R12 Oracle Sourcing Setups

Introduction:

This Document intended to illustrate Step By Step Setup Steps for R12 Oracle Sourcing.

Table of Content:

1-      About Oracle Sourcing.

2-      EBS Application Implementation and Integration for Oracle Sourcing.

3-      Implementing Oracle Sourcing.

About Oracle Sourcing

P2P

in Oracle R12 the P2P Cycle  covers the entire process of  product or service procurement to the final payment 

P2P Phases:

The different phases of P2P life cycle involves:

-      Souring.

·                                                         Create and Manage Negotiations ( RFx, Auctions).

·                                                         Supplier Management.

·                                                         Contract Negotiations and Awards.

·                                                         Catalog Content Management.

-      Ordering.

·         Requisition and Purchase Order generation.

·         Purchase order management and fulfillments.

·         Payment.

-      Reporting.

-      Analysis.

About Sourcing

Oracle Sourcing Offers Flexible negotiations capabilities for both buyers and sellers, enabling them to efficiently obtain the best price for goods and services.

Prices are established based on actual supply and demand at the time negotiation is transacted.

The following are the available Negotiation types (Document Types) in oracle sourcing:

RFI:  Request for Information used to qualify supplier and their goods or services.

RFQ:  enables Buyers to collect quotes for complex and hard defined goods or services.

Auctions: enables buyers to solicit Bids for goods and services that are clearly defined.

With oracle sourcing organizations can:

1-      Source more for there spends.

2-      Source for lowest total cost.

3-      Create immediate and long-term saving.

EBS Application Implementation and Integration for Oracle Sourcing.

The following setup steps are the steps needed to be implemented in other Oracle E-business Suite Applications. These steps are required for Oracle Sourcing to run.

Required Setup Steps:

-      Setup system administrator.

-      Setup accounting flexfields.

-      Setup Calendar, currencies, and set of book.

-      Define human resource key flexfields.    

-      Define locations.

-      Define organizations and organizations relationship.

-      convert to Multi- Org.

-      Define Inventory Key flexfields.

-      Define UOM.

-      Define categories.

-      Setup personnel.

-      Open inventory and purchasing accounting periods.

-      Define purchasing options.

-      Define buyers.

-      Define financial options.

-      Define receiving options.

Optional Setup Steps:

-      Setup Oracle workflow.

-      Define Fright Carriers.

-      Define Payment Terms.

-      Define Lookups Codes.

Implementing Oracle Sourcing

Setup Profile Options:

Profile	Value
PO: Allow Autocreation of Oracle Sourcing Documents	Yes
PO: Display the Auto created Document	Yes
PON: Enable Sourcing Award Approval	Yes
PON: Supplier Transaction History Time Period	Number indecaicts period of day in
PON: Automatically Default Catalog Attributes	All
PON:External Application Framework Agent	URL will be used for the links in notifications sent to suppliers.
POA: DBI Implementation	Yes
POS: External URL	URL used to construct the link to supplier registration page as well as the external abstract page
Self-Service Accessibility Features
Sourcing Default Responsibility for External User	Sourcing Supplier

Assigning Sourcing Responsibility:

 

Create Employee

Navigation Path:

HRMS ( R) è Pepoleè Enter and maintain.

When creating user profile make sure that each user profile contains the first name, last name and e-mail address.

Creating Application User and Assign responsibility

Navigation Path:

System Administrator (R) è Security è User è Define.

Defining Buyer Security ( Optional)

to enable buyers security:

1-      run the replicate seeded data program.

As soon as the program has been run, Oracle sourcing will use the security levels of public as the default for all sourcing documents.

To change the security levels perform the following steps:

Navigation Path:

1-      Purchasing ( R) è Setupè Purchasing è Document Type 

2-      Select the appropriate operating unit and click GO.

3-      Click update for the document type used by Oracle Sourcing (Sourcing Buyer Auction, Sourcing RFQ, Sourcing RFI)

4-      Select the new security level (Public, Private, or Hierarchy) from the security Level drop down menu.

5-      Click Apply to add the new security Level.

Set Up Attribute Groups and Requirement Sections

Navigation Path:

Application Developer ( R) è Applications è Looks è Application Object Library.

