Oracle Purchasing allows requisitions, purchase orders, quotations, and receipts

etc to be processed and integrated with modules such as General Ledger,

Inventory, Order Management etc. The Oracle Purchasing design consists of

various technical components like interfaces, workflows, profile options, tables

etc which are summarized in this article.

 

Main Business Components in Oracle Purchasing are

 

Employee/Buyers

Vendor/Suppliers

Requisitions

Purchase Orders

Receipts

Employees

You must to be setup as an employee in order to create a requisition or a PO. If Oracle HR is installed then

you have to use the form defined in Oracle HRMS to define an employee. If Oracle HR is not installed then

you can use a form under Setup->Personnel->Employees to setup employees.

Main tables are HR_EMPLOYEES, PER_PEOPLE_F

Important Note: The view HR_EMPLOYEES_CURRENT_V gives one record per active employee.

PER_PEOPLE_F/PER_ALL_PEOPLE_F store multiple records per employee with specific start and end

dates

 

VendorsPO_VENDORS, PO_VENDOR_SITES_ALL and PO_VENDOR_CONTACTS are the main tables for this

entity. Vendors are global i.e. a vendor, once defined, can be used across operating units (OU). Vendor

sites are OU specific. Most of the PO tables store the VENDOR_ID and VENDOR_SITE_ID columns.

VENDOR_SITE_ID is unique (not unique within a VENDOR_ID) in 11i. It used to be unique for a vendor

until 11.0.PO_VENDORS

PO_VENDORS stores information about your suppliers. You need one row for each supplier you define.

Each row includes the supplier name as well as purchasing, receiving, payment, accounting, tax,

classification, and general information.

Oracle Purchasing uses this information to determine active suppliers. VENDOR_ID is the unique system–

generated receipt header number invisible to the user.

SEGMENT1 is the system–generated or manually assigned number you use to identify the supplier in

forms and reports. Oracle Purchasing generates SEGMENT1 using the

PO_UNIQUE_IDENTIFIER_CONTROL table if you choose to let Oracle Purchasing generate supplier

numbers for you.

This table is one of three tables that store supplier information. PO_VENDORS corresponds to the

Suppliers window.

PO_VENDOR_SITES_ALL

PO_VENDOR_SITES_ALL stores information about your supplier sites. You need a row for each supplier

site you define. Each row includes the site address, supplier reference, purchasing, payment, bank, and

general information. Oracle Purchasing uses this information to store supplier address information.

This table is one of three tables that store supplier information. PO_VENDOR_SITES_ALL corresponds to

the Sites region of the Suppliers window.

 

PO_VENDOR_CONTACTS

PO_VENDOR_CONTACTS stores information about contacts for a supplier site. You need one row for

each supplier contact you define.

Each row includes the contact name and site.

This table is one of three tables that store supplier information. PO_VENDOR_CONTACTS corresponds

to the Contacts region of the Supplier Sites window

 

Requisition

This entity is the starting point of data flow in the PO module. Requisitions can be created by various

means – Enter Reqs form, Requisition Interface tables or using Self Service Purchasing.

All requisitions need to be approved before being considered for future processing. An unapproved

requisition has a value of ‘Incomplete’ for the column AUTHORIZATION_STATUS in the table

PO_REQUISITION_HEADERS. After the requisition is completed it should be submitted for Approval.

Approval is a separate piece of code that is reused in both Reqs as well as PO approval. It is a combination

of Workflow, PL/SQL and Pro*C code.

There are 3 main tables for Reqs:

 

PO_REQUISITION_HEADERS:

PO_REQUISITION_HEADERS_ALL stores information about requisition headers. You need one row for

each requisition header you create. Each row contains the requisition number, preparer, status, and

description.

REQUISITION_HEADER_ID is the unique system–generated requisition number.

REQUISITION_HEADER_ID is invisible to the user.

SEGMENT1 is the number you use to identify the requisition in forms and reports. Oracle Purchasing

generates SEGMENT1 using the PO_UNIQUE_IDENTIFIER_CONTROL table if you choose to let

Oracle Purchasing generate requisition numbers for you.

PO_REQUISITION_HEADERS_ALL corresponds to the Header region of the Requisitions window.

SEGMENT1 provides unique values for each row in the table in addition to

REQUISITION_HEADER_ID.

 

PO_REQUISITION_LINES:

PO_REQUISITION_LINES stores information about requisition lines. You need one row for each

requisition line you create.

Each row contains the line number, item number, item category, item description, need–by date, deliver–to

location, item quantities, units, prices, requestor, notes, and suggested supplier information for the

requisition line.

LINE_LOCATION_ID identifies the purchase order shipment line on which you placed the requisition.

LINE_LOCATION_ID is null if you have not placed the requisition line on a purchase order.

