Create Customer Order Template

This page is accessed via Order Management > Purchase Order > Order Base.

If you are a planner and you want to create an order template for a customer, follow these steps in the Order Base.

Complete the Order Base pages to create an order template. Since order templates display a subset of the information you can supply on an order base, focus on the following fields first:

Identification tab

1. Enter an ID that the customer will use to identify the order template. Leave this field blank if you want Oracle Transportation Management to automatically generate an ID for you based on the default rule definition in the Business Number Generator.
2. Make sure you select the Use as a Template check box to indicate that the order base is a template.
3. Use the Domain drop-down list (on the Order Base Header section of the initial Order Base page) to identify the domain in which you want to save the template. You can save the template in any domain in which you have Write access. Use the Manage Domain option in User Management to set access rights to domains.
4. You can skip the Release Type field since a customer order is saved as an order base. Once the order is saved, you can configure the Release Type.
5. Define Order Reference Numbers if you want them included as part of the template. The Customer Order page displays the Reference Numbers that you record on the template. The customer can change the existing reference numbers or add their own.
6. Choose Ship Unit or Line Item and complete the appropriate information for each. The Customer Order page displays either Line Items or Ship Units based on how you describe the order base template. If you choose line items, you should add at least one default line item on the order template and record one Source and Destination Location if you want these fields to pre-populate on order templates. If you do not add a default item, you cannot pre-populate the locations on the template. However, the customer can complete these fields on the order based on the locations and materials that are defined in their domain (or any other domain to which they have access). A customer can also add new locations when they create an order. You can define as many items as you want on the template; however, only the Source and Destination Location for the first item are included as part of the template.
   
   Since you are creating a template, make sure you clear the Shippable check box since this would automatically create an order release when you finish the template and save it.
   
   You should also leave the Pick/Delivery fields blank, unless you enter dates that are far enough in the future that make sense for the template. If you enter dates that are in the past and the template is used to create a new order, no shipments can be created until the dates are modified.

Note: When you create a template and place item count, weight and/or volume on the template you are essentially placing a "ceiling" on how much weight, volume and item count you can release.

Constraints tab

You can apply any of the constraints on this page and they will be applied for any customer order that uses this template.

Involved Party tab

You should set up an Involved Party for the Order Base so that you are notified each time an order release is created by a customer that uses this template. Use the OrderOwner Involved Party Qualifier. You can also predefine other Involved Parties as part of the template. Involved Parties can also be configured as part of Master Corporation that are copied to a customer order.

Other Attributes tab

Assign Accessorials or Special Services if you want them included as part of the template.

The Customer Order page displays the Accessorials that you record on the template. The customer can change them or add their own.

Remarks

Any Remarks that you record on the template appear on the Customer Order page. The customer can change them or add their own remarks.

While these are the fields that a customer can view and can change on the Customer Order page when the template is used, you can also include other information as part of the template. For example, you can assign any of the Scheduling constraints (Service Provider, Fixed Itinerary, and so on) on the template and they are used on the order base that customer submits (even though the customer cannot see this information).

Note: Any previously-saved order base can be saved as a template. Edit the order base and mark the Use as a Template check box. However, remember the template orders are not planned for shipment.

Using Templates for Customer Order

Once you save the order template in the appropriate domain, it becomes available on the Order Entry page. If a user chooses a template, the following fields are automatically populated with the data that you entered on the template:

• Pick and Delivery Locations
• Ship unit Quantity, Type, Weight, Commodity Code Qualifier (if the template is designed using packaging data)
• Item ID, Quantity and Weight (if the template is designed using line items)
• Order Reference Numbers
• Involved Party
• Accessorial
• Remarks

The customer can modify any of the information on the Customer Order entry page, request a quote, or submit the order.

The customer can request a quote for display purposes only or submit the order with a specific quote. Once the order is submitted (with or without a quote), an order base is automatically created with the ID that the customer provided. If the customer submitted the order with a quote, the Rate Offering appears on the Scheduling section of the Order Base page. After the new order base is added, an order release is created, ready for planning. If you set up an Involved Party on the order base template and configured the Notification System to notify the contact when releases are created, you can receive a message once the order release is created.

Setting Up Domains for Customer Order Templates

Since order templates can be saved in any domain that you want, you should decide how your customers will access Oracle Transportation Management and the domains you will need to manage each customers order and location. For example, one typical approach is to create a separate domain for each customer outside of your typical planning domain. Then you can save specific templates in each customer domain.

If you follow this approach, you should also configure the appropriate domain access, security rights, and business number formats as follows.

Domain Grants

Domain Grants are performed using the Manage Domains option in Domain Manager in User Management.

• Grant read/write access to all table sets from each customer domain to your planning domain. This allows you to save templates in each customer domain and review/plan the orders that a customer creates. Orders that customers create are stored in the domain that they log into. If you do not make this grant, you will not have access to the customer orders from the planning domain.
• Grant read access to all table sets from your planning domain to each customer domain so that customers can access your item master, accessorial list, order reference numbers, and locations. Otherwise, the customers cannot make these assignments on orders that are created.

Security

User security is controlled using several options in User Management.

For each customer domain, you should create the appropriate number of user names with the appropriate passwords. You can also define a level for these users and assign the following Oracle Transportation Management function groups to that level:

• Visibility menu options (if you want the customer to access the Visibility menu options)
• Customer Order Entry
• Location - View
• Location - Update (only if you want to allow the user to create new locations)
• Material - View
• Order - View
• Order - Update
• Power Data

These security settings provide the appropriate access to successfully create orders. However, note that these settings also provide access to the various managers and Power Data options mentioned (if the user chooses the Logistics Planner role after log in).

Business Number Generator

The Business Number Generator controls the format of order IDs in Oracle Transportation Management. Since customers are creating orders, you may want to control the default order IDs that are used. The default format for automatically-generated order IDs is domain.current date - sequence number; for example, TEST200010202-0001 where TEST is the domain, 200010202 is the current date, and -0001 is the sequence number. You can modify this format to meet your requirements using the Business Number Rule Management option in General Power Data.

Since the Business Number Rules are domain-specific, any changes you make to the order ID format should be repeated in each customer domain.