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BuyerXpert/SellerXpert 4.1 Administrator's Guide



Chapter 4   Setting Up Resources


This chapter provides guidelines for setting up your BuyerXpert/SellerXpert resources. In addition, a scenario for setting up a multi-org environment is included. After you have completed these tasks, you will be ready to configure the remaining business rules for your organization.
Note The information in this chapter is based on the assumption that you have already read the BuyerXpert/SellerXpert Concepts, Release Notes, and Chapter 3 "About BuyerXpert/SellerXpert Resources."


This chapter contains the following sections:



Administrator's Resource Setup Tasks

For BuyerXpert/SellerXpert to meet the specific needs of different organizations, a number of tasks must be performed, either manually, using the Admin interface screens, or using the Import utility.

Your main tool in performing the tasks to set up resources is the Admin interface Help. Procedures and details of all tasks are contained in the Help, not in this manual.

Tip It is sometimes more efficient to copy data from an existing entity, then modify the data as appropriate for the new member. To do this, checkmark an entity and click Copy.


Table 4-1 contains a list of the resource set up tasks. The right-hand column provides information about where to find instructions, guidelines, or tools for performing that task.

Table 4-1    Administrator's Resource Setup Tasks 

Task

Location of Instructions/Guidelines/Tools

Set up membership.  

Setting Up Membership section  

Set up accounting codes.  

*Setting Up Accounting Codes section  

Set up commodity codes.  

*Setting Up Commodity Codes section  

Set up AIFs.  

Setting Up an AIF section  

Set up units of measure.  

Setting Up Units of Measure section  

Set up pricing.  

Setting Up Pricing section  

Set up payment.  

Setting Up Payment section  

Set up freight and shipping.  

Setting Up Freight and Shipping section  

Set up approval.  

*Setting Up Approval section  

Set up business rules.  

Chapter 5 "Setting Up Business Rules"  

Set up a multi-org environment.  

Setting Up a Multi-Org Environment section  

Most of the resources have associated business rules that must be set up before the resource is functional. Although the Admin interface screens may differ for the various rules, they are basically similar to the following example rule screen.





Setting Up Membership


Before setting up BuyerXpert/SellerXpert membership, you will need to determine a number of facts about the new member. Worksheets for gathering this information are available in Appendix A "Worksheets."

You can create membership entities either by entering data using the Admin interface or importing data using the Import utility.

Instructions for using the Admin interface screens are contained in the Admin interface Help; instructions for loading data are contained in Chapter 8 "Importing Data."

Setting up membership involves the following tasks:

Guidelines for performing these tasks are contained in the following sections.


Creating an Organization

On an initial setup for an organization (with a database that contains no membership data), login is achieved by entering hyphen (-) at the company name, user name, and password prompts. After the first organization exists, the superadmin user (role=superadmin) for the organization can be set up. The superadmin can set up the orgadmins for any sub-organizations.

Organizations can only be created and deleted by superadmins, but can be accessed and updated by the orgadmin of the particular organization. Orgadmins of an organization can also create, read, update, and delete any resources belonging to this organization.

Creating an organization often means there is a lot more data to be set up, which includes most of the resources in this chapter.

Follow these guidelines to create an organization using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. In the Organization screen, click Add to create a totally new organization.

    OR

    Click an existing organization to copy an existing organization that you will modify.

  2. Follow procedures in Help to complete the task of setting up the organization.

    This includes the completing the Identification, Status, Contact Information, Commodity Codes, Payments, and Security Rules pages for the new organization.


Creating an Organizational Unit

Follow these guidelines to create an organizational unit using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select the organizational unit

  2. Click Add.

    OR

    Click an existing organizational unit to copy an existing organizational unit that you will modify.

  3. Follow procedures in Help to complete the task.


Creating Users

A is a person who uses BuyerXpert/SellerXpert to perform the procurement tasks. A user is a member of an organization and may or may not belong to user groups.

A superadmin or an orgadmin can create users belonging to an organization. Only a superadmin can set the role of any other user (roles are superadmin, orgadmin, selfadmin).

Follow these guidelines to create a user using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select People.

  2. Follow procedures in Help to complete the task.


Creating a User Group

A superadmin or an orgadmin can create user groups belonging to an organization. Follow these guidelines to create a user group using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select the user group

  2. Click Add.

    OR

    Click an existing user group to copy an existing user group that you will modify.

  3. Follow procedures in Help to complete the task.


Creating Locations

Follow these guidelines to create a location using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select the location.