Steps:

1-   Query PON%GROUPS.

This will returns the two Looks:

-      PON_HEADER_ATTRIBUTE_GROUPS

-      PON_LINE_ATTRIBUTE_GROUPS.

Set Up Negotiations Configuration

Setting the default ranking display

1-      Navigate to Sourcing Super User ( R)è Negotiation Home pageè Administration Tabè  Negation Setup Section è Negotiation Configuration URL

To choose a ranking indicator

Select the rank form the Rank Indicators which is displayed to negotiation creators and respondents throughout the negotiation process

To allow creator to override the rank values check the allow box.

Specifying visibility in blind auctions and RFQs:

Participants in blind auctions/RFQs are typically restricted from viewing  Information on other participant's responses. However, you can allow them to see the response rankings by selecting the appropriate checkbox. This will existing and affect future blind auctions and RFQs.

Identifying allowable cost factor types:

Cost factors identify additional costs that should be included when calculating total cost for a line.

Select the appropriate value from the Cost Factors menu.

Specifying default price break types:

Buyers have three choices when creating their negotiation:

• None - no price breaks are defined.

• Required - suppliers must respond to the price breaks and cannot modify them.

• Optional - supplier must respond to the price breaks but can also modify the

buyer's price break values.

Select the type form the Price Breaks section.

Allowing award approval to be required:

You can choose to have award decisions approved before a purchase order can be generated

Defining header scoring defaults:

You can define defaults for header Requirement scores. You can choose to allow buyers to weight scores when evaluating supplier responses, and you can define a default maximum score value

On the Negotiations Configuration page, Header Scoring Defaults Section selects the appropriate check boxes and enters appropriate values.

Defining the default line attribute group

Attributes defined to a negotiation line or attribute list must be assigned to an attribute group. Attribute groups allow control over how attributes are displayed since you can specify the sequence of the attributes within the group

On the Negotiations Configuration page, select a group from the list of predefined groups.

Defining the default UOM for amount-based line types:

Amount- based lines typically are not negotiated by unit. Instead, they normally refer to services such as training or consulting. As such, there is no unit of measure associated with them.

In the Unit of Measure for Amount Based Line Items section, select the value from the menu to be used as the default. The entries available from this menu can be defined in Oracle Purchasing.

Enforcing response levels in multi-round negotiations

When taking a negotiation to a subsequent round of responding, you can choose to force the suppliers to respond in the new round with a price that is lower than the price they offered in the prior round.

To require suppliers to respond in a new round of a negotiation with a lower price, select the checkbox.

Listing URLs for supplier discovery:

You can define a list of URLs that carry information about suppliers' external web sites. Buyers can use these links to access and browse the supplier web sites from the Add Supplier page during negotiation creation

1-Scroll to the Supplier Discovery section of the Negotiations Configuration page.

2- Enter the Provider Name (this is the name used within the system. It does not have to be the supplier's official name) and the URL to the provider's site. 3-To allow your buyers to view and use the link, click Enabled. You can control access to different sites by selecting and deselecting the Enabled flag.

Specifying the supplier online window values:

The Live Console feature allows buyers to monitor negotiations in real time.

1- On the Negotiations Configuration page, scroll to the Supplier Online Window section.

2-Enter a number for the Supplier Online Window value. This is the number

of minutes that can elapse since a supplier's last action before that supplier is

considered to be no longer active. Also enter the number of seconds that should elapse before the page is refreshed during the last hour of the negotiation

Specify concurrent processing values:

Large negotiations can sometimes have hundreds or thousands of lines. Processing such negotiations can be time consuming and resource intensive.

To set the processing and error message thresholds, enter values in the appropriate fields.

Subscribe to Notifications

The Notification Subscription home page consists of two sections:

-      Bury Notification Section.

-      Supplier Notification Section

To select appropriate notifications:

1. From the Negotiations Home page, click the Administration tab.

2. On the Administration page, click "Notification Subscription."

3. On the Notification Subscription page, select which notifications apply to which negotiation types.

4. Click Apply.

Define Negotiation Terms and Conditions

Negotiation terms and conditions are presented to supplier users before they respond to a negotiation for the first time

To define negotiation terms and conditions:

1. On the Negotiations Home page, click the Administration tab.

2. Click Setup Negotiation Terms and Conditions.

3. Use the Setup Negotiation Terms and Conditions page to define the terms and conditions that you want to display on negotiations. If multiple languages are installed, select a Language and translate the terms and conditions for each language if your suppliers use other languages.

