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Process documentationPurchase Order Collaboration with Approval Process

 

The quantities and dates/times that a supplier specifies in the confirmation schedule lines of a purchase order item can deviate from the quantities and dates/times that the customer has entered in the request schedule lines for the item. For a subcontract order, a supplier can enter component requirements for a confirmation schedule line that deviate from the component requirements that the customer expects.

You use this process if you, as customer, put supplier confirmation data (confirmation schedule lines and component requirements) through an approval process in purchase order collaboration in SAP Supply Network Collaboration (SAP SNC), and want to copy the confirmation data as request schedule lines to the purchase order in the case of approval. SAP SNC also sends the updated request data to the customer back-end system, which is the leading system for purchase orders. As a result, the customer also has a current view of the actual delivery quantities, delivery dates/times, and, in the case of subcontracting, the component requirements in the customer back-end system.

SAP SNC can automatically accept confirmation schedule lines or component requirements. You can, however, also configure that the customer must manually check the deviating confirmation data on the SAP SNC Web user interface (Web UI), and accept or reject it there.

Note Note

You can only adapt the request data of a purchase order to the confirmed data if you use the approval process in purchase order collaboration. If you do not use an approval process, the supplier can change the confirmation data in the purchase order. However, the request data in the purchase order remains unchanged.

End of the note.

Prerequisites

  • You have set up the approval process. For more information, see Procedures for Automatic Approval.

    Note Note

    Even if not all items of a purchase order contain a product for which you have explicitly set the approval process,all items of the purchase order are subject to the approval process. If you have not explicitly configured the approval process for a product, the system sets the Manual Approval Required approval status when deviations occur.

    End of the note.

  • The prerequisites for the standard purchase order collaboration process have been fulfilled.

Process

  1. In SAP SNC, the supplier publishes confirmation data for a customer's purchase order either manually on the purchase order collaboration Web UI or by sending a purchase order with confirmation data (XML message of the type ReplenishmentOrderConfirmation) to SAP SNC. If the supplier sends the purchase order from the back-end system, the purchase order in SNC is assigned the change distribution status Updated by Supplier.

  2. SAP SNC sends a confirmation (ReplenishmentOrderConfirmation) to the customer back-end system (see Purchase Order Collaboration: Standard Process). SAP SNC sets the distribution status of the purchase order to Published by Supplier.

    Note Note

    The ReplenishmentOrderConfirmation contains confirmation schedule lines and, for subcontracting, component requirements. Note that for an SAP customer back-end system, the confirmation IDoc ORDERP.ORDERS05 does not contain component requirements, and the component requirements are therefore not transferred to the SAP back-end system with this IDoc.

    The ReplenishmentOrderConfirmation is also necessary in purchase order collaboration with approval process, if the confirmation control demands confirmations in the customer back-end system, for example, if confirmations are MRP-relevant.

    End of the note.

  3. SAP SNC compares the confirmation data (confirmation schedule lines and confirmed component requirements) with the request data (request schedule lines and request component requirements) for all purchase order items. SAP SNC sets the approval status Accepted for confirmation data that agrees with the request data. For confirmation data that deviates from the request data, SAP SNC sets the approval status Accepted or Manual Approval Required, depending on the approval process. If manual approval is required, SAP SNC generates an alert.

  4. If the automatic approval process has accepted all the confirmation data for one purchase order item, the item is given the approval status Accepted. SAP SNC copies the confirmation data as request data to the purchase order item. The PO_COPY_CONF_TO_REQ validation check then copies the confirmation data to the request data. The validation check is active in the standard system.

  5. If, after the automatic approval process, all the items in the purchase order have the approval status Accepted, the following occurs:

    1. SAP SNC sends the updated purchase order to the customer back-end system.

    2. The purchase order acquires the change distribution status Published by Supplier. With this status, the purchase order cannot be changed in SAP SNC.

    3. The customer back-end system transfers the changes made in SAP SNC into the purchase order.

    4. The customer back-end system sends the updated purchase order with a message to SAP SNC.

    5. SAP SNC sets the distribution status and the change distribution status of the purchase order to Updated by Customer. The supplier can change the purchase order again. (However, the supplier can only change component requirements if a goods receipt has not yet occurred for the item. It is no longer possible to change the component requirements if the open quantity is less than the requested quantity.)

      Note Note

      The updated purchase order that SAP SNC sends to the customer back-end system can contain request schedule lines with and without component requirements. For example, a request schedule line has no component requirements if the following conditions are fulfilled:

      • The supplier has only created confirmation schedule lines in SAP SNC but not specified component requirements for the confirmation schedule lines.

      • The approval process has then accepted the confirmation schedule lines and copied them into the request schedule lines.

      If the customer uses an SAP back-end system, the SAP back-end system defines the component requirements for these request schedule lines. To do so, it adapts the component requirements last contained in the purchase order proportionally to the new requested quantity. The updated purchase order that the SAP back-end system then sends to SAP SNC therefore contains component requirements for the request schedule line.

      End of the note.

  6. If purchase order items have the Manual Approval Required approval status after the automatic approval process, SAP SNC generates a corresponding alert but does not send a purchase order to the customer back-end system. The customer has to first check the deviating confirmation data on the Web UI and then accept it manually, as necessary.

    The customer can also reject confirmation data that is to be confirmed manually. SAP SNC generates an alert to inform the supplier about the rejection when the customer saves. The customer can also create a note and inform the supplier about the reasons for the rejection. SAP SNC also creates an alert for a new note. After the customer has saved the purchase order with the rejected confirmation data, the supplier can call the purchase order on the Web UI and change the confirmation data so that the customer can then accept the changed confirmation data.

  7. When the customer has accepted all the confirmation schedule lines and component requirements for an item, the item is given the approval status Accepted. The customer can use the Update Request function to copy the confirmation data as request data to the purchase order item.

  8. The customer publishes the updated purchase order on the Web UI for purchase order collaboration. The purchase order receives the change distribution status Published by Supplier and is not changeable.

  9. SAP SNC sends the purchase order to the customer back-end system (see above). The customer back-end system updates the purchase order and sends the purchase order back to SAP SNC. The purchase order is again changeable (distribution status and change distribution status Updated by Customer).

    Note Note

    • If the customer and supplier edit a purchase order in SAP SNC at the same time, the "winning" changes come from the business partner who saves first. If the other business partner tries to save the purchase order, SAP SNC requires the purchase order to be reloaded, the changes to be performed again (if they are still relevant), and then to be saved. This is relevant, for example, if the supplier creates new confirmation schedule lines just as the customer is subjecting the purchase order to an approval process.

    • You can use the BAdI /SCA/ORDER to modify the approval process for confirmation schedule lines (method APPROVE_CONFIRMATION) and component requirements (method APPROVE_COMPONENT).

    End of the note.

Example

See Example: Message Flow for Contract Manufacturing Procurement.

More Information

Integration of Purchase Order Collaboration with SAP ERP