iProcurement Setup

iProcurement Setups [not BR100]

Written by Anil Passi   -

Sunday, 26 November 2006 Information brought to this site ONLY for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSE! Ref: http://oracle.anilpassi.com/iprocurement-setups-not-br100.html

This is not a comprehensive BR100, but this article will give you an outline of the steps to implement Oracle iProcurement using Punchouts.

I will try to cover as many steps for full cycle iProcurement implementation using Punchouts. This is due to email requests & the comment requests that I received to write something on iProcurement implementation.

What is a punchout?In your iProcurement homepage, your suppliers can raise requisition to buy items like stationary. By punchout, we integrate iProcurement with Suppliers website. From a users perspective below steps take place:-
1. Buyer logs into iProcurement Homepage
2. Buyer then sees various suppliers for which punchouts are enabled [depending on their security via realm & secured attributes]
3. Buyer clicks on a stationary supplier and browser displays supplier’s website.

4. Buyer selects the items on supplier website and adds them to his cart.
5. Buyer checks out the basket from Suppliers iStore [website]

6. The items selected are brought in as “Shopping Basket in iProcurement”
7. Requisition is created in iProcurement and sent for Approval [can be auto approved].


Typical iProcurement Steps [assuming no encumbrances setup] a. Create Requisition
b. Approve Requisition
c. Auto-create & auto-approve Purchase Orders for approved requisitions.
d. Send PO XML to Supplier [if approver is setup as trading partner for XML PO]
e. Create receipts for goods [optional depending on setup]
-----Other non iProc steps----
f. Supplier sends Invoice electronically [posts to your XML Gateway electronically]
g. Invoice is Matched, Approved & Paid

Account Generation for iProcurement Requisition
Decide the rules for your account generation. For this you will need to customize “PO Requisition Account Generator”. For details of account generator implementation visit link Account Generation using Workflow .
You may also visit Rebuilding Generated Account in iProcurement 11.5.10 using OA Framework

PO Create Documents WorkflowIn iProc you create Requisitions, which then get converted to a Purchase Order using workflow “PO Create Documents”.
In this workflow, you must examine & modify the default values of following attributes[sample defaults values listed below]:-
            Is Automatic Creation Allowed  -- Y
                        Should PO be created from iProc requisition without user intervention.

            Is Automatic Approval Allowed – Y
            Should Contract be used to auto create Doc  Y

            Should non-catalog request be auto sourced from contract  Y

            Is Contract Required on Requisition Line  N

There could be other attributes of your interest, but my implementation involved usage of contracts to create Purchase Orders. We have a blanket contract against each iProc supplier. The values above for those attributes are merely indicative of one scenario.

PO Requisition Approval Workflow
Similarly for workflow “PO Requisition Approval”, assign a default value for attribute
            Send PO Auto-creation to Background N

This means, as soon as a Requisition is approved, the creation of Purchase Order is kicked off [rather than wait for workflow background process]

Charge Account Flexfield Display-Prior to 11.5.10
If you are not on 11.5.10, then you would be using AK Developer.
Prior to 11.5.10, You will modify below AK regions to enable region items POR_CHARGE_ACCT_SEG1...X [depending upon the number of segments in your accounting flexfield.]
POR_BILLING_CHARGE_ACCOUNT_R
POR_BILLING_MULT_CHARGE_AC_R

You will also set the profile options to relate to those regions for Accounting KFF
POR: Edit Account Regions: POR_BILLING_CHARGE_ACCOUNT_R
POR: Multiple Account Regions: POR_BILLING_MULT_CHARGE_AC_R


Charge Account Flexfield Display-On or after 11.5.10
You can use personalization to decide which segments are visible in Accounting Flexfield in iProc. Hence you no longer have to touch the “AK Developer”



Indicative Profile options for iProcurement [Assuming punchout implemented & no local hosting of catalogs]

