Cycle counting is the periodic counting of
individual items throughout the course of the year to ensure the accuracy of
inventory quantities and values. Cycle
counting can be used in lieu of taking a complete physical inventory, or both
techniques can be used side-by-side.
The Oracle Inventory process can
automatically select and rank items for cycle counts. To do so the Inventory Control Manager uses
the Define ABC Compile form to rank the items.
There are 11 different criteria for the ranking process. Most generally used is the current on-hand
quantity of items or current on-hand value of items. The Define ABC Classes and Define ABC Groups
are the forms used to link the classes with an ABC compilation. Common class structure is A, ranked as 1,
which is higher than B, ranked as 2, etc.
Once an ABC Group is defined, a Cycle Count
is then defined. The Cycle Count
definition process links a Cycle Count Name with a workday calendar, adjustment
account, count controls, serial control, auto scheduling, approval level and
tolerances, and the ABC Group to be used.
Step 1.0 Define and
Run an ABC Compilation
You can define and
compile an ABC analysis for your entire organization or for a specific
subinventory within an organization. You
choose the compilation criterion, the scope of you analysis, the cost type to
use in determining item values, and any additional information that may be
necessary. The combination of all these
parameters constitutes an ABC compile header, identified by the ABC compile
name. You use this name to identify any
activity pertaining to the ABC analysis.
The compile result is a ranking of all items included in the compile
based on the compile criterion used to value the items.
Step 2.0 Define ABC
Classes
ABC classes are
used to identify the value groupings to which your items belong. You define these classes using your own
terminology. The most common classes are
of course A, B, and C. You can use these
classes to group items for a cycle count where you count “A” items more
frequently than “B” items. You can have
as many classes as you want, and you can add to the list of defined classes,
but each class must be assigned to at least one ABC group. When using ABC classes in this way, you
perform an ABC analysis using the ABC compile and assign items to classes based
on the results of that analysis.
Step 3.0 Define ABC
Groups
ABC groups link a
particular ABC compile with a valid set of ABC classes. This allows you to selectively reduce or
increase the number of ABC classes you use in your item assignments for a
particular ABC compile. These groups are
used when you automatically assign your items to ABC classes. It ensures that you divide your items into
the exact number of groupings you specified in the ABC group.
You must also
assign a sequence number to each class associated with the ABC group. The class with the lowest sequence number is
assumed to have the highest rank and will have higher rank items assigned to
that class. You may update an assignment
group to add new classes, but you cannot delete a class.
Step 4.0 Define a
Cycle Count
A Cycle Count
header is a combination of parameters identified by the Cycle Count name. This name is used to identify any activity
pertaining to this cycle count. You can
define and maintain an unlimited number of cycle counts. For example, you can define separate cycle
counts representing different sets of subinventories. You will define controls under the Control,
Scope alternative region such as the number of late days, whether unscheduled
entries are allowed, whether a status of Recount is automatically assigned to
out-of-tolerance counts, and whether to include all subinventories or just
specific ones.
Under the Serial
Control, Schedule alternative region controls are set as to whether or not to
include serialized items from the cycle count, and if so what detail and type
of adjustment is to be used. Select Auto
Schedule and frequency information to turn automatic scheduling on.
Under the
Adjustments, ABC alternative region select what level of approval, if any, is
required, and what the tolerance levels are.
You will also select the ABC Group to be used for the cycle count.
Step 5.0 Define
Cycle Count Classes
Cycle Count Classes
allow you to enter the ABC classes you want to include in your cycle
count. You can also enter approval and
hit/miss tolerances for each cycle count class.
Step 6.0 Define
Cycle Count Items
Items need to be
loaded into your cycle count before you can schedule or count them. You can do this by specifying an existing ABC
group from which to load your items or you can manually enter, delete, or
update the items.
When you choose the
items to include in your cycle count, you can specify which items make up your
control group. When you generate
automatic schedules you can indicate whether to include items in your control
group as a control measure.
Step 7.0 Cycle
Count Scheduling
There are two
processes that may be used for scheduling your cycle count. Automatic scheduling uses the number of items
in each cycle count class, the count frequency of each class, and the workday
calendar to determine how many and which items you need to count during the
scheduling frequency. Each time the auto
scheduler runs, it schedules counts only for the schedule interval you defined
for the cycle count header. For example,
if your scheduler interval is days, then only those items that are due for
counting on the current date are scheduled.
You can manually
schedule counts in addition to, or instead of those generated with automatic
scheduling. You can request counts for
specific subinventories, locators, and items, and set the count for any
inventory date. Manually scheduled
counts have no impact on automatically scheduled counts; you can potentially
count some items more frequently than what you initially planned.
Step 8.0 Generate Count Request and Print Count Lists
After scheduling
your counts, you can submit the process to generate count requests. This process takes the output of the
automatic scheduler and your manual schedule entries, and generates a count
request for each item number, revision, lot number, subinventory, and locator
combination for which on-hand quantities exist.
These count requests are ordered first by subinventory and locator, then
by item, revision, and lot. A unique
sequence number is assigned to each count request that can be used for
reporting, querying, and rapid count entry.
After generating
the count requests you can submit the request for the Cycle Count Listing
report. This report lists all counts
that you need to perform within a given date range.
Step 9.0 Enter
Cycle Counts
After the physical
counting process is complete, enter your cycle counts of items requested. You can use the same window to enter counts
of items requested via automatic or manual cycle count scheduling. If unscheduled count entries are allowed for
your cycle counts, you can enter those also.
The Cycle Count
Entries window automatically queries up all count requests for which you have
not yet entered a count. You can use
flexible search criteria to specify the group of count requests for which you
want counts entered.
Step 10.0 Cycle
Count Approval
When a cycle count
entry results in an adjustment that exceeds approval tolerances, the adjustment
is either posted automatically or held for approval depending on the approval
option you choose. If Automatic Recounts
are turned on in the cycle count, an automatic recount request will be
generated. If the maximum number of
recounts have been reached, the adjustment is submitted for approval. When generating the cycle count listing, you
must include a from date back far enough to include the recount item’s original
count date. You should always try to
find the source of a discrepancy and take corrective action so as to minimize
future adjustments.
