Analyzing Items and Suppliers
This chapter describes the Item and Supplier Analysis pages in Oracle Procurement Command Center Plus and highlights the decisions that procurement managers and buyers can make using these pages.
This chapter covers the following topics:
Using the Item Analysis Page
This topic discusses the Item Analysis page, when you navigate to this page from Procurement Command Center.
Buyers can use the Item Analysis page to explore the history of items used in the organization including on-time delivery, quality, and item suitability. Items requested in the requisition can be compared to other item performance measures to ensure the best item fit for the procurement team or requesters. The Item Analysis page is centered upon items that have been ordered for procurement. It brings in historically segregated, structured, and unstructured data from purchasing document attachments about the item and makes it available to you in a way that enables quick decision making.
Item Analysis page provides additional information to the buyer and project manager when they need to analyze the items assigned to requisition lines. When they click on Analyze Item for a requisition, the application carries the context of the requisition line to the Item Analysis page and pre-filters the page with the item number and description. If the page is accessed directly from the menu, no automatic filters are applied. This page provides all the current and historical procurement information of items in one page.
Procurement managers or buyers can assess the risk of procuring an item by looking at past history. For example, if an item has had quality issues in the past, they can anticipate that they might probably encounter quality issues in the future. The Search functionality in this page enables the procurement team to find an item by entering keywords as textual content from attachments is also available for search. The consolidated information regarding items enables buyers to determine if they are buying the right item, if there are viable alternatives, determine most appropriate budget for the item, and determine the procurement strategy based on historical and future demand.
Procurement teams and procurement managers can directly access this page from the Item Analysis tab. Additionally, they can access the page by clicking on the Analyze Item from the Procurement Operations dashboard, Requisitions tab.
Using the Item Analysis page, procurement teams and procurement managers can:
-
Align item selection to business needs using insights from procurement history.
-
Quickly access procurement history of both inventory items and one-time items and services.
-
Make an informed item choice by comparing procurement history and performance attributes for each item.
Heading Region
This region displays the date and time stamp of the last ETL update.
Search Region
The Search component allows you to submit keyword searches and provides type-ahead suggestions displaying attribute values that match the typed text. When you perform a search, the search term is added to the Selected Refinements component. As you type, you may be prompted to select a matching attribute value, or simply search for the entered text.
Partial record search is enabled for specific attributes. Attributes for partial record search include:
-
PO Line Attachment
-
PO Item Name
-
PO Item Description
-
Inventory Item Name
-
Inventory Item Description
-
Item Long Description
-
Supplier Name
-
ASL Supplier Name
-
Negotiation Number
-
Negotiation Item Description
-
Agreement Number
-
Agreement Item Description
-
Requisition Number
-
Requisition Item Description
-
PO Number
Selected Refinements
The Selected Refinements component displays all values that you have selected to filter data, and allows you to quickly make adjustments to the current refinement by removing items or clearing all filters from the list.
Bookmarks
The Bookmarks component allows you to save a given navigation and component state and return to it at a later time.
Available Refinements
The Available Refinements component allows you to filter data based on the currently available values or value ranges for selected attributes that are displayed within attribute groups. Expand the attribute groups to view and select attribute names.
Totals Region
The Totals region displays the following metrics based on the filters applied on the page.
| Metric Display Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Items | Total number of items represented in the current view |
| Suppliers | Number of suppliers who supplied the item in the past |
| Projects | Number of projects for which the item has been procured, or is being planned |
| Requisitions | Number of requisitions in which the item is referenced |
| Purchase Orders | Number of purchase orders in which the item is referenced |
| Agreements | Number of agreements in which the item is referenced |
| Negotiations | Number of negotiations in which the item is referenced |
Tag Cloud Region
The tag cloud region is based on the item description and PO line level attachments. It takes into account the "White List" that you can input and alters the size of the item description based on the number of times it is referenced in a PO line. See: Setting Up Oracle Procurement Command Center Plus for ways to modify the "White List".