4. When you have finished entering your negotiation terms and conditions, click Apply.

Define Reusable Attribute Lists

Reusable Attributes are Attributes identify additional details that a supplier should provide (beyond just response price) when responding to a negotiation line.

To create line attribute lists:

1. On the Negotiations Home page, click the Administration tab.

2. On the Administration page, click "Reusable Attribute Lists."

3. On the Reusable Attribute Lists page, click Create Line Attribute List.

4. On the Create Line Attribute List page, enter a List Name and brief Description for your attribute list. Choose the Status (Active or Inactive). An Active list can be used immediately; an Inactive list will be stored in the system, but will not be available for use unless you edit the list and change its status to Active.

If this attribute is required and you wish to assign values to allowable entries and scores, click the Score icon.

6. Buyers can identify acceptable responses to line attributes and provide a score for each response that indicates the desirability of that response value. (suppliers must enter responses if the attribute has an Attribute Type value of Required). Scoring the attribute allows you to define which values you will accept for the attribute and indicate the relative desirability of each response. Scores are also used by the system to determine the best response in Multi-Attribute Scoring negotiations.

On the Enter Scoring Criteria page, you must specify the values you will accept for this attribute and assign a score to each value.

For text attributes, you specify a list of acceptable values.

For number and date attributes, you specify a numeric or date range (to define a single number or date, set the From and To values to the same number or date). Click the pop-up calendar icon to select a date value.

Note that URL attribute types can not be scored in this manner.

Once you have identified all the allowable values for this attribute, you must define a score for each value (or range of values). Specify a number that represents the desirability of that value - the higher the number, the more desirable that response.

If you need to add and score more than five values, click Add 5 Rows to display five more entry rows.

7. After you have identified and scored your values, click Apply. You return to the Create Line Attribute List page.

8. Add and score any remaining attributes for this list.

9. Note that you can optionally sequence the display order of your line attributes. Use the instructions above to specify the sequence of attributes.

10. When you are finished defining attributes to this list, click Apply.

Sequencing line attributes:

The line attributes appear in the order you define them. However you can alter the order if needed.

To define the order of line attributes:

1. Click Sequence.

2. On the Sequence Attributes page, the line attributes appear in the order in which you defined them and are given a number.

3. Modify the attribute numbers to reflect the new sequence.

4. When finished, click Apply. You are returned to the Create Line Attribute List page with the attribute sequence modified accordingly.

Define Reusable Requirement Lists

You define Requirements to solicit high-level information about the suppliers who have responded to your negotiation.

Defining your Requirement List

To define your Requirement list:

1. From the Negotiations Home page, click the Administration tab.

2. Click "Reusable Requirement Lists."

3. On the Create Requirement List page,

1. Enter a name for your Requirement List

2. Enter a descriptions for your list.

3. Select a status for your list (Inactive lists cannot be used).

Defining Requirements

You create collections of Requirements called Sections. You are provided with a default section called Requirements. To begin defining your Requirements:

1. In the Requirements area of the Create Requirement List page, select the entry for the default section called Requirements.

2. Click Add Section

3. To add a new section, accept the default, New Section, in the Add drop down menu.

4. Enter a name for your new section.

5. If you are ready to begin adding individual Requirements for this section, click Apply and Add Requirement. If you need to create a section after this section, click Apply and Add Section. You cannot create a section within a section.

6.On the Create Requirement List: Add Requirement page, enter your Requirement question in the text box provided

7. Once you have defined your Requirement text, set the Properties for this

Requirement as necessary:

• Type Type describes how the Requirement is used within the negotiation.

Values can be:

• Display Only The Requirement is displayed to the supplier, but the

supplier cannot enter a response to it. If the type is display-only, Display

Target is set to Yes and Scoring Method is automatically set to None.

