Business Number Named Range

This page is accessed via Business Process Automation > Power Data > Business Numbers > Business Number Named Range.

Oracle Transportation Management can be configured to assign and manage a range of pre-assigned numbers for business objects and reference numbers. For example, external systems may require Oracle Transportation Management to use pre-defined numbers when generating an Order ID or Shipment ID. Alternatively, carriers pre-assign a range of numbers to a shipper to use as the PRO-number or Bill of Lading number.

You may have a carrier with a PRO Number structured as follows:

PRO-nnnnn

where:

PRO is a prefix
nnnnn is a pre-assigned number starting with 12000

In addition, some external systems may require Oracle Transportation Management to use pre-defined numbers when generating an Order ID or Shipment ID.

The term Named Range represents a series of pre-assigned ranges of numbers received from a single source, such as a service provider, and used in a given context such as shipment BOL reference number. When a named range is referenced in a business number rule definition, a number from the range is used as part of a complete business number.

Generating Numbers

When a named range is referred to in a business number rule, the current pre-assigned range for the named range is used to generate a number. When all the numbers in the current range are depleted, it is marked closed and the next range is set as the current one. The current pre-assigned range for a named range is the first one from a list of open ranges ordered by sequence number.

An optional backup business number rule may also be provided to a named range. The backup rule is used when all effective ranges have been depleted. Numbers generated by the backup rule do not support auditing and recycling, as defined below.

If the remaining numbers in a named range fall below a threshold, a range depletion warning event is raised. A warning event has a named range as its primary key and a warning level as its parameters. Thresholds for raising depletion warning events are properties of the named range; warning events for a particular level can be raised one or more times as specified.

A pre-assigned range is marked closed when it has run out of numbers. Once it is marked closed, it cannot be reopened. Numbers returned to a closed range cannot be recycled. A range can be manually closed as well using the Close Range action.

Total available numbers in a range are calculated based on the business number rule since only numeric or alphabetic sequences are allowed.

For data consistency and performance, once a pre-assigned range is used, it cannot be updated.

To enable Oracle Transportation Management to use a Business Number Range, you need to define:

A Business Number Type. When using ranges of numbers, you need to specify a Table Name and a Column Name.
Multiple Business Number Rules. When you are using a Business Number Named Range, you should set up a minimum of two Business Number Rules.
- The first rule should be the default rule that specifies the Business Number Range in the rule.
- Additional rules should be used in the Business Number Range and not marked as the default rule.
The specified range of the Business Number (see next section).

Named Range Definition

Enter a unique BN Named Range ID.
Choose one of the Recycling Policies.
Selecting the Use Context for Sequence check box causes the system to sequentially increment generated numbers for every scenario. For example, if you have Service Provider 1 and Service Provider 2. If you are using the service provider name as part of your generated number (ServProv1-0001) and this check box is selected then the generated numbers for each service provider will increment separately from the numbers for other service providers. For Service Provider 1 the generated numbers would be ServProv1-0001, ServProv1-0002, ServProv1-0003, ... while for Service Provider 2 the numbers would increment at their own rate of ServProv2-0001, ServProv2-0002, ServProv2-0003, ... The numbers for each service provider would not impact the numbers generated for the other service provider.

If the check box is not selected then the numbers increment based on the previous number used by the system, regardless of the service provider. For example, if the last number for Service Provider 1 is ServProv1-0003 and the last number for Service Provider 2 is ServProv2-0001, the next number generated for Service Provider 2 is ServProv2-0004. The number went to 4 because the last number used was a 3, even though it was for a different service provider.
Select the domain in which you want to save the Named Range record from the Domain Name drop-down list.

Business Number Range

Use this section to define the rules that apply to each range. You can define multiple rules that are used in sequence when the previous rule expires.

Identify a new range rule by entering a unique BN Range ID. A BN Named Range can have multiple BN Ranges.
The Sequence Number controls the order in which the ranges are activated. The sequence is determined by the order in which you enter the ranges.
Choose a Business Number Rule ID that defines the details on how the range numbers are constructed.
Open: identifies the status of the range as open, meaning there are numbers remaining that can be assigned to business objects. When the numbers run out, the status changes to closed. You can also manually close the range using the Close Range action. Once a range is closed, it cannot be re-opened.
Pooled Count: number of generated and recycled numbers ready for use.
Generated Count: is a count generated by Business Number engine, but the count only stays for a very short time in a transaction. The generated count either changes to ASSIGNED state when the transaction is committed or changes to POOLED state if the transaction failed. The Generated Count usually is 0.
Assigned Count: number of numbers that have been assigned to business objects.
Destroyed Count: number of destroyed business numbers that were assigned to business objects that have been deleted since the assignment was made. Destroyed numbers are not recycled.
Click Save for each business number range event you create.

Business Number Named Range Event

Use this section to configure warning thresholds that determine when to notify someone about the status of a range. For example, you can define when a range is about to expire.

When the assigned number drops below a certain threshold, Oracle Transportation Management can send a notification using the event called BUSINESS NUMBER - RANGE WARNING. You can register a contact through Contact Notification or Automation Agents, or define an Involved Party on the range.

Enter a Description for the named range event.
Warning Level is a number indicating the level of importance a user can define. For example, warning level 1 is when numbers left in the range total 100, and level 2 is when the number left becomes 50. Threshold defines the point at which you want to raise the event, e.g. when the numbers left in the range fall below 100.
Warning Threshold is the number below which a warning should be sent. For example, raise the Oracle Transportation Management Event when the number left in the range falls below 100. If the remaining numbers in a named range fall below a threshold, a business number range depletion warning event is raised. A warning event has a named range as its primary key and a warning level as its parameters. Thresholds for raising depletion warning events are properties of the named range; warning events for a particular level can be raised one or more times as specified.
Max Warning Events are how many times you want to be notified. If you set it to 2, you will receive an email when the number left in the range is 100 and receive another email when the number left becomes 99.
Click Save for each named range event you create.

Business Number Named Range Involved Party

Use this section to identify the involved parties that should be notified when a certain threshold is surpassed.

Note: When selecting a contact, the contact must have a Subject of BUSINESS NUMBER - RANGE WARNING on the Notification tab.