oracle advanced procurement

Oracle Advanced Procurement

Oracle Advanced Procurement automates purchasing to make buyers more productive, improves

management of your supply base and adapts to any procurement process. As the heart of the Oracle

Advanced Procurement suite, Oracle Purchasing provides a rich store of policy and supplier information,

a robust workbench for buying professionals, and consolidated visibility into all spending. Oracle

Purchasing turns demand into orders with the least possible manual work. Configurable automation

executes routine transactions without intervention, making buyers more productive while enforcing

compliance at every step. So procurement professionals spend less time processing paper, and more

time discovering and exploiting new savings opportunities.

Web-Shopping Interface Ensures Rapid Deployment and Adoption

Oracle iProcurement lets you control spending by all employees because it is easy for you to implement

and for them to use. Oracle iProcurement gives employees an intuitive web-shopping interface that is

instantly familiar to anyone who has shopped online. Powerful search features and logically grouped

online “stores” lead users to the products and services they need. Requesters can place and track orders

from any web browser. This web architecture also allows rapid deployment to every employee because

there is no desktop software to install. Your employees have immediate access to the 'iProcurement'

system and an interface they can use right away.

Content Control Guides User Choice

With Oracle iProcurement, Purchasing departments completely control the products, services and views

that employees see; based on organization, responsibilities, and more. The content can be easily loaded

into iProcurement and you can use your existing supplier agreements. Requesters find the items using a

configurable category structure or employ the powerful advanced search capabilities. You can provide

rich information on the items so employees make informed decisions. Suppliers can also manage

content on your behalf. Oracle iProcurement allows users to punch-out to supplier-hosted sites,

returning for checkout and approval. Additionally, iProcurement’s unique Transparent Punch-Out even

allows users to access content from external sites without ever leaving the familiar iProcurement

interface. By providing flexible options for user content, Oracle iProcurement gives you unparalleled

ability to guide employees to make compliant purchasing choices.

Key Functionality of Oracle iProcurement

Catalog Management

Purchasable content is made available for shopping from internal or external sources based on the

organization’s needs.

Shopping

Process where users search for, compare, and select items that they need to purchase. Users can search

the internal catalog, lists, table of contents, and categories. They can also punch out to either supplier-

hosted or marketplace-hosted catalogs to shop. Once found, the items can be quickly added to a

shopping cart.

Checkout and submit

Requestors enter quantities, billing information, and delivery information in the shopping cart for their

order. Their cart contents are converted to a requisition and submitted for approval.

Approval and order creation

Workflow routes requisitions to the correct approvers based on predefined business rules. Approved

requisitions are used to create purchase orders and blanket purchase agreement releases. Additionally,

approved requisitions can be placed on Sourcing RFQs and auctions.

Receive order

Process where users specify information about the delivery of their order.

Buyer Hosted… Supplier Hosted… Online Marketplace Hosted

Extract Local Item content

Base and Local descriptors

Oracle iProcurement Submit Request Data Flow

Once the shopping cart is complete, it is processed:

iProcurement

The shopping cart contents become requisition lines during checkout and are submitted for approval.

Purchasing

The iProcurement requisition becomes part of the requisition pool awaiting action by workflow or

AutoCreate.

Workflow

PO Requisition Approval workflow routes the requisition for approval.

PO Create Documents workflow creates a purchase order or release from the approved requisition.

PO Approval workflow routes the purchase order for approval.

e-Commerce Gateway

Outbound 850

Outbound 860

XML Gateway

New Purchase Order (standard or release)

Verify Profile Options That Impact Oracle iProcurement: Oracle Applications

System Administrator Responsibility

(N) Profile > System

These are a few key profile options. Refer to product user guides for more complete lists.

Audit Trail: Activate

If you want to keep track of the changes made to your data by application users, you should set up Audit

Trail for the relevant tables. Defining Audit Trail for your site involves defining Audit Groups, which are

groups of tables and columns for which you intend to track changes. You then define Audit Installations

to instruct Audit Trail which ORACLE IDs you want to audit. Finally, you run the Audit Trail Update Tables

Report, which allows your Audit Trail definitions to take effect.

Default Country

This is the default source for the Country field for all address zones and is used by the Flexible Address

Formats feature, the Flexible Bank Structures feature and the Tax Registration Number and Taxpayer ID

validation routines.

