E-Business Suite

RELEASE VALUE PROPOSITION

Release 12.1
Advanced Procurement Applications








Prepared by E-Business Suite Product Management and Strategy

Last Updated: May 16, 2009
Version: v3.0
Posted:















Copyright 2009 Oracle Corporation
All Rights Reserved
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition ii
Table of Contents
1. Disclaimer _______________________________________________________________________ 1
2. Introduction ______________________________________________________________________ 2
2.1. Purpose of Document __________________________________________________________________ 2
2.2. Reference Documents _________________________________________________________________ 2
3. Advanced Procurement Release 12.1 Value Proposition ___________________________________ 3
3.1. Reduce Spend on Goods and Services ____________________________________________________ 4
3.2. Streamline Procurement Processes ______________________________________________________ 4
3.3. Enforce Policy Compliance _____________________________________________________________ 4
4. Whats New in iProcurement ________________________________________________________ 5
4.1. More Effective Content Management ____________________________________________________ 5
4.1.1. Extend Catalog Authoring to Suppliers ___________________________________________________________ 6
4.1.2. Control of User Access to Content _______________________________________________________________ 6
4.1.3. Streamlined Content Approval __________________________________________________________________ 6
4.2. Advancements in Requester Driven Procurement __________________________________________ 7
4.2.1. Requester Directed Change Order Management ____________________________________________________ 7
4.2.2. Requester Directed Sourcing ___________________________________________________________________ 7
4.2.3. Advanced Approval Support ___________________________________________________________________ 7
4.3. User Interface Upgrades _______________________________________________________________ 8
4.3.1. Multiple Search Result Layouts _________________________________________________________________ 8
4.3.2. List of Value Enhancements ____________________________________________________________________ 8
5. Whats New in iSupplier Portal ______________________________________________________ 10
5.1. Reduce the supplier administration burden ______________________________________________ 10
5.1.1. Adaptive Supplier Onboarding ________________________________________________________________ 11
5.1.2. Flexible Supplier Approval ___________________________________________________________________ 11
5.1.3. Streamline Supplier Profile Management ________________________________________________________ 12
5.1.4. Supplier Managed User Maintenance ___________________________________________________________ 12
5.2. Increase supplier efficiency ____________________________________________________________ 12
5.2.1. Complex Contract Payments __________________________________________________________________ 13
5.2.2. Enhanced Supplier Change Order ______________________________________________________________ 13
5.2.3. Improved Supplier Inquiry ____________________________________________________________________ 13
5.2.4. Comprehensive Invoice Processing _____________________________________________________________ 14
5.3. Achieve Best Practices ________________________________________________________________ 14
5.3.1. Scorecard Sharing __________________________________________________________________________ 14
6. Whats New in Procurement Contracts? ______________________________________________ 15
6.1. Standardize Contract Processes ________________________________________________________ 15
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition iii
6.1.1. Streamline approval processes and improve internal control __________________________________________ 15
6.1.2. Faster review and payment for complex contract payment ___________________________________________ 15
6.1.3. Increase productivity of shared service users by leveraging Multi-Organization Access Control ______________ 16
6.1.4. Advanced Authoring in Contract Repository ______________________________________________________ 16
6.2. Reduce time-to-contract ______________________________________________________________ 18
6.2.1. Accelerate contract authoring by leveraging Microsoft Word Synchronization ___________________________ 18
6.2.2. Shorten contract negation process by using contract Terms as an attached document _______________________ 18
6.2.3. Expedite clause and template approval process ____________________________________________________ 18
6.2.4. Enhance touchless buying capability by automatically applying a contract template _______________________ 19
6.2.5. Refine your search by secure enterprise search capabilities ___________________________________________ 19
6.3. Drive Contract Compliance ___________________________________________________________ 19
6.3.1. Enforce compliance and monitor policy deviation by using contract deviation report ______________________ 19
6.3.2. Sign Contracts digitally by enhanced electronic signature support _____________________________________ 19
6.3.3. Enforce Compliance and reduce risk by leveraging clause analysis capabilities ___________________________ 20
7. Whats New in Purchasing _________________________________________________________ 21
7.1. Automate Entire Procure-to-Pay Cycle __________________________________________________ 21
7.1.1. Professional Buyers Work Center ______________________________________________________________ 22
7.2. Improve Supply Base Management _____________________________________________________ 23
7.2.1. Advanced Approval Support for Requisitions _____________________________________________________ 23
7.2.2. Communicate Document Attachments to Suppliers _________________________________________________ 24
7.2.3. Support for Unified Process Manufacturing/Discrete Inventory _______________________________________ 24
7.3. Adapt to Any Purchasing Practices _____________________________________________________ 25
7.3.1. Model Complex Pricing for Blanket Line Items ___________________________________________________ 25
7.3.2. Enable All Sites for Global Contract Purchase Agreements __________________________________________ 25
7.3.3. Document Publishing Enhancements ____________________________________________________________ 25
8. Whats New in Services Procurement _________________________________________________ 26
8.1. Maximize Preferred Supplier Savings ___________________________________________________ 26
8.1.1. Online Supplier Collaboration _________________________________________________________________ 27
8.1.2. Improved Management of Contingent Workers ____________________________________________________ 27
8.2. Eliminate Over-billing and Over-runs ___________________________________________________ 27
8.2.1. Improved Management of Contract Financing Terms _______________________________________________ 28
8.3. Create Visibility into Services Spending _________________________________________________ 29
8.3.1. Create and View Work Confirmations ___________________________________________________________ 29
9. Whats New in Sourcing ___________________________________________________________ 30
9.1. Streamline Sourcing Process___________________________________________________________ 30
9.1.1. Enhanced Spreadsheet support _________________________________________________________________ 30
9.1.2. Price Tier Optimization ______________________________________________________________________ 31
9.1.3. Team Scoring for Subjectively Scored Requirements _______________________________________________ 31
9.2. Enforce Compliance and Reduce Risk ___________________________________________________ 31
9.2.1. Two Stage Evaluation of RFP _________________________________________________________________ 31
9.2.2. Multi-Org Access Controls ___________________________________________________________________ 32
9.2.3. Post Negotiation Synopsis to External Website ____________________________________________________ 32
9.3. Achieve Sustained Savings ____________________________________________________________ 32
9.3.1. Price Tier Enhancements _____________________________________________________________________ 33
9.3.2. Cost Factor Enhancements ____________________________________________________________________ 33
9.3.3. Display Best Bid Price in Blind Negotiations _____________________________________________________ 33
10. Global Enhancements ___________________________________________________________ 34
10.1. EMEA _____________________________________________________________________________ 34
10.1.1. Sourcing _______________________________________________________________________________ 34
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition iv
11. Industry Enhancements __________________________________________________________ 35
11.1. Engineering and Construction _________________________________________________________ 35
11.1.1. Sourcing _______________________________________________________________________________ 35
11.1.2. iSupplier Portal __________________________________________________________________________ 35
11.2. Public Sector Organizations ___________________________________________________________ 35
11.2.1. Sourcing _______________________________________________________________________________ 36
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 11BPurpose of Document 1
1. Disclaimer
This Release Value Proposition (RVP) describes the key benefits of select product
features proposed for the specified release of the Oracle E-Business Suite. This
document describes new or changed functionality between E-Business Suite 11i.10 and
12.1. It is intended solely to help you assess the business benefits and value of
upgrading to the specified release of the Oracle E-Business Suite.
This document in any form, software or printed matter, contains proprietary information
that is the exclusive property of Oracle. Your access to and use of this confidential
material is subject to the terms and conditions of your Oracle Software License and
Service Agreement, which has been executed and with which you agree to comply. This
document and information contained herein may not be disclosed, copied, reproduced or
distributed to anyone outside Oracle without prior written consent of Oracle. This
document is not part of your license agreement nor can it be incorporated into any
contractual agreement with Oracle or its subsidiaries or affiliates.
This document is for informational purposes only and is intended solely to assist you in
planning for the implementation and upgrade of the product features described. It is not
a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied
upon in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, and timing of any
features or functionality described in this document remains at the sole discretion of
Oracle.
Due to the nature of the product architecture, it may not be possible to safely include all
features described in this document without risking significant destabilization of the
code.

E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 11BPurpose of Document 2
2. Introduction
2.1. Purpose of Document
This document describes the value associated with the new features and enhancements
that are planned for Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1 (inclusive of features and
enhancement from Release 12). It is a roadmap that is intended to help you assess the
business benefits of Release 12.1 and plan your information technology (IT) projects and
investments.
The new features and enhancements included in this document are grouped according to
business process to better demonstrate how solutions can help you optimize your
business. Our goal is to ensure that you leverage technology to its fullest to increase the
efficiency and effectiveness of your operations. Please note that the final release may
not include every feature discussed in this document, and a specific feature may become
part of a different application or have a different product name from that cited in this
document.

