters at a lower level. Parameters set at the subinventory or organization level override parameters set higher in the tree structure.
For the steps detailing the process to create the planning tree, see Creating the Planning Tree.
Spares Management provides a mechanism for updating the planning tree, including adding subinventories to the tree, moving subinventories from node to node, or deleting subinventories from a node.
For the steps detailing the process to manage subinventories, see Managing Planning Tree Subinventories.
You can also launch the following concurrent programs from the planning tree:
Create Min-Max Planning Report
Create Excess Lists or Defective Lists
Create Parts Availability Data
Generate ASL Recommendations
Calculate Failure Rates
Roll-up Usage
You can create warehouses and subinventories under each node as necessary to meet your business needs. Each sub-node can contain subinventories, warehouses, or a combination of both. You can also create new nodes beneath an existing node on your tree.
Follow these steps to create a planning tree:
Tip: Create a tree structure that enables you to set planning parameters at the highest level possible. This enables you to manage a large field service operation without setting parameters for every field technician and warehouse in your operation.
Prerequisites
Note: Warehouses are modeled as inventory organizations. Technicians are modeled as subinventories.
Steps
Adding a Planning Node
Navigate to the Planner's Desktop.
To set Planning Parameters at the top level for your planning tree, select the Spares Planning top node. The parameters include:
Forecast Rule
Excess Parts Rule
Recommendation Rule
Service Level and EDQ Factor
Authorized for ASL
Use Safety Stock
Condition
Planner
Exclude Category Set
Exclude Category
To create your first node, from the Navigator, select and then right-click the Spares Planning node.
From the right-click menu, select Add Planning Node.
The Planning Parameters tab refreshes.
In the Planning Node field, enter the name of the planning node that you are creating.
Tip: Use a naming convention that makes it easy to distinguish from one node to the next.
In the Planning Parameters area, default values appear (if any) along with the source node name of the default values.
Click Save.
The new node appears under the Spares Planning node in the navigator tree.
Adding a Technician
Right-click the node that you created. Select Add Subinventory from the right-click menu.
Select the organization from the list of values to which the added subinventory belongs.
Select the subinventory that you want to add from the list of values.
In the Planning Parameters tab, select the Condition for this subinventory. This is a required field. A subinventory can either be for "usable" parts or "defective" parts. A green check mark next to the subinventory name indicates usable parts subinventories on the planning tree. Defective subinventories have a red X next to the subinventory name.
Note: Default values for the other parameters come from either the Spares Planning node, or the node that you just created. Parameters set at the subinventory level override those set higher in the planning tree structure.
Click Save to save this subinventory to the planning tree.
Alternatively, you can add multiple subinventories to the tree from a particular organization. See Managing Planning Tree Subinventories.
Adding a Warehouse
To add a warehouse to a node, right-click the node, and then select Add Warehouse from the right-click menu.
Select the organization that you want to add to the node from the list of values. Warehouses are set up as a inventory organizations in Oracle Inventory.
Enter the Warehouse Parameters for the warehouse.
For more information on warehouse notifications, see Create Warehouse Notifications.
Note: You can use warehouses in Spares Management for either usable or defective parts. A warehouse is defined as defective through the condition of the subinventories created for the warehouse. Use Spares Management Loops functionality to assign subinventories to the loop and define condition as Defective for the defective warehouse.
Click Save to save this warehouse to the planning tree.
Field service operations may require frequent maintenance to the tree structure as business needs and organization structures change. For example, if an organization restructures its territories there may be a need to move subinventories from one planning tree node to another, while others need to be added or deleted. Spares Management provides a subinventory management user interface to enable this maintenance.
To maintain the planning tree, see the following procedures:
To add multiple subinventories to the planning tree, follow these steps:
Prerequisites
Steps
Navigate to the Planner's Desktop.
The Planner's Desktop window appears.
Expand the Spares Planning node on the planning tree navigator. Right-click the node to which you want to add the subinventories, and then select Manage Subinventories from the right-click menu.
The Manage Subinventories window appears. The node that you right-clicked appears in the Node Name field.
Tip: If you want the Manage Subinventories window to remain open after you perform a process, select the Keep Window check box.
Select the Add radio button.
In the Organization field, select the organization from which you want to add the subinventories to the tree.
Click Find.
The Selection Lists table populates with the available subinventories.
Select the subinventory that you want to add by clicking the appropriate line. To select multiple subinventories, hold down the <Ctrl> key, and then click each subinventory that you want to add.
Select the Condition type for the subinventories.
The options are Usable or Defective.
Click Add.
On the confirmation popup window, click OK.
To move subinventories from one node to another on the planning tree, follow these steps:
Steps
From the Planner's Desktop, right-click the node that you want to move existing subinventories from, and then select Manage Subinventories from the right-click menu.
The Manage Subinventories window appears with the name of the selected node appearing in the Node Name field.
Select the Move radio button.
This changes the label of the field located near the bottom of the window from Condition to Move To.
From the list of values in the Move To field select the node into which you want to move the selected subinventories.
In the Selection Lists table, select the subinventories that you want to move from one node to another.
Click Move.
On the confirmation popup window, click OK.
To delete one or more subinventories from a node, follow these steps.
Steps
From the Planner Desktop, right-click the node from which you want to delete subinventories, and then choose Manage Subinventories from the right-click menu.