BLANKET_PO_HEADER_ID and BLANKET_PO_LINE_NUM store the suggested blanket purchase

agreement or catalog quotation line information for the requisition line.

PARENT_REQ_LINE_ID contains the REQUISITION_LINE_ID from the original requisition line if you

exploded or multi-sourced this requisition line.

This table corresponds to the Lines region of the Requisitions window.

PO_REQ_DISTRIBUTIONS:

PO_REQ_DISTRIBUTIONS_ALL stores information about the accounting distributions associated with

each requisition line. Each requisition line must have at least one accounting distribution. You need one

row for each requisition distribution you create.

Each row includes the Accounting Flexfield ID and requisition line quantity.

PO_REQ_DISTRIBUTIONS_ALL is one of three tables storing your requisition information. This table

corresponds to the requisition Distributions window, accessible through the Requisitions window

Purchase Order

This is the pivotal entity of Oracle Purchasing. All other entities function for or because of this entity.

There are four main tables for this entity:

PO_HEADERS_ALL:

There are six types of documents that use PO_HEADERS_ALL:

• RFQs

• Quotations

• Standard purchase orders

• Planned purchase orders

• Blanket purchase orders

• Contracts

Each row contains buyer information, supplier information, brief notes, foreign currency information, terms

and conditions information, and the status of the document. Oracle Purchasing uses this information to

record information that is related to a complete document. PO_HEADER_ID is the unique system–

generated primary key and is invisible to the user. SEGMENT1 is the system–assigned number you use to

identify the document in forms and reports. Oracle Purchasing generates SEGMENT1 using the

PO_UNIQUE_IDENTIFIER_CONT_ALL table if you choose to let Oracle Purchasing generate document

numbers for you. SEGMENT1 is not unique for the entire table. Different document types can share the

same numbers. You can uniquely identify a row in PO_HEADERS_ALL using SEGMENT1 and

TYPE_LOOKUP_CODE or using PO_HEADER_ID.

If APPROVED_FLAG is ’Y’, the purchase order is approved. If your document type is a blanket purchase

order, contract purchase order, RFQ, or quotation, Oracle Purchasing uses START_DATE and

END_DATE to store the valid date range for the document. Oracle Purchasing only uses

BLANKET_TOTAL_AMOUNT for blanket

PO_LINES_ALL:

Is a detail of headers table.

Each row includes the line number, the item number and category, unit, price, tax information, matching

information, and quantity ordered for the line. Oracle Purchasing uses this information to record and update

item and price information for purchase orders, quotations, and RFQs. PO_LINE_ID is the unique system–

generated line number invisible to the user. LINE_NUM is the number of the line on the purchase order.

Oracle Purchasing uses CONTRACT_NUM to reference a contract purchase order from a standard

purchase order line. Oracle Purchasing uses ALLOW_PRICE_OVERRIDE_FLAG,

COMMITTED_AMOUNT, QUANTITY_COMMITTED, MIN_RELEASE_AMOUNT only for blanket

and planned purchase order lines.

The QUANTITY field stores the total quantity of all purchase order shipment lines (found in

PO_LINE_LOCATIONS_ALL).

PO_LINE_LOCATIONS_ALL:

Also known as Shipments is a detail of lines. PO_LINE_LOCATIONS_ALL contains information about

purchase order shipment schedules and blanket agreement price breaks. You need one row for each

schedule or price break you attach to a document line.

Each row includes the location, quantity, and dates for each shipment schedule. Oracle Purchasing uses this

information to record delivery schedule information for purchase orders, and price break information for

blanket purchase orders, quotations and RFQs.

PO_RELEASE_ID applies only to blanket purchase order release shipments. PO_RELEASE_ID identifies

the release on which you placed this shipment.

SOURCE_SHIPMENT_ID applies only to planned purchase order release shipments. It identifies the

planned purchase order shipment you chose to release from.

PRICE_OVERRIDE always equals the purchase order line price for standard purchase order shipments.

For blanket and planned purchase orders, PRICE_OVERRIDE depends on the values of the

ALLOW_PRICE_OVERRIDE_FLAG and NOT_TO_EXCEED_PRICE in the corresponding row in

PO_LINES_ALL:

If ALLOW_PRICE_OVERRIDE_FLAG is ’N’, then PRICE_OVERRIDE equals UNIT_PRICE in

PO_LINES_ALL.

If ALLOW_PRICE_OVERRIDE_FLAG is ’Y’, then PRICE_OVERRIDE can take any value that is

smaller than NOT_TO_EXCEED_PRICE in PO_LINES_ALL.

The QUANTITY field corresponds to the total quantity ordered on all purchase order distribution lines

(found in PO_DISTRIBUTIONS_ALL).