2.2. Reference Documents
Name Location Completion Date









E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 12BReference Documents 3
3. Advanced Procurement Release 12.1 Value Proposition
Every year organizations are spending more and more with suppliers, soaring to a current
average of 47.6 percent of total purchases. Purchasing departments have responded and
are diligently negotiating agreements needed to improve the use of working capital and
boost profitability. But every success makes the next year harder, as purchasing is asked
to meet more-ambitious savings targetson already-trimmed spendwith fewer
resources. To deliver repeatable savings and create lasting strategic value, purchasing
organizations must exploit every sourcing opportunity, eliminate manual processing, and
find new ways to influence spending outside of their traditional realm of control.
Oracle Advanced Procurement, part of Oracle E-Business Suite, was built with these
challenges in mind. An integrated suite of applications, it dramatically cuts all supply
management costs and gives you tools to conduct procurement as a strategic discipline.
Offering the industrys most robust purchasing solution, strategic sourcing, employee
and supplier self-service, contract management, and complete procure-to-pay
automation, Oracle Advanced Procurement provides sustainable savingsyear after
year.
Oracle Advanced Procurement increases the value of procurement professionals and the
procurement organization by releasing staff from routine tasks such as creating manual
orders and answering supplier and requester inquiriesso they can then concentrate on
high-value activities such as spend analysis, sourcing, and contract negotiation.
Oracle Advanced Procurement helps you define suppliers and agreements and automates
your entire procurement cycle from PO creation to settlement. Advanced capabilities,
such as the Professional Buyers Work Center, converts demand into purchase orders and
agreements with the least possible manual work. Buyers have full visibility and control
over their work queues. They also save countless hours by leveraging Oracle
Purchasings powerful AutoCreate capability, which gathers lines from multiple
requisitions to generate purchasing or negotiation documents.
Touchless buying takes buyers out of repetitive transactions entirely, with configurable
sourcing rules that allow the system to automatically process and validate incoming
demand, determine allocation, and create POs. The system routes POs for approvals and
optional budget checks and delivers them to suppliers, so you increase efficiency while
exception-based enforcement keeps you in control.
Oracle E-Business Suite Advanced Procurement Release 12.1 (inclusive of Release 12)
is focused on the following key areas:
Reduce Spend on Goods & Services
Streamline Procurement Processes
Enforce Policy Compliance
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 13BReduce Spend on Goods and Services 4
3.1. Reduce Spend on Goods and Services
From spotting and exploiting new savings opportunities to enforcing contract pricing,
Oracle Advanced Procurement drives down unit costs at every stage of your procurement
process.
Packaged spend analysis helps you quickly spot savings opportunities such as non-
sourced spending and contract leakage. Role-based access to dashboards provides
decision makers with immediate access to relevant information. Online sourcing
negotiation and collaboration greatly increases your sourcing bandwidth so you can
exploit more savings opportunities and capture more value from each.
And because sourcing is completely integrated with operational procurement, embedded
terms enforcement and advanced price modeling ensure that the savings you negotiate
are reflected in every order.
3.2. Streamline Procurement Processes
Oracle Advanced Procurement streamlines all of your procurement processes. With the
industry's most robust purchasing transaction backbone, Oracle Advanced Procurement
provides complete procure-to-pay automation.
Configurable automation executes routine transactions without intervention, making
buyers more productive and freeing procurement professionals for strategic activities.
Employee self-service requisitions can be automated and controlled based on policy -
eliminating time-wasting phone calls and emails to Purchasing. Structured online
supplier communications through both a web portal and the Oracle Supplier Network
reduce errors, lag time and processing costs. POs, invoices and other communications
can are handled with paperless efficiency.
Supplier catalog authoring reduces maintenance efforts and enables content to be rapidly
pushed to end users.
3.3. Enforce Policy Compliance
Paper-based procurement processes are not only slow and expensive; they create barriers
to enforcing purchasing policy.
Oracle Advanced Procurement builds compliance right into the system. Exception-based
enforcement reforms spending behavior with configurable approval flows that process
compliant transactions while escalating exceptions for further scrutiny. Unified financial
and procurement controls place fiscal discipline on all procurement processes. Contract
financing enables purchasing organizations to define progress payment schedules for
complex services.
For total procurement visibility, Advanced Procurement's Purchasing Intelligence allows
you to monitor compliance in real time. This enables procurement to define and automate
standard orders while focusing on value-added issues.
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 16BMore Effective Content Management 5
4. Whats New in iProcurement
Paper-based procurement processes are not only slow and expensive; they create barriers
to enforcing spending policy. Employees will often adopt maverick spending habits as
they learn how to purchase items by copying their peer group irrespective of corporate
policies and cost management initiatives. This makes it extremely difficult for
organizations to ensure that employees are buying the right products or services for the
right price. More importantly, the procurement team is then unable to collate spending
pattern information in order to analyze and use the results to assess where to target
savings initiatives and where renegotiation may be required with incumbent suppliers.
Often these manual processes are perpetuated by the sheer volumes faced by the
purchasing organization, with a wide variety of items, services and suppliers being
requested, and no automated tools to help manage by exception.
Oracle iProcurement automates the entire requisitioning lifecycle through a self-service
web-shopping system. Users create, manage and track their own orders in an intuitive
web interface, while purchasing retains central control. Oracle iProcurement ensures
that purchasing policies and preferred pricing agreements are reflected in every
transaction. Easy online ordering and self-service tracking and receiving provide better
service while reducing routine purchasing inquiries and non-sourced purchasing. This
frees procurement professionals to focus on supplier relationships and strategic sourcing.
Release 12 of Oracle iProcurement and the enhancements delivered in Release 12.1
provide benefits in these focus areas:
Improved Content Management
Advancements in Requester Driven Procurement
User Interface Upgrades