The Manage Subinventories window appears with the name of the selected node appearing in the Node Name field.
Select the Delete radio button.
In the Selection Lists table, select the subinventories that you want to delete from the node.
Click Delete.
On the confirmation popup window, click OK.
Planner's Desktop functionality is designed to handle inventory planning scenarios unique to field service operations. You can create min-max recommendations to define stocking levels for both the field service warehouse and field technician trunk stock. Customer service agreements often require the deployment of parts inventories in numerous locations close to the point of use. Spares Management planning defines which parts to be stocked, where, and in what quantities.
This planning process produces an Authorized Stock List (ASL), which you can update automatically through Oracle Spares Management recommendation functionality. Authorized Stock List functionality includes recommendations for warehouse and technician trunk stock, and flexible planning parameters designed to handle planning scenarios unique to field service.
For example, a technician working in a stable situation, would likely have plenty of usage history that could be used for planning. A recently hired technician would not have any usage history and would require a planning method that does not require this. The usage history for a transferred technician might not apply in the new service territory where the work could be different.
This section covers these min-max stock level planning methods:
Personal Usage, seeSetting Up Personal Usage Planning Method
Modified Personal Usage, see Using Personal Usage Planning Method Modified by Population
Territory Norm, seeSetting Up Territory Norm Planning Method
Product Norm, see Setting Up Product Norm Planning Method
Blended Method, see Setting Up Blended Planning Methods
For the technician working consistently in a relatively stable situation, Oracle Spares Management provides a planning method to make inventory recommendations based on the personal usage data of the technician. The technician's inventory is planned based on what the technician has been using.
The personal usage method is less effective for new or transferred technicians because these technicians' usage history is either insufficient or not applicable to the new service territory. In these cases, Oracle Spares Management provides other methods to make recommendations:
Territory Norm, which uses averages for all technicians in the technician's group
Product Norm, which uses failure rates and product populations
A blended combination of methods.
Other functions related to planning are covered in these procedures:
Personal usage is a planning method that uses the history of usage transactions associated with a technician or warehouse for planning. This method is used in the scenario where the technician or warehouse is in a relatively stable situation. The technician would be planned based on the recent usage activity of that technician. The warehouse would be planned based on the aggregate summary of all usage transactions tiering into the warehouse, plus any usage transactions recorded directly against that warehouse.
The key drivers for this method are the Forecast Rule, Service Level, and Economic Delivery Quantity (EDQ).
You can set up the Planning Method, as well as other Planning Parameters at any level in the planning tree. All lower nodes use this method as the default unless you manually override the method with a different planning method at that node.
The Defaulted From column of the Planning Parameters tab lists the node where the existing default values are set. If you want to allow lower level nodes to override any of these parameters, select the Override check box next to this parameter. By default, the Override check box is selected for all fields.
Follow these steps to set up a personal usage recommendation method:
Prerequisites
Steps
Navigate to the Planner's Desktop.
Expand the Planner's Tree. Select the node, warehouse or technician for which you want to set the recommendations.
Forecast Method: Four alternative methods for calculating the forecast are available:
Simple average
Weighted average
Single exponential smoothing
Trend enhanced
Period Size: Determines the length in days of the period used for the forecast and history used to create the forecast.
Forecast Periods: Defines how many periods you want the forecast to project into the future.
History Periods: Defines the number of most recent periods of history to use in the forecast calculations.
Transaction Types: Determines the type of transaction to be used. Normally this would be Field Service Usage for the technician and warehouse.
In the Planning Parameters tab, select the Forecast Rule from the list of values.
Enter a service level for the recommendation.
The service level represents the percent of time that you want the technician or warehouse to have the parts on hand when needed. This is used to determine safety stock. Safety stock is used to calculate min level where:
Min = Reorder Point = Forecasted usage during lead time + Safety Stock
The Service Level can be any number between 1 and 100, but is typically set in the range of 75 - 90 for field service technicians and warehouses.
Enter the Economic Delivery Quantity (EDQ) Factor.
The EDQ Factor is a combination of carrying cost and ordering cost in the lot-sizing formula.
The EDQ is used to calculate the max level, where:
Max = Min + EDQ
Tip: Typically, an EDQ Factor in the range of 5 - 15 will produce desired results.
In the Site Attributes tab, select the Stocking Type from the list of values.
Enter a date for Site Expiration value in the Calendar field.
To create a stock list for the technician or warehouse, select Yes in the Authorized ASL field.
A No in the field enables the ASL recommendations to be created for viewing only. This parameter is used to prevent an ASL from being implemented for a technician or warehouse (such as for a, new technician who isn't ready to receive the first replenishment shipment).
If you want to include Safety Stock in your recommendation calculations, select Yes in the Use Safety Stock field.
Tip: Safety Stock is normally recommended for planning warehouses, but not always for technicians.
(Optional) Select the name of the planner responsible for the node.
If you want to exclude a particular category or category set from being considered in recommendations, select the category or set from the list of values in the Category or Set fields.
In the Planning Method field of the Planning Method tab, Select Personal Usage from the list of values.
Save your work.
You can extend the Personal Usage planning method with product population changes. This approach is used to handle new product introductions or significant changes to existing product populations where the new or changing population, either up or down, can have a significant impact on part usage patterns. This method is primarily used to plan a warehouse for major changes in population, but you can also use this method for the technician if a major population change has impact.
