Installed Base in R12

Oracle Installed Base is an item instance life cycle tracking application that facilitates enterprise-wide life cycle item management and tracking capability.
You specify which items you want to track in the Master Item list in Oracle Inventory. Subsequently, when a particular real-world instance of the item is created, an item instance record is created in Oracle Installed Base. Any significant changes to the item instance will also be recorded in Oracle Installed Base.

Tangible Items
Item instances can be used to track tangible items, that is, physical, real-world objects, that can be assembled and shipped, such as computers, engines, machine parts, and so on.
Intangible Items
Item instances can be used to track intangible items such as software, services, licenses, and agreements. For example, a telephone number can have different services such as call waiting and conference call. These can all be defined and tracked as components of the telephone service.
Serialized Items
When a trackable item is defined in Oracle Inventory as serialized, each item instance derived from that item requires a unique serial number and individual tracking. The item instance will always have a quantity of 1.
Non-Serialized Items
When a trackable item is defined in Oracle Inventory as non-serialized, it is typically for smaller objects whose real-world instances do not require individual tracking. For example, a screw could be defined as a non-serialized, trackable item; an order for 100 screws would result, after order shipping, in the creation of one item instance, with  quantity 100.