4.1. More Effective Content Management
Ensuring that end-users have access to up to date shopping content that accurately
reflects the agreements that exist with each supplier is a keystone element in building an
effective procurement system. Users need to be offered the right choices so that they can
make informed decisions or alternatively, need to be guided to select a preferred item.
And whilst they need to be able to access all of content appropriate to their role, it is as-
important to ensure that they are prevented from accessing content that is inappropriate
either due to their role, their geographic location or line of business.
Managing this content is an administrative challenge and is one that is increasingly
becoming a collaborative process between buying and supplying organizations. Many
enterprises now outsource content authoring responsibilities to suppliers or third party
vendors. This creates a need for suppliers to be able to view, create and maintain their
content on behalf of the buying organization.
Release 12 expands the catalog content management tools available to purchasing
managers, offering them more precise control of what users can see in the catalog. New
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 16BMore Effective Content Management 6
tools have also been introduced to allow supplier to carry out online management of their
own content enabling them to submit price and item updates which will be routed for
approval to the right person in the buying team.
4.1.1. Extend Catalog Authoring to Suppliers
For the Purchasing department, there is a significant administrative overhead involved in
hosting content from preferred suppliers. There is the challenge of receiving and loading
the initial catalog and then the ongoing maintenance involved in processing periodic
updates from each supplier. On the supplier-side, there is a lack of flexibility and also
uncertainty as to when their updated content will be made available to end users.
By giving suppliers access to their own online content and allowing them to post updates
directly into the system for buyer approval, the burden on both parties is significantly
reduced. The self-service authoring tools support industry standard formats for upload
mode including OAG XML, cXML, CIF and text files.
To streamline the approval process for supplier-changes, Release 12 provides a
Difference Summary that clearly highlights what catalog content alterations have been
made since the last approved version. The summary gives the buyer a clear snapshot into
the requested changes and allows them to individually accept or reject each change.
4.1.2. Control of User Access to Content
Not all shopping content is suitable for general-access. Often, there will be categories of
products that should not be exposed to particular users or groups of users. The reasons
for these exclusions can extend from simple geographic factors through to sensitivity
issues around specific contract services that a part of an organization may be procuring.
With Release 12, catalog administrators now have more powerful tools available to slice
and dice user access to catalog content. The Content Zone tools can be used to enable
precise control over what users can see in the catalogs thereby eliminating the risk that
users will gain access to unauthorized content. Content Zone rules can be set up that
include a combination of inclusion and exclusion clauses enabling the administrator to
precisely establish the appropriate content subset that they wish to make available.
Content Zones can also be used to control access to punchout sites.
4.1.3. Streamlined Content Approval
For buying organizations, it is important to ensure that new or updated content is
reviewed by the appropriate people in the organization before it is released and that an
accurate record is kept of the changes. Release 12 now provides approval, revision
control and archival capability for catalog data.
Users can now leverage the Purchasing Approval hierarchy, Revision Control and
Archival capabilities to manage their catalog data as it is now stored as a Global Blanket
Agreement. The approval hierarchy can be configured to route approvals according to
the business needs. Following the approval of catalog data, the Agreement document is
revised; a new version is generated and the previous revision archived.
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 17BAdvancements in Requester Driven Procurement 7
4.2. Advancements in Requester Driven Procurement
In an ideal world, Buyers within an organization would be almost entirely focused on
strategic initiatives that are intended to hone existing agreements with key suppliers,
improve the terms of existing relationships based on purchasing volumes or to seek out
new sources of supply to replace poor performers.
However, for the vast majority of organizations, Buyers typically dedicate a significant
portion of their daily bandwidth to administering the basics of the procurement
processes; approving orders, chasing down change requests and carrying out ad hoc
sourcing of new goods and services.
By providing configuration tools that will allow the purchasing team to define acceptable
control limits, non-significant order changes can be approved automatically or routed
through to the original requester for disposition. This will free-up buyers to focus on
more productive initiatives.
4.2.1. Requester Directed Change Order Management
By driving towards a touchless buying process, resources from the procurement
organization can be deployed more productively to focus on strategic procurement
initiatives. New tools enable tolerances to be used to process non-significant order
changes without requiring change approval. Also, routing logic can be employed to
direct supplier initiated change requests to the requester rather than burdening a buyer.
These enhancements complement the existing tools that allow Requesters to fully track
their needs from initial requisition, through approval to order document to receiving and
payment.
4.2.2. Requester Directed Sourcing
Because the requester is often most familiar with the product or service being ordered, he
should be able to indicate whether a negotiation event is needed. For example, the
requester may be aware that for a large order, the company should be able to negotiate
more favorable prices or terms.
With the requester-directed sourcing capability in Release 12, requesters can indicate
their preferences for sourcing a given requisition line. The buyer can then review the
request and proceed with the appropriate sourcing steps.
4.2.3. Advanced Approval Support
As organizations grow and mature, they typically start to make their procedures more
sophisticated. This can be particularly true in the area of requisition approval.
Organizations will want the option to be able to route approvals beyond the boundaries
of a users management chain depending on the nature of the product or service that
needs to be purchased.
Enhancements to the approval management tools ensure that administrators can provide
flexible approval chains that can deal with the nuances of an organization's approval
processes without the need for re-configuration.
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 18BUser Interface Upgrades 8
Position based hierarchies allow organizations the flexibility to create reporting
structures that remain stable regardless of personnel changes. Through the use of
Parallel Approvals, organizations can speed the approval process by routing a requisition
to multiple approvers simultaneously. FYI Notifications allow key individuals or
business roles to be kept informed of purchasing decisions and a new graphical view of
the approval chain ensures clarity of the requisition status.
4.3. User Interface Upgrades
For requesters, quality and accuracy of the content made available to them is of little
interest. They want an efficient shopping experience where the it is simpler and
quicker to use the online system than to engage in maverick spending practices, sourcing
their own items. Things as simple as the efficacy of search terms and the manner in
which product information is laid out can have a dramatic affect on the acceptability of
the system and users willingness to use it.
Extensive research has been invested into the pages of iProcurement in order to improve
the overall user experience so that users are encouraged to use the system because they
can easily find the right products that they want to buy and complete checkout
efficiently.
4.3.1. Multiple Search Result Layouts
Comparison shopping is an important element of the shopping experience. Users need to
be able to examine similar items and to assess how their different attributes stack-up in
order to make a purchasing decision. This can often be a challenge for users as different
types of item may need to be compared in different ways.
Based on the latest usability study feedback, Release 12 of iProcurement now provides
two different search result layouts for reviewing and comparing item details. Users can
choose to display shopping search results in either an updated Paragraph search result
display format or the new Grid display format.
The Grid format presents item information in a table to show more information on a page
and allow quick row-to-row comparisons. The refreshed Paragraph format provides
improved layout of item attributes and allows the truncation of long descriptions.
In addition, the Item Detail and Item Compare screens have been revamped to make them
easier to read. These combined UI changes help requesters find information and make
purchasing decisions faster, with fewer clicks required to perform key actions.
4.3.2. List of Value Enhancements
Often UI elements will work satisfactorily when displaying a limited set of data. But
when the amount of data to be shown grows, additional features will be required to
maintain usability. This is particularly true of the List of Value (LOV) functionality
which has been updated with the addition of sorting capabilities, more LOV search
criteria and extending the information displayed in the LOV.
Key enhancements include:
Sorting capability - Users can sort on the results returned from the LOVs
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 18BUser Interface Upgrades 9
Additional search criteria - Users can search for the values in the LOVs using
new search criteria customized for each LOV
Additional information displayed - Additional information is displayed wherever
appropriate to provide relevant information
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 19BReduce the supplier administration burden 10
5. Whats New in iSupplier Portal
In today's highly volatile economic environment, buyers and suppliers need to adapt to
fluctuations in customer demand, capacity, requirements and other factors.
Collaboration across many procurement processes is critical in order to ensure agreement
between both parties. As this communication needs to be iterative, users want to switch
from a world of phone, fax and email messages to real-time digital communication.
Oracle iSupplier Portal structures collaboration to provide a single, simple access point
for suppliers:
For buyer and supplier, the key challenge for their relationship is to keep both parties in
synch so that there are no surprises between what was ordered, what got delivered, what
was invoiced and what was finally paid.
Managing this relationship through phone calls, faxes and emails is guaranteed to be an
inefficient process - excessive time will be spent chasing down information and errors
will be introduced with the overall effect of adding significant latency in your supply
chain.
Oracle iSupplier Portal makes you and your suppliers more efficient with a powerful
platform for online collaboration. Suppliers access the latest ERP information including
purchase orders (POs), delivery information and payment status. The rich two-way
collaboration enables suppliers to submit change requests, process ship notices, review
payments and update profile data. They can also submit work confirmations and use
purchase order details to create online invoices. You get better service, lower processing
costs and relief from routine supplier inquiries. As a result your buying organization has
time to focus on what really matters getting more savings.
In Release 12.1, Oracle iSupplier Portal delivers benefits in these focus areas:
Reduce the supplier administration burden
Increase supplier efficiency
Achieve best practices
5.1. Reduce the supplier administration burden
For many organizations, the processes for onboarding and maintaining supplier
relationships are cumbersome and inefficient. Inadvertently, companies often support
multiple channels for receiving new supplier requests and establish profile maintenance
procedures that are bureaucratic, slow to execute and overly restrictive. This makes it
difficult to manage the overall process and to ensure that requests are carried out in a
timely manner with updates directed to the appropriate stakeholders within the business.
Even for those organizations that have managed to cleanse and rationalize their supplier
master files, the burden of maintaining profile and setup details across all active
suppliers can be considerable. Certainly for most medium and large organizations, a
dedicated datadesk will be staffed-up in order to process all of the address updates,
contact changes, setup modifications and even bank account alterations to ensure that
orders can be raised, invoices received and payments made. And where the supplier
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 19BReduce the supplier administration burden 11
master is full of duplicate and redundant records, this task becomes even more onerous
for that team.
This burden can be dramatically reduced by enabling new suppliers to register
themselves online and for existing suppliers to maintain their own details through a self-
service portal. Suppliers benefit because they are able to access and check their own
profile information and for buyers, they no longer need to deal with the continuous
stream of faxed and emailed changes.
Release 12 includes significant improvements to the existing Supplier Management tools
available to suppliers and buyers in iSP to further improve the benefits from this feature.
5.1.1. Adaptive Supplier Onboarding
To better control the inflow of prospective suppliers that want to establish a business
relationship, many buying organizations now use their corporate websites to allow
potential suppliers to register their details online. However, for a lot of organizations,
the details needed in the registration packet may need to differ for particular parts of
their business or for specific geographic regions or for certain types of commodity.
The Prospective Supplier Registration feature has been significantly enhanced in Release
12 so that customers are now able to set up multiple configurations to support the
different types of qualification details that they need to capture. Each configuration can
be accessed using a unique URL that can be embedded in the appropriate page on the
buying organizations website.
Each registration flow can include different elements of the supplier profile that need to
be filled-out and can also include customized questionnaires that different parts of the
buying organization can use to gather details peculiar to their particular line of business.
These can include details such as standards compliance details, logistical capabilities or
support for relevant business practices. This ensures that the supplier is prompted to
provide the right level of detail in order that their request can be properly considered by
the buying organization.
Additionally, Buyers may need to onboard specific new organizations that they want to
consider during an upcoming negotiation they will be conducting. Again, being able to
gather the right details from the supplier when they register to participate in the event is
critical.
5.1.2. Flexible Supplier Approval
Tracking the formal approval of each new supplier request is traditionally a manual
process sometimes requiring no more than the consent of the AP Manager and at other
times requiring coordination across multiple departments as credit checks are carried out,
customer references called, quality standards reviewed and production facilities
inspected.
In Release 12, Oracle iSupplier Portal leverages the Approval Management Engine to
allow companies to generate customized approval flows for processing supplier requests
and registrations. The details for each new supplier can be passed to multiple
stakeholders across many departments within the buying organization. Approvers are
notified when they are required to review a request and can check graphically the overall
approval status for a given request.
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 20BIncrease supplier efficiency 12
5.1.3. Streamline Supplier Profile Management
Maintaining accurate details for all active suppliers creates a significant burden for both
buying departments and the suppliers themselves.
The range of supplier profile details that can now be maintained by the supplier has been
increased to help relieve the pressure on the buying organization. New Survey tools
allow administrators to gather a wider range of company profile information from
suppliers, eliminating the need to gather details by fax or email.
In addition, a new UI provides administrators a consolidated page for managing profile
and business details for each supplier which will increase the efficiency of the data desk.
Also, profile change requests can be reviewed by type and mass approved to speed up the
disposition process.
5.1.4. Supplier Managed User Maintenance
Portal technology enables buying organizations to reduce the volume of ad hoc inquiries
received by Purchasing and Payables teams. However, there is a cost involved for the
buying organization with respect to management of all the user accounts required for
supplier access. This cost can be prohibitive and may need to be born by the IT group
rather than the Purchasing or Payables departments.
By enabling buyers to delegate user creation and account maintenance to each supplier
organization, this administrative burden can be dramatically reduced.
To relieve this pressure, Release 12 introduces the Supplier Managed User Maintenance
feature. Buying organizations are now able to hand over the task of user account
administration to nominated administrators at each supplier. The Supplier User
Administrators can create or obsolete user accounts and also alter the security access
rights for each user within their company. Their right to do this is limited to the set of
security privileges originally delegated to them by the buying organization.
This benefits both organizations. Suppliers can directly control which of their users have
access and what activities they can perform. Buyers eliminate a time-consuming
administrative task and no longer need to monitor for obsolete supplier user accounts.
5.2. Increase supplier efficiency
Without access to up to date information, suppliers will drain the resources in both
Purchasing and Payables departments as they submit numerous ad-hoc queries. Even in
situations where communication with suppliers is done through electronic messaging,
keeping both parties synchronized, there will be numerous occasions where suppliers
need additional information that can only be obtained by contacting the buying
organization.
By providing suppliers with online access to the exact same details from the ERP system
that are available to internal buyers and payables managers, suppliers are better able to
self-diagnose issues, greatly increasing their own efficiency and eliminating the need to
contact the buying organization.
Significant enhancements in Release 12 have greatly expanded the scope of the tools
available to suppliers to better manage their relationship with the buyer.
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 20BIncrease supplier efficiency 13
5.2.1. Complex Contract Payments
For most organizations, services-related procurement represents a significant and
growing portion of total purchasing spending. As more companies take a global
perspective and adopt outsourcing policies this trend is likely to increase, generating a
need for companies to be able to effectively control services spend.
Much of services spending goes to complex services, such as outsourced high-value
projects that require extensive collaboration between the buyer and supplier
organizations. These complex services include consulting, advertising, construction,
research and development, and professional services. These services require complex
negotiated contracts that often include complex payment arrangements. These
arrangements can include:
Progress payments
Advances and recoupment of advances
Retainage and retainage release
Release 12.0 supports the acquisition of complex services by allowing buyers to author,
negotiate, execute and monitor complex contract payment arrangements like progress
payments, advances and retainage. In turn, suppliers can use iSP to check the details of
these complex contracts and submit online work confirmations. As work is performed
and as certain deliverables or milestones are achieved, suppliers can make periodic
requests for payment. These requests will automatically be routed to those who are
qualified to certify the work and once the work confirmation has been approved, an
invoice may be automatically generated.
To assist suppliers, the system will automatically apply the appropriate financing terms
to ensure that advances and retainage rates are adhered to and that recoupment is done at
the pre-negotiated rates. This greatly helps suppliers with their invoicing since they can
review all of the details online and confirm the expected payment.
5.2.2. Enhanced Supplier Change Order
Suppliers often have great difficulty in getting approval for modifications that they need
on purchase orders they have received. Typically they will contact the Buyer who in turn
will need to liaise with the originating requester. Through phone calls, emails and faxes,
all of this takes time.
To make the process far more efficient, tolerances have been introduced that will allow
the buying team to set limits within which any supplier change requests can be auto-
approved. They also have the option to route change requests that require review
through to the original requester to reduce the workload on buyers. Changes that the
requester approves that exceed their approval limits will be routed to their approval
hierarchy.
All of this will free-up more of a buyers time to focus on more strategic activities.
5.2.3. Improved Supplier Inquiry
In order to reconcile payments that they receive, suppliers typically need to know the
invoices that are included in a payment and how this impacts any outstanding balances
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 21BAchieve Best Practices 14
from original orders. Usually suppliers will call up the Payables department in order to
request or check these details.
Improvements have been made to all of the inquiry pages available to a supplier so that
they are better able to self-diagnose status and detail information. More detailed
information is available and better use of hyperlinking ensures that suppliers can trace
from payment to invoice to receipt to shipping notice to order.
5.2.4. Comprehensive Invoice Processing
By enabling suppliers to submit their invoices directly into the buyers system for
approval, suppliers are able to reduce processing time and can expect to receive payment
sooner.
In addition to PO-Matched invoices, this feature has been extended to enable suppliers to
submit online requests for invoices for goods or services that were provided without a
backing Purchase Order. This removes the need for suppliers to submit paper invoice
documents that have to be re-keyed into the system.
Support has also been introduced to enable suppliers to engage in collaborative dispute
resolution through the system. For invoices that have been placed on hold, the Payables
team and the supplier can engage in an online dialog in order to resolve any issues so that
the invoice can be approved for payment.
5.3. Achieve Best Practices
Traditionally, Business Intelligence tools have been developed to help managers within
an organization to better assess performance of their team, department or division. They
enable insight into current status and allow trends to be identified and extrapolated to
forewarn of possible problems down the line.
By extending these capabilities beyond the four-walls of the organization, managers will
be able to engage their extended team in a dialog to foster better collaboration between
the two organizations.
5.3.1. Scorecard Sharing
Buyers can now share quantitative performance measures with suppliers in order to
provide them feedback on their performance relative to their peers. By exposing key
Daily Business Intelligence KPI's with a supplier, the buyer will be able to engage the
supplier in a proactive discussion about current performance and potential areas for
improvement.
Over time, both parties will be able to track the changes in results as part of a process of
continuous improvement.

