How To Setup And Use AME

For Purchase Requisition Approvals

Purchase Requisitions can be routed for approval using the AME Approval Management
Engine.  This whitepaper describes how to setup AME for use with requisition approvals,
and shows how a requisition approval list is built based on the AME setup.  Approvers in
the AME based approver list are assigned to the requisition based on the AME rules setup
for the Purchase Requisition Approval transaction.  Similar setup can be done for
Requester Change Order Approval and for Internal Requisition Approval, although those
are not specifically covered in this whitepaper. The screenshots provided are based on
11i.AME.B, and some of the navigation details are specific to 11i.AME.B.  However,
most of the details provided are applicable to 11i.AME.A and higher including R12.

Assign AME Roles and Responsibilities 

AME responsibilities in 11i.AME.A are assigned directly to the users.  However, In R12
or 11i.AME.B and higher, AME responsibilities are assigned indirectly to users through
roles.  The roles are assigned to the users by the SYSADMIN user using the User
Management responsibility.  Once the roles are assigned, the AME responsibilities are
automatically available to the users without specifically assigning the
AME responsibilities to the users.  Here are steps to assign the roles:
1. Login as System Administrator user

2. Select the responsibility "User Management". (NOTE: User Management data is

stored in the UMX schema)
3. Select "Users" menu option

4. Search for the user to whom you wish to grant AME roles

5. In the results table, click on update icon (shown in screenshot above)

6. In the update user page, user details can be seen along with a list of roles available
to user

Click on "Assign Roles" (shown in screenshot above)

7. Search for Approval% and Select roles from the resulting LOV.  Choose the roles
that are applicable (proper authority) for the user, and click the Select button.
 8. Specify justification and relevant dates for the newly assigned roles, and
click Apply to assign the roles to the user.

Reference <<Note 413300.1>> Oracle Approvals Management Not Enabled? What Does
It Take To Enable It?

Grant Transaction Type Access to Users

AME restricts access to transaction types using Data Security. Grant users access to the
transaction types using the Grants page. Set up user access as follows:

1. Navigate to the Personal Home Page.

2. Select Functional Administrator Responsibility 

3. From the Grants page, press on the Create Grant button

4. Create a grant with the following information:
             · Name <specify a descriptive name>
             · Grantee Type = Specific User
             · Grantee = <The user which you just created>
             · Object = AME Transaction Types
 5. Click Next and select the Object Data Context
             · Data Context Type = All Rows

6. Click Next to define the object parameters and Select Set

             · Set = AME Calling Applications

7. Click Next, review the setups and then Finish the process.

Review and Modify AME Setup 

AME is designed to provide approval logic for many transaction types.  Transaction
types used for Purchase Requisitions include the following:  Purchase Requisition
Approval, Internal Requisition Approval, and Requester Change Order Approval.  This
whitepaper focuses on Purchase Requisition Approval, however, many of the concepts
are applicable to the other two requisition transaction types as well. Likewise, some
examples and comments in this paper are written in iProcurement context, but the same
AME concepts apply to core apps requisitions also.

1.  Navigate to the Approvals Management Business Analyst, Standard responsibility

2.  Choose the Business Analyst Dashboard menu from the responsibility (see image
above)
3.  Use the Transaction Type LOV to search and select the transaction type = Purchase
Requisition Approval

4.  Use the links on the right in the Approval Process Setup region to set the components
(Attributes, Conditions, Action Types, Approver Groups) and rules, or to use the test
workbench in AME.

1. Action Types
1. An action type is a collection of actions having similar
functionality.  Every action belongs to an action type.  Action
 types are enabled or disabled for a particular transaction
type.  AME may give an error when attempting to enable an action
type for a transaction if the transaction is not designed to allow that
action type.  Reference <<Note 293315.1>> 11.5.10 FAQ for
Approvals Management (AME) Integration For iProcurement and
Purchasing - for a list of action types allowed for requisition
transactions in AME.  In addition, <<Note 404152.1>> Release
Content Documents for E-Business Suite R12 - provides a link to
the Procurement Family RCD which clarifies (Section 3.4.2.14)
that requisition approval with Oracle Approvals Management
(AME) in R12 allows use of Position Hierarchy based Approvals,
Parallel Approvals, and Support for FYI Notifications.

