Choosing Document Creation Options:Purchasing provides default functionality in its Oracle Workflow-automated processes. This default functionality is described in the sections below. If you do not want this default functionality, you can change it in the Oracle Workflow Builder.
Before you can use or modify any of the workflows in Purchasing, you need to set up Oracle Workflow if you haven't done so already. See: Setting Up Oracle Workflow.
Although Workflow is installed with Purchasing automatically, you need to complete additional setup steps described in the Oracle Workflow Guide, if you did not already do this as part of your installation or upgrade. Additionally install the Workflow Builder only if you want to modify the default workflows that Purchasing provides or if you just want to see and understand the workflow processes as they are graphically displayed in the Builder.
Choosing Document Creation Options:Prerequisite
Before you can use or modify any of the workflows in Purchasing, you need to set up Oracle Workflow if you haven't done so already. See: Setting Up Oracle Workflow.
Oracle 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. PO Create Documents includes important attributes which you should evaluate and consider changing in the Oracle Workflow Builder.
In addition, the Create Standard Purchase Orders concurrent program uses multiple requisitions available in the demand workbench and groups them using supplier or agreement (source document) information to create standard purchase orders.
See: Customizing the Automatic Document Creation Workflow.
Workflow for Creating Purchase Orders and Releases
Choosing a Process Mode for Automatic Document Creation
The item attribute Send PO Autocreation to Background is used by the Main Requisition Approval Process in the PO Requisition Approval workflow. Send PO Autocreation to Background determines whether the approval workflow should launch automatic document creation in Background mode. By default, this item attribute is set to Y for Yes. But you can change it to N for No if you'd rather process automatic document creation in Online mode.
Background and online modes affect your system performance in different ways. For more information on what Background and Online mean, see PO: Workflow Processing Mode in the section Profile Options in Purchasing.
Note: The profile option PO: Workflow Processing Mode sets the processing mode for the entire approval workflow in Purchasing, whereas the item attribute Send PO Autocreation to Background enables you to change the processing mode specifically for automatic document creation after requisition approval, regardless of how the profile option PO: Workflow Processing Mode is set.
If you want to keep the default mode of Background
Use the Submit Requests window in the System Administrator responsibility to start the Workflow Background Process, which must be running for Background mode.
Important: Since the item attribute Send PO Autocreation to Background contains a default value of Y-which means automatic document creation occurs in Background mode-you must start the Workflow Background Process if you are going to keep the default.
You can submit the process for all workflows or just for a particular workflow, in this case the PO Requisition Approval workflow. See: To Schedule Background Engines.
If you want to change the default mode to Online
Start the Oracle Workflow Builder and open the PO Requisition Approval workflow.
Select the item attribute Send PO Autocreation to Background and open its Properties window.
Change its Default value from Y to N.
Automatic document creation, when launched from the requisition approval workflow process, will now perform in Online mode.
Deciding If You Want to Use the Timeout Feature
Prerequisite
Before you can use or modify any of the workflows in Purchasing, you need to set up Oracle Workflow if you haven't done so already. See: Setting Up Oracle Workflow.
The Timeout feature in the approval workflow enables you to specify a period of time after which, if no response has yet come from an approver, a reminder is sent. You can send up to two reminders to an approver using the Timeout feature. You can also specify that after a certain period of time, the document is forwarded automatically to the next approver in the hierarchy. You can optionally set up this feature through the Oracle Workflow Builder.
If you don't set up the Timeout feature, the approval workflow will not time out; it will simply wait to receive a response from each approver.
To set up approval reminders using the Timeout feature
Start the Workflow Builder and open the PO Approval workflow for purchase orders or the PO Requisition Approval workflow for requisitions.
Open any of the following activities' Properties windows and enter a Timeout period (for instructions, see the Oracle Workflow Guide):
To enable the Timeout feature in the PO Approval workflow, modify the following activities in the Notify Approver subprocess by entering a Timeout period in their Properties windows: Approve PO Notification, PO Approval Reminder 1, and PO Approval Reminder 2.
