Understanding Blanket Orders

The two variations of blanket purchase orders are (1) Purchase Order contract process option (new purchase orders are created each time), and (2) Release to Single PO Only contract process option (all releases ultimately are on one purchase order).

In PeopleSoft Purchasing, you can use one purchase order to track the life of a contract. When you create the contract, you assign a purchase order to it and use the single purchase order to track the contract's activity. This is often referred to as a blanket purchase order contract, which buyers, accounts payable departments, and suppliers can use to track activities such as the amount ordered, amount invoiced, and balance remaining on the purchase order.

You can use PeopleSoft Purchasing Release to Single PO Only contracts with transactions that use the PO Calculations process, including:

Requisitions.
Contracts.
Requests that are created by par location replenishment.
Requested purchase orders from PeopleSoft Supply Planning.

When one of these transactions is assigned to a Release to Single PO Only contract by the PO Calculations process, the Create Purchase Orders process adds the necessary lines and schedules to the existing purchase order.

If the line item does not exist on the purchase order, the Create Purchase Orders process inserts a line with the same line number as the contract.

If the line already exists, the Create Purchase Orders process inserts an additional schedule into the existing purchase order.

If the purchase order was dispatched before the line or schedule was added, the Create Purchase Orders process creates a change order.

Note:

Release to Single PO Only contracts cannot be corporate contracts because they are assigned to only one purchase order, and a purchase order can be associated with one business unit only.

Criteria for Assignment of a Blanket Purchase Order to a Transaction

When the Price Calculation process runs, a blanket purchase order contract is assigned to the transaction on the staging table if the following conditions are met:

The transaction business unit, supplier, supplier location, currency, and UOM must match the blanket purchase order.
The user does not select the Define PO check box on the Requisition Selection - Staging page (specific to Release to Single PO Only).
Other existing rules for selecting a contract are met.

Blanket Purchase Order Process Flow Using a Contract to Update a Purchase Order

The following steps outline the blanket order process flow when a purchase order is updated through the contract:

A contract is entered.

You populate the contract header, line, and UOM tables. If you select Release to Single PO Only, you specify purchase order information on the Contract page, and the system populates the Contract-Purchase Order Cross-Reference table, CNTRCT_BPO_XREF.
(Optional) The contract is dispatched.
You use the Automatic Purchasing Sourcing process to create the purchase order. Alternatively, you can run the Purchase Order Contracts, PO Calculations, and Create Purchase Orders processes individually.
The PO Calculations process performs the following tasks if the contract is Release to Single PO Only:
1. It obtains the appropriate purchase order identifier from the PO_ITM_STG table and assigns it on the staging table PO_ITM_STG_UD.
2. It updates the staging tables with the assigned PO ID.
3. It sets the PO status to In Process, and an error message appears if the purchase order is already in process with a different process instance.
(Optional) You can view the transaction and the purchase order to which it is assigned in the Sourcing Workbench at this point in the process.
The Create Purchase Orders process performs the following tasks if the contract is Release to Single PO Only:
1. It assigns the purchase order line number on the PO_ITM_STG_UD table to match the contract line number.
2. It increments the purchase order schedule number on the PO_ITM_STG_UD table based on the last schedule number on the purchase order.
3. It inserts line items onto the purchase order if they do not already exist.
4. It inserts schedules into the purchase order.
5. If the purchase order is eligible for change order tracking (the PO status is Dispatched or the change order number is greater than 0), the process performs the following steps:
  
  If a new line is inserted into the purchase order, the process inserts the row into the PO_CHNG_LINE table. It inserts a row into the PO_CHNG_SHIP table. The process changes the PO status if it is Dispatched.
For Release to Single PO Only contracts, you can modify the purchase order with the following limitations:
1. You must add lines to the contract, not the purchase order, to keep the two synchronized.
2. You can add additional schedules to the purchase order and manually update the contract with the added schedules.
3. You can change VAT information and the ship to address or make other modifications.
You use the Automatic Purchasing Sourcing process to create additional contract releases.

Blanket Purchase Order Process Flow Using a Request to Update a Purchase Order

The Blanket Purchase Order feature enables you to assign contracts to requisitions. In addition, transactions in the purchase order staging tables including requisitions, requests from PeopleSoft Supply Planning, and requests from par location replenishment can be assigned to blanket purchase orders if they meet the proper criteria. Here are the steps:

A contract is entered.