 

 

PO_DISTRIBUTIONS_ALL:

PO_DISTRIBUTIONS_ALL contains accounting distribution information for a purchase order shipment

line. You need one row for each distribution line you attach to a purchase order shipment.

Each row includes the destination type, requestor ID, quantity ordered and deliver–to location for the

distribution. Oracle Purchasing uses this information to record accounting and requisition information for

purchase orders and releases.

PO_DISTRIBUTIONS_ALL is one of five tables storing purchase order and release information.

Some columns in PO_DISTRIBUTIONS_ALL contain information only if certain conditions exist:

If you autocreate this accounting distribution from a requisition, REQ_DISTRIBUTION_ID corresponds to

the ID of the requisition distribution you copy on the purchase order.

If you use a foreign currency on your purchase order, Oracle Purchasing stores currency conversion

information in RATE and RATE_DATE.

If you use encumbrance, GL_ENCUMBERED_DATE and

GL_ENCUMBERED_PERIOD_NAME contain encumbrance information Oracle Purchasing uses to

create journal entries in Oracle General Ledger.

If you do not autocreate the purchase order from online requisitions, REQ_LINE_REFERENCE_NUM and

REQ_HEADER_REFERENCE_NUM contain the requisition number and requisition line number of the

corresponding paper requisition. These two columns are not foreign keys to another table.

If the distribution corresponds to a blanket purchase order release, PO_RELEASE_ID identifies this

release.

If SOURCE_DISTRIBUTION_ID has a value, the distribution is part of a planned purchase order release.

Reqs can be converted to Purchase Orders using either the Autocreate form or Create PO workflow. If

certain conditions are satisfied then multiple req lines are converted to a single PO line or a single PO

shipment.

Receipt

There are two receipt source types, Supplier (PO based) and Internal Order (Internal Requisitions and Inter-

org transfers) that you need to use when receiving against different source document types. You use a

receipt source type of ’Supplier’ when receiving items that you ordered from an external supplier using a

purchase order.

When you receive items that are part of an inter–organization transfer, or when receiving items that you

request from your inventory using an internal requisition, the receipt type would be ’Internal Order’. The

’Internal Order’ receipt source type populates the ORGANIZATION_ID column.

There are three main tables in receiving:

 

RCV_SHIPMENT_HEADERS

RCV_SHIPMENT_HEADERS stores common information about the source of your receipts or expected

receipts. You group your receipts by the source type and the source of the receipt. Oracle Purchasing does

not allow you to group receipts from different sources under one receipt header.

Oracle Purchasing creates a receipt header when you are entering your receipts or when you perform inter–

organization transfers using Oracle Inventory. When Oracle Inventory creates a receipt header for an

intransit shipment, the receipt number is not populated until you receive the shipment.

RCV_SHIPMENT_LINES

RCV_SHIPMENT_LINES stores information about items that have been shipped and/or received from a

specific receipt source. RCV_SHIPMENT_LINES also stores information about the default destination for

intransit shipments.

RCV_TRANSACTIONS

RCV_TRANSACTIONS stores historical information about receiving transactions that you have

performed. When you enter a receiving transaction and the receiving transaction processor processes your

transaction, the transaction is recorded in this table.

Once a row has been inserted into this table, it will never be updated.

When you correct a transaction, the net transaction quantity is maintained in RCV_SUPPLY. The original

transaction quantity does not get updated. You can only delete rows from this table using the Purge feature

of Oracle Purchasing.

 

Main Interfaces

You could import requisitions, Purchase Orders and Receipts using the open interfaces for the respective

entities. The Manufacturing APIs and Open Interfaces manual is a comprehensive guide to these interfaces.

 

Requisitions Interface

See ReqImport process below.

 

Purchasing Documents Open Interface (PDOI)

You can automatically import and update price/sales catalog information and request for quotation (RFQ)

responses from suppliers through the Purchasing Documents Open Interface. You can also import standard

purchase orders (for example, from a legacy system) through the Purchasing Documents Open Interface.

The Purchasing Documents Open Interface uses Application Program Interfaces (APIs) to process the data

in the Oracle Applications interface tables to ensure that it is valid before importing it into Oracle

Purchasing. After validating the price/sales catalog information or RFQ responses, the Purchasing

Documents Open Interface program converts the information, including price break information, in the

interface tables into blanket purchase agreements, or catalog quotations in Purchasing. For standard

purchase orders, the Purchasing Documents Open Interface also validates the header, line, shipment, and

distribution information before importing the purchase orders into Purchasing.

You can choose whether to import the data as standard purchase orders, blanket purchase agreements, or

catalog quotations. You can also choose to update your item master and, for blanket purchase agreements

and quotations, apply sourcing rules and release generation methods to the imported item. Blanket purchase

agreements and quotations can also be replaced with the latest price/sales catalog information when your

supplier sends a replacement catalog, or updated when the supplier sends an updated catalog. Standard

purchase orders can only be imported as new documents.