Profile	Site	Note
Indicate Attachments	Yes	Show attachment icon
INV: Dynamic Precision Option	-9999990
PO: Terms and Conditions File Name	No need for Punchouts
MO:  Operating Unit	Your operating Unit
ICX:  Days Needed By	4 --Change as you  desire
ICX:  Override Location Flag	Yes
ICX:  Override Requestor	By All
ICX: Allow Funds Override	No
POR:  Amount Based Services Line Type	Services
POR:  Approved Pricing Only	No
POR : CA Certificate File Name	In ApacheTop/conf/ssl.crt/ca-bundle.crt	Used for https punchout
POR: Emergency Requisitions Restrict To Templates	No
POR:  Goods Line Type	Goods
POR: Override Supplier P-card	No
POR:  Parallel Routing Allowed	No
POR : Proxy Server Name		Leave this blank
POR : Proxy Server Port		Leave this blank
POR:  Rate Based Services Line Type	Service Quantity
POR: Sort By Relevance	No
POR:  System Approvers Are Mandatory	Yes
POR:  Use Sequence for Requisition Numbering	No
POR: Catalog Bulk Load Directory		Ignore for punchout
POR: Catalog Bulk Load Host	Default	Ignore for punchout
POR:  Default Currency Conversion Rate Type	Corporate	Change as you wish
POR:  Edit Accounts Regions	POR_BILLING_CHARGE_ACCOUNT_R
POR:  Enable Requisition Line Customisation	Yes
POR: Extract BPA/Quote Images	Yes
POR: Help Path	DBA	For help customisations
POR:  Hosted Images Directory		Ignore for punchout
POR: Items Display Num
POR:  Load Auto Category	No
POR:  Multiple Accounts Region	POR_BILLING_MULT_CHARGE_AC_R	Prior to 11.5.10
POR:  One Time Location
POR: Purge Commit Size	2500
POR:Purge Jobs Older Than (days)	30
POR:  ROWS DISPLAY NUM
POR:  Result Set Size	10
POR:  SSP Version	5
POR:  SSP4 Installed	Yes
POR: Select Internal Requisition for Confirm Receipt	No
POR:  Select Inventory Replenishment Lines for Confirm Receipt	No
POR:Allow Manual Selection of Source	Yes
POR:Display Search Box and Browse Categories	No
POR:  Load Auto Attrib	No
POR:  Load Auto Root	No
ECE: Output File Path	$XXICX_TOP/out
ECX: Log File Path	/usr/tmp
ECX: OAG_LOGICALID	www.anilpassi.com	Your company domain
ECX: Server Time Zone	GMT
ECX: System Administrator Email Address	anilpassi@gmail.com
ECX: XSLT File Path	/usr/tmp
PO:  Workflow Processing Mode	Online
RCV:  Processing Mode	On-line
PO: In File Path	No need for Punchouts

Define Approval Groups
Define Approval Groups [In Purchasing super User]
For example, assuming the below approval groups is assigned to Buyer named Anil Passi, this approval group means that Anil Passi can work on documents upto  $5000, within all accounting range of Company and Cost Centre [because 00 to ZZ covers everything].
Similarly you may also exclude a range. In this implementation example, I am assuming one Approval Group per person. You could have one to many relation too.

Once you have defined Approval Groups, you can  use Approval Assignments screen to assign approval rules to Positions or Jobs defined in HRMS.



Assign Approval Group
Effectively in this screen, you give ability to your buyers to Approve different document types like Requisitions, Blankets, Contracts within the restrictions as they were defined in Approval Groups(prior step)

Define Document Types
The different attributes are self explanatory. Refer to Metalink for details.
The example in screenshot displays Document type for Purchase order, but the setup must be configured for other Document Types being used too.

Define Line Types
You can define the default information for a line type. Line types can identify transactions involving goods, services, outside processing, or any line type you define. They allow you to distinguish between quantity-based and amount-based transactions.

