Oracle e-Business Suite Release R12.2 (.2) Upgrade – New Features Summary

January 23, 2014 jhlui1 1 Comment

Because my company asked for this, and I couldn’t find a readily available My Oracle Support document that is concise enough.

Based primarly upon:

Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2 Release Value Propositions (Doc ID 1580742.1)

With additions from notes by Steve Sutphin on LearningWerks.

Modules Being Covered in this Summary

Application Technology
Asset Lifecycle Management
Customer Relationship Management
Financials
Procurement
Human Capital Management

Not all modules are covered herein (e.g. Supply Chain, Project Billing, Project Management, Value Chain) simply because we don’t have them in-use, so I couldn’t validate the accuracy of those modules.

Applications Technology- User Interfaces, Infrastructure

Oracle EBS Release 12.2 Technology Stack

WebLogic Server (11.1.1.6) replacing iAS (10.1.3)
- [10.1.2 stays for Forms and Reports]
Mobile Certification for OA Framework
- iPad, iPhone, Android
Report Manager and Web ADI
- Certified for MS Office 2010/32-bit
Integrated SOA Gateway
- Now on WebLogic for improved integration
Online Patching
- Editioned filesystem and DB objects allow side-by-side Production and Test codesets with minimal switchover downtime.

Numerous OAFramework User Interface Cosmetic and Usability Improvements

Assets (Asset Lifecycle Management, not FA)- Workflow, Productivity

Support for Asset Moves
- Transactable Assets Allows Users To Move Assets In And Out Of Inventory, Transfer Assets From One Inventory Organization To Another, And Transfer Assets From One External Location To Another External Location
Enhanced Integration/Ease of Use
- Asset Sale
- Asset Retirements
- Project-to-Project Material Transfers
- Grouping of Serialized Items
Asset Tracking Mass Update

Customer Relationship Management- Revenue Tracking

Channel Revenue Management
- Increased Automation in AR Deductions Settlement
- Accrual Accounting with Trade Profiles
- Extended Business Processes for Supplier Ship and Debit
- Price Protection Agreements

Oracle Telesales
- Visibility to Activities across Operating Units
- Competitor Tracking at Product Level

Financials- Productivity, Controls

Cross-Module Enhancements
- Multi-Org Access Control Security profiles that now support a list of operating units
- Ledger Sets Ledgers sharing the same Chart of Accounts, Calendar and Period Type
- Advanced Global Intercompany System (AGIS)
- New Bank Account Model Single access point for defining and maintaining bank accounts in AP, AR, Collections, Payroll, CashMgt, & Treasury

Advanced Collections
- Party (Customer) Level Bankruptcy Tracking
- Support for Partial Disputed Transaction Amounts

Assets
- Enh. Mass Additions I/F for Legacy Conversions
- Automated Depr. Rollback for Selected Assets
- Impairments/Unplanned Depreciation Visibility
- Addl. BI Publisher Reports
Cash Management
- Simplified Setup and Streamlined Bank Account Reconciliation
- Reconciliation Success Rates for First Notice Items (FlexMatch)
- Centrally-stored Balance History – Trends and Cash Positions
- Flexible Cash Pooling
- Maintain and Report on Authorized Signatories
Customer Data Hub
- Tax Validation Management with Tax Geography Hierarchy
- DQM Overview Dashboard
- DQM public Application Programming Interface
- Real-time Address Validation for Tax Purposes
e-Business Tax
- Application of Specific Tax Configs to Business Entities
- Tax Simulator and Determination Services
- Customer Tax Information Import
General Ledger
- Allocate Financial Data From One Or More Ledgers To A Different Target Ledger
- Data Access Sets and Ledger Sets
- Journal Batch Copy
- Alternate Account UI
- New Web-based Account Analysis & Drilldown
- Flaggable As Non-Reversable Journal Sources
- Integration to Hyperion DRM and Fusion Acctg Hub
Internet Expenses (iExpense)
- Global Per Diem and Mileage Rates
- Mileage Accumulation
- Automatic Matching of Advance Payments
- Flexible Application of Cash Advances
- Payment Holds and Automatic Notifications
- Enhanced Itemization Controls
- New Audit Expense Report
- Auto-Itemization of Expenses from Visa/AMEX
- Parallel Approvals
- New Header-level Document Attachments
- Support for new iOS/Android Mobile Expenses
Payables
- New User Interface For Supplier Entry And Maintenance
- Centralized Bank Account Definitions (see Summary)
- Improved Invoice Processing with Invoice Lines
- Contract Financing, Retainage, and Progress Terms
- Line-Level Invoice Approval Workflows
- Self-Service Entry for Non-PO Invoices
- Improved iSupplier Portal
- Scheduled AP/AR Netting Batches
Receivables
- Partial Period Revenue Recognition
- Event-based Revenue Management
- New Credit Card Error Handling
- Improved Chargeback Reconciliation
- Oracle Bill Presentment Architecture (BPA)
- Customer Communication – Auto PDF Printing
- New Sweep Invalid Distributions Report Details of the accounting exceptions that are holding the period close for review and action. If the amount involved is not material from the reporting perspective and resolving the accounting exceptions is likely to delay the period close, then the transactions with invalid accounting can be swept to the next open period.
- Automated Auto Lockbox Processing (via CP)
- API Support for Unidentified Receipt Assignments
Subledger Accounting
- Enhanced Multi-Reporting Currency Functionality
- Improved Reporting and Analysis with Supporting References
Treasury
- New Automatic Floating Rate Reset for Bonds
- Automated Cash Pooling Across Legal Entities
- Automatic Bank Account Update for Redirecting Payments to a New Bank Account