One way to import the blanket purchase agreements and catalog quotations is through Electronic Data

Interchange (EDI). The Purchasing Documents Open Interface supports the EDI transmissions of the

price/sales catalogs (ANSI X12 832 or EDIFACT PRICAT) and responses to RFQs (ANSI X12 843 or

EDIFACT QUOTES). Standard purchase orders cannot be transmitted through EDI. You can import these

into the interface tables using a program that you write.

 

Receiving Open Interface

Within the Receiving Open Interface, receipt data is validated for compatibility with Purchasing. There are

two Receiving Open Interface tables:

RCV_HEADERS_INTERFACE

RCV_TRANSACTIONS_INTERFACE

Receipt data that is entered through the Receipts window in Purchasing is derived, defaulted, and validated

by the Receipts window. Most receipt data that is imported through the Receiving Open Interface is

derived, defaulted, and validated by the receiving transaction pre-processor.

The pre-processor is a program that the Receiving Transaction Processor initiates for data entered in the

Receiving Open Interface. The pre-processor simulates, in Batch mode, what the receiving windows do

when you save a transaction.

After performing header- and line-level validation, the pre-processor checks the profile option RCV: Fail

All ASN Lines if One Line Fails. If the profile option is set to ’Yes’ and any line failed validation, the

pre-processor fails the entire transaction. If the profile option is set to ’No’ (and TEST_FLAG is not ’Y’),

the Receiving Transaction Processor takes over and, for all successfully processed records, performs the

same steps that occur when you normally save receipt information in Purchasing:

Populates the RCV_SHIPMENT_HEADERS table in Purchasing with the receipt header

information.

Populates the RCV_SHIPMENT_LINES table in Purchasing for each receipt header entry in the

RCV_SHIPMENT_HEADERS table in Purchasing.

Populates the RCV_TRANSACTIONS table in Purchasing for each row in the

RCV_SHIPMENT_HEADERS and RCV_SHIPMENT_LINES table if the column

AUTO_TRANSACT_CODE in the RCV_TRANSACTIONS_INTERFACE table contains a value

of ’RECEIVE’ or ’DELIVER’.

Updates supply for accepted line items in the tables MTL_SUPPLY and RCV_SUPPLY.

Calls the Oracle Inventory module for processing ’DELIVER’ transactions.

Calls the Oracle General Ledger module for processing financial transactions, such as receipt-

based accruals.

Updates the corresponding purchase orders with the final received and delivered quantities.

Major Processes

A few important processes are described below. There are several other equally important processes in

Oracle Purchasing. The user’s guide and Oracle Manufacturing API’s and Open Interfaces manual is a

good source for information on them.

ReqImport

OVERVIEW

This interface lets you integrate Oracle Purchasing quickly with new or existing applications such as

material requirements planning, inventory management, and production control systems. Purchasing

automatically validates your data and imports your requisitions. You can import requisitions as often as you

want. Then, you can review these requisitions, approve or reserve funds for them if necessary, and place

them on purchase orders or internal sales orders.

FLOW

You must write the program that inserts a single row into the PO_REQUISITIONS_INTERFACE_ALL

and/or the PO_REQ_DIST_INTERFACE_ALL table for each requisition line that you want to import.

Then you use the Submit Request window to launch the Requisition Import program for any set of rows.

You identify the set of rows you want to import by setting the INTERFACE_SOURCE_CODE and

BATCH_ID columns appropriately in the PO_REQUISITIONS_INTERFACE_ALL table. You then pass

these values as parameters to the Requisition Import program. If you do not specify any values for these

parameters, the program imports all therequisition lines in the PO_REQUISITIONS_INTERFACE_ALL

table. You also specify the requisition grouping and numbering criteria as parameters to the Requisition

Import program.

Each run of the Requisition Import program picks up distribution information from either the

PO_REQUISITIONS_INTERFACE_ALL or the PO_REQ_DIST_INTERFACE_ALL table. The

PO_REQ_DIST_INTERFACE_ALL table was used in Release 11, for Self-Service Purchasing (known

then as Web Requisitions). In Release 11i, you should use the PO_REQ_DIST_INTERFACE_ALL table to

create multiple distributions only for requisitions created in non-Oracle systems that use multiple

distributions. As long as the Multiple Distributions field in the Requisition Import program is No (or

blank), Requisition Import looks for distribution information in the

PO_REQUISITIONS_INTERFACE_ALL table.

The Requisition Import program operates in three phases. In the first phase, the program validates your data

and derives or defaults additional information. The program generates an error message for every validation

that fails and creates a row in the PO_INTERFACE_ERRORS table with detailed information about each

error.

