Update 20C

Revision History

This document will continue to evolve as existing sections change and new information is added. All updates appear in the following table:

Overview

This guide outlines the information you need to know about new or improved functionality in this update.

DISCLAIMER

The information contained in this document may include statements about Oracle’s product development plans. Many factors can materially affect Oracle’s product development plans and the nature and timing of future product releases. Accordingly, this Information is provided to you solely for information only, is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described remains at the sole discretion of Oracle.

This information may not be incorporated into any contractual agreement with Oracle or its subsidiaries or affiliates. Oracle specifically disclaims any liability with respect to this information. Refer to the Legal Notices and Terms of Use for further information.

Common Technologies and User Experience in Oracle Cloud Applications

The Oracle Cloud Applications include many features that are common across most or all of the applications. These features cover functionality such as approvals and notifications, reports and analytics, and so on. In each update, the enhancements to these common features can change the way your Oracle Procurement Cloud products work.

For details about changes to common features in this update, see the Oracle Common Technologies and User Experience: New Features Summary document.

Cross-Product Procurement Enhancements

Integrate and Extend Procurement Using REST Services

In this update, Oracle Procurement Cloud delivers new and modified REST APIs to enable and simplify integration with external systems.

Approvals and Notifications

Automatically Archive Workflow Tasks Once a Day

Once a day, the Extract Workflow Tasks for Archive, Process Translation Workflow Tasks for Archive, and Upload Workflow Task Attachment for Archive scheduled processes automatically run to archive workflow tasks. Tasks with a final status, such as Completed, Withdrawn, or Expired are included if they haven't been archived already. Though unlikely, if at any time you need to archive more frequently, you can manually run all three processes from the Scheduled Processes work area. These scheduled processes replace the Archive Workflow Tasks process, which no longer runs automatically once a month and shouldn't be run manually either.

See When Workflow Tasks Can Be Automatically Withdrawn

Workflow tasks are automatically withdrawn if they're still open after the number of days you see in the Open Tasks Withdrawn After Number of Days field. This field is now available on the Application Preferences page, and it's set to 180. You can't change this number, but you can set up expiration, escalation, and renewal policies that allow tasks to be open for longer. Define these policies as you would before, for any individual workflow task that's not a FYI task. If the expiration settings are set to Do Nothing, then the task is withdrawn after 180 days.

Project-Driven Supply Chain

Project-Driven Supply Chain is an end-to-end, integrated solution across the Oracle Supply Chain Management and Project Management Cloud applications.  This solution is designed to support various business processes of manufacturing and asset-intensive companies.

You can use the Project-Driven Supply Chain solution to manage your supply chain processes in the context of projects without creating separate organizations for each project. You can also capture supply chain costs as project expenditures.

In this update, the Project-Driven Supply Chain solution includes these features:

• Plan Project-Specific Supply
• Purchase Unplanned Material for Project-Specific Manufacturing Work Order
• Purchase Unplanned Material for Project-Specific Maintenance Work Order
• Purchase Goods and Services for Project-Specific Manufacturing and Maintenance Work Orders
• Cost Account Direct Material Procurement on Project for Manufacturing
• Cost Account Direct Material Procurement on Project for Maintenance

The Project-Driven Supply Chain feature in Oracle Procurement Cloud is described in this document.

Purchase Goods and Services for Project-Specific Manufacturing and Maintenance Work Orders

Create a purchase requisition and associate it with a project-based work order. The work order project and the task then automatically display in the requisition distribution. Using the feature, you can expedite the procurement of unplanned materials for work orders and also capture material costs for the specific project and task.

Purchasing

Update Blanket Purchase Agreement Price Breaks in Bulk

Use a file-based import template to update multiple blanket purchase agreement price breaks simultaneously.

Associate a Master Contract with a Purchasing Document

Associate a master contract with a purchasing document. The master contract sets the overall terms and conditions between parties. In 20B, only purchase agreements authored online could be associated with a master contract. In this update, additional functionality is added. After you opt in to the feature named Associate a Master Contract with a Purchasing Document, you can use the features described in this section.

Include a Master Contract Reference on a Purchase Order

Link a purchase order with a master contract when you author online purchase orders.

Import Purchasing Documents with Master Contract References

Include master contract references when you import purchase orders and purchase agreements using file-based data import.

Self Service Procurement

Synchronize Shopping Search Index Periodically

Synchronize the shopping search index at predefined time intervals. You can defer index synchronization for catalog search to prevent issues caused by bulk item updates to a catalog.

View Master Item Images in Shopping Flows

View master item's primary image from the master item definition in various shopping flows. As a procurement requester, you can view the item images in addition to the item description and have a better understanding of the look and feel of the item, which helps you with the selection process.

Process User-Defined Purchasing Line Types in cXML Punchouts

Process user-defined purchasing line types, in addition to the standard line types of Goods and Fixed Price Services, for lines returned from cXML punchout sites. This support allows more flexibility for downstream business processes such as approvals and invoice matching.

Resolve Pending Approval Requisitions

Resolve requisitions that are in pending approval status due to technical or infrastructure issues by manually withdrawing the requisitions. You can cancel or resubmit the withdrawn requisitions as required.

Sourcing

Upload Award Lines Spreadsheet in a Flat File Format

Upload award lines using a simple flat file spreadsheet template in high line volume negotiations.

Conduct RFQ or Auction as Next Round After Two-Stage Evaluation

Conduct RFQ or auction as next round after two-stage evaluation to drive competitive pricing with shortlisted suppliers.

Identify Negotiation Team Members Who Aren't Active Employees

Identify the negotiation team members who are no longer active employees. Gain better negotiation collaboration by ensuring the right team members are participating through out the process.

Apply Internal Cost Factors in Supplier Negotiations

After you opt in to the feature named Apply Internal Cost Factors in Supplier Negotiations, you can use the feature described in this section.

Apply Internal Cost Factors to Negotiation Lines

Apply internal cost factors to negotiation lines for different suppliers. Analyze the cost of doing business with each supplier to make informed award decisions.

Create Supplier Contracts from Negotiation Award

After you opt in to the feature named Create Supplier Contracts from Negotiation Award, you can use the feature described in this section.

Create Supplier Contracts for Agreement Contract Types from a Negotiation

Create an agreement contract from a negotiation to fulfill in a purchasing application.

Supplier Qualification Management

Automatically Reassess Suppliers After a New Qualification Is Evaluated

Automatically reassess suppliers after a new qualification outcome is available for an assessment.

Supplier Model

Search Bank and Branch for Bank Accounts in Supplier Registration

Add bank accounts in supplier registration more efficiently by searching for the bank and branch. You can also search and select the branch first, which will automatically populate the bank information.

Procurement Contracts

Manage Contract Deliverables in the Supplier Portal

Your suppliers can view and manage their contract deliverables directly from the Supplier Portal Manage Deliverables page.