Title: Requisition Self-ServiceApprovals
Abstract: The following is an overview of the new approval system that was developed specifically for the Requisition Self-Service (RSS) module. RSS Approvals works with the existing Workflow application and can deliver notifications via email or via the workcenter when an action is required. It also includes escalations capabilities.
Table of Contents
Overview
Approvals Setup
Approval Authority Setup
Distribution List
Organizational Chart
Single Recipient
Defining Approval Authorities
Distribution List/Organizational Chart
Single Recipient
Requisition Entry/Inquiry
Requisition Approval/Rejection
Standard Approvals
Approval Overrides
Important Considerations
Overview
The following is an overview of the new approval system that was developed specifically for the Requisition Self-Service (RSS) module. RSS Approvals works with the existing Workflow application and can deliver notifications via email or via the workcenter when an action is required. It also includes escalations capabilities.
Approvals are not required, just like the purchasingApproval system, it’s optional. Approvals will only trigger if both the Approval Constants is turned on and data associated with the approval constants is setup. If only one or the other is done, Approvals will not work.
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Approvals Setup
As stated previously, the first step in approvals is to ensure that the Approval Authorities are turned on. This can be accomplished via Approval Authority Constants (P43E094). There are six levels in the Approval Authority. The first four (Employee, Employee Group/Business Unit, Employee Group and Business Unit) are Order level approvals. They are triggered based on the amount in the OTOT field of the order. The last two (Commodity/Business Unit and Commodity) are based on the Line level amounts (Extended Amount) for each line.
The approval authorities are examined in the order they are listed below, and only one authority is used for each grouping (Order or Line level). For example, if an employee has an approval authority set up for their Employee number, and that employee also falls into an Employee Group that has an approval authority set up, approvals will only run on the Employee number approval authority. Once that has completed, approvals will check the Line level group to see if any of the items on the order qualify for the next round of approvals.
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Approval Authority Setup
The approval authorities must also be setup. An approval authority can be one of three types; a Distribution List, an Organizational Chart, or a Single Recipient.
Distribution List
In order to use a Distribution List, an address book record must first be created for that list. This is set up with an ‘M’ (Mailing List) search type. This address book number forms the first half of the key for the Approval Authority. A Structure Type (01/TS UDC) must also be available. Structure Types form the second half of the key for the Approval Authority and serve as a way to identify and categorize distribution lists. Because the key is built from both of these items, a structure type of WOA for Work Order Approvals and SAL for Salary Approvals can be defined and both of these in combination can be used with the same address book number to create two separate approval authorities - 80000SAL and 80000WOA.
The Approval Authority is then defined in A/B - Org Structure Browse (P0150) which can be accessed via the G02 menu by going to Workflow Management Setup > Group Revisions:
Click Add
Header Data:
Parent Number – Address Book number created above
Structure Type – Structure Type mentioned above
Associated Data Item – This is always OTOT. If it is not set to OTOT, Approvals will not work.
The checkboxes to the right of this data are routing options that allow the user more flexibility in defining how the Approval Authority will work.
First Response – if multiple approvers are defined at the same threshold as shown below, the first user that approves the requisition will cause the balance of approvers at that level to be bypassed.
Higher Level Override – if this option is used, approvers in higher groups can go into the process task monitor and approve requisitions without waiting for approval from lower groups. So in the example above, RSS10 would be able to approve a requisition without waiting for approvals from RSS08, RSS11 or RSS09.
Authorization Required – this option requires that a higher-level member authorizes the approval when the originator of the RSS message is also part of the Distribution List. Once again, using the sample above, if a requisition is entered for $1,200 by originator RSS09, approver RSS10 would be required to approve the requisition, despite the fact that the requisition has not reached RSS10’s threshold value. This option is especially important when using an Org Chart for Requisition Self Service. In an Org Chart, if this option is not selected, then the requisition will not advance properly. Currently this only works if the eReq is within the approver’s threshold.
Detail Data:
Group – members of the distribution list can be split into groups for processing. One reason to do this is to avoid bottlenecks in processing – i.e., if one member of the group is on vacation and the First Response option has been checked, another member of the group can approve the requisition and it can proceed through the approval process.
Address Number / Alpha Name – Employee or another Distribution List.
Threshold Value – The level at which action is to be taken by the next approver in the list. For order level, this is the total amount of the order. For line level, it is the extended amount for the line.
Escalation Hours/ Minutes – The amount of time that should elapse before the requisition is advanced to the next approver.
Please note: Escalations cannot be used if it has not been setup in the .ini file on the servers. The settings are in the [workflow] section of the ini file:
[WORKFLOW]
EscalationFrequency=10*60 (in seconds)
It is generally turned off since Escalations is an “all or nothing” option and affects ALL applications that use the workflow engine. Also, it is important to note that when setting up escalations, everyone within the same group MUST have the same escalation time period defined.
Begin/End Effective Date – The time period for which this approval group is valid.Note: These fields are mandatory if using approval groups. Without these values, the P43E10 will error.
Organizational Chart
An organizational chart is actually produced out of the HR system, but a dummy one can be created using the same Group Revision menu used to create the Distribution List. To do so, define each employee (with direct reports) as a parent number with a structure type of ‘ES’. An example is shown below. RSS12 is the highest level employee and RSS06 would be at the bottom of the hierarchy.