Display only Requirements merely notify suppliers of additional aspects in

which buyers are interested.

• Internal Internal Requirement can only be seen by buyers. If an internal

Requirement is weighted, the total weight value seen by the supplier will

not add up to 100. For example, if a Requirement is internal and has a

weight of 10, the supplier sees no information on the internal Requirement

and sees the sum of all weighted Requirements as 90. If unweighted, new

internal Requirements can be added while the negotiation is in progress. If

weighted, new internal Requirements can be added if they are given a

weight of zero or if their weight amount is subtracted from another internal

Requirements. Internal Requirements have Display Target set to No.

• Optional Suppliers do not have to respond to this Requirement.

• Required Suppliers must respond to this Requirement.

• Value Type Select the type of characters suppliers can enter for this

Requirement when responding: Text (letters/words, digits), Number (digits

with decimals allowed), Date (the format you or the supplier select as your date preference), or URL (Web site addresses that begin with a valid URL protocol for example, http://, https://, and ftp://. Values with a URL type display as links; for example a Web site address entered as a Text type will display simply as text). Value Type also governs the characters you can enter in the Target field.

• Target Enter a target value for the Requirement (for example: 30 or more years in business) .

• Display to Supplier Indicate whether you want suppliers to see your Target

value.

• Scoring Method Select the method by which you wish to score responses to this Requirement.

• None - Responses can not be scored.

• Automatic - The system will assign a score based on scoring information

you define. If you choose Automatic, you must define the allowable values

(or value ranges) and the score for each.

• Manual - evaluators will enter scores for a particular response manually

when scoring a participant's response.

8. You can define which response values (or range of values) are acceptable for this Requirement. If you define acceptable response values for text type Requirements, those values are displayed to the responder, who must select a value from the predefined list of values.

To define acceptable values:

1. Click the Add 5 Rows button under Acceptable Values.

2. Enter values for the following fields:

• Response Value

Enter an acceptable value for this Requirement. You may enter as many

separate values as is necessary to identify all possible acceptable responses.

The values you enter should reflect the Value Type (text, number, date) you

specified for this Requirement.

• Value From/Value To (number and date type Requirements only)

If your Requirement has a value type of number or date , you can enter

specific numbers/dates or you can define ranges of numbers/dates. If you

wish to define a single value, enter the number in both the From and the To

fields. Otherwise, to define a range, enter the beginning value in the From

field and the ending value in the To field.

Define Cost Factors and Cost Factor Lists

Cost factors allow you to identify and negotiate on additional costs related to a line. You can use cost factors to obtain a more realistic idea of the total cost of an item or service by factoring in any additional costs beyond just price. Such costs could include additional costs such as consulting or training, or internal costs such as switching costs.

Steps:

1. On the Negotiations Home page, click the Administration tab.

2. Click "Cost Factors."

3. On the Cost Factors page, click Create.

4. On the Create Cost Factor page, enter the following information:

• A unique code .

• The name of the new price factor.

• A short text description for the price factor.

• A pricing basis value to determine how this price factor is calculated. You can define: a fixed amount for the line, a fixed amount for each unit of the line, or a percentage amount of the line cost.

5. Once you have entered your information, click Apply. The information you entered is validated. If your code is not unique, you are prompted to enter a different one.

To define a cost factor list:

1. On the Negotiations Home page, click the Administration tab.

2. Click "Reusable Cost Factor Lists."

3. On the Reusable Cost Factor Lists page, click "Create Cost Factor List."

4. On the Create Cost Factor List page, enter the following information:

• Name of the new list

• A short text description of the new list

• The status of the new list. Active lists can be used immediately. Inactive lists cannot be used

5. From the Price Factor drop down list, select a price factor for this list and click Add to List. Repeat as necessary to add any remaining price factors to the list.

6. When you are finished adding cost factors, click Apply.

Define Reusable Invitation Lists

Using an invitation list can help standardize your business practice by ensuring that all appropriate people are invited to targeted negotiations and can help streamline the negotiation process. Buyers can add invitation list(s) when creating a new negotiation

To create a new invitation list:

1. On the Negotiations Home page, click the Administration tab.

2. Click "Reusable Invitation Lists."

3. On the Reusable Invitation Lists page, click Create Invitation List.

4. On the Create Invitation List page, enter a list name, description, and select an Access type. All buyers can view and use Public lists. Buyers can create their own private lists that are available only to them. The lists you create are immediately available for use. If, at some time in the future, you no longer need a list, you can deactivate it.