Analysis Region
The Analysis region displays the following charts and graphs:
| Tab | Chart Title | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Item Analysis | Trend Analysis | This is a line chart to analyze the total spend. Sort the chart using the following values:
|
| Supplier Relationship | Overall Supplier Performance | This is a bubble chart to analyze the overall supplier performance. The X-axis values are Delivery Rating (average), Price Compliance (average), and Quality Rating (average). The Y-axis values are Delivery Rating (average), Price Compliance (average), and Quality Rating (average). The bubble size shows the Total Spend (sum). The application does not display this chart when there are multiple functional currencies. |
| Supplier Relationship | Supplier Performance Over Time | This is a line chart to asses supplier performance using the following values:
Each supplier is represented by a different color in this chart. |
| Spend Analysis | Spend Spread | This is a pie chart that uses the following values:
|
| Spend Analysis | Off Contract Spend | This is a stacked bar chart that sorts the chart using the following values:
Total Spend refers to the sum of purchase order line amounts. Off Contract Spend refers to those Purchase Order lines which do not have BPA/ CPA reference. |
Item Summary Region
The Item Summary region displays a summary of the item within the following tabs:
Item Details tab
The Item Details tab displays the following options:
-
The Details option displays relevant details as captured in the Item Master. All the attributes are existing fields in Item Master definition. For non-inventory items, the application populates only Item Description, Category, and List Price columns.
-
The Price and Spend option displays the currency, the unit price details, the total spend with and without BPA or CPA reference and the sum of contract and off contract spend.
-
The Quantity Summary option displays the sum of currently available (available to reserve) quantities across inventory organizations accessible to the project manager and buyer, the sum of overdue quantities on purchase orders that are open for receiving overdue, the sum of net ordered quantity ((quantity ordered – quantity cancelled) – total delivered quantity) across all open purchase order lines, and the sum of ordered quantities across all approved requisitions that have not been placed on a purchase order yet.
-
The Procurement Documents option displays negotiations, requisitions, agreements, and purchase orders applicable to the selected item.
-
The Lead Time option displays the lead time details for the selected item.
You can perform the following actions using the Actions list on the right side of the tab:
-
Print
-
Export
-
Compare
-
Compare with demand: You can use this action only if you have licensed and implemented Oracle Project Procurement Command Center Plus. For information about this action, see: Oracle Project Procurement Command Center Plus Process Guide.
Projects tab
The Projects tab displays the summary of the projects for which the item has been planned or ordered.
You can perform the following actions using the Actions list on the right side of the tab:
-
Print
-
Export
-
Compare
Approved Suppliers List tab
The Approved Suppliers List tab displays the following options:
-
The Suppliers option displays the approved suppliers for the selected item.
-
The Actions option displays the action that you can perform for an item.
You can perform the following actions using the Actions list on the right side of the tab:
-
Print
-
Export
-
Compare
For more information, see:
Procurement Details Region
The Procurement Details region displays details of all purchasing documents where the item is referenced at least once in any of the following document lines:
Negotiations tab
The Negotiations tab displays the following options:
-
The Header option displays information such as the category, the negotiation number, and the approval number.
-
The Lines option displays details such as the line status, the line quantity, the negotiated quantity, and the award line amount.
-
The Actions option enables you to view the negotiation.
You can perform the following actions using the Actions list available on the right side of the tab:
-
Print
-
Export
-
Compare
Agreements tab
The Agreements tab displays the following options:
-
The Header option displays information such as the agreement type, the agreement status, and the supplier details.
-
The Lines option displays details such as the line status, the quantity details, and the line attachment.
-
The Actions option enables you to view the agreement.
You can perform the following actions using the Actions list on the right side of the tab:
-
Print
-
Export
-
Compare
Requisitions tab
The Requisitions tab displays the following options:
-
The Header option displays information such as the requisition number, , and requisition status.
-
The Lines option displays details such as the line status and the total spend.
You can perform the following actions using the Actions list on the right side of the tab:
-
Print
-
Export
-
Compare
Purchase Orders tab
The Purchase Orders tab displays the following options:
-
The Header option displays information such as the order number and the order status.
-
The Lines option displays details such as the line status and the total spend.
-
The Actions option enables you to view the purchase order.
You can perform the following actions using the Actions list on the right side of the tab:
-
Print
-
Export
-
Compare
For more information, see:
Actions in Item Analysis
Procurement managers and buyers can perform the following action while analyzing the items:
Compare two or more items using the Compare action available on the right side of the Item Details table.