Note: When you have set the Line Types up you can go back and complete these  Profiles Options, as in screenshot  below:

Define Financial OptionsIn this screen, some of the fields are used for defaulting and some other fields for defining the behaviour of iProcurement/Purchasing. The setup here is done per Operating Unit. Here within Accounting Tab, you specify accounts like Liability, Prepayment, Discount accounts.
Also Specify the following here  - Whether supplier numbering is manual or automatic.
  - Default payment terms for [say  1month], and default payment type like Electronic.
  -Specify FOB, Default inventory location and ship to and bill to, freight etc
  -Encumbrance :- specify whether you use encumbrance and the type
  - Default tax code
  -VAT registration number of Operating unit

Define Purchasing OptionsAgain, this screen is defined per Operating unit, and it drives defaults & various controls in Purchasing & iProcurement.
Specify various controls like Min release amount , Price Break Type, Price Type(say fixed).
Define Accrual rules and Expense AP accrual account.
Define price tolerance rules, tax defaults & document type numbering.


Define Receiving OptionsVarious receipts related setup per Operating Unit, like Tolerance, Substitute Receipt Allowed.


Define transaction reasonsYour client specific setup, refer Metalink. Primarily this is an inventory function.


Define locationsThe locations/Office Address where your suppliers will deliver goods and also send invoices.


Define Employees          Use this screen in PO if you do not have full HRMS Suite installed, in which case you would be using shared HR installed [cutdown version of HRMS to support Purchasing].


Define BuyersDefine the people that can use Application to create and approve documents.


Category Search DisplayNot needed for punchout implementations.

“XML Gateway” responsibility: Define HubsUse this form to define the hubs via which XML documents will be sent & received. If you are using Exchange for punching out, then your setup will look like below

XML Gateway Responsibility: Define Transactions

Here you indicate, the type of Documents you wish to exchange with your suppliers using XML

XML Gateway Responsibility: Define Trading Partner
In this screen you will create a record for each Supplier with whom you wish to exchange XML Documents electronically.
For example, if you wish to send XML Purchase Orders to “Go 4 Gold Management Ltd”, then you will create an entry similar to below. The connection can either be direct or via exchange server.


You will also capture trading party’s DUNS numbers in this screen.
During the implementations you usually use testexchange.oracle.com.
The DUNS number for the supplier also needs to be entered in the EDI Location field against supplier site in Vendor Definition Screen.

The DUNS number for your implementation client needs to be entered in the EDI Location field on Other Details section of Location form for Client location[lets say your client for which iProc is being implemented is “XX Machine Inc”].

Process PO 007 is an OAG standard that dictates the structure of XML document which your supplier will receive.

For those that do not know, PO007 is nothing but an Approved Purchase Order sent to the supplier. Its format is XML.
To see its structure, on your middle tier, review the dtd file as listed below. $PO_TOP/xml/oag71/003_process_po_007.dtd

Oracle Apps uses XML Gateway to generate the PO-007 file.

How is this PO 007 file generated?FTP the xgm file to you PC from $PO_TOP/patch/115/xml/US/process_po_007.xgm

Open that file in XML Gateway Message designer
You will notice that message designer reads information from views like  ITG_PO_HEADER_ARCH_V  [Prior to 11.5.10 it was PO_ECX_HEADER_ARCH_V]
iProcurement uses the XML Gateway engine in conjunction with PO-007 message definition to generate PO007 XML document.

Configure your Exchange setupGiven that in this setup, we will use Oracle’s exchange server to send PO Documents to supplier, hence we need to enable this Document Type[PO 007] in exchange[for the company implementing iProc]

Logon to exchange.oracle.com or the testexchangeNavigate to Application Setup tab/ Transaction Delivery
Select the document type PROCESS_PO_007 and edit
Set the communication method and click Apply

Your Supplier will have to register on Oracle Exchange Server too.To begin with, during implementation, each  supplier must register themselves on http://testexchange.oracle.com
Your supplier does the below:-Clicks on Registration on testexchange, and selects the option to register as an affiliate of your client.
Say your client is “XX Machine Inc”, hence your supplier will search & select “XX Machine Inc”. Supplier will be prompted to enter further details.
Following this, your client will have to approve the request for Supplier’s registration.
Supplier Enables PROCESS_PO_007 for themselves on the Exchange
The sequence of flow for PO 007 in this case is…
XX Machine Inc-->PO 007-->Exchange server-->Supplier