In the second phase, the program groups and numbers the validated requisition lines according to the

following criteria. If you specify a value in the REQ_NUMBER_SEGMENT1 column of the

PO_REQUISITIONS_INTERFACE_ALL table, all lines with the same value for this column are grouped

together under a requisition header. If you provide a value in the GROUP_CODE column, all lines with the

same value in this column are grouped together under a requisition header.

If you do not provide values in either of these columns, the Requisition Import program uses the Group By

parameter to group lines together. If you do not provide a value for this parameter, the program uses the

default Group By that you set up to group requisition lines. You can group requisition lines in one of the

following ways that the Requisition Import program supports by:

BUYER

CATEGORY

LOCATION

VENDOR

ITEM

ALL (all requisition lines grouped under one header)

If you provide a value in the REQ_NUMBER_SEGMENT1 column of the

PO_REQUISITIONS_INTERFACE_ALL table, this value becomes the requisition number. If not, the

Requisition Import program uses either the Last Requisition Number parameter if specified or the next

unique number stored in the PO_UNIQUE_IDENTIFIER_CONTROL table, adds 1 to this number, and

starts numbering requisitions. If any of the requisition numbers generated already exists, the program loops

until it finds a unique number. For every line that is successfully imported, a default distribution is created

with the account information that you specify. (You specify account information in any of the following

columns in either the PO_REQUISITIONS_INTERFACE_ALL or the

PO_REQ_DIST_INTERFACE_ALL table: CHARGE_ACCOUNT_ID, ACCRUAL_ACCOUNT_ID,

VARIANCE_ACCOUNT_ID, BUDGET_ACCOUNT_ID, or any of the

CHARGE_ACCOUNT_SEGMENT columns.) Requisition supply is also created for every approved

requisition that is successfully imported.

In the third phase, the program deletes all the successfully processed rows in the interface tables, and

creates a report which lists the number of interface records that were successfully imported and the number

that were not imported. This report can be viewed by choosing View Output for the Requisition Import

concurrent

Request ID in the Requests window. You can launch the Requisition Import Exceptions Report to view the

rows that were not imported by the Requisition Import program along with the failure reason(s) for each

row.

 

PO Create Documents Workflow

OVERVIEW

Purchasing integrates with Oracle Workflow technology to create standard purchase orders or blanket

releases automatically from approved requisition lines. The workflow for creating purchasing documents

automatically is called PO Create Documents.

In the Workflow Builder, PO Create Documents consists of several processes. Each of these processes is

viewable in the Workflow Builder as a diagram whose objects and properties you can modify. Each

workflow process consists of individual functions.

For each document that is created successfully by the PO Create Documents workflow, the PO Approval

workflow is called to approve the document if you have allowed automatic approval.

FLOW

The PO Create Documents workflow is initiated at the end of the requisition approval workflow for

approved requisition lines. The workflow begins automatic document creation if you’ve kept the item

attribute Is Automatic Creation Allowed? set to Y for Yes, if source documents are associated with the

requisition lines, and you have properly set up sourcing rules. If the source document associated with the

requisition line is a quotation, a standard purchase order is created. If the source document is a blanket

purchase agreement, a release is created.

 

PO Approval Workflow

OVERVIEW

Whenever you submit a purchase order or release for approval or take an action in the Notifications

Summary window, Purchasing uses Oracle Workflow technology in the background to handle the approval

process. Workflow uses the approval controls and hierarchies you define according to the setup steps in the

section to route documents for approval. You can use the Workflow Builder interface to modify your

approval process.

The purchase order approval workflow consists of processes, which are viewable in the Workflow Builder

as a diagram, some of whose objects and properties you can modify. Each workflow process, in turn,

consists of individual function activities.

The PO Approval workflow is initiated at the following points in Purchasing:

When you choose Submit for Approval (and then choose OK) in the Approve Document window.

See: Submitting a Document for Approval

When you respond to a reminder in the Notifications Summary window reminding you to submit a

document for approval that has not yet been submitted.

FLOW

The purchase order approval process is associated with an item type called PO Approval. This item type

identifies all purchase order and release approval workflow processes available.

Refer to the Oracle Purchasing User’s guide for a comprehensive explanation of the flow.

Other important tables in Oracle

Purchasing

PO_SYSTEM_PARAMETERS_ALL

PO_SYSTEM_PARAMETERS_ALL stores default, control, and option information you provide to

customize Oracle Purchasing to your company’s needs. PO_SYSTEM_PARAMETERS_ALL corresponds

to the Purchasing Options window. This table has no primary key. The table should never have more than

one row.