E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 22BStandardize Contract Processes 15
6. Whats New in Procurement Contracts?
Oracle Procurement Contracts is the enterprise application that creates and enforces better
purchasing contracts. It is a key component of Oracle Advanced Procurement, the
integrated suite that dramatically cuts all supply management costs.

Oracle Procurement Contracts allows you to take control of your contract lifecycle, from
authoring and negotiation through implementation, enforcement, evaluation and closeout.
Procurement and legal professionals can quickly author contracts that comply with
corporate standards, and measure compliance to ensure that negotiated savings reach the
bottom line.

In Release 12.1, Oracle Procurement Contracts delivers benefits in these focus areas:

Standardize Contract Processes
Reduce Time-to-Contract
Drive Contract Compliance

6.1. Standardize Contract Processes
Procurement Contracts improves end user productivity by leveraging a centralized terms
library, comprehensive authoring policies, and automatic document generation. Flexible
controls enable powerful contract authoring capabilities to be pushed out to the
organization alongside controls to manage these capabilities.

6.1.1. Streamline approval processes and improve internal control
The contract deviations report streamlines the approval process and improves internal
control by highlighting non-standard terms and conditions for approvers. Deviations are
changes made to the contract as compared to the standard template used to author the
contract and all established policy rules that apply.

6.1.2. Faster review and payment for complex contract payment
Across Fortune 1000 companies, services-related procurement accounts for a majority of
procured total procurement spending. Outsourcing and globalization are the key drivers
of this trend. Due to the increasing share of budget allocated to services, procurement
organizations are increasingly being given responsibility to control services spend.
Much of services spending go to complex services, such as outsourced high-value
projects that require extensive collaboration between the buyer and supplier
organizations. These complex services include consulting, advertising, construction,
research and development, and professional services. These services require complex
negotiated contracts that often include complex payment arrangements.

E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 22BStandardize Contract Processes 16
6.1.3. Increase productivity of shared service users by leveraging Multi-
Organization Access Control
Multi-Org Access Control enables companies that have implemented a Shared Services
operating model to efficiently process business transactions by allowing them to access,
process, and report on data for an unlimited number of operating units within a single
applications responsibility. This increases the productivity of Shared Service Centers for
users who no longer have to switch applications responsibilities when processing
transactions for multiple operating units at a time. Data security is still maintained using
security profiles that are defined for a list of operating units and determine the data
access privileges for a user. With Release 12.0, contract administrators can be granted
access to multiple operating units from within a single responsibility. This enables them
to manage contracts across different operating units without switching responsibilities.
Administrators can also manage the contract terms library across different operating
units.

6.1.4. Advanced Authoring in Contract Repository
Improvements to intellectual property and miscellaneous contracts include using
standardized Terms and Conditions on Contracts from the clause repository, templates or
using Contract Expert for contract drafting. Contracts can be modified and subsequently
synchronized with the system via Microsoft Word Synchronization. Subsequent changes
will be reported in Contract Standards and Deviations. Contract administrators can
effective manage contracts through the contract lifecycle with the Contract Workbench
and perform extensive full-text searches and keyword in important contract attributes,
structured terms in the contract and attached documents using Secure Enterprise Search.
Companies also want choice regarding how they deploy their contract solutions. In
Release 12.1, the Contract Repository offers a more powerful authoring capability
whether used in tandem with Procurement Contracts or for standalone use as a general
contract repository.
6.1.4.1. Flexible deployment options
Contract automation is a relatively immature area in terms of enterprise-class software
adoption. However, companies have been rapidly understanding the need for and
initiating at least basic contract management implementations starting with
standardizing contract creation and establishing a single, searchable repository for
contracts. In addition to the Procurement Contracts and Sales Contracts deployment
options available in R11i10, Release 12.1 provides the addition of a standalone
deployment option.
With Release 12.1, companies wanting to implement a basic contract management
solution who want fast and easy deployment independent of their buy-side and sell-side
business solutions now have the additional choice to deploy the Contract Repository in a
standalone fashion without having the pre-requisite of also implementing Oracle
Procurement or Oracle Quoting/Order Management. Contract administrators and legal
personnel would author the legal portion of the contract in the Contract Repository and
then cross reference it to the corresponding purchasing or sales document in the external
system.
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 22BStandardize Contract Processes 17
6.1.4.2. Standardized Terms and Conditions on Contracts
As contracts are being drafted, your employees may not be starting with the most up-to-
date or authorized contract language. Often employees will copy past contracts or use
their own templates rather than templates that have been reviewed and approved for use
by the legal department. In Release 12.1, employees using the Contract Repository can
leverage Contract Templates and Terms Library Integration to create standalone
contracts in the Contract Repository based on standard templates and clauses defined in
the contract terms library. The result is that the contract creation process is standardized
and takes significantly less time.
6.1.4.3. Contract Drafting Automation
Contract Expert is a rule-based contract creation configurator that assists contract
administrators in authoring complex contracts. Companies can define their business
policy rules that govern the contract clauses to be included. During authoring, Contract
Expert takes users through a contract creation questionnaire and automatically adds
needed clauses based on the previously defined policy rules. In addition to user answers,
policy rules can also be based on the business terms and other values negotiated for the
contract, such as customer classification and contract amount. For example, company
policy may dictate additional clauses to be included in contracts if the party is located in
a specific foreign country.
Contract Expert further enhances Contract Repository for users across the enterprise to
author standards-compliant contracts with minimal legal department supervision.
Contract administrators can choose to remove the clauses brought in by Contract Expert
or select alternates during negotiation. However, these changes are flagged as deviations
during the approval process, ensuring proper scrutiny of all non-standard clauses.
Contract Expert rules are defined in the terms library. Rules can be applicable to
specific templates or applied globally for all contracts authored in the organization.
6.1.4.4. Microsoft Word Synchronization
Procurement Contracts provides all the necessary tools for authoring contracts that
conform to your corporate standards. However, it is often convenient to edit the contract
offline in a word processor to work with the document in a familiar format and easily see
changes (redlining). In Release 12.1, the Contract Repository now supports Microsoft
Word Synchronization including import of the Word document and the synchronization
of the changes with the structured contract terms stored in the system. Modifications to
the original contract can be reviewed before changes are accepted. Policy rules for
mandatory and protected clauses are enforced during import, and all clauses modified in
Word are marked as non-standard in the system. Microsoft Word Synchronization
accelerates the contract collaboration process involving the sales representative, contract
administrator, legal and customer.
6.1.4.5. Faster Review of Contract Deviations from Standards
Business terms may be modified during contract negotiations, resulting in deviations
from company standard policies. In Release 12.1, deviations in negotiated business
terms are also reported in addition to clause deviations to ensure proper visibility during
review and approvals. Business practice organizations can setup these policy rules and
enforce them across the enterprise. Contract Standards and Deviations are reported
together with other clause deviations in a single report that can be included for
approvals. This easy-to-read report of the non-standard terms and conditions for
approvers will speed time to contract and improve internal control.
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 23BReduce time-to-contract 18
6.1.4.6. Enterprise Contract Search
The most basic benefit of contract lifecycle management systems versus the traditional
filing cabinet approach to contract management is the improved visibility to all of the
enterprises contracts. Business and legal users ability to effectively search through a
contract repository is critical. In Release 12.1 the Contract Repository leverages
Oracles Secure Enterprise Search to perform full-text queries in conjunction with
structured data queries. Secure Enterprise Search provides flexibility to match user
entered keywords to search both structured text, such as contract terms, and unstructured
text, such as text contained in attached documents. Additional structured contract
attributes may be used to further refine the search, and include: contract number,
contract name, supplier/customer/party name, contract status, start date, and end date.

