Updates to order approval

Several enhancements have been made to order approval functionality.

Order for Approval Details widget

The Order for Approval Details widget is now available.

Requestors and approvers can use this widget to monitor the progress of an order request. A time line shows the current status of the request and a history of the actions that have been taken. The initials of the user who completed the action are displayed, along with the notes that the user entered when the action was completed.

Approvers can use this widget to approve or reject pending requests. They can also reorder approved, canceled or rejected requests.

Requestors can use this widget to cancel requests. They can also create new requests from an approved, canceled, or rejected request.

We recommend that you place this widget on a separate page in your website. After you create the new page, configure the Order Approval List widget and the Dashboard Orders for Approval Portlet widget to point to the page that contains the Order for Approval Details widget.

Order Approval List widget

The Order Approval List widget is now available.

Approvers can use the For Approvals tab on the widget to view a list of order requests that have been submitted to them.

Requestors can use the My Orders tab on the widget to view a list of the requests that they have submitted.

Both approvers and requestors can filter the list by request status, sort the list by any column except for the Requestor and Approver columns, and search the list. The can click the View Details link to open the order for approval details page.

We recommend that you place this widget on a separate page in your website. After you create the new page, configure the Dashboard Orders for Approval Portlet widget to point to the page that contains the Order Approval List widget.

Notification of canceled orders

This notification is sent when an order request is canceled by the order requestor. The notification is sent to the approvers.

Purchase Order Number

If the Purchase Order feature element is enabled for a user, then purchase order number information is displayed in the Dashboard Orders for Approval Portlet widget.

Checkout options

Requestors can now select the Pickup option during checkout. Previously, only the Delivery option was supported. Approvers can now use a credit card to pay for an order. Previously, only the invoice payment method was supported.

Order approval link on Order Details widget

The order approval number can now be displayed in the Order Details widget. To display the number, these criteria must be met:
  • In the Business Center, the Ordering.Order Approval Flow Enabled application property must be set to true.
  • The order approval flow must be used to place the order.

If both criteria are not met, then the order approval number is not displayed.

A new Order for Approval Details Target Page configuration is available for the Order Details widget. Use this configuration to specify the page to open when a user clicks the order approval number.

Activation

This section describes how to activate the features that are introduced in the March 2021 release.

For more information about adding order approval functions to the web shop, see "Order Approval" in the Infor Rhythm for Commerce Web Content and Functions Guide.

For information about setting up approvers and requestors, see "Setting up approvers" and "setting up requestors" in the Infor Rhythm for Commerce Customer Management Guide.

A site editor can complete the activation tasks in Rhythm Portal.
  1. In Rhythm Portal, set up an order and approval details page:
    1. Create a new page.
    2. Add the Order for Approval Details widget.
    3. Configure the widget.
  2. In Rhythm Portal, set up an order and approval list page:
    1. Create a new page.
    2. Add the Order Approval List widget.
    3. Configure the widget.
  3. In Rhythm Portal, update these widgets to point to the new order for approval details page and order approval list page:
    • Order Checkout. In the View Order Approval List page configuration, select the order approval list page. This page is opened when a requestor clicks the View Order button after submitting an order request.
    • Dashboard Orders for Approval Portlet. In the Order for Approval List Target Page configuration, select the order approval list page. This page is opened when a user clicks the View All link in the dashboard widget. In the Order for Approval Details Target Page configuration, select the order and approval details page. This page is opened when a user clicks an approval order number.
    • Order Details. In the Order for Approval Details Target Page configuration, select the order approval details page. This page is opened when a user clicks an approval order number.
  4. Use Rhythm Services to customize the notifications that are sent when an order request is canceled. This step is optional.

Recommended feature element settings for requestors and approvers

To ensure consistent display of information and fields during the ordering process, we recommend that you use the same order-related feature elements for roles that you assign to requestors and their approvers. Examples include, but are not limited to, these areas:
  • Delivery method
  • Record keeping
  • Estimated ship date