For example, a technician routinely uses 10 parts per week of a specific part. That quantity is appropriate as long as the product population of the products supported by the technician using the part remains relatively constant. When there is a significant population change, such as by gaining or losing customer's contracts, then the technician's stocking level should be replanned to reflect that gain or loss of population supported.
Oracle Spares Management applies the failure rate to the population change to calculate the change in usage. The usage average is adjusted up or down depending on the magnitude of the population change and failure rate for the part.
For details on setting up and using failure rates, see Setting Up Product Norm Planning Methods.
To set up a Personal Usage method that is modified by part population change, follow these steps:
Prerequisites
Note: You must calculate failure rates at a higher node in the tree than the warehouse or technician where you plan to employ them in combination with personal usage planning.
Steps
From the Planner's Desktop, select the subinventory or organization that you are planning and select Personal Usage in the Planning Methods sub tab in the Planning Parameters tab.
Open the Failure Rates tab.
In the Product field, select the item for which you want to consider the population change.
Enter the Population Change, either a positive or a negative number, in the Population Change field.
Save your work.
This method is used in the scenario that involves a new technician or a transferred technician from another territory. You can also use this method to replan the inventory of a technician who has been out of a normal technician work routine for a period of time (for example, for training or a leave of absence). During this period, the technician's usage history would understate normal activity, and as a result would not be a good basis for planning the technician's stocking level.
Territory Norm calculates average or typical usage for the planning tree node to which the technician is assigned.
By calculating the average usage of all the technicians in a given group over a period of time, you can define min-max recommendations that represent what is typical or average for a technician in the group.
Tip: After a technician has worked long enough to create a stable personal usage history, switch to that method. Also, when using Territory Norm, it is important that the technicians in the group for which the Territory Norm is being used are doing similar work on a regular basis. If everyone is doing unique work by product or skill, for example, then Territory Norm would obviously not work well for that group.
Note: The Territory Norm method is not used for planning a warehouse.
Example:
There are 100 technicians currently in the territory. Part A has usage equal to 2000, summarized for all technicians assigned to the node for the recent 10-week period. The territory norm usage for Part A would be:
(2000 units / 100 technicians * 10 weeks) = 2.0 units per technician per week on average across all technicians.
Using the territory norm method, recommended Part A min-max levels for the technician are based on the average usage of 2.0 units per week. Assumed in this example is that all technicians have been working in the territory for the entire 10 week period. If this is not the case, technician-weeks would be accumulated based on the actual number of weeks each technician had been assigned to the node during the defined period.
Follow these steps to set up a territory norm recommendation method:
Prerequisites
Steps
Navigate to the Planner's Desktop.
Expand the Planner's Tree, and then select the technician for which you want to set the min-max recommendation.
In the Planning Parameters tab, select the forecast rule from the list of values.
Leave the Service Level field blank; this field is not used in the recommendations when Territory Norm is used.
Enter the Economic Delivery Quantity (EDQ) Factor.
To make this method available for your authorized stock list recommendations, select Yes in the Authorized for ASL field.
Ensure that the Use Safety Stock field is set to Null. Safety Stock is not used in the Territory Norm method.
(Optional) Select the name of the planner responsible for the node.
If you want to exclude a particular category set from being considered in recommendation parameters, select the set from the list of values at the Exclude Category Set field.
In the Recommendation Method field, select Territory Norm from the list of values.
Save your work.
Important: Check the node that the technician is attached to in the planning tree and make sure that a Forecast Rule is entered for that node. The history periods in the Forecast Rule for that node are used to determine the number of technician weeks that fall within the history period. The number of technician weeks is used to calculate average weekly usage for the Territory Norm planning method.
Product Norm is a planning method that uses product populations and failure rates to plan the min-max levels for the warehouse or technician. The product norm typically is used when a new product is being introduced or when the population of an existing product is being increased, decreased, or extended into a new area.
When using the Product Norm, failure rates are calculated or entered manually at a higher-level node, such as a territory, region, or theater and used on a lower-level node, such as a warehouse or technician.
Tip: Calculating the failure rates at a higher-level node increases the product population and tends to increase the accuracy of the calculated failure rates.
Failure rates are calculated from product population and usage transactions collected from the field service debrief process where the product indicated on the service request is known. Failure rates in Oracle Spares Management are expressed in terms of usage per product per week. You can calculate failure rates where usage experience is available and population is known or entered manually.
You can use the failure rates along with the anticipated product population to determine expected usage for the technician or warehouse. The population can either be expressed as a new population or as a change to an existing product population.
Follow these steps to create a Product Norm recommendation:
Prerequisites
Steps
Define Failure Rates
Navigate to the Planner's Desktop.
Click the node in the planning tree where you want to define failure rates, and then select the Calculate Failure Rates check box in the Planning Parameters tab.
Note: You must also define a Forecast Rule in the Planning Parameters tab of the planning tree node where the failure rates are to be defined. Use the history periods in the Forecast Rule to define the amount of history that you will use to calculate the failure rates.
As a best practice, you should calculate failure rates at the highest feasible level.
Click the Failure Rates tab. From the list of values in the Product field, select the product for which you want to create failure rates.