You populate the contract header, line, and UOM tables. If you select the Release to Single PO Only option, the system populates the Contract-Purchase Order Cross-Reference table, CNTRCT_BPO_XREF.
(Optional) The contract is dispatched.
You can assign transactions to blanket purchase orders in two ways:
1. You can assign blanket purchase orders by assigning the appropriate contract ID to requisitions at the time of creation.
2. The purchasing staging tables can be populated with transaction data from requisitions, PeopleSoft Supply Planning requests, or par location replenishment requests and you can assign the data to a blanket purchase order if the proper criteria are met.
The PO Calculations process performs the following tasks if you are releasing to a single PO only:
1. It assigns the appropriate purchase order identifier on the staging table PO_ITM_STG_UD.
2. If a blanket purchase order is assigned to a line, the process updates the staging tables with the assign PO ID.
  
  The PO status is set to In Process and an error message appears if the purchase order is already in process with a different process instance.
(Optional) You can view the transaction and the purchase order to which it is assigned in the Sourcing Workbench at this point in the process.
The Create Purchase Orders process performs the following tasks for Release to Single PO Only:
1. It assigns the PO line number on the PO_ITM STG_UD table to match the contract line number.
2. It increments the PO schedule number on the PO_ITM_STG_UD table based on the last schedule number on the purchase order.
3. It inserts line items onto the purchase order if they do not already exist.
4. It inserts schedules into the purchase order.
5. If the purchase order is eligible for change order tracking (the PO status is Dispatched or the change order number is greater than 0), the process performs the following steps:
  
  If a new row is being inserted into the purchase order, the process inserts the row into the PO_CHNG_LINE table and a row into the PO_CHNG_SHIP table. The process changes the PO status if it is Dispatched.
You can alter the purchase order with the following limitations (Release to Single PO Only):
1. You must add lines to the contract, not the purchase order, to keep the two synchronized.
2. You can add additional schedules to the purchase order and update the contract manually with the added schedules.
3. You can change VAT information and ship to address or make other modifications.

Modifying a Blanket Order by Modifying the Contract

Use the Contract page to make changes to the purchase order quantity or to add more lines to be released, and then process the purchase order. For Release to Single PO Only, if a line is added or changed to a dispatched purchase order, a change request is generated and the purchase order header status is Approved or Pending Approval, depending on whether approval is required. The stage status changes to In Process.

Modifying a Blanket Order by Modifying the Purchase Order

Use the Maintain Purchase Order - Purchase Order page and Maintain Purchase Order - Schedules page to access and change VAT information and ship to address or to make more modifications. You can also insert additional schedules. When you add a schedule to the purchase order, it updates the contract. If you want to add lines or change item information, you can do that through the contract. For the purchase order contract process option, you can manually add additional lines onto the purchase order. This updates the contract released amounts and quantities.

Modifying a Blanket Order by Using a Requisition

When you create a requisition, you can assign a blanket purchase order to an item on the Details for Line page (or on the line itself). The Create Purchase Orders process adds the necessary lines and schedules to the existing purchase order for Release to Single PO Only, or to the new purchase order for the purchase order contract process option. The following condition relates to Release to Single PO Only: If the line item does not exist on the purchase order, the Create Purchase Orders process inserts a line with the same line number as the contract. If the line already exists, the Create Purchase Orders process inserts an additional schedule into the existing purchase order. If the purchase order was ever dispatched before the line or schedule was added, the Create Purchase Orders process creates a change order.

Modifying a Blanket Order by Using the PO Calculations Process

If no contract is specified on the transaction and the transaction source is a requisition, a PeopleSoft Supply Planning request, or a par location replenishment request, the PO Calculations process searches for the most recent effective contract for the determined supplier. The process can assign a blanket purchase order if the proper criteria are met.

When the PO Calculations process assigns one of these transactions to a blanket purchase order, the Create Purchase Orders process adds the necessary lines and schedules to the existing purchase order for Release to Single PO Only, or to the new purchase order for the purchase order contract process option. Regarding Release to Single PO Only, if the line item does not exist on the purchase order, the Create Purchase Orders process inserts a line with the same line number as the contract. If the line already exists, the Create Purchase Orders process inserts an additional schedule into the existing purchase order. If the purchase order was ever dispatched before the line or schedule was added, the Create Purchase Orders process creates a change order.

Receiving, Matching, and Paying Blanket Orders

You receive, match, and pay blanket orders using the same processes that are used for other purchase orders that are generated in PeopleSoft Purchasing.

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