Organizational Hierarchy

What is Organizational Hierarchy (RMS)?

In Oracle Retail Merchandising System (RMS), the Organizational Hierarchy is the foundational structure used to model a retailer’s organization for operational responsibility and consolidated reporting. RMS uses this hierarchy to roll up information at different levels and to assign responsibility by organizational unit.

Default levels (highest to lowest)

1. Company – The highest level in RMS; only one company is defined and it is the top of the hierarchy.
2. Chain – The first level below Company; flexible and often used to group formats/concepts/geographies.
3. Area – Typically a geographic grouping; each Area belongs to a single Chain.
4. Region – A lower geographic grouping; each Region belongs to a single Area.
5. District – Used to group locations; each District belongs to a single Region.
6. Store – The lowest level; can be physical, virtual (e-commerce), or other selling/customer location types; each Store belongs to one District.
7. Warehouse/Distribution Center (DC) – A supply node that holds and moves inventory; warehouses are not placed under District/Region because they serve multiple Regions/Districts (and sometimes multiple Chains). They sit alongside the retail hierarchy as independent locations and are linked to Stores via sourcing/replenishment/allocation relationships rather than by hierarchy membership.

Correction vs. your draft:

• Division/Zone/Location are not the default RMS organizational hierarchy levels.
• Department/Class/Subclass belong to the merchandise hierarchy, not the organizational hierarchy.

Why it matters (RMS context)

• Consolidated reporting at multiple rollup levels (Company → Chain → … → Store).
• Responsibility assignment by organizational unit (who owns what level/store set).
• Operational structuring for how the retailer manages locations (especially geographic grouping).

Corrected example

• Company: Global Retail Corp
• Chain: Specialty Stores
• Area: West
• Region: California
• District: Bay Area
• Store: Store 101 (San Francisco)
• Warehouse/Distribution Center (DC) (Warehouse/Distribution Center (DC) 

Store Fields :

1. STORE

• What: Unique store number.
• Example: 1203

2. STORE_NAME

• What: Full store name.
• Example: Downtown Seattle

3. STORE_NAME10

• What: 10-char store name abbreviation.
• Example: DTN-SEA-01

4. STORE_NAME3

• What: 3-char abbreviation.
• Example: SEA

5. STORE_NAME_SECONDARY

• What: Secondary/alternate store name.
• Example: Seattle – 5th Ave

6. STORE_CLASS

• What: Class code A–E for tiering/segmentation.
• Example: A (flagship), C (standard)

7. STORE_MGR_NAME

• What: Store manager name.
• Example: Jamie Lee

8. STORE_OPEN_DATE

• What: Opening date.
• Example: 2019-05-15

9. STORE_CLOSE_DATE

• What: Closing date (if closed/planned).
• Example: 2027-01-31

10. ACQUIRED_DATE

• What: Date company acquired the store.
• Example: 2018-12-01

11. REMODEL_DATE

• What: Last major remodel date.
• Example: 2023-08-20

12. FAX_NUMBER

• What: Store fax.
• Example: +1-206-555-0142

13. PHONE_NUMBER

• What: Store phone.
• Example: +1-206-555-0100

14. EMAIL

• What: Store/location email.
• Example: seattle1203@retailco.com

15. TOTAL_SQUARE_FT

• What: Total gross square footage.
• Example: 32,000

16. SELLING_SQUARE_FT

• What: Sales floor square footage.
• Example: 24,500

17. LINEAR_DISTANCE

• What: Merchandisable linear space (e.g., shelf feet/meters).
• Example: 5,800 ft of shelf

18. VAT_REGION

• What: VAT region ID.
• Example: UK-03

19. VAT_INCLUDE_IND

• What: Are VAT taxes included in ticketed prices? Y/N.
• Example: Y (VAT-inclusive pricing)

20. STOCKHOLDING_IND

• What: Store holds inventory? Y/N.
• Example: Y (receives stock, has on-hand)

21. CHANNEL_ID

• What: Channel association in multichannel setups.
• Example: 1 = Stores, 2 = Outlet

22. STORE_FORMAT

• What: Store format/type code.
• Example: 10 = Flagship, 30 = Express

23. MALL_NAME

• What: Mall name if applicable.
• Example: Pacific Place

24. DISTRICT

• What: District identifier.
• Example: D07

25. TRANSFER_ZONE

• What: Transfer zone code for logistics.
• Example: TZ-NW-1

26. DEFAULT_WH

• What: Default supplying warehouse/DC.
• Example: WH-SEA-01

27. STOP_ORDER_DAYS

• What: Days before closing the store stops accepting orders.
• Example: 7 (stop 7 days before close)

28. START_ORDER_DAYS

• What: Days before opening the store starts accepting orders.
• Example: 14 (start 2 weeks before open)

29. CURRENCY_CODE

• What: Operating currency.
• Example: USD

30. LANG

• What: Language code.
• Example: en_US

31. TRAN_NO_GENERATED

• What: Level for unique POS/store transaction numbers.
• Values: S = Store, R = Register.
• Example: R (each register issues its own sequence)

32. INTEGRATED_POS_IND

• What: POS integrated to RMS? Y/N.
• Example: Y (automated sales feed)