Enter the Current Population of the product for which you are creating failure rates. Enter failure rates directly in the lower Failure Rates tab by entering Item and Failure Rate.
Save your work.
To calculate failure rates, select and then right-click the node on the planning tree where you entered your product and population information.
From the right-click menu of the node in the planning tree where you are calculating failure rates, select the Calculate Failure Rates concurrent program.
A concurrent request ID number appears in a popup window. This concurrent request updates the failure rates for your product and parts. You can override the calculated failure rates by entering a value manually. For example, manually enter the failure rate if the manufacturer has published the failure rate for a part.
(Optional) To check whether the concurrent program ran successfully, go to View > Requests, and then look up the request ID number of the request that you want to view.
Note: After the concurrent program runs, you can view the calculated failure rates in the lower Failure Rates tab.
Use Failure Rates in Setting Min-Max Levels
Expand the planning tree and select the node for which you want to use those failure rates in Product Norm min-max recommendations.
Note: You must calculate or enter failure rates at a higher node in the tree than the warehouse or technician where you plan to employ them.
In the Recommendation Parameters section of the Planning Parameters tab, select the forecast rule from the list of values.
Leave the Service Level field null; the product norm method does not use this field.
Enter the Economic Delivery Quantity (EDQ) Factor.
To create a stock list, select Yes in the Authorized for ASL field.
Verify that the Use Safety Stock field is set to Null. The product norm method does not use Safety Stock.
(Optional) Select the name of the planner responsible for the node.
If you want to exclude a particular category set from being considered in recommendation parameters, select the set from the list of values in the Exclude Category Set field.
In the Recommendation Method field, select Product Norm from the list of values.
In the Failure Rates tab for the subinventory or warehouse being planned, enter the product and population to use in the Product Norm planning.
Save your work.
Note: The failure rates automatically populate into the lower Failure Rates tab for the node that you are planning. Those failure rates come from the first node higher in the tree where the Calculate Failure Rates check box is selected, the same product is entered, and failure rates are entered or calculated.
Oracle Spares Management functionality enables you to set up blended planning methods for determining stock list recommendations. This method combines the Personal Usage method with either the Product Norm or the Territory Norm, according to assigned weights.
You can use Territory Norm in combination with Personal Usage in the scenario where a technician has been off the normal field service routine for a period of time due to training or special assignment. In this situation, the recent usage history would be understated due to the absence from normal technician tasks and usage reporting routines. Personal Usage, which is understated, would be used and supplemented with Territory Norm.
To set up a blended recommendation method, follow the steps:
Steps
From the Planning method tab within the Planning Parameters, select one of the following:
Personal Usage and Product Norm
Personal Usage and Territory Norm
Assigning a Weight
Note: Steps 2-5 are mutually exclusive. Depending upon the usage during a given period, Spares Management functionality uses one of the four parameters to determine the Stock List recommendations.
Enter a decimal fraction in the Personal Usage > Norm field.
This is the proportion that you want for personal usage when personal usage is greater than either the territory or product norm selected.
Enter a decimal fraction in the Personal Usage < Norm field. This is the proportion that you want for personal usage when personal usage is less then either the territory or product norm selected.
Enter a decimal fraction in the Personal Usage = Zero field. This is the proportion that you want for personal usage when personal usage is equal to zero.
Enter a decimal fraction in the Norm = Zero field. This is the proportion that you want for personal usage when territory or product norm is equal to zero.
Save your work.
In field service operations where planners have many stocking level recommendations to review and implement, it makes sense to automate routine recommendations. This functionality reduces planning and technician costs and frees the planner to focus on high-impact planning situations.
You can create business rules that automate this process based on recommendation value, quantity change, and magnitude of the cumulative forecast error. Rules are defined by providing values for the following parameters:
Value change and percentage
Quantity change and percentage
Tracking signal minimum and maximum levels for tracking forecast errors
You can set values for as many or as few of the parameters as you want. But for the automated process to be activated, all the parameters that have been set must be met. To meet the automation condition, in the cases of value change and percentage, quantity change and percentage, and tracking signal maximum, the actual value must be less than the value of the parameter. For the tracking signal minimum parameter, the actual value must be greater than the parameter value.
Use the following procedure to define business rules for automated minimum and maximum recommendations.
Navigate to the Business Rules window.
From the Business Rules window, select the Recommendation Rules tab.
Enter the Name of the Recommendation rule.
(Optional) Enter a description.
Value Changes
Enter a number in the Value Change field.
The value change represents the difference between the current maximum value and the maximum recommendation value.
Enter a number in the Value Change % field.
The value change percentage represents the difference between the current maximum value and the maximum recommendation value expressed as a percentage of the current maximum.
Quantity Changes
Enter a number in the Quantity Change field.
The quantity change value represents the difference between the current max value and the max recommendation value.
Enter a number for the Quantity Change % field.
The quantity change percentage value represents the difference between the current max value and the max recommendation value expressed as a percentage of the current max.
Tracking Signal
You use tracking signal minimum and maximum levels for tracking forecast errors.
Enter a Tracking Signal Minimum value.
This value is a negative value that measures the forecast error when actual usage on a cumulative basis is running less than what was forecast.
Enter a Tracking Signal Maximum value.
This value is a positive value that measures the forecast error when actual usage on a cumulative basis is running more than what was forecast.
Save your work.
