Key Tables in Oracle Inventory

Here is a brief description of the key tables in Oracle Inventory.

Table MTL_PARAMETERS

MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS_B

MTL_ITEM_STATUS

MTL_UNITS_OF_MEASURE_TL

Description It maintains a set of default options like general ledger accounts; locator, lot, and serial controls, inter-organization options, costing method, etc. for each organization defined in Oracle Inventory. Each organizations item master organization (MASTER_ORGANIZATION_ID) and costing organization (COST_ORGANIZATION_ID) are maintained here. This is the definition table for items. This table holds the definitions for inventory items, engineering items, and purchasing items. The primary key for an item is the INVENTORY_ITEM_ID and ORGANIZATION_ID. Therefore, the same item can be defined in more than one organization. Items now support multilingual description. MLS is implemented with a pair of tables: MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS_B and MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS_TL. Translations table (MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS_TL) holds item Description and Long Description in multiple languages. This is the definition table for material status codes. Status code is a required item attribute. It indicates the status of an item, i.e., Active, Pending, Obsolete. This is the definition table for both the 25character and the 3-character units of measure. The base_uom_flag indicates if the unit of measure is the primary unit of measure for the uom_class. Oracle Inventory uses this table to keep track of the units of measure used to transact an item.

MTL_ITEM_LOCATIONS

MTL_ITEM_CATEGORIES

MTL_CATEGORIES_B

MTL_CATEGORY_SETS_B

MTL_DEMAND

This is the definition table for stock locators. The associated attributes describe which subinventory this locator belongs to, what the locator physical capacity is, etc. This table stores inventory item assignments to categories within a category set. For each category assignment, this table stores the item, the category set, and the category. Items always may be assigned to multiple category sets. However, depending on the Multiple Assignments Allowed attribute value in a given category set definition, an item can be assigned to either many or only one category in that category set. This is the code combinations table for item categories. Items are grouped into categories within the context of a category set to provide flexible grouping schemes. Item categories now support multilingual category description. MLS is implemented with a pair of tables: MTL_CATEGORIES_B and MTL_CATEGORIES_TL. MTL_CATEGORIES_TL table holds translated Description for Categories. It contains the entity definition for category sets. A category set is a categorization scheme for a group of items. Items may be assigned to different categories in different category sets to represent the different groupings of items used for different purposes. An item may be assigned to only one category within a category set, however. STRUCTURE_ID identifies the flexfield structure associated with the category set. Category Sets now support multilingual category set name and description. MLS is implemented with a pair of tables: MTL_CATEGORY_SETS_B and MTL_CATEGORY_SETS_TL. MTL_CATEGORY_SETS_TL table holds translated Name and Description for Category Sets. This table stores demand and reservation information used in Available To Promise, Planning and other Manufacturing functions.

MTL_SECONDARY_INVENTORIES

MTL_ONHAND_QUANTITIES

MTL_TRANSACTION_TYPES

MTL_MATERIAL_TRANSACTIONS

MTL_ITEM_ATTRIBUTES

MTL_ITEM_CATALOG_GROUPS_B

There are three major row types stored in the table: Summary Demand rows, Open Demand Rows, and Reservation Rows. This is the definition table for the subinventory. A subinventory is a section of inventory, i.e., raw material, finished goods, etc. Subinventories are assigned to items (in a many to one relationship), indicating a list of valid places where this item will physically exist in inventory. It stores quantity on hand information by control level and location. It is maintained as a stack of receipt records, which are consumed by issue transactions in FIFO order. The quantity on hand of an item at any particular control level and location can be found by summing TRANSACTION_QUANTITY for all records that match the criteria. It contains seeded transaction types and the user defined ones. USER_DEFINED_FLAG will distinguish the two. The table also stores the TRANSACTION_ACTION_ID and TRANSACTION_SOURCE_TYPE_ID that is associated with each transaction type. This table stores a record of every material transaction or cost update performed in Inventory. Records are inserted into this table either through the transaction processor or by the standard cost update program. The columns TRANSACTION_TYPE_ID, TRANSACTION_ACTION_ID, TRANSACTION_SOURCE_TYPE_ID, TRANSACTION_SOURCE_ID and TRANSACTION_SOURCE_NAME describe what the transaction is and against what entity it was performed. This table stores information on item attributes. Each row in the table corresponds to an attribute. The table stores the attribute name, the corresponding user-friendly name seen by the users, and the kind of validation enforced on the attribute. This is the code combinations table for item catalog groups. An item catalog group

MTL_ITEM_REVISIONS_B

MTL_ITEM_TEMPLATES_B

MTL_DESCRIPTIVE_ELEMENTS

MTL_DESCR_ELEMENT_VALUES

ORG_ACCT_PERIODS MTL_CUSTOMER_ITEMS

MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS_INTERFACE

MTL_TRANSACTIONS_INTERFACE

MTL_ITEM_REVISIONS_INTERFACE

consists of items that can be described by the same set of descriptive elements or item properties. When an item is associated with an item catalog group, the item inherits the descriptive elements for that group which then behave like additional item attributes. It stores revision levels for an inventory item. When an item is defined a starting revision record is written out to this table, so every item will at least have one starting revision. This is the definition table for item templates. It contains the user-defined name (TEMPLATE_NAME) and description (DESCRIPTION) ONLY for backward compatibility. You can use a template to set certain item attributes. It stores the descriptive element definitions for an item catalog group. Descriptive elements are defining properties used to describe in the catalog group. It stores the descriptive element values for a specific item. When an item is associated with a particular item catalog group, one row per descriptive element (for that catalog group) is inserted into this table. It holds the open and closed financial periods for organizations. It stores customer item information for a specific customer. Each record can be defined at one of the following levels: Customer, Address Category, and Address. The customer item definition is organization independent. It temporarily stores the definitions for inventory items, engineering items and purchasing items before loading this information into Oracle Inventory. It allows calling applications to post material transactions (movements, issues, receipts etc. to Oracle Inventory transaction module. It temporarily stores revision levels for an inventory item before loading this information into Oracle Inventory.

MTL_ITEM_CATEGORIES_INTERFACE This table temporarily stores data about inventory item assignments to category sets and categories before loading this information into Oracle Inventory. MTL_DESC_ELEM_VAL_INTERFACE This table temporarily stores descriptive element values for an item that is associated with an item catalog group before loading this information into Oracle Inventory. MTL_DEMAND_INTERFACE It is the interface point between nonInventory applications and the Inventory demand module. Records inserted into this table are processed by the Demand Manager concurrent program. MTL_INTERFACE_ERRORS It stores errors that occur during the item interface process reporting where the errors occurred along with the error messages. http://www.club-oracle.com/articles/oracle-apps-inventory-inv-key-tables-265/