Using the Supplier Analysis Page
This topic discusses the Supplier Analysis page, when you navigate to this page from Procurement Command Center.
Supplier Analysis provides supplier history for goods or services used in your organization. Past performance, including on-time delivery, quality, and supplier capabilities can be evaluated or compared to the items requested in the requisition to ensure the best suppliers are selected. The Supplier Analysis page is based upon suppliers, bringing in data from multiple modules together in one page to help gain insight about the performance of the supplier, the relationship your organization has with the supplier, and how one supplier compares to others.
Historical procurement information provides insight into the on-time delivery, quality and price-compliance trends of the supplier, and also provides quick summary of the relationship your organization has had with the supplier. If you have installed Oracle Supplier Lifecycle Management or Oracle Supplier Hub and have configured user defined attributes for suppliers, then the powerful search and filtering features of Oracle Endeca make it easy to find the right supplier using all the extensive information you have collected about the supplier, such as insurance, environmental compliance, financial stability, or quality maturity information. You can be sure you are selecting the best suppliers when you use the analysis page to investigate each supplier's history. Buyers and project managers can also see the current status of a supplier, including which projects have orders, negotiations or any existing agreements with a supplier, how much has been spent or is committed to be spent with the supplier and how well the supplier has performed with regards to supplying the ordered items or services.
Procurement teams and managers can directly access this page from the Supplier Analysis tab. Additionally, they can access this page by clicking the Analyze Supplier link in the Procurement Operations dashboard, Requisitions tab.
Using the Supplier Analysis page, procurement teams and procurement managers can:
-
Find the right suppliers meeting organizational objectives and business needs.
-
Use performance criteria and extended supplier profile to zero in on the best set of suppliers.
-
Compare suppliers by current relationship and historical performance.
-
View catalog review ratings from Oracle iProcurement.
-
View supplier performance evaluation ratings from Oracle Supplier Lifecycle Management.
Heading Region
This region displays date and time stamp of the last ETL update.
Search Region
The Search component allows you to submit keyword searches and provides type-ahead suggestions displaying attribute values that match the typed text. When you perform a search, the search term is added to the Selected Refinements component. As you type, you may be prompted to select a matching attribute value, or simply search for the entered text.
Partial record search is enabled for specific attributes. Attributes for partial record search include:
-
Supplier Name
-
Alternate Supplier Name
-
Supplier Address
-
ASL Item Description
-
PO Number
-
PO Item Description
-
Agreement Number
-
Agreement Item Description
-
Negotiation Number
-
Negotiation Item Description
Selected Refinements
The Selected Refinements component displays all values that you have selected to filter data, and allows you to quickly make adjustments to the current refinement by removing items or clearing all filters from the list.
Bookmarks
The Bookmarks component allows you to save a given navigation and component state and return to it at a later time.
Available Refinements
The Available Refinements component allows you to filter data based on the currently available values or value ranges for selected attributes that are displayed within attribute groups. Expand the attribute groups to view and select attribute names.
Metrics
Metrics are available in the following tabs:
-
Summary
-
Performance
Summary
The Summary region displays the following metrics based on the filters applied on the page.
| Metric Display Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Currency | Select a currency to view currency-specific information. Some of the elements on this dashboard are dependent on currency. |
| Suppliers | Total number of unique suppliers in the result list based on filters applied |
| Approved Suppliers | Total number of suppliers who appear in the approved supplier list for at least one item or category |
| On Hold Suppliers | Total number of suppliers who have at least one active hold, such as Hold All Payments or Hold All Purchase Orders |
| Active Agreements | Number of blanket purchase agreements and complex purchase agreements in the current view that are active as of today |
| Orders | The total number of orders issued to all the selected suppliers |
| Ordered Items | The total number of unique items ordered from the selected list of suppliers |
| Draft Negotiations | Number of negotiations that are currently drafted in which the suppliers in the current view are invited to participate |
Performance
The Performance region displays the following metrics based on the filters applied on the page.