2. To disable or enable action types for the transaction, select the

Action Types link

3. The Action Types page shows the action types that are currently
enabled for the transaction type (Purchase Requisition Approval). 
Use the Previous and Next links to scroll through the list of
enabled action types.  Select the Use Existing Action Type button
to see other pre-defined action types available in AME.  Some of
these may or may not be applicable to the currently select
transaction type; AME will give an error if the user tries to add a
non-relevant action type for the selected transaction type.
4. Navigate to HR responsibility -> Work Structures -> Job ->
Description - to assign a Level (Approval Authority) to a Job.

Query up the Job and enter the appropriate Job Level in the
Approval Authority field.

5. In AME, select any or all of the following Action Types for JOB
BASED approvals if applicable for your business requirements:

1. absolute job level / chains of authority based on absolute

job level

2. final approver only / chains of authority containing only the

final job-level approver

3. manager then final approver / chain of authority includes

requestor's manager and then the final approver
 4. relative job level / chains of authority based on relative job
level

5. supervisory level / chains of authority based on number of

supervisory levels

6. In AME, select any or all of the following Action types for

APPROVER GROUP approvals if applicable for your business
requirements:

1. post-chain-of-authority approvals / group approvals after

the chain of authority

2. pre-chain-of-authority approvals / group approvals before

the chain of authority

3. approval-group chain of authority / chain of authority

includes an approval group

7. In AME, select any of all of the following Action types for

POSITION BASED approvals (Only in R12 and higher) if
applicable for your business requirements

1. hr position / chains of authority based on a particular HR

position

2. hr position level / chains of authority based on HR

positions

2. Attributes

1. Attributes are the base element for an AME Rule.  Attribute values
are retrieved from the Oracle EBusiness Suite Applications
database or derived from values in the database.  AME is seeded
with attributes relevant to the transaction type, and the user can
create new attributes in AME for use in AME rules.
2. Select the Attributes link to view or add attributes for the selected
transaction type

3. Use the Previous and Next links to scroll through the existing
attributes.  Some of the attributes relevant to Purchase Requisition
Approval include ITEM_CATEGORY, ITEM_NUMBER,  and
REQUISITION_TOTAL as well as other attributes.  When AME
approvals is enabled for purchase requisitions, these values are
retrieved for the relevant requisition while navigating through
iProcurement checkout or core apps requisition create, and AME
uses this information to determine the appropriate AME rule(s) to
use.

4. In addition to the seeded attributes, a customized attribute can be

created.  DAVE_CATEGORY_SEGMENT is an example of this. 
This attribute uses a query to capture SEGMENT1 of the Item
Category flexfield.  The Item Category flexfield may be setup to
use one or more segments; this customized AME attribute captures
only SEGMENT1 of the flexfield.  This allows the users to setup
conditions and rules that are dependent on a certain value in
SEGMENT1 of the ITEM Category used on the requisition.
NOTE: The new attribute DAVE_CATEGORY_SEGMENT1
 uses the same sql query as the seeded ITEM_CATEGORY AME
attribute, except it selects mck.segment1 rather than
mck.concatenated_segments.

3. Conditions

1. Conditions identify values and value ranges for some or all of the
attributes available. AME rules refer to these conditions to
determine if a particular rule is applicable for the specific
document (requisition) being approved. For example, an AME
rule can be setup to require certain approvers if $0 USD <=
requisition total < $1000 USD. Since REQUISITION_TOTAL is
a seeded attribute, the user can define a condition $0 USD <=
requisition total < $1000 USD, and then use this condition in a rule
to require certain approvers for the requisition. The rule cannot
refer to this condition until it is defined in AME Conditions for the
Purchase Requisition Approval transaction type.
2. Select the Conditions link from the AME Business Analyst
Dashboard after specifying the Purchase Requisition Approval
transaction type.

Selecting the Conditions link will display the existing conditions

defined for the transaction type, and also allow the user to create
new conditions for the transaction.

3. Click the Create button to create a new condition

4. To define the new condition, specify whether the condition

is ordinary, or an exception condition (which can only be
used in an exception rule – see the online Help for
details). Use the Attribute LOV to choose the attribute on
which the condition is based. The condition will specify a
value or range of values for the attribute, so the attribute
must be selected before the value(s) can be defined.
 5. Define the allowed value or value range for the selected
attribute. Click Apply to complete the condition definition.