To enable the Timeout feature in the PO Requisition Approval workflow, modify the following activities in the Notify Approver subprocess by entering a Timeout period in their Properties windows: Approve Requisition Notification, Requisition Approval Reminder1, and Requisition Approval Reminder2.
For example, you enter the following Timeout days in all three purchase order approval notifications as follows:
Approve PO Notification - 3 days
PO Approval Reminder 1 - 2 days
PO Approval Reminder 2 - 1 day
In this example, the first notification, Approve PO Notification, times out after 3 days if the approver does not take an action on the notification, and PO Approval Reminder 1 sends the reminder notification. PO Approval Reminder 1 times out after 2 days, and PO Approval Reminder 2 times out after 1 day. Then the workflow looks for the next approver.
Save your changes.
The Workflow Background Process must be running for the Timeout feature to take effect.
Modifying Change Order Workflow Options:Prerequisite
Before you can use or modify any of the workflows in Purchasing, you need to set up Oracle Workflow if you haven't done so already. See: Setting Up Oracle Workflow.
Purchasing integrates with Oracle Workflow technology to let you define what changes to purchase orders or releases-for example, to amounts, suppliers, or dates-require full reapproval. All of the workflow processes and functions relating to change orders can be found within the PO Approval workflow. The change order workflow process uses the same reapproval rules already defined in Purchasing to determine whether a document, depending on its document type, requires reapproval. If you want to change the reapproval rules that the change order workflow uses, you can change those reapproval rules that determine what percentage change to a unit price, quantity, or document total requires reapproval. You can optionally change these rules by modifying their attributes in the Oracle Workflow Builder. See the section Customizing the Change Order Workflow in: Workflow Processes for Approving Change Orders.
The change order workflow requires that Archive on Approve be chosen in the Document Types window. The Archive on Approve option copies the purchase order information into the archive tables in Purchasing every time you approve or reapprove a purchase order. The change order workflow needs to use this archive information to compare a document before and after you make a change.
Starting the Send Notifications for Purchasing Documents Process:The workflow process, Send Notifications for Purchasing Documents, looks for documents that are incomplete, rejected, or in need of reapproval and sends notifications to the appropriate people of the document's status. For these notifications to be sent, you need to start the concurrent program process Send Notifications for Purchasing Documents if you haven't done so already as part of your standard setup. See: Send Notifications for Purchasing Documents.
Using the Workflow Background Engine:Prerequisite
qBefore you can use or modify any of the workflows in Purchasing, you need to set up Oracle Workflow if you haven't done so already. See:Setting Up Oracle Workflow.
The Workflow Background Engine must be running if you are using the following options:
The Background mode for Purchasing approvals. By default the profile option PO: Workflow Processing Mode is set to Background. You must start the Workflow Background Engine in order for the Background mode to work. See: Profile Options in Purchasing.
The Timeout feature in any workflow. The Timeout feature sends reminder notifications.
The Background mode for the item attribute Send PO Autocreation to Background in the PO Requisition Approval workflow. See: Choosing a Process Mode for Automatic Document Creation.
The Confirm Receipts Workflow Select Orders process. This is a process you submit through the Submit Request window. If you submit it, the Workflow Background Engine must also be running. See: Confirm Receipts Workflow Select Orders Process.
If you are using the Workflow Background Engine for the Timeout feature, it is reasonable to schedule the process to run once or twice a day. If you are using it for Background mode, you should schedule it to run much more frequently; a workflow activity that is set to Background mode doesn't begin until the Workflow Background Engine picks it up for processing.
If you want to use the Workflow Background Engine for both requisitions and purchase orders, you need to submit it twice, once for PO Approval and once for PO Requisition Approval. Or, by not specifying an item type, you can submit it for all item types.
Report / Request Submission:In the Submit Requests window, in the System Administrator responsibility, select Workflow Background Process in the Name field.