Dates in Order Management

Introduction:

Oracle Order Management uses various dates along with shipping execution for managing data and meeting desired customer service levels. In this article we will review and learn importance of these dates. For example, dates in Order Management will help customer service team answer following questions 

• When was order created or placed?
• When is the shipment requested by customer?
• What is the earliest/latest, the customer will accept the shipment?
• What date did we promise the customer?
• When will be the order shipped from warehouse?
• When was order finally shipped?
• When it will be delivered or arrive at customer location?
• On what date was ordered priced and taxed?

We will look in detail at following dates

1. Ordered Date
2. Request Date
3. Promise Date
4. Earliest/Latest Acceptable Date
5. Schedule Ship Date
6. Schedule Arrival Date
7. Actual Ship Date
8. Actual Arrival Date

Before we start understanding above dates, it is important to understand "Order Date Type" concept in Order Management 

What is Order Date Type?

Order Date Type is considered when sales order is scheduled and impacts Requested Date

Available Order Date Types in Oracle are 

1. Ship
2. Arrival

• If the order date type is "Ship", the Requested Date is defaulted as Schedule Ship Date. 
• If the order date type is "Arrival", the Requested date is defaulted as "Schedule Arrival Date"

When Order Date type is "Ship" or "Null", Schedule Arrival date can't be updated manually 

When Order Date Type is "Arrival", Schedule Ship Date can't be updated manually

Now, lets look at various dates in Oracle Order Management 

Ordered Date

Definition

This is the date when order was placed by customer, this can and cannot be the date when order is entered in system and is only available at Header Level

Entered At

Ordered Date is available at Header Level and generally this date is not defaulted and is entered   manually at the time of order entry

Request Date

Definition

Request date and order date go hand in hand. Request date is the date customer has requested                shipment or arrival of their order and order date type as explained earlier represents which type of        date request date represents i.e. Ship or Arrival 

Available At

Order date type can only be set at Order Header Level and Request Date can be set at Header or Line level. 

Defaulting

Line level Request date can be defaulted from header and Order Date Type can be defaulted from from Customer or customer Ship to Level

Promise Date

Definition

Word Promise means declaration or assurance and Promise date also conveys the same meaning, i.e. it is the date we have promised the delivery of products to the customer. 

Available At

Promise date is entered at the Order line level

Defaulting

Promise date can be defaulted as per following options 

• First Schedule Ship Date/Arrival Date is defaulted to Promise date when line is first scheduled. If line is scheduled again, promise date is not changed/updated 
• First Request Date is defaulted to Promise date when line is first scheduled. If a line is rescheduled, promise date is not changed/updated
• Schedule Ship Date/Arrival Date is coped to Promise date and if a line is rescheduled, promise date is also updated 
• Request Date is defaulted to Promise date and if a line is rescheduled, promise date is also updated

Earliest/Latest Acceptable Date 

Definition

Earliest/Latest Acceptable dates are used by ATP to determine if a line can be schedule or not. Sales order line is only scheduled when the Schedule ship Date as determined by ATP falls between Earliest Acceptable Date and Latest Acceptable Date

Earliest and Latest Acceptable dates are calculated by system based on Earliest Schedule Limit defined. 

Earliest Acceptable Date = Request Date - Earliest Schedule Limit 

Latest Acceptable Date = Request Date + Earliest Schedule Limit

Available At 

Earliest/Latest Acceptable dates are calculated and are available at the line level 

Earliest Acceptable limit can be seen/entered at the Order Header Level 

Defaulting

It is recommended not to use defaulting rules for these dates and let system calculate these.

Schedule Ship Date 

Definition

It is the system calculated date based on ATP and determines when can goods ship out of our warehouse to customer. Schedule Ship Date determined by ATP can only be manually updated/changed if the profile option "OM: Authorize to override ATP" is set to "Y" 

Available At

Schedule Ship Date is available at Order Line Level 

Defaulting

It is not recommended to use defaulting rules for Schedule ship Date and let system calculate it

Schedule Arrival Date

Definition

It is the date determined by system when goods shipped will arrive at customer location. System will allow update of Schedule Arrival date based on Order Date Type. If Order Date Type is Arrival, Schedule Arrival date can be entered manually. 

Schedule Arrival Date is calculated as per following 

Schedule Arrival Date = Schedule Ship Date + Shipping Time 

If shipping time is not defined then Schedule Arrival Date is equal to Schedule Ship Date 

Available At

Schedule Arrival Date is available at Order Line Level 

Defaulting

It is recommended not to use defaulting rules for Schedule Arrival date and let system calculate it 

Actual Ship Date 

Definition 

This is the date when the delivery was shipped confirmed or shipped out of warehouse. 

Available At

Actual Ship Date is available at Line Level and can't be entered or updated manually 

Defaulting Rules

There are no defaulting rules applicable for Actual Ship Date as it is calculated by system 

And finally 

Actual Arrival Date 

Definition 

Actual Arrival Date is the date at which the shipped goods arrived at customer location. This is a system determined date and can't be updated or entered manually.

Entered/Available At 

Actual Arrival date can be seen at Line level 

Defaulting Rules

There are no defaulting rules applicable for Actual Arrival Date 

Above dates can be used for various reporting purposes to maintain on time shipping schedule and reduce order fulfillment times and bring improvement in customer service levels.