4. Approver Groups

1. Approver Groups are optional. Setup Approver Groups if

additional approvers are required for particular conditions,
or to specify a dynamic sql query for additional approvers.
The rules defined for the transaction can be based on
Approver Groups, Jobs defined in HR setup, or Positions
defined in HR setup (only in R12); the rules may also use
a combination of Job, Position, and Approver Group basis.
(See the Rules details later in this paper for more
information about the rules)
2. Select the Approver Groups link from the AME Business
Analyst Dashboard.

3. View and edit existing approver groups, or Click the

Create button to create a new approver group.

4. When creating the approval group specify all the

mandatory values.

1. Give a name and description to the approval group.

2. Specify an order number (order number of this

approver group relative to other approver groups).

3. Choose a voting regime – only Serial is supported

for Purchase Requisition Approval in 11.5.10 and
11.5.9. R12 does allow other voting regimes that
use parallel routing.

4. Choose Static if approvers will be selected when

defining the approval group, or choose Dynamic if a
sql query is used to dynamically find the approvers
for this approver group when the requisition
approval transaction is being processed.

5. Click the Add Another Row button to add approvers

to the approval group now.
 6. Click Apply to save the approver group

5. The approval group members can be added as additional

approvers to the normal chain of command approvers
generated by AME.

5. Rules

1. Define rules to specify approvers that should be included

in the approval list under specific conditions for the
requisition approval transaction.

2. Select the Rules link from the AME Dashboard after

selecting the transaction type – Purchase Requisition
Approval
3. Review the list of existing rules already defined for the
transaction

4. Select the Create button to create a new rule for the

transaction. (Optionally, if there already exists a similar
rule choose the Duplicate icon or the Use Existing Rule
button).

5. Step 1 of 4: Specify a name for the new rule and choose

the rule type and effective dates.

Rule types are explained in the AME online help pages

along with examples. The most common types are List
Creation, Pre List Approver Group and Post List Approver
Group. (NOTE: Some rule types may not be available if
the corresponding action types have not been assigned to
 the transaction – Purchase Requisition Approval. Use the
Action Types feature to add or remove action types for the
transaction)

6. Step 2 of 4: Specify one or more conditions that activate

the rule. The Conditions are defined in the AME Setup,
and they may be seeded conditions or user defined
conditions.

7. Step 3 of 4: Choose the Action Type and then choose a

specific action. The list of actions available is dependent
on the Action Type selected. The actions are related to
Jobs, Positions (in R12), or Approver Groups. (Action
Types are discussed previously in this whitepaper)
 8. Step 4 of 4: Review the rule details and click Finish to
complete the rule setup, or click Back to make changes.

6. Test Workbench

1. Use the Test Workbench to determine which AME Rule(s)

apply to a specific requisition, or to determine which AME
Rule(s) apply for an adhoc combination of values specified at the
time of the test.
Select the Test Workbench link from the AME Dashboard

1. Specific Requisition test

1. Click the Run Real Transaction Test button.

2. Specify the value of REQUISITION_HEADER_ID

from PO_REQUISITION_HEADERS_ALL as the
 Transaction Id value. Click Go to see the AME
rules that apply to the requisition.

3. Adjust the rules setup to cause rules to be called

differently based on the business requirements.

2. Adhoc test

1. Click the Create button on the Test Workbench

page

2. Specify Name and Description for the test, and

specify values for pertinent attributes (e.g.
Requisition Total = $100 USD)

3. Click the Run Test Case button to see the applicable

AME rules, and the resulting AME approval list
that will be built based on the conditions specified
for the attributes.
Enable AME for Requisition Approval 

1. Navigate to Purchasing responsibility

2. Setup / Purchasing / Document Types
3. Select Purchase Requisition (or Internal Requisition) as the document type
4. Specify Approval Transaction Type = PURCHASE_REQ to enable AME
approvals for Purchase Requisitions in the current operating unit

Test the Functionality 

1. Create a requisition in Core Apps Purchasing or iProcurement and verify that the
Approval List is built per the AME rules based on the conditions present on the
requisition attributes.

View the AME Setup

1. Click the Setup Report link in the Quick Links section of the Dashboard
2. Select the appropriate transaction type (Example: Purchase Requisition
Approval) and click Go.

3. Click the Printable Page button to view the complete setup for the selected
transaction type (Attributes, Conditions, Rules, Approval Groups, and etc.)

4. Compare the AME setup to the requisition attributes and approval list generated
for a specific requisition, or compare the AME setup to the business requirements.
NOTE: This document is not considered formal documentation of the product, but is a
useful tool for applying the functionality described.