Projects- Efficiencies

Project Costing
- Labor Rate Schedules by Criteria
- Enhanced Payroll Integration
- Total Time Costing
- Increased Control and Visibility for Multi-Funded Contingent Workers
- Allocate Funding Based On Time And Expense Entry
- Batch Processing of Mass Adjustments

Procurement- Efficiencies

iProcurement
- Automatic Updates of Encumbrance Dates
- Eligible Information Template Information Stored as Attachments
- Override Employee Charge Account Preference
- Dual Budgetary Controls (Encumbrance Acctg)
- Item Master Attachments Support
- Post-Approved PO Requisition Attachment Support
- PO Import Process Can Use Account GeneratorAuto-generate Charge Accounts during Requisition Import (blank charge accounts)
iSupplier Portal
- Enhanced Prospective Supplier Registration – Adaptive Supplier Onboarding
- E-Kanban Support (Flow Manufacturing)
- Enh. Supplier Contact Information DataURL, Alt. Contact Name/Phone
Purchasing
- Automatic Updates of Encumbrance Dates
- Additional WF Extensions for Custom Validations
Procurement Contracts
- Multiple Templates Applied to Purchasing Docs
- New API’s for Templates, Questions and Constants
- New Clause Descriptor Field
- Clause Mandatory Attribute at Rule Level
- Clause Section Placement by Contract Expert
- Deletion of Provisional Sections from Solicitation to Award
- Instruction Text including URLs
- Multi-Row Contract Clause Variables
- Display and Sort by Clause Number
- Enh. Repository ContractsLicense Agreements, Nondisclosure Agreements, Merger Contracts, Misc. Agreements (user-defined)
- User Defined Attribute support for Deliverables
- Sync/Down/Upload: MS Word 2010 Certification
- Contract Expert Performance Improvements
Sourcing
- Add Requisition lines to a Draft Negotiation
- Ability To Withdraw Responses Submitted On An RFI/RFQ
- Track Supplier Amendment Acknowledgements
- Staggered Awards on Split Negotiations
- Import of Price Breaks and Tiers via Excel
- Negative Cost Factor Support
- New API’s to Create RFIs, RFQs, Auctions and Negotiations
- Online Discussions Attachments and Messaging
- Terms and Conditions Display Controls
- Lot Pricing Summaries (also by Lot Line)
Spend Classification
- Reclassify Historical Data
- Asynchronous Classified Batch Approval Flows
- Enhanced Training Data Upload (up to 100MB)
- Enhanced Knowledge Base Tracking Capability
- Improvements in Analyzing KPI Batches with Excel Export
- Classification Code Reset by Ranges

Human Capital Management- Streamlining, Efficiency

Cross-Module Enhancements
- 30 Country Localization Support
- Managerial Task Checklists
- Bulk Synchronization -> Incremental Sync API
- Future-Dated Terminations, Reversals, Rehires
Payroll
- Purge Process Events
- Quick Retro Pay (single assignment)
- Self-Service Element Entry (w/WF approvals)
Human Resources
- Streamlined Re-hire Processes
- Self-Service Internal Hire Support

Technodiscovery

Smoking – Lox and Hot Smoked Salmon

January 19, 2014 jhlui1 Leave a comment

Applewood Smoked Salmon — Smoked Salmon (L-Hot, R-Cold) 45mins @ 150F

1 – 20oz. Atlantic Salmon filet from CostCo.

24 hrs. marinated in 4 oz. shio koji

24 hrs. air-dried in refrigerator – used cheesecloth to keep it from sticking.

Divided filet in 1/2; both directly placed on wire racks (did not stick due to sufficient oil from the salmon.)

Applewood (about 1 cup, dry chips) smoked for 45 minutes at 150F. Hot smoked version lost about 20% moisture and residual oil – similar to seared Ahi texture. Cold smoked version using top-box method (take any clean cardboard box that fits; place the salmon on a raised wire rack inside the box; cut a hole near a side and/or corner about 1-inch square to fit the smoke vent on the primary smoke box; excess smoke will exit from the top of the box (just interleave the flaps)). Preferably keep the box out of direct sunlight and try to do the smoking either at night when cool, or early morning to keep the temperature inside the box below 90F (similar temperature will work for smoking cheeses without melting them.)

