Understanding Purchase Order Dispatch

With PeopleSoft Purchasing, you can dispatch and print purchase orders individually or in volume. You can dispatch purchase orders by printing, fax, phone, email, or electronic data exchange (EDX). You can also dispatch them from the online pages or through a batch process. A purchase order must have a status of Approved and have passed the commitment control budget check to be eligible for dispatch.

Dispatching Purchase Orders Using Online Pages

Use one of these pages to dispatch purchase orders individually:

  • Maintain Purchase Order - Purchase Order page.

  • Express Purchase Order - Purchase Order page.

  • Buyer's WorkBench.

Here are the basic steps to dispatch purchase orders from an online page:

  1. Access one of the online pages.

  2. Click the Dispatch button on the page.

    The Dispatch Options page appears.

  3. Enter dispatch options for the purchase order.

  4. (Optional) Select a report template if you are dispatching the purchase order using Oracle BI Publisher.

    You have the flexibility of changing the purchase order formats by choosing different report template IDs for different types of purchase orders. The template ID for dispatched purchase order can be defined at the business unit level, on the run control for the dispatch process, or on the purchase order. To use the BI Publisher for purchase orders in both PeopleSoft eProcurement and PeopleSoft Purchasing, select the Enable XML Publisher check box on the Purchasing page of the Installation Options component.

    The use of BI Publisher is based on whether the Enable XML Publisher check box is selected on the installation options Purchasing page. For batch processes, you can select to use BI Publisher or use the SQR from the Run Control page.

    See PeopleTools : BI Publisher for PeopleSoft .

    See Dispatching Purchase Orders.

  5. Click the OK button.

    The system dispatches the purchase order using the method set up on the PO Header Details page.

Warning! If a purchase order is on hold, dispatching that purchase order from the Maintain Purchase Order - Purchase Order page, Express Purchase Order - Purchase Order page, or Buyer's WorkBench automatically removes the purchase order from hold and dispatches it. If a purchase order is on hold and you dispatch that purchase order through the PO Dispatch/Print process, the system does not dispatch the purchase order and it remains on hold.

Note: You can only print out a limited number of pages when dispatching comments.

Dispatching Purchase Orders Using a Batch Process

Use the Dispatch Purchase Orders page to schedule a background batch job that dispatches a single purchase order or multiple purchase orders that meet your selection criteria. After purchase orders are successfully dispatched, their statuses are updated to Dispatched.

Note: The PO Dispatch/Print process dispatches purchase orders associated with recurring purchase order vouchers; however, the PO_STATUS values on the purchase orders are never set to D (dispatched).

When you run the PO Dispatch/Print process from the Dispatch Purchase Orders page, the PeopleSoft Process Scheduler Request page offers you three options:

Term

Definition

PO Dispatch & Email multi-process job

Select to run the Single PO Dispatch/Print SQR Report process (POPO005) and then the Email Application Engine process (PO_PO_EMAIL).

PO Dispatch/Print process

Select to run only the PO Dispatch/Print SQR Report process (POPO005).

PO XMLP Dispatch

Select to run only the PO XMLP Dispatch process (PO_DISPATCH).

Email process

Select to run only the Email Application Engine process (PO_PO_EMAIL).

When you use the email dispatch method, the PO Dispatch/Print process creates an output file in the location that you specify on the File Locations page. The Email process picks up the output file from the specified location and sends out an email message with the purchase order as an attachment. When the dispatch method is fax, the dispatch process creates a purchase order file and a fax control file in the locations that you specify on the File Locations page.

The PO Dispatch/Print process contains business process logic and is responsible for retrieving data from the database, constructing purchase orders, and sending the output files to the proper locations. To actually deliver purchase orders to the recipients through designated channels, a separate process is required.

To dispatch by email, you first need to run the PO Dispatch/Print process to create the output files and to update the PO Email queue table. You then run the Email process.

The Email process is a PeopleSoft Application Engine process that picks up the email output file created by the PO Dispatch/Print process in the location specified on the File Locations page and generates an email message through the SMTP gateway to be delivered to the recipient through the internet. If you specify a supplier contact on the Supplier Details page on the purchase order, the Email process sends the email to the address that you specify in the Email ID field on the Supplier Information - Contacts page. If you do not specify a Supplier contact on the purchase order, the Email process sends the email to the address that you specify in the Email ID field on the Supplier Information - Address page. When a message is sent successfully, it is removed from the email queue table; however, the purchase order output files are not deleted.

To simplify dispatching by email, you can use the PO Dispatch & Email job on the PeopleSoft Process Scheduler Request page that you access from the Dispatch Purchase Orders page. The PO Dispatch & Email job automatically runs the PO Dispatch/Print process and then the Email process. For online dispatches, the system always schedules the PO Dispatch & Email job.