Once you have set up planning parameters for your field service operation, you can create recommendations by running a concurrent program. You can be review and accept, reject, or modify the recommendation.
When you review recommendations in the Recommendations tab, the following values appear in the table to facilitate the planner review:
Delta Cost between current max and recommended max
Actual cost of current maximum
Actual cost of recommended max
Delta quantity between current minimum and recommended minimum
Delta quantity between current maximum and recommended maximum
You can view usage history and forecast in the lower tabs.
Note: The table in the Recommendations tab can be sorted by any of the columns that appear. Sorting is useful to prioritize the review process.
Follow these steps to generate min-max recommendations:
Prerequisites
Steps
Navigate to the Planner's Desktop.
In the Spares Planning Tree, right-click the node, warehouse, or subinventory for which you want to make ASL recommendations.
If there has been a usage change, run the Create Usage For Recommendations and the Create ASL Recommendations concurrent programs.
In the Create ASL Recommendation parameters window, enter the planning node for which you want to create recommendations. A popup window displays the concurrent request ID number.
If the tree structure has changed, also run the Create Usage Rollup concurrent program. If you must consider supersession activity, run the Process Superseded Items concurrent program.
View the requests (View > Requests) to verify that the concurrent program ran successfully.
Right-click the same node, warehouse, and subinventory, and then select the Generate ASL Recommendations concurrent program from the right-click menu.
A popup window displays the concurrent request ID number.
Select the Recommendation tab, and then review the recommendation values that appear in the table.
Note: If you are using the automated feature, recommendations will not appear in the table. They are automatically accepted and implemented.
To accept a recommendation in the Authorized Stock List, select the recommendation, and then click Accept.
The recommendation moves from this table to the Stock List tab table. Accepted recommendations automatically update the Oracle Inventory table for min-max values. The recommendations become the current min-max levels used when replenishing parts for a warehouse or technician.
To reject a recommendation, select the recommendation, and then click the Reject button.
The recommendation is removed from the table.
To manually override a stock list recommendation, select the recommendation, and then click the Stock List tab.
Enter the values that you want to recommend for the stock list in the Minimum Quantity and Maximum Quantity fields.
Click Accept to save the new values.
The Stock List tab shows the existing stock list for the technician or warehouse. The stock list, by definition, displays those parts that have a min-max greater then zero. You can sort the Stock List tab by any of the columns that appear. This is useful if you want to view the stock list using different sorting parameters such as Item, Minimum Quantity, Maximum, and Quantity. You can also view details about the part through the Usage, Forecast, and Parts Status tabs.
You can modify a line in the stock list, add a part to the stock list, delete a part from the stock list, accept or reject multiple Authorized Stock List recommendations, and copy the stock list to another subinventory.
Steps
Navigate to the Stock List tab of the Planner's Desktop.
The Planner's Desktop appears.
From the planning tree, select the warehouse or technician and select the Stock List tab.
The Stock List tab opens and displays the existing stock list for the warehouse or technician.
Modifying a Line in the Stock List
Select the line that you want to modify in the upper Stock List tab.
Enter the new values in the lower Stock List tab.
The fields you can modify include Min Quantity, Min Order, Max Quantity, Max Order, Source Type, Organization, and Subinventory.
Save your work.
Adding a Part to the Stock List
To add a part to the stock list, click the Add button in the upper Stock List tab.
The lower Stock List tab is refreshed and the fields are blank.
In the Item field, select the part that you want to add from the list of values.
The default values for Unit of Measure and Cost fields automatically appear.
Enter the min - max values that you want to set for the part that you are addding.
(Optional) Select a Source Type. If you select a Source Type of Inventory, you must select the Organization.
If the stock list was manually created, you can enter a reason for the manual override.
This reason appears in the Reason Code field.
(Optional) Enter a value in the Fixed Lot Multiple field.
If there is a specific number of parts that are typically shipped in a package, such as 12 parts per box, enter that number here. Replenishment orders round to the closest multiple of your Fixed Lot Multiple figure.
Save your work.
Deleting a Part from the Stock List
You can delete a min-max recommendation from the Stock List tab. Select the line to be deleted.
Click the Delete button.
Copying a Part from One Stock List to Another
You can also copy a stock list from one subinventory to another. Select the lines in the stock list. Click Copy.
Select the subinventory to which you want to copy the stock list line to.
Supersession represents a supplier- or engineering-driven situation where one part has been replaced by another part. The supplier typically notifies the customer that a part has been replaced and is no longer available. For example, if the technician orders Part A, which is superseded by Part B, and Part A is no longer available, then Part B is supplied automatically. All new orders should be placed for the superseding part. In some cases, the supplier requests that existing orders convert to the superseding part. Oracle Spares Management incorporates supersessions in Authorized Stock List (ASL) recommendation functionality and Warehouse Notification functionality.
Additional information entered in supersession notes provides required information to process a technician order. See the Supersession and Substitution Notes section for more information.
Whether inventory is still available for the part that has been replaced, and whether that inventory can be used based on the disposition parameter, determines where to position the min-max levels in the supply chain.
Depending upon the disposition of inventory on the part being superseded, Spares Management produces the min-max levels for the appropriate part, either the one being superseded, or the superseding part, depending on the inventory level in the supply chain.