6.2. Reduce time-to-contract
Accelerate negotiations and therefore reducing time-to contract by leveraging parallel
negotiations, Automated Microsoft Word Synchronization and flexible workflow.

6.2.1. Accelerate contract authoring by leveraging Microsoft Word
Synchronization
Procurement Contracts provides all the necessary tools for authoring contracts that
conform to your corporate standards. However, it is often convenient during negotiation
and redlining to edit the contract offline in a word processor. Release 11i10, Cumulative
Update #1, allowed contract administrators or legal to download the contract into Rich
Text Format (RTF) for editing in Microsoft Word.

In Release 12.0, Oracle Procurement Contracts also supports import of the Microsoft
Word document and the synchronization of the changes with the structured contract
stored in the system. Modifications to the original contract can be reviewed before
changes are accepted. This two-way integration with Microsoft Word streamlines the
contract collaboration process involving the buyer, contract administrator, legal and
supplier.

6.2.2. Shorten contract negation process by using contract Terms as an attached
document
When negotiating complex deals or when the supplier authors the contract, the terms and
conditions are often represented in a document file. In such cases, contract
administrators may choose not to update the structured representation of the contract
terms in the application and instead retain them in the document. With Procurement
Contracts, users can indicate the source of the contract terms to be an attached document.
The system flags the attached document as the primary contract document. If the
attached document had been previously downloaded from the system the preview
functionality will merge its contents with the business document (such as standard
purchase order, blanket purchase agreement, or RFQ) to generate the final contract in
PDF format.

6.2.3. Expedite clause and template approval process
When authoring a new contract template, library administrators can now include draft
clauses as part of the template. This enhancement to the contract template approval
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 24BDrive Contract Compliance 19
functionality allows users to submit the draft clauses for approval along with the contract
template as one approval workflow. This allows approvers to simultaneously approve
the contract template and its clauses in a single step.

6.2.4. Enhance touchless buying capability by automatically applying a contract
template
In many situations, incoming demand can be automatically sourced to the appropriate
vendor and issued without any buyer intervention. This touch-less buying capability
significantly drives down processing costs and cuts cycle time. Now, companies can
optionally assign a default contract template which will automatically be applied to all
outgoing standard purchase orders, blanket purchase agreements, or contract purchase
agreements.

6.2.5. Refine your search by secure enterprise search capabilities
Procurement Contracts now leverages Oracles Secure Enterprise Search to better search
for structured and unstructured data on procurement, sales and standalone contracts.
Business and legal users can now perform full-text queries in conjunction with structured
data queries. Secure Enterprise Search is leveraged to search by keyword in important
contract attributes, structured terms in the contract and attached documents. Applying
additional contract attributes such as contract number, contract name,
supplier/customer/party name, contract status, start date, end date further refines the
search.

6.3. Drive Contract Compliance
Enforce compliance and reduce risk by leveraging integrated contracts and
contracts deliverable tracking capabilities.

6.3.1. Enforce compliance and monitor policy deviation by using contract deviation
report
Contract negotiations may result in terms that do not conform to company standard
policies. For example, a buying organization may have a policy that would require a
payment term of Net 45 for facilities services at a specific location. However, suppliers
may negotiate a different payment term in the contract that results in a deviation from
corporate standard. Release 12.0 extends the contract expert to enable contract
administrator to set rules that represent corporate policy.

Such deviations from set corporate standards in negotiated business terms are reflected
as deviations to ensure proper visibility during review and approvals. The rules can be
based on values of system variables, user-defined variables, or responses to questions
asked during the contract authoring process. All policy deviations are reported to
approvers alongside clause deviations in the Contract Deviations Report, guiding
approvers to exceptions in the contract along with the standard values.

6.3.2. Sign Contracts digitally by enhanced electronic signature support
Procurement Contracts supports digital certificate authentication to electronic signature.
Buyers and suppliers can sign contracts manually or electronically. Release
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 24BDrive Contract Compliance 20
11i10 of Procurement Contracts enabled buying organizations to authenticate users
identity by requiring users to re-enter usernames and passwords when signing contracts
electronically. A new alternative is to validate users unique digital certificates,
normally issued by a Certification Authority. This enhanced electronic signature process
can be enabled in the existing workflow approval process. Signed documents are kept in
an evidence store in case of future disputes.
The Oracle technology underlying this feature is in compliance with recognized industry
standards, such as PKCS7 (based on X.509 certificates) and CFR 21.

6.3.3. Enforce Compliance and reduce risk by leveraging clause analysis
capabilities
To improve future contract negotiations, or to comply with regulatory requirements,
contract administrators or legal can leverage clause usage analysis capabilities to
periodically review and revise their contract standards. Analyzing the contract language
used in existing contracts is a critical step in effectively updating existing standards. In
Release 12.0, users can search for all contracts where certain clauses are used, or have
been modified. The search can be filtered by various criteria like contracts with a
specific supplier, contracts above a certain amount, contracts for one or all Operating
Units, or contracts authored using a specific template. Information on the number of
times a certain clause has been used or modified is also provided as part of the results.




E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 25BAutomate Entire Procure-to-Pay Cycle 21
7. Whats New in Purchasing
Supply management is vital to profitability, making effective purchasing systems key
strategic assets. But to keep saving you money every year, those systems must efficiently
handle all purchasing needs and adapt to changing business requirements. Oracle
Purchasing does just that. Oracle Procurement streamlines purchasing to make buyers
more productive, improves management of the supply base and may be configured to
support any procurement process.
As the heart of the Oracle Advanced Procurement suite, Oracle Purchasing provides a
rich store of policy and supplier information, a robust workbench for buying
professionals, and consolidated visibility into all spending. Oracle Purchasing
streamlines the procurement by executing routine transactions without intervention,
making buyers more productive while enforcing compliance at every step. Procurement
professionals spend less time processing paper, and more time discovering and exploiting
new savings opportunities.
In Release 12.1, Oracle Purchasing delivers benefits in these focus areas:
Automate Entire Procure-to-Pay Cycle
Improve Supply Base Management
Adapt to Any Purchasing Practices

7.1. Automate Entire Procure-to-Pay Cycle
Purchasing departments are under increasing pressure to do more with less. Senior
executives expect smaller organizations to consistently produce savings that outpace
inflation, and this executive mandate translates into a simple corollary: improve
purchasing productivity and efficiency. By automating routine and low-value-add
activities, purchasing professionals can focus on high-value, strategic activities -- such as
managing additional spend categories to produce untapped savings. Reducing
administrative work and shifting to exception-based management also reduces errors and
lag-time introduced by human involvement. Oracle Purchasing automates purchasing
processes across the organization and links key stakeholders, producing the following
benefits:
Eliminate paper and wasted time via flexible procurement automation.
Minimize manual demand processing with professional purchasing workbench.
Execute touchless buying by utilizing embedded sourcing rules.
Improve purchasing command and control via professional buyers work center.
Speed receiving and settlement by leveraging purchasing integration to
financials.
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 25BAutomate Entire Procure-to-Pay Cycle 22