PO_UNIQUE_IDENTIFIER_CONT_ALL

PO_UNIQUE_IDENTIFIER_CONT_ALL stores information about the current, highest, system–generated

numbers for the Oracle Purchasing tables that require special sequencing. You need one row for each

sequentially system–generated number for each organization. The table includes rows for each of the

following: purchase orders, requisitions, receipts, suppliers, quotations, and requests for quotations (RFQs).

For each organization, there are four rows for each of the following entities: PO_HEADERS_ALL,

PO_REQUISITION_HEADERS_ALL, PO_HEADERS_RFQ and PO_HEADERS_QUOTE. There are

two rows corresponding to the entities PO_VENDORS and RCV_SHIPMENT_HEADERS.

The information for the quotation and RFQ sub–entities is associated with the PO_HEADERS_ALL table

entity. TABLE_NAME values for quotations and RFQs are ’PO_HEADERS_QUOTE’ and

’PO_HEADERS_RFQ’ respectively.

PO_LINE_TYPES_B

PO_LINE_TYPES_B contains information about the line types you use in your business. You need each

row for each line type you use. Oracle Purchasing uses this information to provide default information

when you create a document line using a line type. Oracle Purchasing also uses this information to control

how you enter information on your document lines according to the line type you choose.

ORDER_TYPE_LOOKUP_CODE is ’AMOUNT’ for an amount–based line type or ’QUANTITY’ for a

quantity–based line type.

PO_DOCUMENT_TYPES_B

PO_DOCUMENT_TYPES_ALL_B contains information about default, control, and option information

you provide to customize Oracle Purchasing document management for your company’s needs.

PO_DOCUMENT_TYPES_ALL_B corresponds to the Document Types window.

PO_ACTION_HISTORY

PO_ACTION_HISTORY contains information about the approval and control history of your purchasing

documents. There is one record in this table for each approval or control action an employee takes on a

purchase order, purchase agreement, release, or requisition. Each row includes references to the document

itself, the employee who acted on the document, the date of the action, the type of action taken on the

document, and a note each employee can leave when taking an action on the document.

Oracle Purchasing uses this information to display history information about documents and to forward

documents in the approval process to the appropriate employee.

Important Profile Options in Oracle

Purchasing

PO: AUTOCREATE GL DATE OPTION

Indicates the date used on purchase orders generated by AutoCreate: The autocreate date is used as the

purchase order date. The GL date on the requisition distribution is used as the purchase order date.

PO: AUTOMATIC DOCUMENT SOURCING

Yes means that Purchasing automatically defaults source document and pricing information for an item

from the most recently created blanket purchase agreement or quotation. No means that this source

document information comes from the Approved Supplier List window, where you must specify which

source documents to use. Note that if an item on a requisition is associated with both a blanket purchase

agreement and a quotation, Purchasing uses the blanket purchase agreement even if the quotation was

created more recently.

PO: DISPLAY THE AUTOCREATED DOCUMENT

Yes or No indicates whether Purchasing opens the appropriate transaction window (Purchase Orders

window, RFQs window, or Sourcing negotiation page) and displays the created line(s) when you autocreate

a document.

PO: ENABLE SQL TRACE FOR RECEIVING PROCESSOR

Yes means that when you run the Receiving Transaction Processor to import data from another system

using the Receiving Open Interface, the View Log screen displays the receiving transaction pre–processor’s

actions, including errors, as it processed the receipt data from start to finish. (The profile option RCV:

Processing Mode must also be set to

Immediate or Batch for the Yes option to work.) Yes also generates a database trace file; if you need help

with an error that occurs while the

Receiving Transaction Processor runs, Oracle Support Services may ask you for this trace file. This profile

option should be set to Yes only while debugging the Receiving Open Interface or for generating a trace

file.

The Receiving Open Interface validates receipt transactions from other systems and uses the Receiving

Transaction Processor to import the validated data into Purchasing.

PO: RELEASE DURING REQIMPORT

Yes or No indicates whether Purchasing can automatically create releases during the Requisition Import

process.

PO: RESTRICT REQUISITION LINE MODIFY TO QUANTITY SPLIT

Yes or No indicates whether Purchasing restricts requisition line modify in AutoCreate to only splitting the

quantity of a line. No means that the standard AutoCreate requisition line modify logic applies.

PO: WRITE SERVER OUTPUT TO FILE

Yes or No indicates whether log details are written to a flat file rather than to the standard concurrent

manager details log viewable through the View Log button in the Submit Request window when running

the Purchasing Documents Open Interface program.

Yes means log details are written to a flat file. No means log details are written to the concurrent manager

log screen, which can cause overflow problems for large catalogs. Leaving this profile option blank means

log details are not written at all, which improves performance.

RCV: PROCESSING MODE

Indicates the processing mode used after you save your work for receiving transactions:

Batch The transaction goes to the interface table, where it will

be picked up the next time the Receiving Transaction

Processor runs.