  2. Click Add.

    OR

    Click an existing location to copy an existing location that you will modify.

  3. Follow procedures in Help to complete the task.



*Setting Up Accounting Codes

Setting up accounting code includes the following tasks:

Guidelines for performing these tasks are contained in the following sections.


*Creating Accounting Code Segment Definitions

Follow these guidelines to create an accounting code segment definition using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select System Data>Accounting Code Segments.

  2. Follow procedures in Help to complete the task.

After an accounting code segment has been setup, these segments need to be assigned default values. This is done by configuring the Default Accounting Code rule.


*Creating Accounting Code Values

Accounting code values can be created only by importing data with the Import utility or from other external systems. Instructions for using the Import utility are contained in Chapter 8 "Importing Data."


*Setting Up Accounting Code Rules

Follow these guidelines to create accounting code rules using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Accounting Code Rules>Default Accounting Code Values.

  2. Follow procedures in Help to complete the task.

For instructions on importing accounting code rules, refer to Chapter 8 "Importing Data."


*Creating External API Validation

You may want to validate your accounting code values against an external book of records (like SAP or Oracle). To achieve this, you need to set the Accounting Code Model rule to External API. Note that accounting code values are not always validated externally. If the Accounting Code Model rule is set to Default, then the validation is to verify if the accounting codes that the requisitioner types in match the dependencies specified when you import the accounting codes.


Example
Section for an accounting code import file:

department, sparc,                     division,            hardware
department, alpha,                     division,            hardware,
department, os,                      division,            software,

So the default validation would validate that you could not have an accounting code setup like department=os and division=hardware. If you set the accounting code model to NONE, no validation is done.

Note The sample_data/imp_exp directory has complete examples of import files for accounting codes and their corresponding rules.


If you do choose to validate your accounting codes externally, by selecting the External API value, you will need to point to the Java class that implements this validation. This is done by setting the Accounting Code External API server rule:

The external API-compliant Java class specified in this rule needs to implement a Java interface.



*Setting Up Commodity Codes


Setting up commodity code resources includes the following tasks:

Guidelines for performing these tasks are contained in the following sections.


*Creating Commodity Code Segment Definitions

Commodity code segments can be created for an organization by an orgadmin.

To create commodity code segments using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select General Info>Commodity Codes.

  2. Follow procedures in Help to complete the task.


*Creating Commodity Code Values

Commodity code values can be created only by importing data with the Import utility. Instructions for using the Import utility are contained in Chapter 8 "Importing Data."



Setting Up an AIF


Setting up an AIF requires the following tasks:

Guidelines for performing these tasks are contained in the following sections.


Creating an AIF

Customized AIFs can be created without any developer involvement. Follow these guidelines to create an AIF using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select System Data>Additional Information Field.

  2. Follow procedures in Help to complete the task.

By default, AIFs are presented as text fields. You can change them into list boxes with predefined values by configuring certain NTV files. Instructions for doing this are contained in Chapter 11 "Configuration and Customization."


Assigning AIFs

After any new AIF is created, it must be assigned to the appropriate product by setting up a rule. Follow these guidelines to assign an AIF using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Order Processing >Line Additional Info Rules>Line Item Aditional Information screen.

  2. Follow procedures in Help to complete the task.



Setting Up Units of Measure

Units of measure can be created at the system level or at an organization level. Setting up units of measure resources includes the following tasks:

Guidelines for performing these tasks are contained in the following sections.


Creating System-wide Units of Measure

Only a superadmin can create a unit of measure at the system level. These system-wide units of measure apply to entire BuyerXpert/SellerXpert system.

Follow these guidelines to create system units of measure using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select System Data.

  2. Click Units.

  3. Follow procedures in Help to complete the task.


Creating Units of Measure for Organizations

Either a superadmin or an orgadmin can create a unit of measure for a particular organization. These units of measure apply only to this organization.

Follow these guidelines to create organization units of measure using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Units.

  2. Select the appropriate unit, such as weight or volume.

    The screen for the selected unit appears.

  3. Select Class Members.

  4. Click Create.

    The Create a New Unit screen appears.

  5. Follow procedures in Help to complete the task.

  6. If needed, set up a conversion table for the new unit of measure.


Setting Up Conversion Tables

Along with units of measure, you might need to set up conversions between the different units. Like units of measure, conversion tables also can be created at the system level or at the organization level.