Setting up the reporting structure looks slightly different than with a Distribution List since the parent number only contains the direct reports. Please note that the Authorization Required checkbox is checked as mentioned previously.
Single Recipient
A single recipient is defined directly within the Approvals (P43E09A) application. The most common use for this type would be at the line level, where a Buyer might be defined for a particular Commodity or Commodity/Business Unit. It is unlikely that a single recipient would be used for setting up approvals at the Order level.
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Defining Approval Authorities
Distribution List/Organizational Chart
Once the Distribution Lists/Organizational Charts have been defined, they must be associated with order level and/or line level criteria. This is done through the Manage Distribution List (P43E09A) application pictured below:
Select which Approval Authority level is to be defined and press the ‘Go’ button.
Please note: If the Approval Authority that is to be defined is not available in the dropdown list, that authority most likelywas not selected in the Approval Authority Constants (P43E094) application. The dropdown list is dynamically generated based on the selections made in that application.
If this action is not performed first, the detail portion of the application may not populate and users will be unable to enter data properly. Only the top section has to be filled out. The bottom half of the screen actually displays the Distribution List that is associated with the line that is highlighted.
Please note: Organization Charts are not displayed in the lower grid. This display is for Distribution Lists only.
If using the organizational chart associated with this particular employee, simply check the Org Chart checkbox. If using a Distribution List, the Parent Number of the list must be entered in the Approver/Distribution List field and also enter the Structure Type. Once that data is saved, the distribution list will appear in the lower grid. A link has been supplied within this application to the Distribution List so that it can be edited if necessary.
Single Recipient
Setup for a Single Recipient is much simpler than Org Charts and Distribution Lists, and it can be done directly within theApproval Authority(P43E09A)application.
The required information is - Approval Authority identifier (e.g., Employee, Employee Group, etc.), threshold amount and approver.
Once the setup is complete, users are ready to start entering Requisitions for Approval.
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Requisition Entry/Inquiry
Requisitions are entered via the Requisition Orders (P43E10) application. For a requisition to enter the Approval Authority, it must meet the minimum threshold defined, whether that is a total order amount or an extended amount on a line. Once a requisition or requisition line has entered approvals, users cannot modify it until the process is complete and the requisition lines are either at an approved or rejected status.
It is possible for the originator of the Requisition to view all of the Approvers in the review list. To do this, use the Requisition Inquiry (P43E15) application to access the requisition.
Click the Review Approvals button which accesses the Requisition Approval (P43E82) application.
Within this application users can see that the Requisition requires the approval of RSS07, RSS08 and RSS09. This is also the application where the approval itself takes place.
Please note: Because of the way workflow works, it is important to note that the Approval Authority at the Line Level will not become visible until the Order Level approvals have completed and are at an Approved Status.
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Requisition Approval/Rejection
Standard Approvals
An approver within an Approval Authority will be notified either via email or work center that a Requisition has been forwarded to them for review. Each medium will contain a link to theRequisition Approval(P43E82) application. Or the user can simply fast path to that application and query on Requisitions that have been submitted andare marked for approval by them. This is shown below:
The status in the Approver Action column indicates where the Requisition is in the Approval Authority.
Unopened – indicates that the approver has received notification to approve the Requisition but has not taken action at this time.
Awaiting – indicates that the approver is within the Approval Authority, but has not yet received notification to approve the Requisition. This is because a previous approver has not taken action.
Bypassed – In the case of a higher level override, this indicates that the user never took action on the approver and the requisition was approved by a higher level approver. In the case of a “First Response” set-up, it indicates that a different member of that approval group has taken action on the Req. A bypassed status can also exist if a previous approver has rejected the Requisition and it never made it to that approver for action.
Approved/Rejected – Indicates the user has taken action on the Requisition.
The approver can then select as many Requisitions as they wish and then click the Approve or Reject button.
This will take them to a review screen where they can see basic information about the order. In this case, the approval is at the order level, so it only displays the order number, title and total amount. If the reviewer wants more detail, they can click the “Review Requisition” link and it will take them to the Requisition Inquiry (P43E15) screen.
From here, the approver simply needs to click the Approve or Reject button. Cancel will of course take the user out of the screen without performing any action.
Approval Overrides
In the situation where a higher level member of the approval authority has to override a lower member, they must go through the Process Task Monitor link that is provided on the form above. The approval application will notify them of this fact if they attempt to take action on the requisition out of turn.
And the Approve/Reject buttons will be disabled.
To complete the override, the user will need to click the Process Task Monitor link:
Expand the APPROVEMSG folder and select a lower member of the Approval Authority. Then row exit to Override.
Performing the Override function will bypass ALL approvers at lower levels that have not taken an action on the Requisition. Users cannot simply override part of the Approval Authority. Once this override has been performed, users must back out to the original Requisition Approval (P43E82) application and then select the Requisition for processing as demonstrated above in the Standard Approvals section.
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Important Considerations
If JAS errors are received stating that the “Cross data source operation is not supported” as indicated in this error:
The resolution of this error is to check the mappings of the tables below. Map the following tables to Business Data for both system and server mappings:
F98865
F98866
F98860
F98840
F98861
F0150
F0101
Map the following tables to Control Tables for both system and server mappings:
F98800
F98810
F98811
F98820
F98830
F98845
F98850