PeopleSoft Strategic Sourcing Preface

This preface discusses:

Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise products.
PeopleSoft application fundamentals.
Pages with deferred processing.
Common elements in this PeopleBook.
PeopleSoft standard field definitions.
PeopleSoft Strategic Sourcing standard terms.

Note. This PeopleBook documents only page elements that require additional explanation. If a page element is not documented with the process or task in which it is used, then it either requires no additional explanation or is documented with the common elements for the section, chapter, or PeopleBook.

Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise Products

This PeopleBook refers to these products:

PeopleSoft Manufacturing
PeopleSoft Engineering
PeopleSoft Supply Planning
PeopleSoft Purchasing
PeopleSoft Supplier Contract Management
PeopleSoft Asset Management

PeopleSoft Application Fundamentals

The PeopleSoft Enterprise Strategic Sourcing 9.0 PeopleBook provides you with implementation and processing information for your PeopleSoft Strategic Sourcing system. However, additional, essential information describing the setup and design of your system resides in companion documentation. The companion documentation consists of important topics that apply to many or all PeopleSoft Enterprise applications across the Financials, Enterprise Service Automation, and Supply Chain Management product lines. You should be familiar with the contents of these PeopleBooks.

Pages with Deferred Processing

Several pages in PeopleSoft Strategic Sourcing operate in deferred processing mode. Most fields on these pages are not updated or validated until you save the page or refresh it by clicking a button, link, or tab. This delayed processing has various implications for the field values on the page. For example, if a field contains a default value, any value you enter before the system updates the page overrides the default.

Another implication is that the system updates quantity balances or totals only when you save or otherwise refresh the page. For example, on the Line Bid Response page, the extended price and currency conversion do not display until you click the Recalculate button or otherwise refresh the page.

About These PeopleBooks

A companion PeopleBook called About These PeopleBooks contains general information, including:

Related documentation, common page elements, and typographical conventions for PeopleBooks.
Information about using PeopleBooks and managing the PeopleBooks Library.
Information on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) country and currency codes used within PeopleBooks.
A glossary of useful PeopleSoft terms that are used in PeopleBooks.

Common Elements Used in This PeopleBook

Bid	A submission of an offer on an event.
Bid Factor	An element of an event, that may or may not be cost-related, which factors into the award of an event. Bid factors can be assigned weightings and used to determine the best bid. Examples of bid factors include price, product warranties, service level agreements, and defect ratings.
Bidder	Anyone registered to place a bid on an event. The term bidder applies whether it is a sell event or a buy event.
Business Unit	An identification code that represents a high-level organization of business information. You can use a business unit to define regional or departmental units within a larger organization.
Buy Event	In a buy event, the event creator wants to buy goods or services. In addition to price, the creator may specify other bid factors and assign weightings, which factors into the award decision. Bidders must submit their bids, including responses to the bid factors, by a specified End Date at which time the bids are evaluated and the event is awarded. In PeopleSoft Strategic Sourcing, there are three types of buy events: Auction: Also known as a reverse auction. All bids are visible to all bidders. Bidders can enter multiple bids, to beat the current highest-scoring bid. RFx: Also known as a request for quote. Each bidder submits one bid by the specified End Date, at which time the bids are evaluated and the event is awarded. Bidders never see others' bids but the event creator can see all bids throughout the event. Sealed RFx: Similar to a RFx event, yet also restricts the event creator from viewing the bids until after the event has ended.
Competitive Bid	An event in which bidders can view each others' scores and bid as often as they want to submit the winning score.
End Date	The date and time the event closes meaning that bids are no longer accepted.
Event Creator	The originator of the event.
Extension Period	The length of time an auction event is extended. Events can be extended if a bidder posts a bid at the last minute. Extensions are used to keep bidding fair by allowing bidders time to respond to the last minute bid.
Factor Type	The type of information being requested on the bid factor, such as monetary, numeric, date, text, yes/no, list, or separator.
Preview Date	The time available before an event's start date. During preview, bidders may view the event, and may enter bid data into the system but not post it. Having a preview time for an event is optional.
Public Event	An event on which any person or organization may bid.
Reserve Price	The monetary amount that the event creator is willing to accept. When the event reaches Award status, the system warns the event creator if the highest scoring bid does not meet the reserve price. The user can still choose to award the event. For a sell event, the reserve price is the minimum acceptable; for a buy event, it is the maximum acceptable.
RFx	A request for information or request for quote event in which each bidder bids once; bidders cannot see each others' bids and scores.
Sell Event	Most familiarly known as an auction. In a sell event, the event creator offers a good or service for sale. In addition to price, the creator may specify other bid factors which helps determine the award decision. Bidders must submit their bids, including responses to the bid factors, by a specified end date at which time the bids are evaluated and the winners are declared. In PeopleSoft Strategic Sourcing, there are two types of sell events: Auction: All bids and scores are visible to all bidders. Bidders can enter multiple bids, to beat the current highest-scoring bid. RFx: Each bidder submits one bid by the specified end date, at which time the event creators evaluates bids and awards the event. Bidders never see others' bids but the event creator can see all bids throughout the event.
SetID	An identification code that represents a set of control table information or tablesets. A tableset is a group of tables (records) necessary to define your organization's structure and processing options.
Start Date	The date and time at which the event becomes open for bidding.
User ID	The system identifier for the individual who generates a transaction.
Weighting	Both bid factors and line items are weighted to reflect their level of importance. Weighting is used to analyze and score bids.