Help Home/Getting Started with Oracle Sourcing

Oracle Sourcing offers flexible negotiation capabilities to buyers and sellers, enabling them to efficiently obtain the best possible prices for goods and services. Prices are established based on actual supply and demand at the time the negotiation is transacted.

The four different types of sourcing documents available - requests for quotations (RFQs), requests for information (RFIs), and buyer's auctions. Buyers use real-time interaction to obtain information on suppliers' products and services, and then use that information to create negotiations that drive prices based not only on price, but on lead times, quantity, and item-specific attributes. Buyers and sellers, who might never meet face-to-face, can bypass intermediaries and establish relationships that might not have been possible using more traditional methods of buying and selling.

Common Functionality

All sourcing document types have the following common functionality to simplify the negotiation creation process:

• Reusable Attribute Lists

• Reusable Invitation Lists

• Sourcing Template and Copy features

• Multiple Currency support

• Multiple Language support

• Notes and Attachments

• Terms and Conditions enforcement

RFIs

Oracle Sourcing allows buyers to qualify a wide group of suppliers and their products and services using RFIs. Buyers can use the information obtained to subsequently conduct an RFQ or buyer's auction.

RFQs

Negotiations supports the full RFQ business process. RFQs enable buyers to request quotes from suppliers for complex and hard-to-define items or services such as make-to-order manufacturing items or construction projects.

• Typically an RFQ consists of multiple rounds with competition focused on which supplier(s) can meet the specific requirements in addition to price.

• The process can last from days to weeks. Buyers usually review the received quotes, amend the supplier list and submit a modified RFQ for subsequent rounds of quoting.

• Negotiations supports blind and sealed RFQs. Suppliers are not allowed to see competitive quotes while the RFQ is in progress.

Learn more about RFQs.

Auctions

Auctions supports the complete auction process from auction creation to final award to purchase order generation. Auctions enable buyers to solicit bids for goods and services that are clearly defined, such as office furniture or memory chips.

• Auctions last for a set period of time, typically a matter of a few hours, although the close time can be changed manually or extended automatically based on last minute bids.

• Auctions are typically focused on creating competition between sellers.

• Auctions supports open, blind, and sealed auction styles.

Learn more about auctions.

Use the following table to determine which type of negotiation best suits your business needs. These recommendations should only be used as guidelines. Your specific needs may dictate that you use a negotiation type that has not been specifically recommended for the scenarios listed below.

Guidelines for choosing a negotiation type