System conversion tables can be created only by a superadmin. These tables apply to the entire BuyerXpert/SellerXpert application. Either a superadmin or an orgadmin can create a conversion table for a particular organization.

Follow these guidelines to manage unit conversion tables using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Units>Conversions Tables.

  2. Follow procedures in Help to complete the task.

Conversion tables can also be used to convert currencies and weights. To use a conversion table, a rule must be set up. Weight conversion table and quantity conversion table rules are under Order Processing. The Currency Conversion Table rule is under Order Processing-Currency Rules.



Setting Up Pricing


Before the order process can work, the following pricing tasks are required:

Guidelines for performing these tasks are contained in this section.


Creating a Price List

Follow these guidelines to create a price list for a specific seller using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Pricing>Price Lists.

  2. Follow procedures in Help to complete the form.

After a price list is created, you can populate the actual price list table.


Creating a Pricing Adjustment


Note The instructions in this section specifically apply to the bracket pricing with adjustments model.


Pricing adjustments can be administered through the Admin interface or the Import utility. If the Import utility is used, you will need to specify which organization owns the resource and which organizations the resource is created for.

Note You can use the Copy option to define a new price adjustment by modifying an existing one and saving it under a new name. Refer to Help for procedures.


Follow these guidelines to create a pricing adjustment using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Pricing>Unit Price Adjustments.

  2. Select New Table (Blank) to create a totally new pricing adjustment table.

    OR

    Click an existing table and select New Table (Copy Selected) to copy an existing table that you will modify and save under a new name.



  3. Enter the name of the adjustment, the name (s) of the organization(s) for which the adjustment can be used, and the description.

  4. Choose Look-up (the condition which will be used to calculate adjustment amount) from the drop-down menu.

  5. Click Continue.

  6. Choose the look-up unit.

  7. Enter look-up precision and choose the look-up-rounding method.

  8. Choose results amount or percentage.

  9. Click Continue.



  10. The pricing adjustment results are applied to line.gross_price. If you have chosen a percentage, the resulting adjustment will be a percentage of line.gross_price.

  11. Click Continue.

  12. Click Save and Continue.



  13. Enter the appropriate look-up condition and result value.

  14. Click Add.

  15. Repeat the previous step for all the look-up conditions.

  16. When done, change the Effective-from and Effective-until dates as needed.

  17. Set Enabled to YES to enable the adjustment.

  18. Click Save Changes.

Repeat this procedure to create all other pricing adjustments.


Creating Pricing Adjustment Rules

To use the price adjustment you have created, you must create a rule that chooses this adjustment.

  1. Select Pricing>Pricing Rules>Price Adjustment.

  2. Add a rule by clicking Add New.

    OR

    Edit a rule by clicking Edit.

  3. Choose Product>PriceList>User created for.

  4. Enter the dates between which the rule is valid.

  5. Click Choose to select price adjustment(s) to be used.

  6. Select one or more adjustments

  7. Click Add to List.

    OR

    Replace List.

  8. Enable or disable the rule by setting status to Enabled or Disabled.

  9. Click Save Changes.


Defining a Column Lookup Table

Follow these guidelines to create a column lookup table using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Pricing>Column Lookup Tables.

  2. Select New Table (Blank) to create a totally new column lookup table.

    OR

    Click an existing table and select New Table (Copy Selected) to copy an existing table that you will modify and save under a new name.

  3. Follow procedures in Help to complete the task.


Creating a Column Lookup Table Adjustment

This adjustment is optional. If a column lookup table adjustment is not used, the default price column rule is applied.

After the price list columns are set up, you can set up adjustments which determine the column to be looked up in the price list.You can do this in the Pricing>Column Lookup Tables screen.



You can set up such situations as this: If the quantity ordered in more than 100 items, use column 2, which is the deeply discounted price. However, if the buyer only orders 10 items, use column 3 of the price list, which is not as deep a discount.


Creating Price List Rules

After price lists and column lookup adjustments are created, you need to set up rules to point to the desired adjustments. You can do this in the Pricing>Pricing Rules>PriceList screen.


Creating Order Adjustments

Order and line adjustments can be created like pricing adjustments.


Creating an Order-Level Adjustment

Follow these guidelines to create an order-level adjustment using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Pricing>Whole Order Adjustments.

    The Whole Order Adjustments screen appears.

  2. Select New Table (Blank) to create a totally new adjustment table.

    OR

    Click an existing table and select New Table (Copy Selected) to copy an existing table that you will modify and save under a new name.

