Setting up Supplier Scheduling

The following table lists setup steps for Supplier Scheduling. Each of these steps are described in detail in the following sections.

Step Number Required or Optional Step
1. Required Define Item Attributes, Codes, and Templates
2. Optional Set Up Oracle Master Scheduling / MRP and Oracle Advanced Supply Chain Planning
3. Required Set Up Oracle Purchasing
4. Optional Function Security
5. Required Define Bucket Patterns
6. Required Define Supplier Scheduling Options
7. Required with Defaults Define Approved Supplier Statuses
8. Required Set Up Your Approved Supplier List in Oracle Purchasing
9. Optional Define Sourcing Rules
10. Optional Assign Sourcing Rules
11. Optional Resource Authorizations

Setting Up

  1. Define Item Attributes, Codes, and Templates

    Using an appropriate Purchasing responsibility, navigate to Purchasing > Items > Master Items. Select a Ship-To Organization (for example, M1). Use the option Tools > Copy From > Purchased Item to copy the Purchased Item template options for your item. Apply the template so that the values relevant for Purchasing are defaulted for your item. The values you need to verify are: Purchased, Purchasable, Approved Supplier List (ASL), as well as the Expense Account needs to be defined.

  2. Setting up Related Products

    For more information on setting up Supplier Scheduling in MRP and ASCP, see: Appendix H - Setting up Planned Orders.

  3. Setting up Oracle Purchasing

    Supplier Scheduling is licensed with Oracle Purchasing and needs the Oracle Purchasing module to be installed for Supplier Scheduling to work. For more information on setting up Oracle Purchasing, see this chapter.

  4. Function Security

    For more information on Function Security, see: Appendix D - Function Security for Purchasing.

  5. Defining Bucket Patterns

    Bucket Patterns

    You can define variable bucket patterns to use when building planning and shipping schedules and generating the Supplier Scheduling Requirements report. Bucket patterns are comprised of up to 56 buckets of: Days, Weeks, Months, Quarters.

    Monthly and quarterly buckets always begin on the first day of the month. Quarterly buckets begin on the first day of the next available month and last for three consecutive calendar months. For weekly buckets, you must specify the day, Monday - Sunday, that you want your weekly schedules to begin.

    Bucket start dates are dynamically defined at schedule build time, based on the schedule horizon start date and bucket duration. Because the transition from days to weeks and weeks to months or quarters might not align perfectly, "buffer" buckets are automatically generated to bridge any gap.

    Note: Buffer buckets do not count towards the maximum number of bucket patterns.

    Bucket patterns are assigned to the item in the approved supplier list. When you build a schedule, using AutoSchedule, items matching the selection criteria are grouped by bucket pattern and included on the same schedule. If a supplier is associated with items that contain different bucket patterns for the selected schedule, multiple schedules are automatically built, one for each bucket pattern.

    When you build a schedule, using the Scheduler's Workbench and include future releases, the schedule will have an additional bucket labeled Future. The Future bucket includes approved releases dated after the schedule horizon end. This bucket does not appear on the printed schedule or the electronic transaction; however, the contents of the bucket can be reviewed and rescheduled to fit within the horizon.

    Defining Bucket Patterns

    You can define variable bucket patterns in a combination of up to 56 of the following intervals: Days, Weeks, Months, Quarters. To define a bucket pattern:

    1. Navigate to the Bucket Patterns window.

    2. Enter a unique name for the bucket pattern.

    3. Enter an extended description of the bucket pattern. The description you enter will also be displayed in the Pattern Description text field.

    4. In Bucket Count, perform the following tasks:

      • Enter the number of days, weeks, months, and quarters you want to include.

      • In Begin Weeks On, select the day of the week you want your weekly schedule to begin on.

      • If you entered a nonzero bucket count in Weeks, you must specify the day of the week on which all weekly intervals will begin.

      • In Inactive On, enter a disable date to prevent future use of this bucket pattern for schedule generation and reporting.

    5. Save your work.

  6. Defining Supplier Scheduling Options

    For each ship-to organization, you may optionally define CUM management parameters. Note that CUM Management is not mandatory. If you select Enable CUM Management in the Setup > Schedule Options window, then CUM Management is computed for the schedules of the selected ship-to organization. You also optionally select defaults for schedule types, bucket patterns, and the MRP/MPS/DRP plan using the Schedule Options window. These defaults are used in the AutoSchedule process. You can change these defaults when you build schedules manually.

    1. Navigate to the Supplier Scheduling Options window.

    2. Select the Ship-To Organization code.

    3. You can select Enable CUM Management, if you want to enable CUM tracking for all Approved Supplier List items in the ship-to organization you specified.

