Deciding key flex field structure is an important decision in any organization while implementing Oracle application. When it comes to fixed assets, before defining the key flexfield structures proper planning needs to be done on the design as these flex field segments / structures cannot be changed at a later stage and the segments defined in these flex fields are applicable at instance level and all the books defined in that particular instance will be using the same asset key flex field structures. So these flex fields needs to be designed keeping in mind the current as well as future requirements of the business.
In Fixed assets we have 3 key flex fields i.e
1. Asset Key Flexfield – Oracle Assets uses the asset key flex field to group your assets by non-financial information. You design your asset key flex field to record the information you want. Then you group your assets by asset key so you can find them without an asset number.
You define your asset key flexfield structure to fit the specific needs of your organization. You choose the number of segments, the length of each segment, and the name and order of each segment in your asset key flexfield. You can define up to ten asset key segments. This key flexfield supports only one structure.
2. Asset Category Flex field- Define the category flexfield to fit the way you group your assets. In Category flexfield structure, you must enable the major category qualifier to one segment and you can also define up to six subcategory segments.
Even this flex field is a instance level setup and all the books defined in that instance will use the same category flex field structure / Segments. The maximum number of segments allowed for this flexfield is 7 and each segment can have 30 characters.
3. Location Flexfield – Assets use the location flexfield to group your assets by physical location. You design your location flexfield to record the location information you want. Then you can report on your assets by location. This flex field structure needs to be defined carefully so that exact physical location of the asset can be tracked using this flexfield. If you do business internationally (or plan to do so in the future), you may want to track the country an asset is in. Other segments you may want include are state, city, and site. If you track asset location to more detail, such as for barcoding, you can also add segments for building and room number.
You need to decide how many levels (segments) your location structure needs. Currently you can define up to six other location segments excluding the State segment.
For information on each of these flexfields, refer Oracle Assets user guide