Overview of Sourcing
Purchasing provides you with request for quotation (RFQ), and quotation features to handle your sourcing needs. You can create an RFQ from requisitions, match supplier quotations to your RFQ, and automatically copy quotation information to purchase orders. Purchasing provides complete reporting to control your requests for quotations and evaluate supplier responses.
- Identify requisitions that require supplier quotations and automatically create a request for quotation.
- Create a request for quotation with or without approved requisitions so that you can plan ahead for your future procurement requirements.
- Record supplier quotations from a catalog, telephone conversation, or response from your request for quotation. You can also receive quotations electronically.
- Review, analyze, and approve supplier quotations that you want available to reference on purchase orders and requisitions. You should be able to evaluate your suppliers based on quotation information.
- Receive automatic notification when a quotation or request for quotation approaches expiration.
- Review quotation information on-line when creating purchase orders or requisitions and copy specific quotation information to a purchase order or requisition.
- Identify a supplier that you want to use only for receiving RFQs and quotations. You should later be able to access purchase history to help you decide if the quotations are acceptable.
- Hold all purchasing activity on a supplier at any time. You should still be able to match invoices to approved purchase orders for this supplier. You should be able to release a supplier hold at any time.
- Create, change, and review supplier information on-line. You should be able to enter supplier site information, supplier contacts, and supplier-specific delivery information.
- Review the purchase history for a specific item. You should be able to identify the suppliers you used in the past, quantities you ordered, and pricing information. You should be able to match this information to specific purchase orders.
- Simplify the sourcing of commonly purchased items. You should be able to define requisition templates for your commonly purchased items. Requestors can use these requisitions templates to create simple, pre-sourced requisitions.
- Source the items for which you negotiated purchase agreements automatically. If you created sourcing rules and Approved Supplier List entries for the items, supplier information is entered automatically in the Requisitions window when you create requisitions. You should also be able to place supplier information for items onto blanket purchase order releases.
Major Features
Electronically Received Catalog Information
You can receive price/sales catalog information electronically from your supplier through the Purchasing Documents Open Interface. The information is imported directly as blanket purchase agreement lines or catalog quotations. See: Receiving Price/Sales Catalog Information Electronically.
Flexible Document Numbers
Purchasing identifies each RFQ or quotation with a unique document number. You decide whether you want to enter document numbers manually or have the numbers assigned automatically.
Sourcing Power
Purchasing lets you source your items so you can negotiate the best deals with your suppliers. You can create requests for quotations, record the results, and reference the corresponding quotation when creating your purchase order. You can also review historical purchase prices so that you can evaluate how to purchase your items more effectively.
Supplier Defaulting
For each supplier, you can define default preferred ship-to locations, freight terms and carriers, free-on-board information, tax names, and payment terms to be used when you enter purchase orders. You can always override any default.
Supplier Purchasing Hold
You can prevent purchasing activity on specific suppliers at any time by using the Suppliers window to provide a reason for holding the supplier. You cannot approve any purchase order for a supplier on hold; however, you can receive and match against approved purchase orders for a supplier on hold. You can release a hold at any time.
AutoCreating RFQ and Quotation Information
You can AutoCreate RFQs directly from requisitions. You can also Copy quotations directly from RFQs to facilitate recording responses from your suppliers. See: Copying Quotations from RFQs. (If you receive catalog information from your supplier electronically, that information is sent automatically in the form of a catalog quotation. See: Receiving Price/Sales Catalog Information Electronically.)
Request for Quotation Requirement
You can identify whether a request for quotation is necessary for a specific item or requisition line.
Supplier Lists
Purchasing lets you create supplier lists so that you can predefine groups of suppliers to whom you want to send RFQs. You can establish supplier lists according to criteria you define (item, manufacturing category, geographic location, or other) and you can combine supplier lists to produce many copies of your RFQ automatically.
Note: If the Oracle Payables profile option AP:Enter Alternate Fields is enabled, alternate fields will appear on designated windows like Enter Suppliers.
See: Profile Options in Payables
Purchasing History
Purchasing lets you review your purchase price history information to help you source your items better. You can either review all historical prices for a particular item or the last prices you paid for a specific item by quantity. You can review the detailed information of the purchase order corresponding to this last price.
Flexible, Custom Notes
Purchasing lets you quickly add extended Notes and instructions to your RFQs and quotations. You can include standard notes or create your own custom notes. You can use as much descriptive text as you need.
Automatic Sourcing
Automatic sourcing automatically defaults sourcing information onto the requisitions, blanket purchase orders, or quotations you create. You can easily assign any item with an item number to a specific blanket purchase agreement or quotation you created. Purchasing automatically assigns the name of the supplier for the blanket purchase order and quotation to any requisition for this item. (If you receive catalog information from your supplier electronically--and you specified sourcing rules to be sent electronically also--then the sourcing rule and Approved Supplier List entry for this supplier is entered in your system automatically.) See: Automatic Sourcing. See: Approved Supplier List.
Using Quotation Information on Your Documents
Purchasing lets you use your quotation information when you build purchase orders.
Using Quotation Information for a Purchase Order
When you create a purchase order (manually or from requisitions), you can use the Supplier Item Catalog window to retrieve quotation information. (The Supplier Item Catalog window can include quotations sent to you by your supplier through the Purchasing Documents Open Interface. See: Receiving Price/Sales Catalog Information Electronically.) Purchasing provides all your approved quotation shipment information for a specific item or manufacturing category. You can copy this quotation shipment to an existing blanket purchase agreement or standard purchase order when you add this item or purchasing category to a purchase order line. You can sort this quotation information according to your needs, using criteria such as price or quantity. You can easily evaluate the source that is best for an item.
After you select the quotation shipment you want to use, Purchasing copies the item unit price, quantity, unit of measure, supplier product number, inspection required status, receipt required status, quotation number, quotation type, and supplier quotation number on your purchase order. Purchasing also copies the quotation item description on your purchase order if you define your items to do so.
Purchasing automatically warns you when the terms and conditions of the quotation are different from the terms and conditions of your purchase order. The original purchase order terms and conditions remain unchanged.
Using Partial Quotation Information on a Requisition
When you enter an item or purchasing category on a requisition line, you can use the Supplier Item Catalog window to access quotation shipment information for the item or category. After you select the quotation shipment you want to use, Purchasing automatically copies the item unit price, quantity, unit of measure, supplier product number, supplier name, supplier site, and supplier contact to your requisition line. Purchasing also copies the quotation item description on your purchase order if you define your items to do so.