To use on-hand inventory of the superseded part, the min-max levels are positioned on the superseded part until the inventory is exhausted in the supply chain. This will drive parts out to the technicians where the parts can be used and the inventory depleted. If the reasons for superseding the part include safety issues, scrapping the part is generally preferable to using the parts to depletion.
There are two disposition values: Scrap and Use to Depletion. A disposition value of Scrap indicates that inventory on the lower level part cannot be used at all and should be scrapped. This disposition causes the min-max levels to move to the superseding part as soon as the supersession is entered. The Use to Depletion disposition value indicates that inventory for the lower level part can and should be used to deletion wherever possible. This disposition causes the min-max levels to transfer to the superseding part when the inventory is exhausted.
Supersession Example:
To illustrate this latter scenario, consider a supersession where Part A is replaced by Part B and the on-hand quantity for Part A at the central warehouse is 500 at the time the supersession is entered. The central warehouse also has a minimum level of 50. In this scenario, Oracle Spares Management recognizes the need to use the 500 pieces of inventory under the Use to Depletion disposition option. The min-max levels for the technicians stay at Part A until the inventory at the central warehouse drops below the reorder point (ROP) or the minimum level. This drives the parts out to the technicians where usage occurs and inventory is depleted.
During the transition, while the inventory of Part A is being depleted, min-max levels are planned for Part B if there is usage history for Part B. When the central warehouse inventory drops below the minimum level, the technician min-max levels shift to Part B and are calculated based on the combined usage for both Part A and Part B. Min-max levels for the central warehouse shift to Part B when the supersession is entered, and min-max values are calculated based on the combined usage for both Part A and Part B.
Similarly, planning warehouse stocking levels are designed to enable warehouses to deplete the inventory of superseded parts.
The central warehouse is always positioned at the top of the supply chain and, as such, min-max levels are also positioned at the top part in the supersession chain. Because supersessions are a supplier-driven business scenario, the central warehouse automatically switches its min-max recommendation to the superseding part because the central warehouse will no longer be receiving any inventory for the superseded part.
For an intermediate warehouse, min-max levels are coordinated with the disposition parameters and supply chain inventories. This coordination enables the intermediate warehouse to deplete any leftover inventory of the superseded part. If the disposition of a superseded part is set to Use to Depletion, then an intermediate warehouse can position the min-max level at the superseded part until the inventory is depleted. Once depleted, the min-max level switches positions to the superseding part.
The repair to value defines the highest level in the supersession chain to which the lower level part can be repaired. Ideally, the lower level part repairs to the top part in the supersession chain. But this is not always technically or economically possible. For example, let's say Part A has been superseded by Part B, but Part A cannot be repaired to Part B. In this scenario, the Repair-to part for Part A is Part A.
The Reciprocal values works with the Repair to value. Options for the Reciprocal value are Bilateral or Unilateral.
Bilateral is the scenario where an order for Part B (the higher level part), can be filled by either Part A or Part B. In the Unilateral scenario, only Part B can fill an order for Part B. The lower level Part A cannot be used to fill an order for Part B. An order for Part A can always be filled with Part A, unless the disposition value is set to Scrap.
In this way, Oracle Spares Management supersession functionality enables a field service operation to support supersessions and minimize obsolescence at the same time.
See also, Setting Up Part Supersession and Supersession Notes.
Supersession Notes and Substitution Notes
Supersession notes are used to identify additional parts required in complex supersessions. These notes are also used to indicate product restrictions and process a technician order.
Substitutions are used to fulfill the short-term shortages. Substitutes are standalone parts that are compatible with respect to form, fit and function. Substitutes are defined on the Item Relationships window in the Oracle Inventory. Refer to the Defining Item Relationships section of the Oracle Inventory User’s Guide for more information.
You enter or update a supersession notes or substitution notes in the Supersessions window. These notes are displayed in the Parts Search and Ordering results page as an attachment when supersession or a substitute is required for a technician order. See Parts Search and Ordering section for more information.
To set up supersessions and supersession notes, use the following procedure:
Prerequisites
Set up items in Inventory.
Set up stocking site type in the Site Attributes tab of the Planner’s Desktop.
Select an inventory organization in the Organizations window.
Steps
Navigate to the Supersessions window.
The Find Supersessions popup window appears.
In the Find Supersessions popup window, enter search criteria if you want to locate existing supersession relationships.
To set up a new supersession, close the Find Supersessions window. In the main Supersessions window, select the part that is being replaced from the list of values in the Replaced Item field.
Select the item that you want to supersede the replaced item with from the list of values in the Superseding Item field.
(Optional) Select a Repair To Item value from the list of values.
This value defines the highest level in the supersession chain to which the lower level part can be repaired.
Select a Reciprocal value for the supersession.
Options include: Bilateral or Unilateral.
Bilateral is the scenario where an order for Part B (the higher level part), can be filled by either Part A or Part B. In the Unilateral scenario, only Part B can fill an order for Part B. The lower level Part A cannot be used to fill an order for Part B. An order for Part A can always be filled with Part A, unless the disposition value is set to Scrap.
Select a Disposition code for the superseded item. This value defines how the disposition of inventory must be handled on the lower level part.
Options include: Use to Depletion or Scrap.
(Optional) Enter start and end dates for the supersession.
Click on the Attachments toolbar icon. The Attachments window appears.
Note: Oracle eBusiness Suite Attachments functionality enables you to set up the supersession notes or a substitute as an attachment.