If you are using the fax dispatch method, you must use a third-party fax software to handle the output files.

If the dispatch method is EDX, the PO Dispatch/Print process does not create an output file, but it updates a series of EC outbound tables. These tables are updated: PS_PO_HDR_OUT_EC, PS_PO_LINE_OUT_EC, PS_PO_SHIP_OUT_EC, and PS_PO_SHIP_OUT_EC.

When you dispatch a purchase order by telephone, Phone must be selected as the dispatch method. This selection ensures that when you dispatch a purchase order either from one of the pages or using the PO Dispatch/Print process, the status of the purchase order updates to Dispatched.

An important factor to consider when you select an appropriate output format is the recipient. When you dispatch by email, you may want to select a dispatch output format of PDF or HTM, because these formats employ readers that are commonly found on user systems. When you dispatch by fax, you may want to consider that most fax software applications are compatible with Postscript - (PS) or PCL - (HP) encoded files.

When you generate the PO Dispatch/Print report from the Purchase Orders Print page, a hard copy of the purchase order prints, but the purchase orders are not dispatched. When you print the purchase order using the Purchase Orders Print page, the word Unauthorized prints on the purchase order to differentiate it from an actual dispatched purchase order.

Note: A purchase order cannot be dispatched using email or fax when the email ID or fax number is not available; in other words, they are either not specified on the document or they are not available from the supplier profile. Some purchase orders that are scheduled to be dispatched using the PO Dispatch/Print process may not be processed due to a missing email ID or fax number. Check the log file for those purchase orders that are not dispatched.

Dispatching Purchase Orders Using Oracle BI Publisher

The PO dispatch is available using Oracle BI Publisher through PeopleSoft Purchasing and eProcurement. This functionality provides you a seamless interface and consistent report format between Purchasing and eProcurement dispatches. You can print email, or fax the report as an attachment.

The Oracle BI Publisher feature is a template-based reporting solution that separates the data extraction process from the report layout and enables the reuse of extracted application data into multiple report layouts. You can change the format or layout of a purchase order report without changing the underlying program that controls the business logic. The format and layout include the appearance of the report and the addition or removal of fields on the report as long as those fields are available as part of the purchase order dispatch data. You can create the reports using SQR or BI Publisher formats.

You can change purchase order report formats by selecting different report template IDs for different types of purchase orders. You can define the template ID for dispatched purchase orders at the business unit level, the run control for the dispatch process, or the individual purchase order.

To use the Oracle BI Publisher for purchase orders in both PeopleSoft eProcurement and PeopleSoft Purchasing, select the Enable XML Publisher check box on the Purchasing page of the Installation Options component. This PeopleSoft application is delivered with sample data already set up to generate an BI Publisher purchase order that uses a similar format as the SQR report. Use this data as a starting point to create your own layout for purchase orders using the BI Publisher. Sample data in Oracle BI Publisher (Reporting Tools > BI Publisher) includes:

  • Report Definition: PO_DISPATCH

  • Data Source ID: PO_DISPATCH

  • Template File: PO_DISPATCH.RTF

When dispatching purchase orders, the system must identify the BI Publisher template ID. These steps describe how you use the system and the process the system uses for defining a template ID for a purchase order:

  1. You enter the template ID for an individual purchase order using the PO Header Details page or the Dispatch Options page. If the Template ID field is blank on the purchase order, then the system checks the:

  2. Run Control Page for the Dispatch Process: Enter the template ID for the individual process run of the dispatch process. This dispatch process is the PeopleSoft Job POXMLP and can be accessed from the Dispatch Purchase Orders page in PeopleSoft Purchasing. If the Template ID field is blank on this run control page, then the system checks the:

  3. Purchasing Business Unit: Enter the template ID for all purchase orders dispatched within one business unit by entering the template ID on the Purchase Order Images page within the Purchasing Business Unit component (BUS_UNIT_PM). If the Template ID field is blank on the Purchase Order Images page, then the system uses the value that you enter for the purchase order.

See PeopleTools: BI Publisher for PeopleSoft .

Tips About Dispatching and Printing Transactions

Here are some tips about dispatching and printing transactions:

  • The entry in the SQRDIR set in the PSSQR.INI (Microsoft Windows environment) or PSSQR.UNX (UNIX environment) file must be correctly defined and must point to the correct BINW where the SQR executables are installed.

    This PeopleSoft application delivers an undefined (dummy) SQRDIR to enable you to install the SQRs in a location that best suits your configuration. If the SQRDIR is not pointing to the correct BINW directory, certain features do not work as designed. For example, CSV, enhanced HTM, and Postscript files are not produced correctly.

  • The email dispatch method is designed to work with an SMTP gateway.

    The settings for the SMTP gateway must be entered when you set up a PeopleSoft Process Scheduler server.

see the product documentation for

PeopleTools: Process Scheduler