New or Modified Workflows
Some actions in the Quote and Order screens are set up using Siebel Workflows, such as the following:
To allow users to create quotes and orders from the Account screen and the Contact screen, you enable a set of workflows.
To use asset-based ordering, you enable a set of workflows.
Some of the ASI-based functions that allow you to integrate with back-office applications also use workflows. For example, submitting an order activates a workflow, as does performing a credit check.
You can customize these workflows to carry out the specific processes required for your business. You can also create additional workflows as needed to support your business process.
Here are some changes you might make to customize the order management process using new Siebel Workflows:
Quote verification. By default, users can verify a quote manually by choosing the Verify menu option from the menu. You can create a workflow that verifies quotes automatically.
Approval requirements. Siebel Quote and Order screens include fields for required approvals which are used manually by default. For example, a sales representative might be required to get a supervisor’s approval for orders greater than $500. Without configuration, the sales representative would need to put a manager’s name in the Approved By field. You can create a Workflow that would automatically route an order to the supervisor for approval when the amount exceeded $500. You would use a combination of Siebel Business Process Designer and Assignment Manager to route the approval to the appropriate supervisor.
Customer acknowledgements. You can create Workflows to automatically send order confirmations to customers. When the status of an order changes, the Workflows send the appropriate messages to the customer. Siebel eSales includes preconfigured workflows that send acknowledgements to customers, which you can use models to create similar workflows for use in order management. The eSales workflows are:
Send Order Accepted Email (eSales). Sent to all users who place an order successfully.
Send Order Awaiting Approval Email (eSales). Sent to the purchasing manager for an account when an order with a status of Awaiting Approval needs to be reviewed.
Send Order Failed Email (eSales). Sent to a user when an auction is closed and turned into an order, but the credit card used cannot be authorized.
Send Order Rejected Email (eSales). Sent to a corporate user when the purchasing manager or delegated customer administrator has rejected that corporate user’s order.
Send Order Shipped Email (eSales). Sent to a user when that user’s order has been shipped.
You can also customize workflows that are shipped with the product, in order to add or remove steps or change the order in which steps are performed. For a reference to these workflows, which will help you understand them so you can modify them, see Workflow Reference for Employee Asset-Based Ordering.
For more information about creating and customizing Workflows, see Siebel Business Process Framework: Workflow Guide.