Immediate The transaction goes to the interface table, and the Receiving

Transaction Processor is called for the group of transactions that you

entered since you last saved your work.

Online The Receiving Transaction Processor is called directly.

RCV: ALLOW ROUTING OVERRIDE

Yes or No indicates whether the destination type assigned during requisition or purchase order entry can be

overridden at receipt time.

RCV: DEBUG MODE

If set to Yes, and RCV: Processing Mode set to Immediate or Batch, debug messages will be printed to the

concurrent log file.

RCV: DEFAULT INCLUDE CLOSED PO OPTION

If it is set to Yes, a search in the Enter Receipts window and the Receiving Transactions window

automatically select the Include Closed POs checkbox. Your search results will then include closed orders.

The Receiving Open Interface (including ASN) will allow a receipt against orders with the status of Closed

for Receiving if this profile is set to Yes. Any setting other than Yes prevents receiving against orders using

the Receiving Open Interface with the status of Closed for Receiving. 

 

 

 

Basic Purchasing Setups

The purchasing user must be set as a buyer in Oracle applications. Before

setting the user as buyer he/she must be an employee in applications.

Employee Setup

Employee should be assigned the position and job. This is useful in PO approval

workflow.

The view used is per_people_v, per_people_address_v,

per_people_assigment_v to store the employee information.

Buyer Setup

Once the user is set as buyer then he/she can create/approve/print the purchase

orders. Whether the users can create/approve/print the purchase orders is

decided by how the document types are setup.

The table which stores the buyer is PO_AGENTS and the view used for the

buyer name and other details is PO_AGENTS_V.

The important columns PO_AGENTS_V

Sr.no Column Name Comments

1 Agent_id Unique agent id

2 Agent_name Agent Name

3 Location_id Unique location id

4 Location_code Location code

5 Start_date_active Start date active

6 End_date_active End date active

Document Types

Document types there are certain attributes needs to be set. They are explained

below-:

1) Owner can approve: If we check this attribute then user can approve the

documents he has created. This field is not updatable when the document type is

RFQ or Requisition.

2) Approver can modify: If we check this attribute then approver the

contents of the document. This is not applicable to RFQ and requisitions.

3) Can change forward to: This indicates test that the user can change the

name of the approver in the approval window.

4) Can change forward from: This indicates that the user can change the

name of the document creator. This is available only for document type

requisition.

5) Can change approval hierarchy: Preparers and approvers can change

the approval hierarchy in the approval document window.

6) Disable: Check it to disable the Document type.

7) Access Level: How the users can access the document type.

a. Full: Full access to the user

b. Modify: Can modify the document type

c. View Only: Can only view the document type

8) Archive On: When the archival of document type will take place.

a. On approval: On approval of the document

b. On Printing: On printing of the document.

9) Approval workflow: Which workflow the purchasing will use to approve

the document type in question. One can define a custom workflow and

also mention the name of the workflow.

10) Default Hierarchy: What hierarchy the approval process will follow is to

be mentioned here.

 

Table Used

The table where the information is stored is PO_DOCUMENT_TYPES_V

 

Supplier Setup

The table where the information is stored is PO_VENDORS

Sr.no Column Name Comments

1 Vendor_id Unique vendor id

2 Vendor_name Vendor or supplier name

3 Segment1 Vendor Number

4 Start_date_active Start date active

5 End date active End date active

Another important table associated with this screen is

PO_VENDORS_SITES_ALL. This stores the important information of vendor

sites.

Sr.no Column Name Comments

1 Vendor_site_id Unique vendor site Id

2 Vendor_id Unique vendor site id refers

PO_VENDORS

3 Vendor_site_code Vendor site code

Purchase Orders

Creation Of Standard Purchase Orders

Creation of purchase orders has three parts. First is the header information

second is the line information and the third is the shipments and distributions

information. This applies for the standard purchase order.

Sr.no Column Name Comments

1 Po_header_id Unique Po Header Id

2 Agent_id Agent id refers PO_AGENTS_V

3 Segment1 PO Number

4 Revision_num Revision Number for PO

5 Vendor_id Unique vendor id refers PO_VENDOR_ID

6 Vendor_site_id Unique vendor site id refers

PO_VENDOR_SITES_ALL

7 Vendor_contact_id Vendor contact id

8 Ship_to_location_id Where the material will be shipped by

supplier

9 Bill_to_location_id Where the Bill/Invoice will be sent by the

supplier

10 Currency_code Currency code

11 Authorization_status Authorization status for the PO

Open/Closed/Approved/Incomplete

12 Type_look_up_code What is the type of PO

Standard/Blanket/Planned

13 Org_id Operating Unit

The second type of information stored is line level information.