The Seq (Sequence) number is assigned automatically for an attachment. For example 10.
Select a Category from the list of values. The Category defines the purpose of an attachment. Options include: Supersessions or Substitutes.
Enter Title for an attachment.
Enter Description for an attachment.
Refer to the Attachments section in the Oracle E-Business Suite User’s Guide to know how to set up attachments.
Click on the Save icon.
Close the Attachments window to return to the Supersessions window.
Note: The paper clip icon is updated with an attachment icon
Save your work.
Warehouse notifications are designed for the more complex replenishment planning encountered where excess utilization, repair, and new-buy recommendations must be incorporated into an integrated approach to warehouse replenishment planning. While this functionality is typically used at the central warehouse, it can be used at any warehouse in the supply chain where inventories of excess or repair parts must be considered in the warehouse replenishment planning process.
The notifications process provides for a utilization approach, where replenishment need at the warehouse is satisfied first from excess inventory at other specifically designated warehouses, second from repaired defectives, and finally, from new purchases and internal orders.
To use notifications that incorporate excess and defective stock at a warehouse, you must have an authorized stock level (ASL) for the warehouse, and associate an assignment set for either the usable or the defective parts to the warehouse. The assignment set uses sourcing rules from Oracle Purchasing to define those warehouses you want to consider for excess and repaired parts.
Once configured, you create warehouse notification results by running a concurrent program that identifies parts replenishment needs in the warehouse, searches the supply chain for existing excess and defective parts, and returns results that a planner can review. You can then run a replenishment strategy that best fits your business needs.
The planner has the option to fill the replenishment need by using existing excess stock, using repaired parts, ordering new parts, or using any combination of these.
Spares Management also provides a facility whereby a planner can create business rules that enable you to automate notifications that meet the business rule criteria. The automation is designed to focus on the situation where the notification value is low, the forecast is reasonably accurate, and the excess and repair to consider is relatively low.
Note: You can use notifications only for warehouses, not for field technicians.
Use the following procedure to set up and create warehouse notifications:
Prerequisites
Steps
Navigate to the Planner's Desktop.
Expand the planning tree in the Planner's Desktop. Select the warehouse that you want to set up for notifications.
Select the Warehouse Parameters tab.
(Optional) Enter an EDQ Multiple.
The Economic Delivery Quantity (EDQ) is used to define order quantities. The EDQ multiple sets a limit to define excess on-order quantity.
In the Assignment Usable field, select the assignment set to define excess in the notification from the list of values.
Assignment Sets define those warehouses in the supply chain that you want the notification to use when looking for excess parts. See the Oracle Purchasing Implementation Guide for details on setting up Assignment Sets and Sourcing Rules.
If you are using Spares Management's Depot Repair functionality, select a Depot Repair assignment set, which along with sourcing rules, defines the internal repair depot as a supplier for specific parts.
(Optional) Enter a Min Value.
This is a minimum value for the excess on-order notification. A Min Value of 100, for example, would mean that a notification triggers only if the total value of the excess on-order notifications exceeds $100.
In the Assignment Defective field, select the assignment set to define defective inventories for repair for notifications.
The Assignment Set, along with sourcing rules, defines defective warehouses for notifications.
If you are using business rules to automate notifications, select the rule that you want to apply to this warehouse from the Notification Rule list of values.
Save your work.
At this point, you have configured your warehouse to allow notification functionality.
To generate a notification, continue to the next step.
Run the Warehouse Notifications concurrent program.
Return to the main navigation tree and open Reports and Programs to access this concurrent program.
Creating business rules to automate warehouse notifications is beneficial for the efficient use of the planners' time. Planners often must perform a large number of warehouse notifications, and the notification cycles must be processed frequently to insure timely replenishment.
These rules are set up to address notifications that have a low notification value, low excess and repair values, and a high forecast reliability as measured by the tracking signal. You can create automation rules for the following three new-buy notification types:
Internal Order: This represents transfer orders between warehouses.
WIP Order: This is used when manufacturing is required.
Requisition: This is used when purchasing is required.
In each of the preceding cases, you can enter values for excess and repair recommendations, and the minimum and maximum tracking signal.
Excess: This is the value of excess inventory that you can use to satisfy the notification.
Repair: This is the value of defective inventory that, when repaired, you can use to satisfy the notification.
Notification: This is the value of the notification recommendation.
Tracking Signal Minimum: This measures the forecast error when actual usage on a cumulative basis is running less than forecast.
Tracking Signal Maximum:This measures the forecast error when actual usage on a cumulative basis is running more than forecast.
For all parameters with the exception of the tracking signal minimum, if the actual value is less than the parameter value, the notification is triggered. In the case of the tracking signal minimum, if the cumulative variance is greater than the parameter value, the notification is triggered.
Note: You can set values for as many or as few of the parameters as you want. But for the automated process to be activated, all the parameters that have been set must be met.
You can set up only one notification rule for each warehouse. To set up automated notification rules, follow this procedure:
Steps
Navigate to the Business Rules window.
From the Business Rules window, select the Notification Rules tab.
Enter the Name of the rule.
(Optional) Enter a Description.
For the Internal Order Line, enter an Excess Value number.
Enter a Repair Value.
Enter a Recommended Value.
