Configuring ION Workflow Integration

Integrating SunSystems with ION Workflow enables you to separate the activity of transaction entry and processing in SunSystems from the activity and responsibility of authorizing or approving the transactions. This gives you additional flexibility in the setup of your transaction control processes, providing an audit trail external to SunSystems for approvals, and allowing you to align the use of your business systems to the responsibilities held by key personnel. For example, a project manager might not require access to the SunSystems purchase order functionality, but might need to personally approve all project related purchases in ION Workflow.

Use Workflow Configuration (WFC) to set up an Integration Workflow Definition in SunSystems for one or more business processes. This is the SunSystems representation of the workflow definition that you set up in ION Workflow. In Financials you can set up workflow definitions for these business processes: Ledger Entry / Import, Account Allocation and Payment Authorization. In Order Fulfilment you can set up a workflow definition for the Purchase Order Approval process. You can create workflow definitions for different business processes; however, for each business process you cannot create more than one workflow definition.

Note: Authorization is used for Financials transactions or processes; Approval is used for Purchase Order transactions.

The SunSystems representation of the workflow definition applies to a specific business unit. If you use Business Unit Administration (BUA) to create a new business unit based on one that has been set up with workflow definitions, these workflow definitions are copied to the new business unit, but none of the workflow transactions or history log are copied.

Prerequisites

The following prerequisites must be fulfilled for SunSystems to work with ION Workflow:

  • An integration configuration must be created in SunSystems, with IONWorkflow selected as an integrated system. This must be done before SunSystems is configured in ION, so that the relevant database tables (Inbox and Outbox tables) are available in SunSystems before ION Workflow connects to SunSystems.
  • Infor ION must be installed and running, with ION Workflow enabled. Refer to the ION Installation Guide in the product documentation area of Infor Xtreme.
  • In ION Desk, SunSystems must be defined as an application. Specifically, in ION Desk:
    • a Connection Point must be created to the SunSystems Domain database.
    • a Document Flow must be defined to represent the routing of the ION Workflow business object documents (BODs) through ION.
    • you must add the ION Workflow document and set the Process verb to be sent from the application. The Logical Id by which ION recognizes and communicates with SunSystems is generated automatically by ION. The exact value for this Logical Id is configured in Configuration Manager (CGM). Select Integration > Common and specify Logical Id, for example, lid://infor.sunsys6.

For detailed instructions on using ION Desk, refer to the ION Connect Administration Guide in the documentation area of Infor Xtreme.

Note:  When you enter the Logical Id in Configuration Manager (CGM), the value that you enter must exactly match the Logical Id provided by ION when you define SunSystems as an application.
  • The SunSystems workflow definitions must be set up exactly corresponding to the ION Workflow definitions. The Sending parameters in SunSystems must exactly match the Input parameters in ION Workflow, and the Receiving parameters in SunSystems must exactly match the Output parameters in ION Workflow. These parameters are described in more detail below for SunSystems; refer also to the ION Administration Guide in the documentation section of Infor Xtreme.
    Note: A workflow definition can be created in ION Workflow before or after the corresponding SunSystems representation of it.
  • If you require Financials Authorizations to be delegated to ION Workflow, you must set up these options in SunSystems:
    • In Ledger Setup > Supplementary Requirements, set Authorization Required to yes.
    • Define at least one rejection code in Rejection Code (FJC) to be used as the default in the workflow definition.
    The Authorization Required setting on individual journal types is ignored by ION Workflow; that is, as long as the rest of the configuration is set up correctly, transactions authorized in ION Workflow are accepted by SunSystems regardless of journal type. If, in the future, you stop using ION Workflow for Financials authorizations, and start authorizing in SunSystems itself, then the Authorization Required setting on each individual journal type is observed, and therefore at that time you may need to verify that this check box is set appropriately on all relevant journal types.

    Similarly, you do not need to set up User Teams or Authorization Stages for ION Workflow; however, if authorizations are subsequently required in SunSystems without ION Workflow, then you will need to set those up at that time.

  • If you require Purchase Order Approval to be delegated to ION Workflow, purchase approvals must be set up in SunSystems at order header level, because the Purchase Order Approval workflow requires order headers; not individual transaction lines. To do this, on the Purchase Approval tab of Purchase Business Setup (PBS) select Order Approvals In Use, and in Purchase Types (PTS) > Stage setup, the Transaction Level must be set to Document for the stage that needs approval.
    Note: You can configure Purchase Order Approval to be delegated to ION Workflow at Order Entry stage or Order Confirmation stage; however, it is strongly recommended that Order Entry stage not be used for ION Workflow approval, unless the content of your Purchase Orders changes only infrequently. This is because SunSystems prohibits changes to the order while its approval is being sought using ION Workflow. After a purchase order is approved in ION Workflow, you should not change the content or details of the purchase order. If the purchase order must be modified, create a copy of the order for your changes, then delete the original order.
  • If you require Purchase Order Approvals to be delegated to ION Workflow, purchase approvals must be set up in SunSystems with only one approver.
  • In order to set up a surrogate approver user in SunSystems, select the relevant Workflow Approval User in the Security Policy in Security Console or User Manager.