Its is stored in the table PO_LINES_ALL

Sr.no Column Name Comments

1 Po_line_id Line identification number

2 Po_header_id PO header id refers PO_HEADERS_ALL

3 Line_type_id Line type_id such as

Goods/Services/Expense etc

4 Line_num Unique line num for each line item

5 Item_id Item to purchased refers

MTL_SYSTEMS_ITEMS

6 Item_rev Revision of the item refers

MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS

7 Item_description Description of item

8 Quantity Quantity to be entered

9 Unit_price Price of one unit

10 List_price Unit price from price list

11 Org_id Operating unit from where purchasing

will take place

12 Promise_date Promise date by supplier

13 Need_by_date Date by which the material is required

 

The third type of information is the shipment

The information is stored in PO_LINE_LOCATIONS_ALL

Sr.no Column Name Comments

1 LINE_LOCATION_ID Unique identifier LINE_LOCATION_ID

2 PO_HEADER_ID Refers PO_HEADERS_ALL

3 PO_LINE_ID Refers PO_LINE_ALL

4 QUANTITY Quantity to be shipped

5 SHIP_TO_LOCATION_ID Unique Identifier for the quantity to be

shipped

6 SHIPMENT_TYPE Price break, Blanket ,Standard

7 ORG_ID Operating Unit

The distribution information is stored in PO_DISTRIBUTIONS_ALL

Sr.no Column Name Comments

1 Po_Distribution_Id Unique Distribution Id

2 Po_Header_Id PO Header Identification number

referring PO_HEADERS_ALL

3 Po_Line_Id PO Line identification number

referring PO_LINES_ALL

4 Line_Location_Id Refers PO_LINE_LOCATIONS_ALL

5 Set_Of_Books_Id Set of Books

6 Code_Combination_Id GL Code combination id for charge

account

7 Quantity_Ordered Quantity Ordered

8 Distribution_Num Unique distribution number

9 Destinition_Type_Code Destination type Code for e.g.

Inventory

10 Destination_Organization_Id Destination organization id

11 Destination_Subinventory Destination Sub-inventory

12 Org_Id Operating unit

13 Po_Release_Id PO Release identification number if

the PO type is blanket PO

Thus to summarize the information for Standard, Planned is stored in the

following tables.

1) PO_HEADERS_ALL

2) PO_LINES_ALL

3) PO_LINE_LOCATIONS_ALL

4) PO_DISTRIBUTIONS_ALL

Creation of Blanket Purchase Order

When the purchase order type information is of the type blanket then the

header and line level information is stored in same table as that of standard

PO. For a blanket one more transaction named a Release transaction is

made. This release transaction then creates the shipment information and the

distribution information. Therefore for a blanket transactions following tables

are used.

1) PO_HEADERS_ALL

2) PO_LINES_ALL

3) PO_RELEASE_ALL

4) PO_LINE_LOCATIONS_ALL

5) PO_DISTRIBUTIONS_ALL

Thus a blanket PO is same as Standard PO with the help of extra transaction

call Releases. The table for releases is PO_RELEASE_ALL

Sr.no Column Name Comments

1 PO_RELEASE_ID PO Release identification Number

2 PO_HEADER_ID Refers PO_HEADERS_ALL

3 RELEASE_NUM Unique release num

4 AGENT_ID Buyer ID refers PO_AGENTS_V

5 RELEASE_DATE The date on which release is created

6 REVISION_NUM Revision number is generated when

any changes are done to release

information

7 APPROVED_FLAG Y if the release in question is

approved

8 APPROVED_DATE Date on release is approved

9 PRINT_COUNT No of times the release is printed

10 PRINT_DATE Last printed date of the release

11 AUTHORIZATION_STATUS Different status of the releases such

as Open/Closed/Approved/Incomplete

12 ORG_ID Operating unit

Concept of Multi Organization in Purchasing

In Oracle purchasing can be done across multiple organizations also called

as operating units. So to accommodate this oracle has provided multi org

views for the base tables of purchasing. For instance the table

PO_HEADERS_ALL stores the header information of all the orgs. For using

multi org view we need to set ORG_ID context variable using the AOL built in

package. The syntax is given below.

FND_CLIENT_INFO.SET_ORG_CONTEXT(<ORG_ID Value>)

Once this is set then one can get rows in from all multi org views. Table below

illustrates the base tables and there multi org views.

Base Table Multi Org View

PO_HEADERS_ALL PO_HEADERS

PO_LINES_ALL PO_LINES

PO_LINE_LOCATIONS_ALL PO_LINE_LOCATIONS

PO_RELEASES_ALL PO_RELEASES

PO_DISTRIBUTIONS_ALL PO_DISTRIBUTIONS

PO_VENDOR_SITES_ALL PO_VENDOR_SITES