Ariba Network Supplier Ask and Answer: Purchase Orders

[lorraineyao]

As an Ariba Network supplier, you have the ability to submit questions and provide feedback in your supplier portal via the feedback button.

Each month, we'll answer frequently asked questions and address common challenges that suppliers are seeing on Ariba Network. Each supplier is unique, with specific business needs. However, many have the same experiences on Ariba Network, so we'll select the top recurring questions to address each month.

For the first blog post in this Ask and Answer series, we are tackling a basic, yet important topic: Purchase Orders on Ariba Network.

Q: How do I confirm line items within an order:

A:  The ability to confirm partial orders or update pricing details depends on your customers configuration. Each one of your customers will have their own rules that determines what you are allowed to submit for your order confirmations. The same applies for service orders as well; your customers' configurations will determine if you are able to confirm line level items and enter service details on your order confirmations. Make sure to check your customers' configuration rules by going to account settings > customer relationships, then select your customers' name.

Here are the steps to confirm line items within an order

1. Go to "Inbox" and locate the order you want to work on.


2. On the top left of the screen, click on the dropdown for "Create Order Confirmation"


3. Select "Update Line Items" In the Order Confirmation Header section, enter a confirmation number, estimated shipping cost, and estimated tax, and comments.


4. Enter the shipping and tax information at the line item level if you want to enter the estimated shipping date, delivery date shipping cost, delivery cost or comments for each line item that you confirm.


5. Enter numeric values in one or more of the Confirm, Backorder, and Reject fields for materials. For service items, choose Confirm or Reject.


6. You can click on the details button to provide additional information on shipping and delivery dates, shipping and tax cost information, advanced pricing information, a rejection reason or comments


7. Click OK and next to complete

Q: Why can't I find a purchase order even when my customer says they've sent it.

A: First of all, you need to make sure you have an active trading relationship with that customer on Ariba Network. To check, go to: Settings > Customer Relationships. Your customer should be listed underneath the Current Relationships tab. If you don’t see your customer, you can provide them with your ANID and they can use that ID to send you a relationship request.

Once you've ensured that you are connected to your customer:

1. Go to Inbox > Orders and Releases.


2. Expand the Search Filters section by clicking the arrow.


3. Enter the PO number in the Order Number field.


4. Select the Exact Number radio button below the PO number.


5. Click Search.

If you don’t have the order number, you can also search by customer by selecting the customer name in the dropdown.

Q: The purchase order my customer sent me is incorrect, how do I edit or update an order

A: Suppliers cannot directly make changes/edits/updates to a PO. Your customer can submit a change order with edits. The change order will have the same PO number but a new version number.

Q: How can I filter on more than one order status?

A: You can only filter orders by one status. However, with the new Ariba Network supplier portal (planned launch in Q2 2021), you will be able to configure your portal to see different order statuses. Stay tuned for more information on the new supplier portal!

If you don't find what you're looking for in this blog post, we have a robust help center with product information, tutorials and more to help you succeed on Ariba Network.

 

[former_member737535]

In regard to the question “Why can’t I find a purchase order?”  SAP/Ariba excels at providing the most basic of information.  This is also true of those of our customers that have mandated its use.  They provide the basics as if that’s all we’ll ever need.  However, this Q&A misses addressing a concern which I find is the biggest weakness of the Ariba platform.  This weakness is the ability (or heaven forbid “feature”) that allows for the easy creation of multiple (or “duplicate”) user accounts and ANIDs.  The issue we now frequently encounter is finding an order “even when my customer says they’ve sent it”.  What do you suggest we do when we still can’t find an order even after confirming the trading relationship and performing the search as suggested?

The customer insists they sent the order, we insist we can’t find it, Ariba support points me toward the customer’s “Champion” and the customer says that we should contact Ariba support.  We’re clearly not going to argue with our customer’s buyer, even though we’re convinced  they sent the order to a duplicate ANID or username.  The end result is that the advantages that Ariba is designed to provide go unrealized leaving customers and suppliers struggling to collaborate.

This oversimplified blog post just adds insult to injury for those of us that have been attempting to use Ariba for over a year, follow all the instructions and take all the training, yet without conditions improving.

[lorraineyao]

Hi Kendall,

 

It sounds like the duplicate ANID/user accounts is what may be causing the issue of orders not being found. If you know the ANIDs of the other accounts for your company, you can potentially link them. Details can be found here: https://support.ariba.com/Item/view/181922

 

[z6user]

Question: is it possible to have more than one delivery address within an order and determine the delivery address on line item level, e.g. two products on the same order, but the two products have to be shipped to two different locations.