  3. Follow procedures in Help to complete the task.

  4. After the order adjustment is set up, rules can be set up under Pricing>Discount Charge Rules>Group Adjustments.


Creating a Line-Level Adjustment

Follow these guidelines to create a line-level adjustment using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Pricing>Line Amount Adjustments.

    The Line Amount Adjustments screen appears.

  2. Select New Table (Blank) to create a totally new adjustment table.

    OR

    Click an existing table and select New Table (Copy Selected) to copy an existing table that you will modify and save under a new name.

  3. Follow procedures in Help to complete the task.

  4. After the line adjustment is set up, rules can be set up under Pricing>Discount Charge Rules>Line Adjustments.



Setting Up Payment

Before the order process can work, the following payment set up tasks are required:

Guidelines for performing these tasks are contained in this section.


Creating Payment Types and Subtypes

Follow these guidelines to create payment types and subtypes using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Payments>Payment Types.

  2. Click Add New Type.

  3. Enter name.

  4. Select type Offline (BuyerXpert only), Credit Card or Bank Account (SellerXpert only).

    Enter the value for the subtype that this type supports.

  5. Enter the type name, prefix, type, and subtype name.

  6. Click Save Changes.

  7. Click Edit next to the new payment type you added in the table.

    The Edit Payment Type Data screen appears.

  8. Add a new payment subtype if desired.

  9. Change the status of the payment type to Active.

  10. Click Save Changes.

    The Payment Types screen appears, with the new payment type showing the status as Active.

  11. Repeat steps 6 through 9 until all subtypes are added.

  12. Activate the payment type and all the payment subtypes.

  13. Click Save Changes.


Creating Default Payment Subtype Rule

To use the newly created payment type and subtype, a default payment subtype rule must be set as follows:

  1. Select Payments>Payment Rules.

  2. Select Default Payment Subtypes.

  3. Add a rule by clicking Add New.

    OR

    Edit a rule by clicking Edit.

  4. Choose the User Created For and Send To Location.

  5. Enter Valid From and Valid To dates.

  6. Enter minimum amount and maximum amount for the subtype to be used.

  7. Enter the currency.

  8. Choose the subtype name.

  9. Click Save Changes.


Creating Payment Instruments

Follow these guidelines to create payment instruments using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Payments>Payment Instruments.

  2. Select the appropriate payment type.

  3. Click Add.

  4. Follow procedures in Help to fill out the form.

A new payment instrument has been created.


Creating Payment Terms

Payment Instruments can be created at the user level, by a selfadmin. These payment instruments are not shared among users. When you set up payment terms, you can set values for the due date of the payment, the prepayment date and corresponding discount (if any), as well as the time period for which the payment term is valid.

Note

Currently BuyerXpert/SellerXpert does not provide functionality for creating payment instruments at the organization level. At the organization level, only the orgadmin can create payment instruments that can be shared among the users in that organization.


Follow these guidelines to create payment terms using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Payments>Payment Terms.

  2. Click Add new.

  3. Enter the Payment term name, Due Day, Prepayment Day, Prepayment Discount (if any), Effective Date, Expiration Date and Comments (if any).

  4. Set the status to Enabled or Disabled.

  5. Click Save.

The payment term is created. To use this payment term, a rule must be created as described in the following section.


Creating a Default Payment Terms Rule

  1. Select Payments>Payment Rules.

  2. Select Default Payment Term.

  3. Click Add New to add a rule.

    OR

    Click Edit to edit a rule.

  4. Choose the User Created For, the Seller Company, and Bill To Location for which the payment term rule is being created.

  5. Enter Valid From and Valid To dates.

  6. Choose the appropriate payment term.

  7. Click Save Changes,

A new instance of this rule has been created.


Creating Payment Processing Methods for Orders (SellerXpert only)

  1. Select Payments>Payment Rules.

  2. Select Payment Processing Method for Orders.

  3. Click Add New to add a rule.

    OR

    Click Edit to edit a rule.

  4. Choose the Buyer Company, the Seller Company, and the Payment Type for which the rule is being created.

  5. Enter Valid From and Valid To dates.

  6. Click Save Changes,

A new instance of this rule has been created.



Setting Up Freight and Shipping


Shipping resources can be administered through the Admin interface or the Import utility. If the Import utility is used, you will need to specify which organization owns the resource.

The following set up tasks are required to set up freight and shipping resources:

Guidelines for performing these tasks are contained in the following sections.