    4. You can select RTV Updates CUM, if you want Return to Supplier (RTV) transactions and their associated RTV corrections automatically included in the CUM calculation.

    5. Select a default planning schedule type.

    6. Select a default shipping schedule type. Release Only: includes approved supply agreement releases. Release With Forecast: includes release and forecast quantities.

    7. Select a default planning bucket pattern.

    8. Select a default shipping bucket pattern.

    9. Select the default MRP, DRP, or MPS plan that will be displayed in the Build Schedules window in the Scheduler's Workbench and can be used in the AutoSchedule process.

    10. With Autoscheduling, the parameters are defaulted from the Approved Supplier List, and not from the Scheduling Options window.

    11. Save your work.

  7. Defining Approved Supplier Statuses

    For more information, see: Defining Approved Supplier Statuses, in the Supply Base Management chapter. Also see: Defining Planners, Oracle MRP User's Guide.

  8. Setting up Approved Supplier List in Oracle Purchasing

    For more information, see: Approved Supplier List chapter.

  9. Define Sourcing Rules

    For more information, see: Defining Sourcing Rules.

  10. Assigning Sourcing Rules

    For more information, see: Assigning Sourcing Rules and Bills of Distribution.

  11. Resource Authorization

    Resource Authorizations address the supplier's need to have long lead time components or to invest in material processing without incurring economic hardship, if requirements are reduced.

    Authorizations are defined using time fences and are calculated, based on scheduled quantities within the designated horizon.

    If you are tracking CUMs, authorizations represent the current cumulative quantity released up to the time fence cutoff date.

    If you are not tracking CUMs, authorizations represent the past due requirements as of the schedule start date, plus the discrete order quantities from the start date to the authorization cutoff date.

    The authorization cutoff date is calculated by adding the number of calendar days associated with each authorization definition to the schedule horizon start date.

    Note: The schedule horizon date is counted as "Day 1," not "Day 0."

    You can enable authorizations in the approved supplier list by selecting Enable Authorizations, and then associating up to four authorization lookup codes with individual time fences to the supplier site/item combination.

    Example

    The following example shows the defined authorizations for Item A100/Supplier A Site B:

    Authorization 1: Finished Goods 21 days
    Authorization 2: Raw Materials 35 days

    For a schedule with a 3/6/96 start date, the authorization cutoff dates are calculated as:

    Authorization 1: 3/26/96
    Authorization 2: 4/9/96

    The following data applies to this supplier site/item:

    Blanket Releases: Due Date Quantity
    Current CUM Received 2500 -
    BO 100 - rel 09 3/10/96 100
    - 3/17/96 100
    - 3/20/96 100
    - 3/23/96 100
    - 3/27/96 100
    - 3/29/96 100
    - 4/03/96 100
    - 4/08/96 200
    BO 100 - rel 10 4/13/96 100
    - 4/17/96 100
    - 4/20/96 100
    Requisition A 5/01/96 100
    - 5/03/96 200
    Requisition B 5/10/96 100
    - 5/12/96 100
    MRP Order 5/15/96 100

    If you are tracking CUMs, the result is:

    Authorization 1: 2900
    Authorization 2: 3400

    If you are not tracking CUMs, the result is:

    Authorization 1: 400
    Authorization 2: 900

    If the authorization time fence exceeds the schedule horizon, the authorization calculation will be truncated on the horizon end date.

    If you are tracking CUMs and your schedule horizon bridges the transition from one CUM period to the next, authorizations for the current CUM period will be truncated on the CUM period end date. Authorization calculations for the next CUM period will start on the first planning schedule after the new CUM period is opened.

    For a CUM period start date of 4/01/95 and a CUM period end date of 3/30/96, on a schedule with a 3/06/96 start date, the authorization cutoff dates are calculated as:

    Authorization 1: 3/26/96
    Authorization 2: 3/30/96

    Finally, if you are tracking CUMs, Supplier Scheduling captures a reference to the highest authorization by recording the associated schedule and quantity representing the single highest authorization level for each supplier site/item/authorization type by ship-to organization.

    Enabling Resource Authorizations in the Approved Supplier List

    Use the Supplier Scheduling tab to enable resource authorizations in the approved supplier list.

    To enable resource authorizations in the approved supplier list:

    1. Navigate to the Approved Supplier List window.

    2. Query your item or select an item. For the item, select the supplier/site combination that you need to enable AutoSchedule. Then place your cursor anywhere in the record, so that you can select the Attributes button.

    3. Click the Attributes button. The Supplier-Items Attribute window appears.

    4. Select the Supplier Scheduling tab.

    5. Select Enable Authorizations. Select a Sequence, Authorization, and Cutoff Days.

    6. Click Save.