How To Avoid RMAs For Nonserialized IB-Trackable Items to be Booked Without Installation Details (Doc ID 364518.1)

Last updated on MARCH 21, 2024

Applies to:

Goal

This datafix has been approved by development for customer consumption on 13/Feb/2012.

Among other things, the Install Base Error Correction and Synchronization Program generates a list of RMA lines for non-serialized but Install Base trackable item without installation details.

When an item is tracked in Install Base and not serialized, Installation Details are required on return lines to identify and update the returned instance (Actions / Installation Details) when the RMA line is actually received. If no instance exists in the LOV, one has to be created before booking the order. When no installation details are entered on the RMA line, the receipt (CSIRMARC or CSIRMAFL transaction) will fail to process in IB and generate the following transaction error:  "Installation Details not entered for the Non Serialized item. Please reference the customer item instance in Installation Details."

Often when this error is noticed, the installation details are populated by the user to allow processing of the transaction. When an instance is chosen that has a start date that is later than the date the RMA was actually received, reprocessing the transaction will then fail with:
"The Instance Active End Date, &END_DATE_ACTIVE provided should be greater than the Active Start Date and cannot be less than the SYSDATE. (ACTIVE_END_DATE=&END_DATE_ACTIVE)"

This error makes sense, because the instance selected for the return did not exist when the RMA was received. At the time of entering the RMA this instance would not have appeared in the RMA installation details. So this instance is not eligible to be used in the installation details.

For serialized items the installation details are not required because the serial number is mandatory to be entered in the receiving transaction. Install Base uses this serial number to identify the instance and update it accordingly.

Currently Order Management does not validate the existence of installation details for return lines for non-serialized IB trackable items. An enhancement request (3513899) for this exists, but has not been implemented yet.

Since Order Management does not require the installation details, it is very common for users to enter, book and receive RMAs without entering installation details while Install Base requires them. Generally this results in a long list of RMAs with missing installation details and/or a lot of Install Base transaction errors like above. The only way to resolve that is to enter the installation details and then resubmit the error. That is a mostly a manual action that will require a lot of effort.

This note is not about resolving the existing errors. Instead, this note tries to help preventing this error to occur at all. It suggests how to modify the order booking process to disallow booking an RMA when installation details are required for one of the lines but have not been provided yet. This way the errors can be avoided. The suggested steps involve customization. There are probably other and perhaps better ways to achieve the same thing. But within the current functionality it cannot be achieved without customization.

Since it involves customization, the suggested code is not officially supported by Oracle Support. However, the suggested steps have been created and tested on an 11.5.10.2 and up environments.

Solution

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