33. ORIG_CURRENCY_CODE

• What: Original currency before Euro adoption.
• Example: ITL

34. DUNS_NUMBER

• What: D‑U‑N‑S number for the store.
• Example: 12-345-6789

35. DUNS_LOC

• What: D‑U‑N‑S location identifier.
• Example: 001

36. SISTER_STORE

• What: Related store ID for historical linkage.
• Example: 1189 (predecessor location)

37. TSF_ENTITY_ID

• What: Transfer entity foreign key (logistics org).
• Example: 20017

38. ORG_UNIT_ID

• What: Organizational unit ID (HR/finance mapping).
• Example: OU-SEA-12

39. AUTO_RCV

• What: Allow automatic receiving? Y/N/D (default).
• Example: D (use system default)

40. REMERCH_IND

• What: Store flagged for remerchandising (AIP integration).
• Example: Y (in reset program)

41. STORE_TYPE

• What: Company vs franchise indicator.
• Example: Company

42. WF_CUSTOMER_ID

• What: Customer ID for workflow/CRM linkage.
• Example: 983421

43. TIMEZONE_NAME

• What: Time zone (IANA format).
• Example: America/Los_Angeles

44. CUSTOMER_ORDER_LOC_IND

• What: Store can fulfill/sourced by OMS? Y/N (company stores only).
• Example: Y (BOPIS enabled)

45. CREATE_ID

• What: User who created the record.
• Example: admin_rms

46. CREATE_DATETIME

• What: Record creation timestamp.
• Example: 2018-10-11T14:22:05Z

Warehouse Fields :

Column	What it means (simple)	Example value
WH (PK)	Unique warehouse number (physical or virtual).	1001
WH_NAME	Main warehouse name.	Dallas DC
WH_NAME_SECONDARY	Secondary/alternate name.	Dallas Distribution Center
EMAIL	Location contact email.	dallasdc@retailer.com
VAT_REGION (FK)	Value Added Tax (VAT) region where the warehouse is located.	12
ORG_HIER_TYPE	Org level used for reporting (e.g., 1=Company, 10=Chain, 20=Area, 30=Region, 40=District, 50=Store).	30
ORG_HIER_VALUE	The code for that org level (e.g., specific region number).	3010
CURRENCY_CODE (FK)	Operating currency (ISO 3‑letter code).	USD
PHYSICAL_WH (FK)	For a physical warehouse: equals its own WH; for a virtual warehouse: points to its assigned physical WH.	1001
PRIMARY_VWH (FK)	Default virtual warehouse used when only a physical WH is given on a transaction.	2001
CHANNEL_ID (FK)	Channel the virtual warehouse is for (e.g., retail, e‑commerce).	2
STOCKHOLDING_IND	Whether this location “holds stock” for that context (often Y for virtual, N for physical in multi‑channel).	Y
BREAK_PACK_IND	Whether it can ship less than case quantity (Y/N).	Y
REDIST_WH_IND	Whether it’s a redistribution warehouse used when final ship‑to is unknown at PO time (Y/N).	N
DELIVERY_POLICY	Delivery behavior when a location is closed (e.g., “next day” vs “next valid delivery day” per your code list).	NEXTDY
RESTRICTED_IND	For multi‑channel proration: restricts this virtual WH from receiving “unassigned” inbound stock unless all are restricted (Y/N).	N
PROTECTED_IND	For multi‑channel allocation: this virtual WH is affected last when removing stock (and affects priority in short shipments) (Y/N).	Y
FORECAST_WH_IND	Whether the warehouse is included in forecasting feeds (Y/N).	Y
ROUNDING_SEQ	Groups virtual warehouses for rounding and defines which one gets the rounding difference; value is a virtual WH number.	2001
REPL_IND	Whether the warehouse is replenishable (Y/N).	Y
REPL_WH_LINK	Replenishable warehouse linked to this virtual WH for net inventory calculations.	2001
REPL_SRC_ORD	Order/priority used when sourcing inventory from linked warehouses (often 1,2,3…).	1
IB_IND	Whether it’s an investment buy warehouse (Y/N).	N
IB_WH_LINK	Investment buy warehouse linked to this virtual WH for net inventory calculations.	3001
AUTO_IB_CLEAR	Whether investment buy inventory auto‑transfers to the “turn/replenishable” warehouse when orders are received (Y/N).	Y
DUNS_NUMBER	9‑digit D‑U‑N‑S Number identifying the warehouse.	123456789
DUNS_LOC	DUNS location suffix/segment used to identify a specific location under a DUNS context.	0001
TSF_ENTITY_ID (FK)	Transfer entity ID (a group of locations sharing legal requirements for product management).	55
FINISHER_IND	Whether this virtual WH is an internal finisher location (Y/N).	N
INBOUND_HANDLING_DAYS	Days needed to receive and put away items so they’re pick‑ready.	2
ORG_UNIT_ID (FK)	Oracle organizational unit identifier.	101234567890123
VWH_TYPE	Virtual warehouse type sent in location downloads to “AIP” (system name varies by implementation).	ECOM
ORG_ENTITY_TYPE	Entity role: R=regular, M=importer, X=exporter (default R).	R
CUSTOMER_ORDER_LOC_IND	For virtual warehouses only: can be used by OMS (Order Management System) for sourcing/fulfillment (Y/N). Physical WH is typically NULL.	Y
CREATE_ID	User ID that created the record.	RMSADMIN
CREATE_DATETIME	Date/time the record was created.	2026-02-03 10:15:00
DEFAULT_WH	Default warehouse linked to the virtual warehouse.	1001