| Metric Display Title | Description |
|---|---|
| On Time Delivery | Percentage of shipments received on or before the need-by date plus the tolerance. The following default color key indicates the percentage of on time delivery:
|
| Quality | Percentage of shipments without any quality rejections The following default color key indicates the percentage of shipments received without any quality rejections:
|
| Price Compliance | The ratio of price demanded on invoice versus price agreed on the blanket agreement or the purchase order, expressed as a percentage. The following default color key indicates the percentage of price compliance:
|
| Item Rating | Average review rating for catalog items, as entered by requesters in iProcurement. The following default color key indicates the average item review rating:
|
| Supplier Rating | Average review rating for catalog suppliers, as entered by requesters in iProcurement The following default color key indicates the average supplier review rating:
|
| Performance Score | Average supplier performance evaluation score for suppliers in the current view The following default color key indicates the percentage performance score:
|
| Change Requests | Average number of supplier initiated change requests per purchase order in any status The following default color key indicates the average number of change requests:
|
Supplier Analysis Region
This region displays the following charts and graphs:
| Tab | Chart Title | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Performance | Overall Supplier Performance | This is a bubble chart that uses the following values: The X-axis values are On-time Delivery Rating (average), Quality Rating (average), Price Compliance Rating (average), Catalog Item Rating (average), Catalog Supplier Rating (average), and Performance Evaluation Score. The Y-axis values are Quality Rating (average), On-time Delivery Rating (average), Price Compliance Rating (average), Catalog Supplier Rating (average), Catalog Item Rating (average), and Performance Evaluation Score. The performance evaluation score is calculated by averaging out the score for all purchase orders and agreements in the visible data set. The bubble size represents the Total spend (sum). The chart does not display data when there are multiple functional currencies. |
| Performance | Supplier Performance Overtime | This is a bubble chart that shows supplier performance over time using the following values:
The performance evaluation score is calculated by averaging the scores for all purchase orders and agreements in the visible data set. The chart does not display data when there are multiple functional currencies. |
| Relationship | Holds by Supplier | This is a stacked bar chart that shows number of holds by hold type, by supplier. |
| Relationship | Supplier's Geographic Distribution | This is a stacked bar chart that shows number of holds by hold type, by supplier. |
| Approved Supplier Lists | Approved and Local Suppliers | This is a bar chart that shows total spend on the project split by approved versus unapproved suppliers (ASL) or by local versus non-local suppliers (supplier country versus task location) by period (year / month). Chart does not display data when there are multiple functional currencies. |
| Approved Supplier Lists | Product and Services | This is a bar chart that shows number of suppliers by products and services category. For example, Computer Monitor is supplied by 5 suppliers. Industrial Metal is supplied by 3 suppliers. |
| Procurement History | Spend by Supplier | This is a stacked bar chart that shows contract versus off-contract spend by currency by supplier. Chart does not display data when there are multiple functional currencies. |
| Procurement History | Spend Trend | This is a line chart that shows contract versus non-contract spend by currency and need-by-date, each supplier is a line with a different color. Chart does not display data when there are multiple functional currencies. |
| Change Request Trend | Change Request Trend | This is a bar chart that shows number of change requests by year and supplier. |
Quantitative aspects are measured from transaction data. The following are considered:
-
Price Compliance: Variance between Agreement / PO Price versus Invoice Price
-
Quality Rating: Average for the last one year
-
Delivery Rating: Average for the last one year
-
On-time delivery performance
-
Quality performance: Inspection / delivery rejections
Supplier Information Region
The Supplier Information region presents the following tabs:
Supplier tab
The Supplier tab in this region provides an overview of the supplier and the performance details. Additionally, procurement managers and buyers can view the detailed information of the supplier.
-
View Supplier Details: Click this link to navigate to the Supplier Details page and perform supplier related tasks.
-
View Supplier Performance: Use the Performance option to view details about a supplier such as on-time delivery rating, price compliance rating, item review rating, and supplier review rating. The Item Review Rating and Supplier Review Rating columns show the average item and supplier ratings, respectively, for all catalog items supplied by a supplier.
-
Add as Sources of Supply: You can use this action only if you have licensed and implemented Oracle Project Procurement Command Center Plus. For information about this action, see: Oracle Project Procurement Command Center Plus Process Guide.