Help Localization Code

This is the localization code for localized Help files.

GL: Set of Books Name

Specify your set of books. This option also associates a set of books with a responsibility.

Sequential Numbering

Sequential numbering assigns numbers to documents created in the Oracle financial products.

HR: User Type

Use this profile option to limit field access when sharing Oracle Human Resources and Oracle Payroll.

Verify Profile Options That Impact Oracle iProcurement: Oracle Purchasing



These are a few key profile options. Refer to the Oracle Purchasing User’s Guide for a complete list.

PO: Set Debug Workflow On

Used usually by technical support staff only for finding problems with the Oracle Purchasing workflow

processes. The default value is No. The user can view and update this profile option. It can also be

updated at the user, responsibility, application, and site levels.

PO: Workflow Processing Mode

Affects the performance of the Purchasing approval workflow processes:

Online - Completes an entire approval workflow process before letting you proceed to the next activity,

but provides you with an updated Status (for purchase orders) as soon as it finishes.

Background - Enables you to proceed to the next activity while the approval process completes in the

background. When this profile option is set to Background, you must start the Workflow Background

Engine, which you access through the System Administrator responsibility. It is recommended that you

set this process to run frequently, if you are using it for Background mode approvals.

MO: Operating Unit

Determines the operating unit associated with your responsibility.

HR: Cross Business Groups

Affects the suggested buyer functionality by including buyers from different business groups.

HR: Business Group

Associates a business group with a responsibility.

Verify Profile Options That Impact Oracle iProcurement



These are a few key profile options. There were more complete lists of iProcurement profile covered in

earlier sections of this course. See the Oracle iProcurement Implementation Guide for a complete list.

Attachment File Directory

Specifies the directory where attachments are stored.

ICX: Limit connect

Determines the maximum number of page hits per session.

ICX: Limit time

Determines the maximum number of hours a user can be logged on per session.

ICX: Override Location Flag

Determines whether the default deliver-to location on orders can be overridden.

ICX: Override Requestor

Determines whether a user can override the default requestor code and create a requisition for

everyone, the entire organization, or just the user.

POR: Amount Based Services Line Type

Determines the line type for amount-based non-catalog requests.

POR: Goods Line Type

Indicates the line type that should be used for all bulk loaded items and quantity-based non-catalog

requests.

Define Information Templates

Purchasing Super User Responsibility

(N) Setup > Information Templates

Information templates provide a way to capture required information for ordering an item. The example

in the slide might be used to create a business card order. Information templates are created and

associated with an item or category by the purchasing system administrator. These templates list the

attributes field names in which data should be entered. Any of the fields can be designated as

mandatory. These templates are set up in Oracle Purchasing.

Set Up Catalog

Prepare catalogs for requestors by first creating a blanket purchase agreement in Oracle Purchasing.

Then upload item and schema content. Test the catalog (for example, by searching for or requisitioning

the items in the catalog). See the Oracle iProcurement Implementation Guide for more details or refer to

the iProcurement Content Management topic of this course.

What is an iProcurement Store?

As organizations have expanded their use of Oracle iProcurement to additional and distinct key spend

areas, it has become increasingly important to organize content in a way that provides easy access to a

more specific range of goods and services. Using stores, organizations can define an intuitive collection

of content areas. For instance, Oracle iProcurement could be configured to have a Promotional Items

store, an IT store, a Temporary Labor store, a Chemicals store, a Power Equipment store, and an Office

Supplies store. Within a store, items are grouped into content zones to allow access control.

Where Does the Catalog Content Come From?

Catalog content for Oracle iProcurement shopping can come from both internal and external sources.

Note: It is important to keep in mind that the Oracle iProcurement shopper is intended to only see the

online stores that you create as a homogenous catalog. Behind the scenes the content is actually

loaded into Oracle Purchasing blanket purchase agreements and then made available to shoppers in

an easy to navigate environment. Content can also come from marketplace and/or supplier punchouts

as well.

Oracle iProcurement Content Management

You don't define or setup catalogs in Oracle iProcurement. Instead you define content zones. Catalog

Administrators partition local catalog content into local content zones, define punchout or transparent

punchout content zones, and then assign these content zones to stores. The combination of content

zones that you assign to a Store determines what catalog content your users see. This slide indicates

sources and uses of content.

Content Type

Local: Locally hosted catalogs maintained by the buying organization. Provides maximum control over

content and a requester’s access to that content.