7.1.1. Professional Buyers Work Center
7.1.1.1. Professional Buyers Work Center
Oracle Purchasing Release 12.0 speeds up daily purchasing tasks with an enhanced
Professional Buyers Work Center. Based on extensive UI testing and UI models, the
Work Center was developed as a central launch pad from which buyers can efficiently
perform their daily tasks: View and Act upon Requisition Demand; Create and Manage
Orders and Agreements; Run Negotiation Events including Auctions and RFxs (requires
Oracle Sourcing); Maintain contract deliverables (requires Procurement Contracts); and
Manage Supplier Information. The Professional Buyers Work Center leverages Multi-
Org Access Control (MOAC) by allowing buyers to view and manage documents across
all of the operating units they service.
Still available in Release 12.0 are the existing Oracle Purchasing forms for managing
requisition demand and purchasing documents, including orders, agreements and
releases. Creation of the following documents will only be supported in the forms
interface: Blanket Purchase Agreements and Releases (Work Center will only support
authoring of Global Blanket Purchase Agreements); Planned Purchase Orders and
Scheduled Releases.
7.1.1.2. Document Styles
Document Styles allows buying organizations to control the look and feel of the
application to match the needs of different purchasing documents. Through reusable
document styles, deploying organizations turn on or off various Oracle Purchasing
features, thereby simplifying the user interface. When a purchasing document is created
using a document style, disabled features are hidden to simplify the user interface. For
example, organizations can create a document style for a specific commodity, such as
temporary labor. This document style optimizes field labels and presentment for that
commodity, simplifying purchase order entry by hiding regions/attributes that are only
relevant for that commodity. In addition, document styles provide the ability to
appropriately name purchasing documents to align more closely with the naming
conventions of the deploying organizations business. In other words, the same
purchasing document type (e.g. Standard Purchase Order) can assume different names
based on the style applied. Document styles are exposed throughout the Work Center and
also to the supplier.
7.1.1.3. Enhanced Catalog Access
12.0 of Oracle Purchasing builds on the popularity of Oracle iProcurement search
capabilities by offering professional buyers a similar search interface to easily find the
items they need to procure. From the Demand Workbench, buyers can access the catalog
to find negotiated alternatives to non-catalog requests. While authoring orders and
agreements, buyers can use the catalog to quickly add items, thereby accelerating the
document creation process.
7.1.1.4. New Supplier Setup User Interface
Release 12.0 introduces a new HTML-based UI for managing suppliers, which replaces
the existing Suppliers Form. The new UI delivers an improved layout for accessing all
aspects of a supplier's setup, providing a clear distinction between the supplier's
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 26BImprove Supply Base Management 23
company details and the terms and controls that are used to manage the trading
relationship. General and site level setup parameters are now available on a single page
and work has been done to rationalize the organization of setup preferences across fewer
tabs to allow administrators quicker access to information. In addition, a new Quick
Update page gives each administrator access to an initial summary page that can be
personalized to suit the needs of their role.
For those companies that have enabled supplier access to their profile information
through the Portal, the Supplier Profile Management tools have been integrated into the
Setup UI pages, affording administrators a single view of a supplier's setup and any
pending updates that have been provided by the supplier to the buying organization. The
new Supplier UI also includes a Survey section that provides administrators with access
to the results of questionnaires that were created using iSurvey and which the supplier
had been asked to complete, either during self-registration or as part of profile
maintenance through the Portal.
Security controls are incorporated into the Setup UI so that companies can limit an
administrators access to specific tabs within the supplier setup. This feature is key for
assisting companies to comply with the separation of duties elements of the Sarbanes-
Oxley legislation.

7.2. Improve Supply Base Management
Managing supplier relationships and processes can consume significant purchasing
resources. A lack of visibility by centralized procurement organizations to regional
spending behavior and their inability to enforce sourcing rules consistently across the
enterprise can result in the loss of hundreds of man-hours for even a medium-sized
business. Furthermore, contract leakage (i.e., maverick buying) results in lost savings
opportunities. Oracle Purchasing enhances supply base management and allows
organizations to:
Centralize supplier and item data to ensure consistency across procurement
processes.
Increase contract utilization across business units via sharable agreements.
Extend purchasing to suppliers & internal groups through full advanced
procurement integration.
Reduce overhead by providing prospective suppliers with self-service
registration.
Eliminate processing of routine supplier change orders / requests with automated
exception handling.
7.2.1. Advanced Approval Support for Requisitions
Release 12.0 of Oracle Purchasing expands and enhances integration with the Oracle
Approvals Management product for approval routing of purchase requisitions. This
integration gives enterprises even more flexibility to configure their business approval
processes. Key enhancements include:
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 26BImprove Supply Base Management 24
7.2.1.1. Position Hierarchy based Approvals
Position based hierarchies allow organizations the flexibility to create reporting
structures that remain stable regardless of personnel changes. Enterprises already using
position hierarchies via Oracle Approval Management can immediately leverage those
hierarchies for the requisition approvals process.
7.2.1.2. Parallel Approvals
Parallel Approvals functionality gives enterprises the option to speed up the approvals
process by routing a requisition to multiple approvers simultaneously.
7.2.1.3. FYI Notifications
Certain individuals or business roles need to be kept informed of purchases and
decisions, but do not necessarily need to take action against that notification. Release
12.0 provides new functionality to allow certain individuals or roles to review the
purchases, but do not require any response from the recipient.
7.2.2. Communicate Document Attachments to Suppliers
Release 12.0 enables buyers to communicate all necessary document attachments to
suppliers. Oracle Purchasing supports various types of file attachments (MS Word,
Excel, PDF etc.) that can be appended to purchasing documents in addition to long and
short text attachments. In previous releases, only text attachments were communicated to
suppliers. With Release 12.0, buyers can communicate all necessary attachments to
suppliers, including file attachments via email. When the system emails a purchase order
to the supplier, the corresponding file attachments appear in a zip file attached to the
email. System administrators can specify the maximum allowable size for this zip file, if
desired, to minimize network traffic.
7.2.3. Support for Unified Process Manufacturing/Discrete Inventory
Release 12.0 of Oracle E-Business Suite merges the Oracle Process Inventory and Oracle
Inventory applications into a single version of Oracle Inventory that manages inventory
across the entire E-Business Suite. This single application supports Process
characteristics such as dual units of measure, grade, child lots as a subdivision of lot-
controlled inventory, and the use of material status. This convergence removes the need
for integration between Oracle Process Inventory and Oracle Purchasing.
The process-enhanced Release 12.0 version of Oracle Inventory is the one source for all
material management information. Oracle Process Quality for receiving inspection has
been enhanced specifically to support Purchasing. Process users of Oracle Inventory can
leverage all of the related functionality in Oracle Purchasing including: Consigned and
Vendor Managed Inventory; Cross Operating Unit Drop Shipments; Center-Led
Procurement Flows; and Warehouse Management System functions.
In many industries, such as the meat, poultry, metals or chemicals industries, catch
weight is a term used to track inventory simultaneously in two different units of
measure. To run their businesses, these industries need to know both the number of
cases, bars or drums of product stored, as well as the weight or potency of that product.
Prices are calculated based on the shipment weight of the product, not on the number of
cases or units shipped. Oracle Inventory's Dual Unit of Measure Control enables users to
transact inventory in two unrelated units of measure where the conversion between the
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 27BAdapt to Any Purchasing Practices 25
measures vary from lot to lot or from one transaction to the next. The dual unit of
measure support that had been available only for Oracle Process Manufacturing enabled
organizations is now available for all Inventory organizations. Thus, if a user chooses to
enable dual unit of measure control for a given inventory item, Oracle Receiving will
now require quantity entry in two units of measure according to the defaulting rules set
up at the item level.