Click Add Suppliers.

5. Search for and select suppliers to add to your invitation list. Note that you can use the advanced supplier search features to build lists of suppliers based on the commodities or items they provide.

6. When the Search Suppliers page displays the search results, select the supplier(s) you want to add to the list and click Add to Invitation List.

7. You see that the suppliers appear in the Invitation List box in the upper right-hand corner of the page. Use the instructions in the previous steps to continue adding suppliers. Click Apply to return to the Create Invitation List page.

8. You return to the Create Invitation List page. For each supplier, ensure there is a value for Supplier Contact field. If you wish to send a notification to an additional supplier contact and you know the contact's e-mail address, you can enter that in the Additional Contact Email field. This is especially useful if the supplier has set up a broadcast e-mail.

Define Negotiation Styles.

To define a Negotiation style:

1. From the Negotiations Home page, click the Administration tab.

2. Click "Negotiation Styles."

3. On the Negotiation Styles page, click "Create Negotiation Style."

4. On the Create Negotiation Style page,

• Give your style a name.

• Optionally give your style a description.

• Accept the default status of Active (Inactive status styles are not available for use).

• Select the features that are available from the style.

• Identify which document types this style can be used with.

• When you are finished, click Apply.

Define Negotiation Templates

If your negotiations use many of the same elements (bid/quote controls, item attribute lists, or invitation lists), you can create templates for each negotiation type (RFI, RFQ, auction). Sourcing Super Users can create public templates that are available for use by all Sourcing Buyers. (Sourcing Super Users and Sourcing Buyers can both create their own private templates that only they can use.)

To create a negotiation template:

1. On the Negotiations Home page, click the Negotiations tab.

2. In the Templates column of the Quick Links section, click the link for the type of negotiation template you wish to create.

The available type in the column for which we can create a template are

- RFI.

- RFQ.

- Auctions.

3. On the Templates page, click "Create New Template."

4. On the Step 1: Create Template Header page, give your template a name and optionally a description. Be sure to accept the default Access value of Public.

5. Continue by using the instructions in the online help describing how to define templates.

Create Abstracts and Forms

Abstracts

An abstract is a summary or synopsis of a negotiation. It usually contains information such as the goods or services being purchased, whom to contact for more information, and the open and close date. An abstract can even contain a PDF version of the negotiation for the supplier to download. Abstracts are presented to suppliers on the buying organization's external website. Suppliers can view the details about negotiations and determine if they are interested in participating without having to log in to the sourcing application.

Forms

A form captures information from the buyer in a similar fashion as an abstract but rather than publishing data to the buying organization's website, this information is captured in an XML file that can be transferred to a third party system. The forms that are created with Oracle Sourcing typically are modeled after the third party systems so that the data collected matches their requirements. The buyer can then generate the appropriately formatted XML file and send it for publishing on the third party system.

Creating Abstracts and Forms

Abstracts and forms are composed of fields and sections. These are the building blocks that are used to create a form or abstract. When creating a form or abstract, first create these building blocks in the application. You can then use these building blocks to construct your form or abstract.

General Steps to Using the Abstract Feature:

1. (Super User) Create any new fields or sections (building blocks) desired on the Abstract.

2. (Super User) Modify and activate the existing Abstract definition.

3. (Super User) Set up and customize external website.

4. (Buyer) Add Abstract to negotiation and complete required information.

5. (Buyer) Publish the Abstract for a specific negotiation to an external website.

General Steps to Using the Forms Feature:

1. (Super User) Create fields and sections.

2. (Super User) Create a new form or modify an existing form.

3. (Super User) Add any new fields or sections on the form.

4. (Super User) Activate the form.

5. (Super User) Map to third-party XSD/DTD file

6. (Buyer) Complete the form and generate XML.

7. (Super User) Update form as requirements change.

Using Abstracts and Forms:

Oracle Sourcing is seeded with a draft abstract and two forms.

