Overview of Using Business Rules With Order Management

Set up a business rule in Oracle Order Management to implement a dynamic decision at run time that automates a company policy, does a calculation, or does some processing.

A business rule is a statement that describes how to implement a business policy or make a business decision. It can implement logic.

• Enforce a spending policy.

• Constrain a process so it meets a regulatory requirement.

• Compute a discount or premium.

• Provide an offer according to customer value.

Here are some business requirements you can meet with a business rule.

• Set a default value for shipment priority

• If quantity is more than 10, then add free items to the sales order.

• If customer is Computer Service and Rentals, then use orchestration process y to fulfill the sales order.

• If destination is Japan, then route shipment through Pacific Northwest Warehouse.

A business rule keeps rule logic separate from the underlying application code, which allows a business analyst to modify rule logic without using programming code and without interrupting your business process.

Here's an example of a business rule.

• If the sales order is valued at $50,000 or more, then make sure a representative calls the customer before sending an invoice.

Here are the types of business rules you can use and where you can use them.

Note

Type of Business Rule	Description
Transform a sales order. Pretransformation Product Transformation Posttransformation	Order Management transforms each source order that you create in Order Management or that it receives from a source system so it can optimize order fulfillment. You can write a rule to: Populate order attributes before transformation. Transform a source order. Populate order attributes after transformation. For example: Populate an attribute on a fulfillment line. If the item is a widget, then populate the Request Date attribute on the fulfillment line. Convert a measurement. If the item is a widget, then convert the value in the Size attribute from centimeters to inches in the fulfillment line. Create fulfillment lines from one item. For example, if the item is a laptop that includes a docking station, then transform the item into one fulfillment line for the laptop and another fulfillment line for the docking station. For details, see Transformation Rules.
Process Assignment	Assign the orchestration process that Order Management runs to process fulfillment lines. For example: If the ordered quantity is large, then assign the sales order to an orchestration process that optimizes scheduling and delivery for large orders. If the customer is Important, then assign the sales order to an orchestration process that expedites delivery. If the ship-to address in the order header resides outside of your country, then assign the sales order to an orchestration process that handles international fulfillment, such as checking for trade compliance. For details, see Assign Orchestration Processes.
Process a sales order. Start After Condition Branching Condition Lead Time Expression Line Selection Criteria Process a change order. Compensation Pattern Cost of Change	Set up a rule that affects processing, such as branch in an orchestration process, do a complex calculation that determines planning lead time, or manage a change that happens to the sales order. For example: If an invoice exceeds $100,000, then make sure a representative phones the customer. If the status of the Create Shipment orchestration process step is Shipped, then send a notification to your customer that the sales order is on its way. If the sales order includes a shippable item, such as a laptop, and an item that isn't shippable, such as a warranty for the laptop, then make sure the orchestration process doesn't attempt to ship the warranty.
Routing Rule	Set up a rule that routes a fulfillment request to a fulfillment system according to an attribute on the sales order, fulfillment line, or orchestration process. For example: If product type is Goods, and if task type is Invoice, then route the request to fulfillment system ABCInvoicingSystem. If item is 2TX Server, then route the service request to fulfillment system Big Server. For details, see Overview of Connecting Order Management to Your Fulfillment System.

Get background details about how to create an Oracle Business Rule. For details, see Designing Business Rules with Oracle Business Process Management.

Use Visual Information Builder to Create Rules

Prior to Update 12, you use Oracle Business Rules to create rules in Order Management. Starting with Update 12, you can use Visual Information Builder to create some types of rules, which is a rule editor that supports a simplified drag-and-drop interface. It helps you visualize data, visualize your business processes, implement your business logic, and implement your business rule sets.

Starting with Update 13B, we strongly recommend that you use only Visual Information Builder for routing, pretransformation, and assignment rules.

Here are pages you use to access the editors.

Editor for Oracle Business Rules	Editor for Visual Information Builder
Manage External Interface Routing Rules	Manage External Integration Routing Rules for Sales Orders
Manage Pretransformation Defaulting Rules	Manage Pretransformation Rules for Sales Orders
Manage Orchestration Process Assignment Rules	Manage Process Assignment Rules for Sales Orders

Examples of Creating Business Rules

Visual Information Builder

See:

• Manage Routing Rules

• Manage Pretransformation Rules

• Route Requests from Order Management to Fulfillment Systems

• Route Requests from Order Management to Fulfillment Systems Without Cross-References

• Create Cross-References in Order Management

• Integrate Order Management Without Cross-Referencing Customer Attributes

Oracle Business Rules

See:

Page	Details
Manage Orchestration Process Definitions	Get details about the rules that you set up on an orchestration process. Add Lead-Times for Orchestration Process Steps Select Fulfillment Lines for Orchestration Process Steps Measure the Cost of Change Compensate Sales Orders That Change Add Branches to Orchestration Processes Get details about the rules that pause an orchestration process. Pause Orchestration Processes for Events Pause Orchestration Processes for Time Pause Orchestration Processes for Dependencies Get details about the rules that control status. Add Status Conditions to Orchestration Processes Add Status Conditions to Fulfillment Lines
Transformation Rules	Get details about transformation rules. Create Transformation Rules Create Advanced Transformation Rules

Learn how to use business rules with extensible flexfields. For details, see Overview of Setting Up Extensible Flexfields in Order Management.

Examples That Include Orchestration Process Attributes

Orchestration Process Attribute	Details
Cost of Change	Measure the Cost of Change
Compensation Pattern	Manage Order Attributes That Identify Change Compensate Sales Orders That Change
Lead-Time Expression	Add Lead-Times for Orchestration Process Steps
Line Selection Criteria	Select Fulfillment Lines for Orchestration Process Steps
Branching Condition	Add Branches to Orchestration Processes
Start-After Condition	Pause Orchestration Processes for Events Pause Orchestration Processes for Time Pause Orchestration Processes for Dependencies

You use the Manage Orchestration Process Definitions page to set these attributes. For details, see Guidelines for Setting Up Orchestration Process Steps.