This chapter covers the following topics:
Suppliers can access collaboration network applications with their user accounts. You must have a valid Supplier Lifecycle Management license for registering supplier users. See Guidelines for Purchasing Required Licenses.
Any user with the Supplier Management User or Administrator responsibility can create these accounts. Typically, user account creation is a function that system administrators perform, but the supplier user management feature allows designated users within the buying organization to create and manage external user accounts. These designated users can register new supplier user accounts and update user details to alter the supplier users profile and access rights.
Buying teams can respond directly to the suppliers whom they are dealing with on a daily basis rather than having to process account requests through their IT department. Supplier User Management is only used to create and manage external accounts; it is not used to access and manage internal employee accounts.
New supplier registration creates a user account for the supplier user who registers the company. Subsequently, Supplier Management User or Administrator users can create more supplier user accounts. You cannot create supplier users from the User window in the regular Oracle E-Business Suite.
System administrators or designated users can create supplier user accounts only for suppliers approved in the supplier master. For details of supplier registration and approval, see Implementing Supplier Registration and Qualification Management.
The supplier user registration process is flexible and gives buyers control over the registration process. The following supplier user registration processes are available:
A Supplier User Administrator can invite the supplier user to register. The supplier user uses the URL included in the invitation notification to access the registration page and complete the registration form. The Supplier User Administrator who initially sent the registration invitation receives a notification that the supplier user has completed the registration form. The Supplier User Administrator then either approve or reject the registration request. If approved, the supplier user can start accessing the collaboration network applications.
If Sourcing Buyers know the supplier users e-mail address, buyers can invite suppliers while creating negotiations. When a negotiation is published, the invited supplier users receive notifications containing a URL with details about the negotiation and a URL pointing to the registration page. When the supplier users have completed and submitted the registration request, the Sourcing Buyer receives a notification. The Sourcing Buyer can then approve or reject the registration requests.
If Supplier User Administrators know all the required information, they can register supplier users directly. A notification is sent to the new supplier user containing the URL for the buying company's home page, the supplier users login, and system generated password (the user will be prompted to change the password upon first access).
After their registration requests are approved by the buying organization, supplier users have access to whichever applications that the buying organization has granted.
| S. No. | Buyer Actions | Supplier User Actions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Supplier User Administrator sends registration invitation to supplier user. | E-mail notification is sent to supplier user containing the URL for the registration page, an initial user ID and system-generated password. | |
| Or, Sourcing Buyer sends registration invitation to supplier user. | same as above | ||
| Or, Sourcing Buyer invites supplier user to register during sourcing event. | E-mail notification is sent containing the URL for the registration page as well as details on the sourcing event. | ||
| Or, Supplier User Administrator fully registers supplier user. | If Supplier User Administrator registers (as opposed to merely inviting) supplier user, no further action is required. | ||
| 2 | Supplier user accesses the URL included in the notification, completes the registration page, and then submits the registration request. | E-mail notification is sent to Supplier Management User or Sourcing Buyer indicating the registration request needs approving. | |
| 3 | Supplier Management User or Sourcing Buyer approves or rejects the registration request. | Notification is sent to supplier user indicating registration status. | |
| Supplier user begins accessing collaboration network applications. |
When supplier users register with the system, they provide information to create their own profiles. Buyers having the Supplier Management User responsibility can both update supplier user profiles and make changes to the user's access rights. A supplier profile includes both the responsibilities the supplier users can access and any securing attributes associated with those responsibilities.
To implement supplier user registration:
Flag external responsibilities.
Set default application responsibilities.
Set up web server URLs.
Create customized responsibilities for Supplier Management users.
When you create your supplier user accounts, you must select the responsibilities to which that user is granted access. For a responsibility to be available for granting through Supplier User Management, it must be flagged as an external responsibility. See Flag External Responsibilities in Oracle iSupplier Portal Implementation Guide.
To create a default set of responsibilities to be granted to a supplier user, see Set Default Application Responsibilities in Oracle iSupplier Portal Implementation Guide.
To ensure that supplier users can register, log into the system, and receive notifications, you must set up the necessary server URL addresses. See Set the Web Server URLs in Oracle iSupplier Portal Implementation Guide.
Supplier Lifecycle Management is predefined with two internal user responsibilities:
Supplier Management User
Supplier Management Administrator
Both sets of users have the necessary privileges to create new supplier user accounts for registered suppliers. However, you can restrict this task by enabling function security and excluding “Supplier User Administration” function from customized responsibilities. For more information, see Step 3: Enabling Function Security in General Setups.
To assign user accounts to supplier users, see Step 5: Assigning Responsibilities to Supplier Users in Setting up Supplier Profile.