You may, however, decide that you want to capture different information than what the abstract or the forms are seeded with. To capture new information, you can create new sections and/or fields and use them in your abstract and forms definition.

Creating New Sections/Fields

1. From the Negotiations Home page, click the Administration tab.

2. On the Administration page, click "Abstract and Forms."

3. The Abstract and Forms page displays the abstract and the forms that exist in the system (initially you should see only one abstract and two forms that are seeded with the application).

4. On the Abstract and Forms page, click Manage Sections and Fields.

5. On the Manage Sections and Fields page, click Create Section to define a new section, or click Create Field to define a new field.

Creating New Fields

1. On the Create Field page, enter values for the following fields:

• Code. This is a required, user-defined value that uniquely identifies the field.

The Field code and only be up to 30 characters and can only have alphanumeric characters (Underscores are allowed within the code). If this field will be used on a form, to facilitate easy mapping, this value should match the code from the XSD/DTD to which you will be mapping.

• Name. This is a required field, user-defined value that will be associated withthe field. This value will appear next to the entry field/poplist/List of Values on the form that will be presented to the buyer. Enter a value that is meaningful to the buyer.

• Description. This is an optional field that is presented to the buyer as a tip if

Data is entered. You can use this to enter any additional information that you Feel the buyer needs to have to correctly complete this field.

• Value Type. This specifies the type of data value the buyer can enter in the field.

Possible data types are: text, number, date, date/time, and amount.

• List of Values. To limit the field's data input to only a predefined set of values, click the flashlight and select the Value Set. The flashlight will query all value sets that are defined for Oracle Sourcing. To create a new value set, click on the Manage Value Sets button at the top of the page. You can also create a value set on the Administration page (see the section below for instructions on creating value sets). The following types of value sets are supported:

• Table

• Independent

• Translatable independent

• Status. When you initially enter the page, the values in this poplist will be Draft (selected), and Active. Only active fields can be added to a section or form.

While the field is draft status, you can edit the Code Name and other properties of the field. You can also delete the field. Once you change the status to Active, you can no longer modify the Code of the Value Type. Also, you can no longer delete the field. You will only be allowed to make the field inactive.

2. Once you have finished defining your new field, click Apply

Creating New Sections

1.      On the Create Section page, enter values for the following fields:

• Code. A required, user-defined value that uniquely identifies the section. The section code can only be up to 20 characters and can only have alphanumeric characters (Underscores are allowed within the code). If this section will be used on a form, for ease of mapping, this value should match the code from the XSD/DTD to which you will be mapping.

• Version. This is a display only field that is updated when a new version of the section is created.

• Name. A required, user-defined value that will be associated with the section.

This value appears above the section when the form is presented to the buyer.

Enter a value that is meaningful to the buyer.

• Description. A required field used to describe the section. It is not displayed to the buyer.

• Section Contains repeating Data. Identifies this section as a repeating section. Repeating sections are displayed to the buyer as a table. If the section contains repeating data, no system fields can be defined to it.

• Text Tip. This text is presented to the buyer as a tip below the section header.

Use this to give specific instructions to the buyer for this section.

• Status. When you initially enter the page, the values in this poplist are Draft

(selected), and Active. Only active sections can be added to an abstract, section, or form. While the section is in draft status, you can edit Code, Name, and other properties of the section. You can also delete the section. Once you change the status to active, you can no longer modify Code or make the section repeating.

Also, you can no longer delete the section. You can only make the section inactive

2. To add a field to the section, click Add another Row.

3. Click the flashlight icon.

4. Search for and select the field or section you wish to add (you can add a section within a section). After you have added the field or section, specify whether it requires a response from the supplier.

5. Once you have added all the fields and/or sections to the section, click Apply.

Set Up Document Print Layouts

To Assign Layout Templates:

1. Log into Oracle Purchasing as a Purchasing Super User.

2. Navigate to the Document Types page. Set Up > Purchasing > Document Types.

3. Click Update for any Sourcing document type (Buyer Auction, RFQ, RFI).

4. For each document type, select a Document Type Layout.. (If you have Oracle Procurement Contracts licensed and installed, also select a Contract Terms lay