Defining Freight Terms

When you define freight terms, you can set values for assigning insurance coverage, FOB, payment type, freight terms code (TAXWARE-specific), freight interstate tax code, and freight intrastate tax code for a specific order. As you set up BuyerXpert/SellerXpert, you must define at least one freight term.

Before you can set up freight terms in BuyerXpert/SellerXpert, you need to understand the terms previously agreed upon by your company and your various sellers. Complete the Freight Terms Worksheet in Appendix A "Worksheets" to have the information required by BuyerXpert/SellerXpert readily available.

Follow these guidelines to define freight terms using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Shipping>Freight Terms.

  2. Click Add New.

  3. Enter the Freight Term name, Interstate Tax code, and Intrastate Tax code.
    Note See your TAXWARE documentation for an explanation of the Interstate Taxability and Intrastate Taxability fields.


  4. Select the appropriate values for all other fields.

  5. Click Save changes.

The new freight term has been created.


Creating a Freight Term Rule

The Freight Term List rule can be configured to allow a user to choose a particular freight term from the User interface. This rule can be created as described below, where multiple freight term selections are allowed, creating a list. The user can then choose any one of the freight terms from his/her list and attach the term to requisition.

Follow these guidelines to create a freight term rule using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Shipping>Shipping Rules>Default Freight term.

  2. Click Add New.

    The Default Freight Term Rule screen appears.

  3. Choose Payment Subtype, Shipping Method, User Created For, and the Seller Company for which this freight term is to be used. Enter the Valid From and Valid To dates.

  4. Choose Default Freight Term and select the appropriate freight term from the chooser.

8. Click Save Changes.

The new rule has been created.


Defining Shipping Methods

Follow these guidelines to define shipping methods using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Shipping>Shipping Methods.

  2. Click Add New.

  3. Enter the Shipment Method Name, Description, Carrier Company (such as Fed Ex), and Level of Service.

  4. Choose Enabled or Disabled.

  5. Click Save Changes

The new shipping method has been created.


Creating a Default Shipping Method Rule

The Shipping Method List rule can be configured to allow a user to choose a particular shipping method from the User interface. This rule can be created as described below, where multiple shipping method selections are allowed, creating a list. The user can then choose any one of the shipping methods from his/her list and attach the method to requisition.

  1. Select Shipping.>Shipping Rules>Default Shipping Method.

  2. Click Add New to add a rule.

    OR

    Click Edit to edit a rule.

  3. Choose Ship from Location, Ship to Location, User Created For, and Seller Company

  4. Enter all other values for which this shipping method is to be used.

  5. Enter Valid From and Valid To dates.

  6. Choose the appropriate Default Shipping Method.

  7. Click Cave Changes.

The new rule has been created.


Creating Shipping (Freight) Adjustments and Rules

Shipping adjustments can be created similar to pricing adjustments. To use these adjustments, first you must create the shipping rules. Shipping adjustments can be created at line-level or at whole order (line-group) level.

Follow these guidelines to define shipping charges using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Shipping.>Shipping Charges.

  2. Select Whole Order Shipping Charges or the Line Amount Shipping Charges.

  3. Follow procedures in Help to complete the form.

  4. Repeat the steps for each new shipping adjustment.



*Overview of Process Manager

The BuyerXpert Process Manager system automates the flow of control for business processes. The components that make up Process Manager include a graphical design interface for defining processes, two administrative interfaces for configuring Process Manager and managing applications, and a user interface for creating work requests, handling work items, and performing searches.

Typically, two different categories of people are involved in administering the Process Manager: administrators and business managers.

  • Administrators are responsible for installing and maintaining Process Manager and for managing clusters and deployed applications. These tasks are performed in the Process Administrator interface.

  • Business managers perform administrative tasks for managing process instances and work items, for example, deleting process instances that need to be removed from the system. These tasks are performed in the Process Business Manager interface.

During the development phase, the deployment team will often perform both of these roles. They perform the role of the administrator when they clean up test applications and they perform the role of business manager when they organize process instances and work items.


*Overview of Process Manager Components

The Process Manager consists of these components:

  • Process Administrator: An application accessible through your web browser that is used for managing clusters and applications in Process Manager.

  • Process Business Manager: An application accessible through your web browser that is used for managing processes and statistics for Process Manager.

  • Process Builder: The Java application for building Process Manager applications.

  • Process Express: The HTML-based interface for users who are accessing Process Manager applications.

  • Process Engine: The software internal to Process Manager.