Supplier-hosted: A supplier organization provides access to their externally hosted catalogs.

Marketplace-hosted: A third party organization hosts multiple supplier’s catalogs.

Commodities

Direct material: mass-produced mechanical parts; products with pre-negotiated or stable prices;

strategic maintenance, repair, and operation (MRO) items (such as packing material).

Configured products: products requiring high degree of configuration, such as computer hardware or

office furniture; specialized services, such as printing or media services; products with fluctuating prices;

extremely large or specialized catalogs, such as chemical supplies.

Indirect material: office supplies; standard MRO items; products with unstable pricing.

Instructor note: In this slide commodity refers to goods and services, not Oracle Purchasing categories.

Content Type Description SuggestedCommodity

Local iProcurement catalog to

which the buyer adds items.

Direct and indirect material

Local or Buyer-Hosted Content

This approach is best suited for direct material (example: packing material) and is also referred to as a

local content or internal catalog. This type of catalog provides the most local control of content and

access to that content.

Buyer-hosted content comes from following sources:

Upload: Supplier creates an XML, cXML, CIFF or spreadsheet (tab delimited text) file, and the buyer

uploads the file using the eContent Manager.

External Marketplace-Hosted Content

Best suited for indirect material (example: office supplies).

Marketplaces (also known as hubs or third-party hosting services) offer:

A central repository to which suppliers load catalog items and files. One-stop shopping for buyers who

register or shop directly on the hub.

Marketplace product examples:

Oracle Exchange

Supplier-hosted Supplier Web store to which

the buyer links directly.

Configured products

Marketplace-hosted A third party site hosts

catalog items for buyers and

suppliers.

Direct material

Ariba Marketplace

Commerce One MarketSite

i2 TradeMatrix Procurement

Choosing Content

What kinds of items will requesters order?

Local catalog provides the most consistent user interface.

Local catalog is inside the firewall.

Do suppliers already send EDI 832/843 (agreements and quotations)?

Supplier-hosted and marketplace-hosted catalogs put the maintenance in the supplier’s hands.

Supplier-hosted and marketplace-hosted catalogs require more complex security and setup

Requirements of Local Catalogs (Local Content)

Local content requires either of the following:

Quotations, blanket purchase agreements, requisition templates, or system items exist in Oracle

Purchasing.

Supplier has completed XML or tab-delimited text file for uploading to the iProcurement catalog

Requirements of Supplier-Hosted Content

Supplier-hosted content requires the following:

Supplier has set up its site according to Oracle punchout implementation requirements.

Buyer obtains supplier URL and password for setting up access to the site in iProcurement.

Requirements of Marketplace-Hosted Content

Marketplace-hosted content requires the following:

Buyer and supplier registers with marketplace.

Supplier has set up its site according to marketplace punchout implementation requirements.

Buyer obtains marketplace URL and password for setting up access to the site in iProcurement

UTILIZATION OF CATALOG CONTENT

Another way of describing catalogs is in terms of how Oracle iProcurement requesters access the

content.

Oracle iProcurement supports the following types of catalogs:

Local content: Punchout content hosted by a supplier or marketplace

Standard punchout where you shop on remote store

Transparent punchout where your search returns items to iProcurement Informational content (special

variation of local catalog)

CONTROL CONTENT USING CONTENT ZONES

Control what catalog content to show:

Catalog Administrators can partition local catalog content into local content zones based on items’

supplier, supplier site, item category and browsing category information.

Support for inclusion and exclusion rules.

Ability to include Inventory items.

Once defined, Content Zones may be made accessible to users of specific Responsibilities or Operating

Units.

Content zones may be assigned to multiple stores.

Stores may contain multiple content zones.

STORES: PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER…

Stores can be configured to include a combination of local catalogs (content zones) , regular punchout

catalogs, transparent punchout catalogs and even informational catalogs. To ensure stores are easily

configurable by administrators, Oracle iProcurement supports segmentation of local content into unique

supplier catalogs.

Punchout catalogs: Requesters can punch out or link directly to a supplier’s Web store (supplier-hosted

catalog) or a marketplace Web store (marketplace-hosted catalog). After selecting items for purchase,

they return to Oracle iProcurement and proceed through the checkout process.