7.3. Adapt to Any Purchasing Practices
Recent business developments such as the surge in outsourcing and accelerated product
development cycles have forced innovations in procurement practices. Unfortunately,
these innovations all too often require manual intervention and management. Manually
managing supplier compliance to regulatory requirements and to contract terms and
conditions can present significant challenges and divert resources from high value
opportunities like identifying possible sources for subsequent rounds of savings. Simply
ensuring that contracted pricing appears on every order can be a challenge for some
companies. Oracle Purchasing helps companies improve purchasing performance and
adapt to evolving processes by providing the following enabling capabilities:
Achieve global savings via center-led procurement.
Drive compliance and reform spending behavior by enforcing purchasing
contracts and policies enterprise-wide.
Integrate with legacy and supplier systems by leveraging an open architecture.
7.3.1. Model Complex Pricing for Blanket Line Items
With Release 12.0, Oracle Purchasing extends the integration with Oracle Advanced
Pricing to allow procurement professionals to model complex pricing rules for items
listed on Global Blanket Agreements. Requisitions and orders sourced to these
agreements can now leverage dynamic pricing formulas and/or modifiers defined in
Oracle Advanced Pricing, in addition to the agreement line price and price breaks.
7.3.2. Enable All Sites for Global Contract Purchase Agreements
A new feature Enable All Sites in Global Contract Purchase Agreement has been
introduced to allow Contracts to be referenced from any of the valid supplier sites while
creating standard PO and requisitions. This allows broader use of GCPA, such as for
suppliers with many eligible sites each valid in the same master agreement. A profile
option has been added which will allow a GCPA reference on Requisitions or Standard
Purchase Orders from any of the Supplier Sites. By default, the profile option is turned
off to preserve current behavior.
7.3.3. Document Publishing Enhancements
In Release 11i10, generation of purchasing documents in Adobe PDF format required
organizations to create layout templates in the form of XSL-FO style sheets. With
Release 12.0, organizations can also use RTF or PDF layout templates to effect changes.
RTF and PDF layout templates are WYSIWYG and require little training to configure
and maintain.
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 28BMaximize Preferred Supplier Savings 26
8. Whats New in Services Procurement
Although most organizations spend a large share of total budget on services, few have
the same visibility and management of services costs as they do for goods and materials.
For even the most efficient enterprises, services spending can be a thicket of unsourced
buying, lost savings opportunities, and limited oversight from the Purchasing department.
In a lot of cases, this is because traditional purchasing systems are too inflexible to
accommodate the wide variety of ways in which services are priced and contracted, and
standalone systems lack workflow integration to critical business functions. As a result,
inconsistent, manual, paper-based procurement processes proliferate, and savings
negotiated into contracts fail to materialize due to lack of spend compliance.
Oracle Services Procurement is designed to accommodate the complexity associated with
buying services and provides an integrated approach for managing all services spend,
bringing full Purchasing oversight to the acquisition process. By simplifying services
procurement with online processes, your organization can save money on all services
categories, from general business services to contingent labor and complex, project based
services. Oracle Services Procurement helps you source and manage services for
maximum savings.
In Release 12.1, Oracle Services Procurement delivers benefits in these focus areas:
Maximize Preferred Supplier Savings
Eliminate Over-billing and Over-runs
Create Visibility into Services Spending
8.1. Maximize Preferred Supplier Savings
With Oracle, buyers, requestors, and suppliers gain secure access to a single, centralized
contract so they can view and use the most up-to-date pricing, terms, and conditions.
However, even when buying off contract (i.e., non-routine services), Services
Procurement controls services spending by providing a standardized request and
approval framework. Services Procurement ensures maximum savings and spending
control by enabling companies to:
Create and Enforce Better Agreements by Centralizing Master Services Contract
Management
Standardize Purchasing Processes of All Services via Flexible Services
Provisioning Processes
Apply Negotiated Rates to Every Requisition by Leveraging Approved Supplier
Lists
Control Off-Contract Services Spend with Configurable Contractor / Service
Request
Lower Processing and Relationship Management Costs Through Online Supplier
Collaboration
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 29BEliminate Over-billing and Over-runs 27
8.1.1. Online Supplier Collaboration
Enabling all of the stakeholders, from business process owners to project managers to
suppliers, to collaborate throughout the contract execution cycle is key to reducing
disruptions to the process. This also significantly reduces the administrative burden
involved in the usual paper-chase associated with complex work orders.
With Release 12, iSupplier Portal provides contractors with a self-service interface to
check on the status of their contracts in real-time. Suppliers will be able to view the
unique finance and retainage terms that are unique to the contract as well as the detailed
payment schedule. The payment schedule will include the contractual deliverables for
the project and the associated progress payments for completing the deliverables on time.
Through the Portal, the supplier will be able to track the deliverable due dates and
monitor the payment status and progress of each deliverable.
The portal extends effectively process automation beyond the enterprise by allowing
contractors to enter contract related transactions online. Such transactions include:
Acknowledge or Sign the contract before starting work
Change requests including changes to the progress payment schedule
Request to confirm work (See the Work Confirmation Section above)
Request to release advance payments
Request to release progress payments
8.1.2. Improved Management of Contingent Workers
Management of contingent workers is typically a detailed process that requires multiple
data elements to be tracked to ensure accuracy of the work and billing processes. With
Release 12.1, administrators can now better manage the process through automatic order
updates for worker extensions and enhanced time reporting capabilities.
New tools in Services Procurement streamline the workflow for managing Contingent
Workers. Requisitions to extend a worker assignment can be used to automatically add
new lines to a Purchase Order and time can be reported against the project associated to
the workers HR assignment.
8.2. Eliminate Over-billing and Over-runs
By providing proper support for complex contract arrangements with suppliers, the
system can be used to help manage all of the commercial aspects of the contract process.
Sophisticated payment arrangements can be established with the supplier and the system
used to coordinate advances, approved progress payments, recoupment and retainage.
The system will factor all of these elements to ensure that when payments are made they
are accurate, reflecting all applicable financing terms such as recoupment of advances.
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 29BEliminate Over-billing and Over-runs 28
8.2.1. Improved Management of Contract Financing Terms
8.2.1.1. Recoupment of Advances
In order to provide working capital to smaller contractors, buying organizations may pay
advances to these contractors right after contract signing, before any work or product
delivery has been performed.
With Release 12, buying organizations can negotiate and finalize the terms of such
advances, and ensure compliance to those terms. Requests for advances submitted by the
suppliers are verified against the advance limits set forth in the contract. These advance
payments are automatically liquidated/recouped from payment requests, based on the
recoupment rates specified in the contract.
8.2.1.2. Progress Payments
Complex Service Contracts are characterized by their high dollar value and long lead
times. In order to track progress and release payments between the time the contract is
signed and the final deliverable completed, it is typical of the buying and selling parties
to agree on a progress payment schedule.
With Release 12, buying organizations can negotiate with their contractors and
incorporate a detailed progress payment schedule as part of the contract. The schedule
consists of pay items that specifies the work component, the associated dollar amount
and due date for completion. The solution provides for maximum flexibility in defining
these pay items based on the way progress needs to be measured. The pay items could
be based on:
Milestone
Completion rate
Lump Sum
8.2.1.3. Retainage and Retainage Release
Retainage represents funds withheld from payment to ensure that the supplier finishes
work as agreed. The buying organization releases these funds only after verifying that
the contractor has fulfilled all contractual obligations. Retainage is also called
retention or contractual withholds.
With Release 12, contract administrators can negotiate retainage terms with the supplier
and capture these as a part of the contract. These terms include the Retainage Rate and
Maximum Retainage Amount. At the end of the project or when the agreed criteria are
met, the withheld amount can be released upon receipt of a retainage release request
from the supplier.

E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 30BCreate Visibility into Services Spending 29
8.3. Create Visibility into Services Spending
Managing the execution of Complex Services contracts presents unique challenges to the
buying organization and the contractor due to their high-dollar values and long lead
times.
8.3.1. Create and View Work Confirmations
One of the challenges is to accurately track and monitor progress as required by the
contract before releasing progress payments. Typically supplier will periodically request
payment as work progresses and as certain deliverables or milestones are achieved.
Release 12 provides a streamlined process for Contractors to report progress in the form
of Work Confirmation Requests, which can then be electronically routed for approval.
Organizations can leverage the flexibility of Oracle Approvals Management to configure
their business approval processes for Work Confirmation Requests. The list of
approvers could include a project manager, buyer, engineer, etc. who are familiar with
the work deliverables. To ensure accurate and timely payments, once the work
confirmation is approved, an invoice may be automatically generated. In addition to
supplier initiated work confirmations, work confirmations can also be initiated by
internal users within the buying organization.
The solution also allows online negotiation on the amount of work eligible for payment
through multiple rounds of resubmissions of the work confirmation request till both
parties are in agreement and the request is approved.

E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 31BStreamline Sourcing Process 30
9. Whats New in Sourcing
Because strategic sourcing is traditionally time-consuming and complex, many
organizations are not able to source all of their spending for maximum savings. Oracle
Sourcing increases the sourcing bandwidth of procurement professionals so they can
exploit savings opportunities and capture more value from each. Online collaboration
and negotiation makes it easy for participants from multiple organizations to exchange
information, conduct bid and auction processes, and create and implement agreements.
Professional buyers, business experts, and suppliers exchange information online for a
more agile and successful sourcing process. The application also dramatically reduces
sourcing cycle time and creates a complete audit trail of supplier commitments. With
Oracle Sourcing, your organization can find and exploit saving opportunities that were
previously untouched.
Oracle Sourcing enables buyers to source more organizational spend at lower total cost.
Oracle Sourcing creates immediate savings through rapid deployment, and ensures long-
term savings with consistent execution and compliance.
In Release 12.1, Oracle Sourcing delivers benefits in the following focus areas:
Streamline Sourcing Processes
Enforce Compliance and Reduce Risk
Achieve Sustained Savings
9.1. Streamline Sourcing Process
Sourcing processes are manual and lengthy as a result it impact time-to-market and also
impacts sustainable savings. Sourcing Release 12.1 streamlines sourcing process that
enables the buyers to improve productivity, optimize award decisions and increase
efficiency in evaluating suppliers response.
9.1.1. Enhanced Spreadsheet support
In R12.1, Sourcing provides an enhanced XML spreadsheet format to support a standard
look-and-feel and streamlined usability of the spreadsheets for supplier response creation
and analysis/award. Buyers and suppliers can download all the information in one single
spreadsheet, simplifying the loading and maintaining of spreadsheets for a negotiation.
This capability improves buyers productivity to analyze suppliers response.
The spreadsheets for supplier response creation not only has an improved and user
friendly look and feel, but it can provide immediate feedback to suppliers through the
robust formulas used to calculate scores, even when they are not connected to the
system. The enhanced spreadsheets will allow buyers and suppliers to enter the data
more efficiently and reduce the number of errors during data entry in the offline
environment, thus improving the overall user experience during the process.
Buyers also have a more powerful tool to conduct analysis of supplier responses and
make smarter award decisions. Buyers can easily view totals and savings, conduct what-
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 32BEnforce Compliance and Reduce Risk 31
if analysis of different award scenarios, and view side-by-side comparison of all
elements of supplier responses.
9.1.2. Price Tier Optimization
Suppliers typically have their own price tiers that meet their business realities.
Analyzing dissimilar tier structures is a very complex and time consuming activity. This
process is greatly streamlined by the use of Sourcing Optimization. When Sourcing
Optimization is used to find the best award scenario in a negotiation, the optimization
engine analyzes all combinations of price tiers submitted by suppliers to determine the
best award recommendation. Buyers can also award negotiations manually, in which
case they select the appropriate price tier. Award quantities specified in the award
recommendation are then used to assign the correct unit price to the resulting purchasing
documents.
9.1.3. Team Scoring for Subjectively Scored Requirements
Companies usually approach the evaluation of bid packages as a team effort. People
from different departments such as legal, engineering, etc., typically evaluate different
parts of suppliers responses based on their area of expertise. Buyers are then chartered
with combining the different score sheets submitted by the team members and computing
the total score for the supplier. Sourcing Release 12 automates the procedure and brings
additional transparency to the team scoring process.
In Sourcing Release 12, buyers can designate collaboration team members as fully
privileged, scorers, or view-only members. Fully privileged members have complete
access to the negotiation document, limited only by the security functions assigned to
them. Scorers have view-only access to the negotiation, but are granted access to the
scoring screens in order to enter subjective scores during the evaluation of responses.
View Only members can only view the negotiation information.
Scoring members can be organized into different teams. Each team can be granted
access to specific sections that need to be scored by that team. Following a common
business practice, the buyer can specify if the pricing information on the quotes should
be hidden from a scoring team. This helps scorers to remain objective during the scoring
process.