Hence Supplier needs to enable “PO 007” for themselves on the exchange serverFor this your Supplier does the below steps:-
Login to the testexchange (i.e. exchange.oracle.com  after testing during goLive).
Clicks on Transaction Delivery under Company Administration
Selects Sales Order Outbound (PROCESS_PO_007) [going out  from Exchange, becoming sales order in Suppliers System]
Under transaction type they select delivery method HTTPS etc
They specify their URL on server which where exchange will post the PO 007 XML doc.... https://inboundpo...
They also need to specify other connection details to their server like port number, userid password etc.
Exchange server will use those credentials to connect  and post the XML PO Document[PO 007]

Note: Oracle Exchange supports various protocols like http,https,smtp . The supplier selects a protocol based on the protocols their server supports.

Supplier Enables themselves for PunchOut on the Exchange Server

Oracle supports both cXML ad XML punchouts. Hence the supplier must support one of these two options.
Supplier does the following steps to enable punchouts:-Logs in to TestExchange Server or the Exchange Server
Clicks on “setup punchout”
Enters their punchout URL, userid password for their iStore.
Select XML or cXML and then clicks on APPLY.
Supplier can then test whether their punchout setup works by punching out to their iStore from testexchange/exchange.

”XX Machine Inc” reviews suppliers PunchoutClient “XX Machine Inc” logs into testexchange or exchange server, and navigates to “Control Punchout Access” and accepts Suppliers Punchout definition.


”XX Machine Inc” makes Oracle EBS aware of the Punchout setup
It is possible that with some suppliers, you would like to Punchout to their iStores via exchange, and for the other suppliers you may like to punchout directly to their iStore.
I am detailing both the scenario’s below.

Scenario 1 Use the Supplier punchout definition from Exchange
Navigate to Internet iProcurement Catalog Administrator.

As in picture above, by downloading[click on download], you will bring into Oracle, all the Punchout Suppliers that are enabled for your business in exchange.

Scenario 2 Create Supplier punchout definition directly in Oracle Apps eCatalog Mgr

If  you were not to be using Exchange, then you will have to create the Punchout definition from scratch in Oracle Apps itself.
For this, click on “Manage Content” in responsibility “Internet iProcurement Catalog Administrator”
Click on create catalog

Select Punchout catalog and click on continue

As in picture above, we select Supplier and Direct Punchout.
Given that you are creating Punchout definition of the supplier from scratch straight in Oracle Apps, you then need to enter information in below fields like Punchout URL, Encoding Method, password etc.

NOTE: As you may have noticed, effectively we are trying to create a punchout definition in Oracle Apps…either by downloading the Supplier’s punchout definition from exchange or by directly creating the Punchout definition in Oracle Apps.

Display the punchout site on iProcurement HomepageThis will be the last step. You need to define a store that is attached to the punchout catalog definition.

For this Click on create store in responsibility “Internet iProcurement Catalog Administrator”

This finishes the punch-out setup with your Supplier.

Further notes:-
1. Your suppliers punchout basket may contain items with UOMs that are not defined in Oracle Apps inventory module. In this case, you must navigate to responsibility “eCommerce Gateway” and define those mappings using menu “Code Conversion Values”
2. As per the OAG format, the item category used in punchout baskets is 8 digit UNSPSC code. Effectively UNSPSC code is a global code for item categories. However in Oracle EBS, we implement Item Categories using Key FlexField for Item Categories. For a 3 segment Item category flexfield in inventory, your item category may look like AA.BB.CC. This value of AA.BB.CC must be mapped with the UNSPSC codes that your suppliers will be sending for their item categories. This definition is mapped in the same screen under “eCommerce Gateway”.