Transparent Punchout catalogs: Requesters can search for items on an external site (supplier-hosted or

marketplace-hosted catalog) without leaving Oracle iProcurement. From the Search Results page,

requesters add the items to their cart and proceed through the checkout process.

Non-Catalog Requests : Non-catalog requests can be made using non-catalog request templates and/or

Smart Forms.

IPROCUREMENT CATALOG ADMINISTRATION

At the highest level, there are two areas that define the catalog, the catalog content and the catalog

schema. The content is what the requester sees. The schema controls the structure and ultimately the

usability of the content.

The iProcurement Catalog Administration home page provides all the tools you need to manage both

the content and schema in one easy to use work center.

Oracle Content Utilization Types Review

These are the official catalog (or content) “types” as identified in the Oracle iProcurement

Implementation and Administration Guide and the Oracle iProcurement Help. It is important to

understand the distinction between how catalog content is stored and how it is delivered to the Oracle

iProcurement requester.

Type Location Description

Local Oracle iProcurement Content that you load from Oracle Purchasing or enter online.

Punchout Supplier's or marketplace Requester adds items from the external site to the shopping cart

in Oracle iProcurement.

Transparent punchout Supplier's or marketplace Requester shops the external site in the background and returns

the matching items to the Search Results Summary and Search

Results pages.

Informational Oracle iProcurement Instructions, policies, and links for ordering items and services

that may not be supported by the other catalog types.

Local Content

Local or buyer-hosted content is hosted, as the name suggests, by the purchasing organization. A single

catalog is built with product and services information from multiple suppliers. It is used by all

purchasing staff and has a common user interface, no matter which supplier the product or service is

ultimately obtained from. Content can be:

Loaded or directly entered online from Oracle Applications (Purchasing, iProcurement, Sourcing,

Inventory)

Uploaded from any third party content provider.

Updated directly by suppliers using iSupplier Portal (requires Buyer approval).

E-Business Suite Local Content

Oracle E-Business suite categories and items can be easily included in the iProcurement catalog.

Web-enabled Purchasing categories

In Oracle Purchasing or Inventory, enable the purchasing category code for iProcurement.

Tip: If you are going to use many categories from Oracle Applications, there is an open interface

for categories in Oracle Inventory. Detailed information on this Oracle Inventory interface is

available from the Oracle Manufacturing APIs and Open Interfaces Manual.

References:

See the Oracle iProcurement Implementation Guide for additional discussion.

Refer to Practice – Create a Purchasing Category [LAB02BDY]

Refer to Practice – Create Items [LABP0208]

UPLOADING LOCAL CONTENT

The Upload process uses CIF, cXML, XML, or spreadsheet (tab-delimited text) file that supplier creates

and buyer uploads to add large amounts of data to the internal catalog. If only small amounts of data

need to be added or maintained, you can use the online authoring feature.

You can use uploading to add and maintain buyer-hosted content. For example, uploaded items can

augment items already entered into the iProcurement catalog.

You can upload items in addition to items you’ve entered.

You can modify items using your upload file. Basically, uploading lets you specify more information

about items than the item master or other sources may allow.

UPLOAD CONTENT: RESOURCE FILES

iProcurement Catalog Administration Responsibility

(N) iProcurement Catalog Administration Home Page > (T) Agreements > (L) Summary > (B) Upload > (B)

Download Resources

Upload file template

Upload file example

List of line types, job codes, and categories

Contents vary depending on upload file type:

Text

XML

CIF

cXML

CONTENT UPLOAD AND DOCUMENT TYPES

You can upload content to three Oracle Purchasing document types:

Global Blanket Purchase Agreement

Blanket Purchase Agreement

Quotation

When using the content upload feature you must specify the document to which your content is going

to be added. The three document types are specified in the above slide. The actual upload is performed

in different places within iProcurement depending on which document type you are updating.

Global Blanket Purchase Agreement

1. (N) iProcurement Catalog Administration home page

2. (T) Agreement

3. Search for the global agreement you wish to upload items to, select it, and open it for update.

4. Select Via Upload from the Add Lines list and click Go.

5. Identify your upload file and related information.

6. (B) Submit

Blanket Purchase Agreement or Quotation

1. (N) iProcurement Catalog Administration home page

2. (T) Agreement

3. (L) Upload

4. On the View Document Upload History page click Upload.

5. Select your document type, number, upload file, and related information.

6. (B) SubmitSRC1490129678