Uncategorized

2014-01 Shinnyo-en Buddhism Podcast – Th

January 14, 2014 jhlui1 Leave a comment

2014-01 Shinnyo-en Buddhism Podcast – The New Year – 2014-01 Shinnyo-en Buddhism Podcast – The New Year Saisho – How to Use the Force Using Diversity to Strengthen and Broaden Community Self-Reflection Leading to Global Peace Subscribe to this Podcast (RSS) or iTunes (Based upon Shinnyo-en’s Annual Guidance and … Continue reading → http://ow.ly/2CWDe6

Shinnyo Podcasts

2014-01 Shinnyo-en Buddhism Podcast – The New Year

January 13, 2014 jhlui1 1 Comment

2014-01 Shinnyo-en Buddhism Podcast – The New Year

Saisho – How to Use the Force
Using Diversity to Strengthen and Broaden Community
Self-Reflection Leading to Global Peace

Subscribe to this Podcast (RSS) or iTunes or via Flipboard

(Based upon Shinnyo-en’s Annual Guidance and Points of Practice for 2014 – Year of the Horse)

In HH Keishu Shinso’s New Year’s address she presented the 2014 guideline including working to extend saisho (lit. spiritual wonders) and our annual practices to include contributing in a loving and kind manner with diversity, and using sesshin (lit. self-reflection) to build our world of friendship. Part of our embodiment of the astrological animal traits, is not to just abide by your own birth year’s characteristics, but to also extend your focus and reach according to each year’s sign, sort of like being re-born each year into that year’s emphasis. Horse years include broadening horizons, openness, gatherings and crowds, and certainly an attraction to many many diverse interests. So with that in mind, let’s explore this year’s guidelines and practice items as a whole.

The concept of saisho can be thought of of being similar to the concept of the “Force” in George Lucas’s Star Wars – an energy which flows through every living thing in the universe, neither created nor destroyed, but simply transitioning from form to form, and state to state.

So if entropy and enthalpy are the scientific study of such energy transitions, what does religion and spirituality do with the same concepts? Well, science does well at interpreting what happens when something occurs, such as when a brain cell is electrically stimulated causing a word to be uttered in a verbal response. And psychologically, we may be able to interpret what natural versus nurtured behavioral elements led to the specific content of those words.

But when someone’s words become altruistic — generated in a way that does not seem to directly extend from internal drives and motives, nor self-satisfying objectives, those we may speak of as being driven through a path other than simple scientific cause and effect. We might think of religion being wrapped around a focus of many miraculous events, such as rising from the dead, or surviving apocalypse, but in reality, there are other forms of “miracles” which we simply need to examine our own history to understand that the definition is temporary. Just 100 years ago, many millions fell victim to invisible virus outbreaks, and bacterial infections which were thought to be terminal (and to some extent brought about by divine retribution.) But as the collective human mind became increasingly open to the concept of “invisible life forms” and synergetic treatments, our own collective suffering diminished in return. A couple thousand years ago, we were pretty sure lead was really safe, and mercury was a form of medicinal cure.

So, the concept of saisho, could simply be humanity’s continued diminishing fear of the unknown (or hard to explain), and embracement of harmonic balance. Wave energy is a good example of harmonic convergence or cancellation. When waves are sent in opposing directions to each other, they tend to cancel each other’s energy, and result in a flattened and still surface devoid of movement. Combining wave forces in the same direction creates reinforcement and greater amplitude and strength than contained within the original separated waves. So as religions and spirituality converge and reinforce, rather than conflict and cancel each other, we may observe a rather miraculous result.

Just as small trickles of melting ice and tiny streams converge towards amazingly huge rivers and oceans, so works the power of diversity, or simply variety. In the early days of Shinnyo-en, when food and resources were scarce, the Shinnyo parents (Shinjo and Tomoji Ito) raised vegetables on the temple grounds and gave them to the neighbors and practitioners Tomoji was known for silently cleaning and polishing attendees shoes while they attended lessons by Shinjo, simply because she thought it would bring a smile to someone’s face if they came out and found them that way. Similarly, the early morning cleaning practices wherein we go out and clean and polish a nearby public place, are not meant to be huge demonstrations in public service, but simple small efforts to make a corner of the world a brighter and more enjoyable place.

Perhaps you leave a thank you card for a co-worker for their efforts, or +1 someone’s post on Google, or have some other way to positively contribute to someone else experience of life – it’s an action that counts. It builds merit. And it is more than deciding NOT to do something.

From the ancient roots of philosophy – being a lover of wisdom, and seeker of universal truth, and contrasted with another ancient word, phronesis – seeking practical truth and comprehension, tempered with life experience, the simple example often given is about conveying words of truth to someone. Philosophically, those words can be harsh and bitter to someone unreceptive to them. Phronetically, one might avoid saying anything at all, as being the practical way to avoid the conflict. But through self-reflection (sesshin), we achieve a third state of placing ourselves into the recipients shoes, so to speak, and choose words which can enlighten the person to what we mean to say, truthfully, but without the pain, conflict, or avoidance. Sometimes this self-reflection leads to discovery that what we thought was something worth saying, wasn’t anything at all, and turned out to be an effort to persuade someone else. Remember that harmony includes diversity, and does not strive towards conformity. Balance depends on the relative weight, mass and distribution of each element, and choosing an arbitrary center doesn’t make something balanced. So, be sure you know your own elements, and embrace your own variety (hint: it’s that self-reflection thing), and choosing your centers of balance will become based upon solid reference points rather than guesswork.