Create a Replacement Task

You can access the Item Replacement task as a buyer defined as a procurement agent with the Manage Orders permission.

This procedure explains how to create a replacement task for an item. You can follow the same steps to replace a supplier by choosing supplier replacement options instead.

1. In the Purchase Orders work area, open the task panels tab.
2. Click Manage Mass Replacement of Items in the Administration work group to open the Item Replacement page.
3. Select a business unit and click Create Item Replacement.
4. On the New Item Replacement page, define a replacement task for the item using either its master item number or manufacturer part number.
5. Select these replacement settings:
   • Select a reason for supply disruption. This information becomes available on the Replacement Details page from where you initiate replacements and reinstatements.
   • Level: Either globally across all organizations together or for each organization individually. If you’re selecting Globally Across all Organizations, make sure that the replacement solution is the same for all organizations. Select Each Organization Individually if the supply disruption impacts only specific organizations or the replacement solution differs across organizations.
   • Permanent or temporary depending on whether the supply can be restored or not. In temporary replacements, you can also select an expected availability date.
6. Click Create to create the replacement task. The Item Replacement page for that item displays a list of impacted organizations which are serviced by the selected procurement business unit.
   Note: An organization is eligible for a replacement and appears on this list if the requisitioning BU associated with the organization has an approved purchase agreement for the item-supplier combination. Additionally, it must either have unfulfilled PO lines, or have MRP planning enabled, or its replenishment source must be defined as supplier.

   The Item Replacement page for an item also displays this information:

   • The number of substitute items already defined in the Product Information Management work area and available for replacement.
   • The number of alternate suppliers available for the disrupted item with a valid purchase agreement.
   • The number of unfulfilled PO lines that would need mass replacement.
7. Click an organization to initiate the replacement. On the Replacement Options page, review and set these options:
   • Replacement method: You can select Alternate supplier or Alternate item if both options are available to choose from. Otherwise, the available method is pre assigned.
   • Select one of the items for replacement. The source agreement details, if available, are displayed.
8. If no source agreements are available, create a new purchase agreement line for the alternate item. You can either import the agreement from External Purchase Prices or create it from the Manage Agreements page from the Manage Agreements page in the Purchase Agreement work area. For more information on how to perform these actions, see how to create a purchase agreement or Import External Purchase Prices.
9. Click Continue to confirm replacement. Here’s what happens when you confirm replacement:
   • If the item is enabled for min-max planning, an FYI notification is sent to planners and PAR counters informing them that an item replacement is in effect and the original item’s subinventories and locators are disabled for replenishment.
   • If the item is enabled for MRP planning, a supply hold is created automatically in Product Information Management. The supply hold is enabled by the attribute Create Supply After, to which a future arbitrary date is assigned to ensure that no new planned order is created for this disrupted item from an external supply source.

   If the replacement method is alternate supplier, no notification is sent at this step because the original item’s subinventories and locators won’t be disabled for replenishment.

   For more information about configuring rules in the BPM worklist to send notifications, see Configure Business Rules for Item Replacement Notifications.

10. Now you’ll see a list of eligible Purchase Orders that need mass replacement of the original item.
    Note: To be available for mass replacement, the PO lines shouldn’t be on drop shipment. Additionally, the PO lines shouldn’t have been shipped, received, or billed.

    Considerations for choosing a replacement option and use cases specific to the replacement options are described in this table.

    Replacement option	Description	Considerations
    Replace PO Line	Updates the item and its related purchase order line attributes with the information for the new item. This action is available only when the replacement method is set to Alternate item sourced to the same supplier.	This option isn't supported for: Multiple distribution lines. Lines that are fully received and returned. Lines that are associated with trade operations for landed costing.
    Cancel and Create New PO Line	Cancels the line for the original item and creates a new line with the replacement item. If the supply source is replaced or is different for the replacement item, a new purchase order is created.	This option isn't supported for consignment PO lines.
    Skip PO Line	Skips the purchase order line from undergoing mass update. A buyer has the option of skipping the PO from undergoing mass update with this option.	You can use this option in cases such as this example. If the supplier has already shipped the items for a PO without an advance shipment notice, the buyer can manually skip the PO for mass update, as it doesn’t warrant a replacement.

11. Click Finish to complete the item replacement process. These notifications are sent when you click Finish:
    • A notification is sent to the requesters of the backing requisition on the purchase orders, informing them about the replacement of their originally requested item with the substitute item or supply source.
    • A notification is sent to the planner through which they can find the item replacement task in Oracle Inventory Management and take further actions to update inventory entities for the replacement item.

    For more information about configuring notifications, see Configure Business Rules for Item Replacement Notifications.

12. After a mass replacement, you can review information such as which purchase order lines were impacted or newly created, and which attributes changed. On the Replacement Details page, in the Replacement POs section you’ll find the purchase order lines that have undergone mass updates during the replacement. Additionally, the document number, supplier part number, order quantity, purchasing unit of measure, and unit price derived for a PO line during the mass replacement for the original purchase order line attributes are listed. The replacement action taken for each PO line is also available for historical reference.

Once the replacement action is taken on the POs, any errors that occurred during the mass update are indicated for the replacement task and for each organization on the Item Replacement details page. You can resubmit the replacement process after correcting the errors.

A temporary replacement can be made permanent if the reinstatement process hasn’t been started for any of the organizations for which the item or supplier is replaced. On the item replacement details page of a temporary replacement task, click the Make Permanent button to make it a permanent replacement.