The Process Manager also uses these other components, which it associates into a cluster:

  • A corporate user LDAP directory service

  • A configuration LDAP directory service that stores the application definitions

  • A relational database for user data, such as the products available from Oracle and Sybase

  • The BuyerXpert iPlanet Application Servers

  • The BuyerXpert iPlanet Web Server

  • A mail server for notifications

When an application developer using Process Builder deploys an application, they must identify the cluster on which to deploy it. All successfully deployed applications are available to any valid end user on any iPlanet Application Server across the cluster.



*Setting Up Approval


The following tasks are required to set up approval resources:

Guidelines for performing these tasks are contained in the following sections.


*Setting Up Approval Rules

The following rules must be set up for the approval process to work:

Guidelines for setting up these rules are contained in the following sections.


*Purchase Approval Rule

The Approval rule associates an approval process with a group of people. The group can be as big as an organization or as small as an individual. If the individual is part of a larger group, and both have different approval processes, the rule for the individual overrules the rule for the group.

Follow these guidelines to create a purchase approval rule using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Approvals>Approval Rules>Purchase Approval.

    The list of rule instances displays.

  2. Click Add New.

  3. Enter the conditions needed.

  4. Click Save Changes.


*Escalation Model Rule

The Escalation Model rule describes the escalation model for an approver, in case the approver does not take action within the time frame as set by the Reminder rule. Escalation options include Auto Approve, Auto Decline, Skip Approver, or Email Manager.

Follow these guidelines to create an escalation model rule using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Approvals>Approval Rules>Escalation Model.

    The list of rule instances displays.

  2. Click Add New.

  3. Enter the conditions needed.

  4. Click Save Changes.


*Reminder Rule

The interval of the reminder as well as the number of reminders can be set through the Reminder rule. Approvers are notified periodically by email to take some action. If they fail to respond, the job is escalated based on their Escalation Model rule. A Reminder rule applies to a user or a user group. If they have different rules, the rule for the individual overrides all others.

Follow these guidelines to create a reminder rule using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Approvals>Approval Rules>Reminder.

    The list of rule instances displays.

  2. Click Add New.

  3. Enter the conditions needed.

  4. Click Save Changes.


*Approval Limit Rule

The Approval Limit rule is used to create the approval limit (amount) and the currency for an individual or a group.

Follow these guidelines to create an approval limit rule using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Approvals>Approval Rules>Approval Limit.

    The list of rule instances displays.

  2. Choose the user or group you want to create the rule for.

  3. Enter the conditions needed.

  4. Click Save Changes.

The new rule has been created.


*Can Delete Approver Rule

The Can Delete Approver rule says whether the entity in question will be able to delete an approver or not. Users can delete approvers from the approver graph, provided this rule is true for them.

Follow these guidelines to create a can delete approver rule using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Approvals>Approval Rules>Can Delete Approver.

    The list of rule instances displays.

  2. Choose the user or group you want to create the rule for.

  3. Enter the conditions needed.

  4. Click Save Changes.

The new rules has been created.


*Can Escalate Approver Rule

The Can Escalate Approver rule says whether or not the entity in question can escalate an approver to the next approver in the chain. Users can escalate approvers in the approver graph, provided this rule is true for them.

Follow these guidelines to create a can escalate approver rule using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Approvals>Approval Rules>Can Escalate Approver.

    The list of rule instances displays.

  2. Choose the user or group you want to create the rule for.

  3. Enter the conditions needed.

  4. Click Save Changes.

The new rule has been created.


*Approver Matrix Types Rule

The Approver Matrix Types rule associates a list of approver types to an individual or group. The domain for the list is created by the Approver Types rule.

Follow these guidelines to create an approver matrix rule using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Approvals>Approval Rules>Approver Matrix Types.

    The list of rule instances displays.

  2. Choose the user or group you want to create the rule for.

  3. Enter the conditions needed.

This is where you create the rule. Existing approver types (as created using the Approver Type link) appear in the left scrollbox.

  1. Select the types you want in the right scrollbox.

  2. Choose the user or group

  3. Click Save Changes.

The new rule has been created.


*Can Receive Email Notification Rule

Users receive email notification of approvals if this rule is set to True.

Follow these guidelines to create a can receive email notification rule using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Approvals>Approval Rules>Can Receive Email Notification.

    The list of rule instances displays.

  2. Choose the user or group you want to create the rule for.

  3. Enter the conditions needed.

  4. Select the types you want in the right scrollbox.

  5. Choose the user or group

  6. Click Save Changes.

The new rule has been created.


