Oracle Cloud Purchase Order Management Guide

What is Oracle Cloud Purchase Order Management?

Oracle Purchase Order (PO) Management is a subset of order management capabilities for the Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP system. It helps organizations digitally manage and process purchase orders for supply chain and procurement activities, improving efficiency and reducing overhead costs.

Understanding Oracle Cloud Purchase Order Management

Definition and Core Functions

With Oracle Fusion Cloud Purchase Orders (POs), users can improve PO processing by creating purchase orders for procurement, managing purchase orders, processing purchase orders, and transacting the associated inventory or materials. This way, POs can be processed digitally to be more accurate and with automatically recorded history.

Commonly used features include purchase order creation, receiving, inspections, and put-away.

Many organizations will want to customize some functions for specific user roles and business requirements.

A visual order monitoring dashboard makes viewing orders at a glance simple. It includes sections for various order statuses (backorder, past due, etc.), errors, fulfillment lines, and more.

Purchase Order Processing and Fulfillment: How It Works

When it comes to managing and optimizing purchase order processes, Oracle Fusion Cloud is an essential digital tool. Users can manage the entire lifecycle of purchase orders and sales orders using the Order Management SCM solution.

Here’s an example of a PO lifecycle in Oracle Cloud:

1. A requisition is created to formally request goods or services.
2. A purchase order is created in Oracle Fusion Cloud SCM (Procurement or Order Management).
3. The PO undergoes an approval process.
4. Once approved, the PO is communicated to the supplier.
5. The supplier acknowledges receipt of the PO and schedules a delivery.
6. The order is delivered and received in Oracle Cloud.
7. The received order is inspected and either put away or returned to the supplier.
8. The supplier submits invoices to the customer for payment.

Advanced Features and Functions

While the Order Management solution is primarily focused on the order-to-cash process and managing sales orders, integration with other components of Oracle Cloud SCM enables advanced management of purchase orders.

Advanced features and functions include:

• Procurement integration for automated purchase order generation
• Drop shipment and back-to-back orders (POs created from sales orders)
• Global Order Promising (GOP) for optimal sourcing based on advanced algorithms
• Supply chain orchestration to coordinate end-to-end process automation
• Cross-referenceable items by mapping customer and supplier item numbers to internal item numbers
• Advanced, detailed pricing and cost management

Integration with Other Oracle Cloud SCM Products

Organizations that use Oracle Cloud purchase orders may wish to integrate PO functionality with other Oracle Fusion Cloud SCM applications to facilitate seamless data flow and processes across different business functions.

Commonly integrated Oracle Fusion Cloud applications include:

• Supply Chain Planning
• Inventory Management
• Manufacturing
• Maintenance
• Logistics
• Product Lifecycle Management
• Procurement
• Financials

Mobile Inventory Applications for Oracle Cloud PO Management

RFgen for Oracle Cloud includes mobile applications for many transactions in its Oracle Cloud Purchase Order Suite, providing mobile automation for receiving, inspecting, returning, and storing PO materials.

Receiving

Using these capabilities, users can receive and inspect materials from a PO, updating Oracle Cloud in real time.

Put Away

This functionality enables users to store received materials in the optimal location of the warehouse.

Returns

These capabilities allow users to issue returns on received POs or receipts, and perform a Return Material Authorization (RMA) if needed.

Best Practices for Oracle Cloud Purchase Order Management

Adopting Oracle Cloud SCM is only the first step to achieving transformative benefits. To get the most out of Oracle’s purchase order capabilities, be sure to implement these best practices:

• Automate receiving processes with barcode scanning and mobile automation.
• Validate received goods against purchase orders to confirm orders are complete.
• Set up processes in Oracle Fusion Cloud for handling goods that fail inspections.
• Optimize storage locations based on product characteristics, like frequency of access.
• Streamline the return process with mobile apps—and don’t forget to include RMAs.
• Establish automated workflows for RMA approvals based on predefined criteria.

Future Trends and Updates

Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates for Oracle Fusion Cloud Order Management by visiting the What’s New webpage or by exploring Oracle News.

Training and Support Resources

The Oracle community offers much in the way of training and support. Some helpful resources include:

• Oracle University: Guided learning on OCI and Oracle applications.
• Oracle Academy: Cloud learning for Oracle Academy Institutional members.
• OCI Certification: Become a trusted Oracle Cloud Infrastructure expert.

Community and online forums also offer ways to engage with the Oracle community for advice, best practices, and problem-solving strategies.

Resolving Common Issues in Oracle Cloud PO

If you’re experiencing issues using Oracle Fusion Cloud Purchase Orders, try visiting Oracle Support.

For RFgen users, contact technical support.

For non-customers, contact us directly to learn more about what RFgen’s Purchase Order Suite can do for you.

You may also wish to visit our resource detailing the problems we solve.