Enter Tracking Signal minimum and maximum values.
Repeat steps 5 - 8 for Requisition and WIP Order lines.
Save your work.
Notifications are used for warehouse replenishment and provide additional information about excess parts and defectives that, when repaired, you can use to satisfy the notification.
When you open the Notifications tab, a table displays notifications for those parts where the on-hand available and on-order has dropped below the minimum level for the part. Excess parts as defined by the usable assignment set appear in the Total Excess column. The quantity of defective parts, as defined in the defective assignment set, appear in the Total Repair column.
The Notification Quantity column displays the quantity needed to replenish the warehouse. When you select one of the notifications, the lower Notifications tab displays the breakdown of replenishment options available to fill the replenishment notification. If there are excess parts and defective parts available, multiple lines appear in the table. The planner can review this information, and then create a replenishment order based on what works best in this situation.
Internal orders set up to use excess
The total available in repair or the repair depot order
The purchase requisition, WIP order, or internal order
If a lower part in a supersession chain has defectives, those are rolled into the total defectives for the higher part. For example, if Part A has a repair to status of Part B, and there are eight defective Part A's and 10 defective Part B's, then the Part B notification will display a defective amount of 18 parts.
For more information on supersessions, see Supersessions.
A planner can replenish a part from this user interface by creating an internal order, if excess stock is used, or by creating a requisition for a purchase order, or by creating internal orders and repair orders to have the parts repaired at an internal depot.
See also Executing Warehouse Replenishment Notifications.
To perform warehouse replenishment using excess, external repair, and new buy parts, follow these steps:
Prerequisites
Steps
Navigate to the Planner's Desktop.
In the upper Notification tab, select the notification of the part that you want to review and perform.
In the lower Notifications tab, the replenishment options are shown as orders that can be released for the Notification shown in the upper tab.
Excess order for excess use:
An internal order is created.
New buy orders:
An internal order is created when the source is another warehouse organization.
Note: You must set the Make/Buy parameter in Inventory to Buy.
A purchase requisition is created when the source is an external supplier.
A WIP order is created when the source is the same as the warehouse organization being replenished.
Note: You must set the Make/Buy parameter in Inventory to Make.
External Repair Orders are shown for information only, but are not directly executable from the user interface.
Note: Internal Repair using Depot Repair integration is described in the next section.
Select a Source Type in the lower Notifications tab, and then enter the quantity for the excess, WIP, or new-buy order in the Order field.
This quantity must be less than or equal to the value in the Available Quantity field..
To submit your request, click Order.
This creates the appropriate order document to perform the process as noted previously: Internal Order, Purchase Requisition, or WIP Order.
Oracle Spares Management provides a mechanism to handle the repair of defective parts through an internal depot using Oracle Depot Repair. Defective parts that are owned by the field service can be sent to the internal repair depot based on need or repaired and returned to the field service warehouse being replenished.
A repair depot using Oracle Depot Repair software is positioned in the supply chain to repair defective parts. This repair depot is defined in sourcing rules where the internal repair operation is defined as a repair supplier.
Field technicians recover defective parts at the customer site, which are then transacted into the technicians' defective subinventories.
Technicians transfer the parts into a defective warehouse for consolidation. The consolidated defectives are integrated into the warehouse replenishment planning, presenting the planner with a notification when defective parts must be repaired at the internal depot for replenishment to the warehouse being planned.
When the notification is approved, the defective parts are shipped to the repair depot on an internal order, repaired by the repair depot on a repair order, and shipped to the field service warehouse on a second internal order.
To use Oracle Depot Repair functionality to repair parts based on a Warehouse Notification follow this procedure.
Prerequisites
Steps
Navigate to the Planner's Desktop.
In the planning tree, click the warehouse for which you want to view notifications.
Select the Notifications tab.
This action displays all notifications related to the selected warehouse.
From the upper Notifications tab, select a notification that has a Depot Repair Source Type.
Select the Depot Repair Source Type in the lower Notifications tab, and enter the quantity for the repair order (if it is different than the quantity available).
Click Order.
The following documents are automatically created:
Internal order to ship the defectives to the internal depot
Repair order for the depot
Internal order for shipping the repaired parts back to the field service warehouse from the repair depot
Note: Spares Management enables you to create a depot repair order from the Parts Status tab on the Planner's Desktop to repair parts without a Warehouse Notification for replenishment.
Within the Planner's Desktop, you can view parts status and detail information about an order.
The Parts Status tab displays status information at the warehouse, subinventory, or node selected in the planning tree. A table displays such information as part number, usable on-hand, defective on-hand, parts in transit, requisitions, purchase orders, and so on.
On the bottom panel of the Parts Status tab, there are several sub-tabs:
Usage
Forecast
Parts Status
Stock List
Order Details
Each of these tabs displays information pertaining to the selected item in the Parts Status tab. The Parts Status and Stock List sub-tab correspond with the same tabs on the top panel of the Parts Status tab.
Note: In the Parts Status lower tab, the Actual On-Hand and Available values are real time. The Parts Availability Data concurrent program updates all other data in the upper and lower Parts Status tabs.
You can order parts from this tab by selecting the part that you want to order and clicking the Order button. This action brings up the Parts Requirement page, where you can create a parts requirement and an order.
The Order Details tab provides a view of incoming orders for an item at the subinventory or organization level.