*Outstanding Requisition Approvals

You can take action on an outstanding requisition approval on behalf of a user, if the actual user is unable to take action, or has requested that you take the action.

Follow these guidelines to administer outstanding requisition approvals using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Approvals>Outstanding Requisition Approvals.

  2. To cancel a requisition, click Cancel.

  3. To approve/decline a requisition, click the Approvers link.

    You will see the approvers.

  4. Click Approve or Decline.


*Setting a Process Definition for an Organization

You can associate a process definition with an organization in the Admin interface under Approvals>Proc. Def Association.


*Setting the Register Daemon

Once this daemon is registered, it takes care of escalating jobs to the next approver in the approval chain, based on the values in the Escalation Model rule and the Reminder rule.

You can register or unregister the register daemon in the Admin interface under Approvals>Register Daemon.




*Creating Approver Types

You can create approver types in the Admin interface under Approvals> Approver Types. After an approver type is created, it appears on the dropdown menu.




*Defining an Approval Delegation Table

Follow these guidelines to create an approval delegation table using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Approvals>Delegation.

    A search screen appears, allowing you to search for an existing delegation table.

  2. Select the user for which you want to specify delegatees.

  3. Edit the user to add delegatees.

  4. Enter the From Date and To Date.

  5. Click Save Changes.


*Creating an Approval Matrix

Approval matrixes can be administered through the Admin interface or the Import utility. If the Import utility is used, you will need to specify which organization owns the resource and which organizations the resource has been created for.

Follow these guidelines to create an approval matrix for an organization using the Admin interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Select Approvals>Approval Matrix.



  2. Search for an existing matrix to update.

    OR

    Click Add in the Matrix Details window to add a new matrix.

  3. The top portion of the screen shows the result of the search in the form of a table; the lower portion allows you to add/update entries.

  4. Click the del link to delete an entry from the table.

  5. Click Matrix Id to view or update the details on the lower screen.

  6. Click the Approver link on the bottom of the screen to choose the approver. This can be either a user or a group, depending on your selection of Approver Type.

  7. Click Segment to add segment entries for that approver.

  8. Select the approver, which in this case is a group (because our selection of Approver Type was Group). Once selected, the group appears on your last screen along with its limit and currency as set by the Approval Limit rule.
    Note The limit field is editable, meaning you can create multiple entries for the same approver having varying limits.


  9. Click Segment to add segment entries for that approver.

    Typically, segment names and values are the same as accounting codes or commodity codes. For example: segment names are kept as `department', `division,' and `project.' Or for a commodity code item, this can be `class', `family,' or `commodity'.

  10. After adding the segment, click Done.


*Setting Up an Approval Flow Model

Approval models can be created, updated, and deleted only by superadmins.

Follow these guidelines to create an approval flow model for an organization using the Process Builder interface (field and procedure details are contained in Help):

  1. Log into Process Builder.

  2. Select the appropriate Process Manager approval model for your organization.

  3. Edit the calc-approvers JavaScript module of the Process Manager model to support the desired approval flow for your organization.

  4. Edit the gatecheck JavaScript module of the Process Manager model to support the desired approval gatechecks for your organization.

  5. Launch your Process Manager Builder tool.

       % $IAS_HOME/builder/Builder.sh

  6. Select Deploy.

  7. Choose the cluster.

  8. Enter the user name and password for the web server administrator.

  9. Click OK.



Setting Up a Multi-Org Environment

This section provides a typical sequence of events for configuring multiple organizations to use a single instance.

In BuyerXpert, based on the approval rules associated with each organization, the appropriate approvers are notified and can begin approving requisitions in their inboxes.


Creating the Organizations

  1. Log in as superadmin.

  2. Create all the organizations, for example, moon.com or mercury.com. See "Creating an Organization" earlier in this chapter for more information.
    Note After creating an organization, the accounting code sequence will be: division/department/project.


  3. Enter the commodity codes for each organization. Refer to the sample data for mercury.com for sample values.


Creating the Orgadmin

Create a user (for example, moonadmin) for each new organization using the Admin interface.

  1. Select People.

  2. Select Add User, and assign his or her role as the orgadmin.

  3. Follow procedures in Help to complete the task.


Creating People

  1. Log out of the Admin interface.

  2. Log in as the new orgadmin.
    For example, moon.com/moonadmin/moonadmin.

  3. Create the people who will use BuyerXpert/SellerXpert to create requisitions.


Creating User Groups

Create two user groups.