9.2. Enforce Compliance and Reduce Risk
Compliance is one of the key challenges that a buying organization experiences. There
is a need for the buyers to enforce terms and conditions that they negotiate. Sourcing
Release 12.1 helps enforce compliance and reduce risks by offering capabilities such as
two stage RFP evaluation, Multi-Org access, and an ability to post negotiations to
external website.
9.2.1. Two Stage Evaluation of RFP
In certain global markets, government organizations and some private sector enterprises
often follow a formal two-stage negotiation process. The two-stage negotiation process
requires the submission of bids from suppliers that can be evaluated based on technical
and commercial aspects separately to help ensure fair evaluation of supplier bids. In
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 33BAchieve Sustained Savings 32
Sourcing, organizations can now evaluate suppliers bids in two independent stages
based on the technical and commercial parts of the bids.
The first stage includes the technical evaluation of all responses to questions and
parameters pertaining to the technical aspects that are used by the sourcing organization
to evaluate the technical feasibility and capabilities of the suppliers. During this stage,
commercial aspects remain sealed so that they do not influence the decision making
process. For bids that fail the technical evaluation, the commercial part will remain
sealed. Evaluators can then analyze the commercial aspects (such as price and delivery
terms) for those bids passing the technical stage.
By adding support for two-stage RFP in Sourcing, organizations can help ensure a more
impartial evaluation of supplier bids based on the independent evaluation of the technical
capabilities and then the commercial terms of a suppliers bid.
9.2.2. Multi-Org Access Controls
In a Shared Procurement Services environment, a buyer typically carries out
procurement/sourcing functions on behalf of multiple business units. Sourcing Release
12 implements Multi-Org Access Control (MOAC) to control user access to different
operating units. All Sourcing negotiation documents and transactions are owned by an
operating unit. Whereas in prior releases buyers could create, review, and update
documents in any operating unit, in Release 12 buying organizations will be able to limit
buyers access to a predefined set of operating units. With the new MOAC architecture,
administrators can associate a Responsibility with either a simple list of Operating Units
or a list that is derived from a node in a given hierarchy. Using a single Responsibility,
buyers can conduct sourcing events, enter into agreements and issue purchase orders on
behalf of any of the operating units that they serve.
9.2.3. Post Negotiation Synopsis to External Website
Buying organizations can publish negotiation summary information to their
organizations external website to allow potential suppliers to view upcoming and
current negotiations and register if interested. For example, Public Sector entities may
be legally required to advertise sourcing events for goods and services. This capability is
also useful for organizations that are trying to obtain new vendors or broaden
participation. Buyers can publish a customizable subset of information from their
negotiations to their external web site using an automated, secure, and audited approach.
A PDF of the negotiation can also be made available for download.

9.3. Achieve Sustained Savings
A buying organization faces tremendous pressure to identify and leverage the largest
savings opportunities while implementing measures to drive the biggest margin and
improve working capital. Sourcing Release 12.1 helps achieve sustained savings by
providing capabilities to reduce cost using price tier enhancements, and support bids
with less than full capacity.
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 33BAchieve Sustained Savings 33
9.3.1. Price Tier Enhancements
Suppliers have flexibility to offer different unit prices depending on the volume of
business that the buyer is willing to commit for a given product or service. Typically, a
supplier will provide preferential pricing for a larger volume purchase. Quantity based
price tiers allow buyers to specify different price points for each quantity range on
negotiations with standard purchase order, blanket or contract purchase agreement
outcomes. Suppliers can respond to the tier structure defined by the buyer, or they can
provide their own price tiers.
Quantity based price tiers can be set up during negotiation creation. Buyers can select
whether they want to have price breaks, quantity based, or no price tiers in the
negotiation. When price tiers are enabled, buyers can define the quantity range and the
target price for each tier within a line. Similarly, suppliers can create their own price
tiers when they submit a bid. The award price is based on the tier that corresponds to the
award quantity assigned to each supplier.
9.3.2. Cost Factor Enhancements
Cost factors allow buyers to model the total cost of a product or service. Cost factors
operate under one of these three pricing basis: (1) per unit cost (2) percentage of the unit
price (3) fixed amount for the line.
This enhancement improves the calculation of the per unit total cost when fixed amount
cost factors are used and the buyer awards a supplier a quantity that is either lower or
higher than the response quantity. Whereas before Sourcing used the response quantity
to calculate the per unit total cost, the new formula utilizes the award quantity to
distribute the fixed amount cost factor resulting in a more flexible award amount
calculation.
9.3.3. Display Best Bid Price in Blind Negotiations
In blind online negotiations, buyers sometimes implement a strategy whereby all
suppliers follow the price of the best bid in the event. In this strategy, suppliers are
encouraged to improve their bids to better the best bid in the event without necessarily
knowing their own rank. As in any blind event, suppliers do not have access to
additional information about the competing bids, so the best bid price is the only
feedback that they receive.
An alternative strategy is for buyers to share with the supplier his overall rank and the
best bid in the event. In this case, suppliers know their position in the negotiation and
how much they would have to improve their bid to become the leader in the negotiation.
Buyers now have the option to let suppliers see the best bid price in the auction or RFQ.
Buyers can not only disclose rank to suppliers (a previously supported feature), but also
display the price of the best bid for every line in the event.

E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 34BEMEA 34
10. Global Enhancements
In Release 12.1, Advanced Procurement provides sourcing functionality to satisfy
regional regulations in Europe and Middle East.
EMEA
10.1. EMEA
Regulations in Europe and Middle East require that certain sourcing events follow a
structured 2-part bidding process which unseals pricing only for those suppliers that have
had their technical competence and eligibility formally determined. With Release 12.1
Sourcing supports these requirements.
10.1.1. Sourcing
In certain global markets, government organizations and some private sector enterprises
often follow a formal two-stage negotiation process. The two-stage evaluation process
requires the submission of bids from suppliers that can be evaluated based on technical
and commercial aspects separately to help ensure fair evaluation of supplier bids. In
Sourcing, organizations can now evaluate suppliers bids in two independent stages
based on the technical and commercial parts of the bids.
The first stage includes the technical evaluation of all responses to questions and
parameters pertaining to the technical aspects that are used by the sourcing organization
to evaluate the technical feasibility and capabilities of the suppliers. During this stage,
commercial aspects remain sealed so that they do not influence the decision making
process. For bids that fail the technical evaluation, the commercial part will remain
sealed. Evaluators can then analyze the commercial aspects (such as price and delivery
terms) for those bids passing the technical stage.
By adding support for two-stage RFP in Sourcing, organizations can help ensure a more
impartial evaluation of supplier bids based on the independent evaluation of the technical
capabilities and then the commercial terms of a suppliers bid
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 35BEngineering and Construction 35
11. Industry Enhancements
Advanced Procurement Release 12.1 provides functionality that, while broadly
applicable to the commodities particularly benefits the following:
Project-centric organizations such as Engineering and Construction
Public sector organizations

11.1. Engineering and Construction
Describe the overall business challenges that this industry faces. Then describe the
overall benefit that customers will receive by using the following products.
11.1.1. Sourcing
11.1.1.1. Complex Contract Payments
Services procurement often contains progressive payments to contractors. Complex
Contract Payments addresses this area by enabling suppliers to bid on payment schedules
and/or propose their payment schedule, enabling review by business users, and creating
agreements with such schedules automatically against which they can request payment in
iSupplier Portal. This benefit business users by expediting awards, making transparent
aspects of the payment schedule so the highest-value bid is awarded, and finally reduces
administrative cost from the entire process.
11.1.2. iSupplier Portal
11.1.2.1. Complex Contract Payments
Services procurement often contains progressive payments to contractors. Complex
Contract Payments addresses this area by enabling suppliers to create and view work
confirmations and request payments, routes the request to business users, and releases
payment automatically. This benefit business users by removing purchasing buyer
bottlenecks from the process, improves the effectiveness of procurement, and reduces the
workload.

11.2. Public Sector Organizations
Regulations in Europe and Middle East require that certain sourcing events follow a
structured 2-part bidding process which only unseals pricing only for those suppliers that
have had their technical competitience and eligibility formally determined.
E-Business Suite Release 12.1 Release Value Proposition 36BPublic Sector Organizations 36
11.2.1. Sourcing
11.2.1.1. Two Stage Evaluation of RFP
In certain global markets, government organizations and some private sector enterprises
often follow a formal two-stage negotiation process. The two-stage negotiation process
requires the submission of bids from suppliers that can be evaluated based on technical
and commercial aspects separately to help ensure fair evaluation of supplier bids. In
Sourcing, organizations can now evaluate suppliers bids in two independent stages
based on the technical and commercial parts of the bids.
The first stage includes the technical evaluation of all responses to questions and
parameters pertaining to the technical aspects that are used by the sourcing organization
to evaluate the technical feasibility and capabilities of the suppliers. During this stage,
commercial aspects remain sealed so that they do not influence the decision making
process. For bids that fail the technical evaluation, the commercial part will remain
sealed. Evaluators can then analyze the commercial aspects (such as price and delivery
terms) for those bids passing the technical stage.
By adding support for two-stage RFP in Sourcing, organizations can help ensure a more
impartial evaluation of supplier bids based on the independent evaluation of the technical
capabilities and then the commercial terms of a suppliers bid.
11.2.1.2. Post a Negotiation Synopsis to External Website
Buying organizations can publish negotiation summary information to their
organizations external website to allow potential suppliers to view upcoming and
current negotiations and register if interested. For example, Public Sector entities may
be legally required to advertise sourcing events for goods and services. This capability is
also useful for organizations that are trying to obtain new vendors or broaden
participation. Buyers can publish a customizable subset of information from their
negotiations to their external web site using an automated, secure, and audited approach.
A PDF of the negotiation can also be made available for download.