Modeling Centralized Procurement in Oracle Cloud Applications
Benefits of centralizing procurement activity in a large or diverse organization are well known. It helps in achieving significant cost reduction and policy compliance. In this article, we will focus on understanding the key concepts for modeling centralized procurement in Oracle Cloud applications.
In Oracle Cloud, a business unit does not need to perform all business functions. The business unit model allows you to assign only relevant business functions to a business unit, while some other functions can be outsourced to a different business unit. Examples of business functions are Materials Management, Requisitioning, Procurement, Payables Invoicing etc. Note that not all functions can be outsourced; Procurement is a business function that can be. A business unit that has a procurement business function assigned is called as procurement business unit.
Many of us have the impression that procurement business units create purchase orders like requisitioning business units create requisitions. Well, this is just partly true and does not reflect the true essence of this model. In Cloud Procurement, purchase orders are created in context of legal entities. It is true that a purchase order is managed by the procurement business unit but it is issued on behalf of a particular legal entity (which is typically derived from the requisitioning business unit). Suppliers see the name of the legal entity as the buying organization and not the name of the procurement business unit. In fact, Procurement business unit name is not even included in the printed purchase order PDF. Secondly, all the accounting impact that a purchase order has, is absorbed by the ledger of the requisitioning business unit. Procurement business unit does not even need to have a ledger setup done.
Confused?? .... You might be thinking, what a procurement business unit is and what it does? Well, we need to understand the idea of Procurement business function the way Oracle has conceptualized it. Let me explain. In Oracle Cloud, Procurement business function encompasses following activities:
Supplier relationship management: A supplier is a global entity, but supplier sites are created in context of Procurement business units. A single supplier site, can be leveraged by different business units through site assignments. Also note that Approved Suppliers List (ASL) entries are created and maintained at procurement business unit level.
Supplier Qualification management: Initiatives, Assessments, Questionnaires are created at procurement business unit level.
Sourcing: All negotiations are created in context of procurement business unit; and a single negotiation can carry item requirements from multiple requisitioning business units.
Pricing and Policy Determination: Blanket and Contract purchase agreements that define your purchase prices and terms and conditions, are created in context of Procurement business units. These agreements are rolled out to requisitioning business units through Business Unit access control.
Procurement Catalogs Management: Catalogs, smart forms, punch-outs are all setup at procurement business unit level and rolled out to requisitioning business units or to specific users through content zones.
Purchase Order Management: Buyers that manage the purchase orders are setup as procurement agents at the procurement business unit level. Purchase order header carries an attribute for Procurement Business unit, however the ownership and the liability lies with the Legal Entity.
None of these activities have any accounting impact. And all of these can be centralized, meaning that a centralized department can offer all these as services to the different business units of the organization. Moreover if you notice, all of these are strategic business activities on which organizations want their buyers to focus on more aggressively apart from the routine activities such as following up with suppliers for delayed shipments and invoice mismatches.
For centralizing procurement, it is advisable to setup a separate (or dedicated) business unit and assign it only procurement business function. And then create the service provider relationships with the requisitioning business units which will be able to utilize the services of the centralized procurement business unit. It is like plug and play setup; when a new business unit gets configured (for requisitioning) we just need to setup the service provider relationship and then roll out specific agreements or other catalog content as needed.
Before closing this article, I will like to emphasize on the fact that a business unit which only has procurement business function does not need any accounting setup (chart of accounts, ledger etc.). This means that, for customers who are implementing only sourcing or supplier qualification, there is no need to do any accounting setup at all.
I hope this article proves useful for you to understand the 'Oracle Cloud' concept of centralized Procurement. Thanks!!