Buy-side Portals - Procurement Control

Procurement Control Portal

For an explanation of the complete buy-side procurement events sequence - the steps to be followed to process a procurement transaction - please refer to the Workflow Overview page (a detailed description of the cross-enterprise processing cycle as it applies to the aggregated procurement ecosystem is provided in the How it Works section; please refer to the About the Aggregated Procurement Management Platform section for an explanation of the application structure and its supporting UI constructs).

The Procurement Control Portal provides a number of workbenches, consoles and workflows that allow the Procurement Controller to control and monitor the buying organization's procurement transactions. Purchase Orders can either be created by the organization's buyers using the Buyer Portal, or it can be automatically created based on a notification received from the Procurement Aggregator Agency (via the Object Exchange), that a Sales Order has been processed by the relevant Supplier (on instruction of the buying organization); acceptance of the exchange object creates the Purchase Order stack in the buying organization's workspace.

Purchase Orders created by the organization's buyers must be approved and forwarded (released) to the Procurement Aggregator Agency by the Procurement Controller using the functionality provided by the portal (the Purchase Orders Workbook). Subsequent to its release the Purchase Order's fulfillment progress is monitored; progress notifications that are received from the Procurement Aggregator Agency (such as order received confirmation, order acceptance and delivery in progress notifications), are automatically recorded against the particular Purchase Order instance. The portal also provides functionality for processing Supplier Deliveries and forwarding delivery acknowledgements (GRNs) to the Procurement Aggregator Agency.

A summary of the portal's core application functionality and arrangement is as follows:

1. Purchasing Management Workbench

• • • Purchase Orders Workbook - presents the digital instance set of active (not yet archived), Purchase Orders that are currently in various stages of progression, including new orders that need to be reviewed for approval; the workbook provides the ability to access and update the order detail (items ordered), and to review the processing history (audit trial) of the order instance; it provides a number of tools and utilities for managing the procurement processing cycle, including:

      • Creating new Purchase Order instances (i.e., the ability to 'manually' create POs);

      • Editing an existing Purchase Order instance (editing is only allowed if the PO has not yet been approved and sent to the Procurement Aggregator Agency);

      • Reviewing and approving new Purchase Orders (that were created via the Buyer Portal as well as those that were created manually);

      • Sending a digital copy of an approved Purchase Order instance to the Procurement Aggregator Agency;

      • Deleting an existing Purchase Order instance (deleting is only allowed if the PO has not yet been approved and sent to the Procurement Aggregator Agency);

      • Creating a snapshot of the Purchase Order data set for reporting purposes;

    • Deliveries in Progress Workbook - presents the digital instance set of Purchase Orders for which 'delivery in progress' notifications have been received from the Procurement Aggregator Agency; the workbook also provides the ability to review the order detail (items ordered and in process of being delivered), and the processing history (audit trial) of the order instance; it also provides the ability to create snapshots of the Deliveries in Progress data set for reporting purposes;

    • Goods Received Workbook - presents the digital instance set of Purchase Orders that have been delivered by the supplier; the workbook also provides the ability to review the delivery detail (items ordered and delivered), and processing history (audit trial) of the order/delivery instance; it also provides a number of tools and utilities for processing the delivery data, including:

      • Creating a Goods Received record (in other words, producing a GRN), with the actual quantities delivered (including non/short-delivery of ordered items and returns);

      • Sending a digital copy of the GRN instance to the Procurement Aggregator Agency;

      • Creating a snapshot of the GRN data set for reporting purposes;

    • Supplier Invoices Workbook - presents the digital instance set of Supplier Invoices have been received from the Procurement Aggregator Agency; the workbook also provides the ability to review the invoice detail (items ordered, received and invoiced), and processing history (audit trial) of the invoice instance; it provides a number of tools and utilities for processing the invoice data, including:

      • Creating a record of Supplier Invoices received;

      • Approving or disputing an invoice based on incorrect charges related to quantities and/or price;

      • Submitting approved supplier invoices to the accounting system;

      • Sending a digital copy of a disputed invoice to the Procurement Aggregator Agency (with discrepancies and disputes presented in the digital object);

      • Creating a snapshot of the Supplier Invoice data set for reporting purposes;

2. Supplier (Aggregator) Management Workbench

• • • Supplier (Aggregator) Profile Workbook - presents the current digital profile of the Aggregated Procurement Agency with a comprehensive display-only Statement of Account; the Statement of Account reflects (i) account deposits made by the buying organization, (ii) funds reserved for Purchase Orders that have been submitted, and (iii) drawings for Invoices submitted to accounting for processing (when an invoice is submitted for processing, the amount that was reserved for the PO is replaced with the actual invoice - or drawing - amount);

    • Procurement Account Deposits Workbook - presents the digital instance set of Aggregated Procurement Account Deposits that have been submitted to, and processed by, Accounting and Treasury; the workbook also provides the ability to review deposit instance detail and processing history; it provides a number of tools and utilities for processing deposits, including:

      • Creating a deposit request;

      • Submitting a deposit request for processing and execution to the accounting system; when the deposit has been made, the status field of the Aggregated Procurement Account Deposit instance is updated to reflect the fact that the deposit has been made (with appropriate reference to the relevant source documents); the Statement of Account is also updated to reflect the deposit that was made;

      • Sending a digital copy of a the deposit to the Procurement Aggregator Agency (with proof of payment references presented in the digital object);

      • Creating a snapshot of the Aggregated Procurement Account Deposits data set for reporting purposes;

3. Workflow Consoles

• • • Messages Console - presents a list of messages and notifications that have been sent to the User Group(s) of which the signed-in user is a member;

    • Responsibilities Console - presents a list of tasks that have been assigned to the signed-in user; the list also includes 'open' tasks (tasks that have not yet been annexed/accepted by a user of the designated group to which the task has been forwarded);

    • Approvals Console - presents approval requests that have been submitted to the signed-in user;

    • Object Exchange Console - presents object instances that have been received from external parties for possible annexation;

The Master Procurement List is maintained by the Procurement Administrator using the functionality provided by the Procurement Administration Portal (please refer to the Procurement Administration Portal section for more information).