1. Integration Playbooks for Procurement
  2. File-Based Data Import (FBDI) for Supplier Model

File-Based Data Import (FBDI) for Supplier Model

Use the FBDI integration option to import large volumes of supplier data from external sources, such as legacy systems and third-party applications, or to create and update bulk data in Oracle Supplier Model.

Supplier data might include supplier firmographic information, contacts, addresses, bank accounts, and sites. For a complete list of business objects that you can import, see the Supplier Model chapter in File-Based Data Import (FBDI) for Procurement.

Key Features

  • Use FBDI to import high-volume supplier data during the new customer implementation phase.
  • Most useful to mass update recurring or ongoing bulk updates to supplier profile entities.
  • Enables asynchronous automated integration between systems.
  • Use Oracle Fusion Cloud Financials file-based data import for importing supplier bank accounts.
  • Use the Oracle Financials Tax Implementation Workbook to import a supplier's transaction tax attributes.

Best Practices

For medium- to very-large volumes of data import (usually at cut-over):

  • Limit each batch to 25,000 records. If you have more, split them into multiple batches. We recommend not to schedule more than four concurrent batches.
  • We recommend reviewing the error report for any import failures and taking appropriate action.
  • When re-running the import after correcting the errors, ensure to load only the required records by selecting the Rejected import option from scheduled process parameters.
  • Purge records from the supplier interface tables periodically.
  • It's recommended to leave the supplier number blank in the Supplier Import template. Doing so will allow the supplier number to be generated automatically. However, in a case where there's a need to retain the supplier number from legacy systems in Oracle Supplier Model as well, specify the supplier numbers for the suppliers being imported.
  • If your supplier already exists as a non-supplier party in the application, you must provide the registry ID of that party in the FBDI template when importing your supplier. This will create a supplier relationship for your existing party.
  • To prepare supplier data for update cases, use the Supplier Import - Supplier Real Time Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence subject area to export the current supplier information. This lets you review and make necessary changes before re-importing the updated data into the system. This method ensures that your updates are correct and applied efficiently.

Common for all use cases, including low-volume data import:

  • We recommend that you don't change the names of the comma-separated values (CSV) files generated by import templates. You can change the compressed (.zip) file name but if you need to change the CSV file names, ensure that you don't change the prefix of the file names. For example, you can change the file name for the Supplier Sites CSV file to PozSupplierSitesInt_<suffix>.csv, but not to <prefix>_PozSupplierSitesInt.csv.
  • For more best practices, both general and specific to each entity, see Create Suppliers with the Import Suppliers Process in Using Procurement.

Data-specific best practices:

  • If you have an extended list of values for any LOV field, you can modify the column in the import template to accept free text. Then, enter the lookup code (use the code rather than the name for LOV values).
  • For descriptive flexfield LOVs, you need to enter valid values as free text in the import template. The values will be validated as part of the import validations.
  • Extra trailing or leading spaces in the import file will be ignored and can cause errors if they're present in Oracle Supplier Model data. Rather than adjust the import file, correct the data in the Oracle Supplier Model UI before importing.
  • Use #NULL wherever applicable to update an attribute value to blank. For example, use #NULL to remove Acme Corporation as the Alternate Name.

Constraints

  • Not recommended for real-time data import.
  • Updates to suppliers through FBDI don't go through approval. (Change control isn't imposed.) Therefore, it's important to validate the data before importing because the imported data is directly applied to the supplier profiles.
  • Supplier profiles will be locked for editing and can't be updated with an import in these cases:
    • When there's a profile change request in a draft or pending approval status.
    • When a spend authorization request is pending approval.
  • You can create bank accounts using FBDI, but updating them can only be done using the External Bank Accounts and Instrument Assignments REST resources or from supplier profiles in the application.

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