-
Add to Negotiation: This option is valid only when you create or update the RFQ flow. For a negotiation that is in Draft status, you can add suppliers to the negotiation from the Sourcing pages using the Add Suppliers button. This brings you to the Supplier Analysis page. Analyze the suppliers, select them, and then add them using the Add to Negotiation action. If you delete the negotiation line after creating it through the document builder, then the application removes the linkage of the negotiation line as a source of supply. During the award completion stage, the application updates the sources of supply when a particular negotiation line is awarded to a supplier (multiple suppliers).
You can perform the following actions using the Actions list available on the right side of the tab:
-
Print
-
Export
-
Add to Document Builder. For information, see: Adding Items to the Document Builder in Procurement Command Center.
Relationship tab
The Relationship tab in this region displays active purchase orders, blanket purchase agreements, and negotiations. Additionally, it displays holds applied on active documents, total count of orders, total spend, number of negotiations in which a selected supplier participated, negotiations in which the selected supplier was awarded, average spend per year, receipt and use details.
You can perform the following actions using the Actions list on the right side of the tab:
-
Print
-
Export
-
Compare
Addresses tab
The Address tab displays the address details of suppliers such as the supplier name, the address name, the address and the address status.
Projects tab
The Projects tab displays the projects for which the supplier is associated to a purchasing document.
You can perform the following actions using the Actions list on the right side of the tab:
-
Print
-
Export
-
Compare
Approved Supplier Lists tab
The Approved Supplier Lists displays the ASL approval status, the item, the supplier category, and the manufacturer details of approved suppliers.
You can perform the following actions using the Actions list on the right side of the tab:
-
Print
-
Export
-
Compare
For more information, see:
Performance Evaluations tab
The Performance Evaluations tab shows performance evaluations conducted for the chosen suppliers. For a performance evaluation, you can view details such as the evaluation number (RFI number), the supplier for which the evaluation was conducted, the sourcing document status, the evaluation date, the evaluation completion date, and the evaluation score. Click View Evaluation to navigate to the Evaluation RFI page in Oracle Supplier Management (SLM).
When calculating performance evaluation scores, the application considers Request for Information (RFI) documents that fulfill the following conditions:
-
The RFIs created for supplier performance evaluation must be created with the predefined negotiation style Supplier Performance Evaluation and the RFI must be at the Completed status.
-
The overall supplier score is available for the supplier in SLM. If the overall score is not completed for an evaluation, then the Supplier Analysis dashboard does not use that evaluation to calculate the overall scores.
Documents Region
The Documents region displays details of the following purchasing documents associated with the suppliers:
-
Purchase Orders
-
Agreements
-
Negotiations (to which the suppliers have been invited)
Select Actions in the column list and view these purchasing documents from the respective subtabs.
You can perform the following actions using the Actions list on the right side of the respective tabs:
-
Purchase Orders tab
-
Print
-
Export
-
Compare
-
Auto-create to this PO: This action is applicable only when you navigate to the Supplier Analysis page by clicking 'Analyze Suppliers' from a requisition line. If you try this action without having a requisition line in context, then the application displays an error.
-
-
Agreements tab
The Agreements tab in this region displays details such as the agreement number, the agreement status, the document type, whether an agreement is active, and the supplier details.
-
Print
-
Export
-
Compare
-
Compare with demand: You can use this action only if you have licensed and implemented Oracle Project Procurement Command Center Plus. For information about this action, see: Oracle Project Procurement Command Center Plus Process Guide.
-
Add to Document Builder: For information, see: Adding Items to the Document Builder in Procurement Command Center.
-
-
Negotiations tab
-
Print
-
Export
-
Compare
-
Auto-create to this Negotiation: This action is applicable only when you navigate to the Supplier Analysis page by clicking 'Analyze Suppliers' from a requisition line. If you try this action without having a requisition line in context, then the application displays an error.
-
Actions in Supplier Analysis
Procurement managers and buyers can perform the following action while analyzing the suppliers:
-
Compare two or more suppliers using the Compare action on the right side of the Supplier Details table. The comparison enables you to view the supplier performance in terms of on-time delivery rating, quality rating, price compliance rating, order count, total spend, blanket purchase agreements, negotiations awarded, and participated negotiations.
-
Compare two or more agreements using the Compare action on the right side of the Agreements table.