  1. Select User Groups.

  2. Click Add Group.

    The General Info screen appears.
    Note This is the General Info screen for user groups, not to be confused with the General Info screen for organizations.


  3. Create the groups:

    • Make the type of the first group Catalog Admin--Catalog Manager.

      Members of the Catalog Admin user group can browse the catalog, access the Catalog Manager interface, and give permissions to user groups (of type Catalog User) to browse catalogs.

    • Make the type of the second group Catalog User--Buyers.


*Creating Accounting and Commodity Codes

  1. Import the sample commodity code and accounting code data using the import data files. Procedures are described in Chapter 8 "Importing Data."

    The two files are:

    • accounting_code.imp

    • commodity_code.imp

    The files can be found in the source tree at:

    $ACTRASRC/modules/oms2/data/buyer

    In the deployment tree, they should be at:

    $IAS_HOME/buyer/sample_data/impexp_files

  2. Modify the files so that they contain the new organization name, such as moon.com.

  3. Import both files using the Import utility.

  4. For all the rules, select the new organization using the chooser so that all the users belonging to the new organization will use that business rule as the default.

  5. Add the default accounting code for the new organization by accessing Accounting Code Rules > Default Accounting Code Value. Enter three code/value pairs for:

    • Division (such as software)

    • Department (such as ecommerce)

    • Project (such as bx40)


Creating Payment Types

Enter a payment type for each organization so that all the users belonging to the organization use that payment type as the default.

  1. Select General Info >Payments > Payment Types.

  2. Create name as Credit Card.

  3. Create prefix as cc_.

  4. Create two subtypes (Visa, MasterCard).


Creating Locations

Create the locations for each organization, where the products are Shipped-to, Billed-to, and so on.

  1. Select Locations.

  2. Follow procedures in Help to complete the task.


Creating Business Rules

Create the rules needed. Instructions for creating rules are contained in Chapter 5 "Setting Up Business Rules."


Creating Location Rules

Create all the Ship-to, Bill-to and Send-to location rules.


Creating Order Processing Rules

  1. Set up all the currency rules:

    • Common Currency (USD)

    • Currency Conversion Table Rules (currency conversion)

    • Currency Rate Freeze Model (FREEZ_AT_SUBMIT)

    • Default Display Currency

    • For the Precision Rule, enter 2 as the value.

  2. Set up all the unit conversion rules:

    • Quantity Conversion Table (general 1)

    • Weight Conversion Table (standard 2)

    • For the Precision Rule, enter 2 as the value.

  3. Set up the order entry rules.


Creating Shipping Rules

Set up the shipping rules by setting up the shipping methods for the seller organization.

  1. Modify the shipment_method_testdata.imp file in the impexp_files directory to add the shipping method for the seller organization.

  2. Modify the shippingPolicies.imp file to contain the shipping rules for the new organization.

  3. Import both files using the Import utility.


Creating Pricing Rules

  1. Select Pricing>Pricing Rules.

  2. Set Price Additional Precision = 2.

  3. Set the Pricing Model Rule = Catalog.


*Creating Approval Rules

  1. Select Approvals>Approver Type.

  2. Add the approver types:

    • Cost Center Approver

    • Commodity Code

    • Off-Catalog Approver

  3. Set up the approval limit rule by selecting Approvals > Approvals Rules > Approval Limit. Make sure you add a default rule for the whole organization in addition to adding specific limits for specific approvers.
    Note If you don't set up a default rule, you might not be able to see the approval graph.


  4. Set up the Approval Matrix with the cost center approvers.


Creating a Catalog

Members of catalog managers will be able to login to:

  1. Log into the Catalog Manager interface:

       http://machinename:port/NASApp/buyer/iMM/imm.jsp. (BuyerXpert only)

       http://machinename:port/NASApp/seller/iMM/imm.jsp. (SellerXpert only)

  2. After you respond to the prompts on the login screen, the Catalog:Edit Catalog Ontology screen appears.

  3. Select Catalog > Browse > Create Catalog.

  4. Enter the catalog name and description.

    Click Continue.

  5. Follow procedures in Help to complete the task.


*Approval

You should already have your Process Manager cluster installed and configured. If you do not, refer to the Installation Guide.


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Copyright © 2001 Sun Microsystems, Inc. Some preexisting portions Copyright © 2001 Netscape Communications Corp. All rights reserved.

Last Updated September 07, 2001