In general terms, a purchase plan is a description of a larger procurement project. In addition to procurement objects, a purchase plan contains other information about the project that is necessary for conducting procurements and purchases. A purchase plan may involve one or several procurements or purchases (carried out in the Sourcing and Order modules, respectively), and purchase plans may be linked to other purchase plans. Just like an individual procurement, a procurement project may have its own schedule that can be published to a calendar. A purchase plan can be created using a plan template, or it can be created from the scratch without any template.
Purchase plans can be created by users with Planner or Administrator privileges. A plan can be created from the top navigation under ‘Plans’, from the front page, or from the purchase request processing page.
FIGURE: A new plan can be created from the top navigation under ‘Plans’ by clicking ‘New plan’
FIGURE: A new plan can be created on the Cloudia Planning home page by clicking ‘New plan’
FIGURE: A plan can also be created based on a purchase request.
To create a new plan, you will need to first select the plan template to be used. Plan templates have been created in the library by administrators (click here for instructions on how to create plan templates). It is also possible to create a plan without using a plan template.
- Select a template
- If you want to create a plan without a template, click ‘Create a plan without a template’
- Fill out the following fields for the plan:
- Name*
- Organisation unit*
- If you are not an administrator, select your own unit (or its subunit) as the unit
- Description
- Categories
- Subcategory (NOTE! The categories are maintained by administrators)
- Select the desired category from the list (NOTE! The categories are maintained by administrators)
- Estimated value
- Currency
- Click ‘Save’
FIGURE: Creating a new plan
When the plan has been saved in the system, it will appear in the list view, and its status will be ‘draft’. To continue editing the plan, click the edit button. In the view that appears, you can administer the plan basic details, responses to form fields, category data, items, attachments, messages and schedules and view the purchases and procurements carried out.
Basic information
Use the ‘Change status’ functionality to change the status of the plan. The status of the plan will not be updated automatically, but instead the user will need to manually update the plan status
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Draft: The user has created the plan
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Open: The plan has been created, but it awaits the planner’s actions
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In progress: The planner is currently processing the plan, but changes can still be made to it
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Closed: The plan has been processed and it does not call for any further action
Use the ‘Assign planner’ functionality to assign a planner for the plan from among the system users with planner privileges.
Use the ‘Edit’ feature to edit the plan basic information or add KPI information.
FIGURE: You can save additional information on a previously saved plan
Adding KPI information to the basic information (key performance indicator)
Information that is important for the monitoring of the plan can be added to be displayed in the plan basic information. The information can be details prompted with form fields or system KPI information if data has been entered in these fields. The system KPI information includes
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Estimated value
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Items to be acquired - quantity
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Items to be acquired - total value
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Plan schedule
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Number of procurements
To add KPI information to the basic information, click ‘Edit’ - ‘Add new’. The system KPI information and the plan form fields are listed in the plan information (form fields of the text type cannot be added as KPI information). Select a maximum of 3 KPI information items. Click an information item to move it to the adjacent box in the plan basic information. When you have added the desired KPIs, click ‘Save’.
FIGURE: Click ‘Add new’ to open a list of potential KPI information
Plan tabs
Summary
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Summary - displays the plan basic information, schedule, comments and notes in a concise form.
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Schedule – displayed to all those who process the plan
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Notes – only displayed to the user who made them
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Click the plus button to add a new note
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FIGURE: In the ‘Summary’ tab of the plan, you can engage in a discussion about the plan
Information
- Basic information - click ‘Edit’ to edit the basic information.
- Information - click the plus button to edit the form fields or add a new form field
- Select a form field from the drop-down menu (the form field library is maintained by administrators)
- You can also create a new field without using a template
- Enter a name* for the field, select its type* and enter a description (see the instructions for form fields for descriptions of the types)
- Where applicable, you can delete form field by selecting the field to be deleted and clicking ‘Delete’
- To edit the form field responses, click ‘Edit responses'
FIGURE: On the ‘Basic information’ tab, under ‘Information’, you can edit the form fields and their responses
Categories
The ‘Categories’ tab lists the categories selected for the plan concerned and their details.
Items
On the ‘Items’ tab, you can edit the plan items and create a purchase. For more detailed instructions on the ‘Items’ section, click here.
Attachments
To add attachments to the plan, drag and drop a file to the ‘Attachments’ section or select it from file manager. NOTE! The file size may not exceed 50 MB. You can add new links in the ‘Links’ section by clicking the plus button.
Messages
You can send messages to system users or other recipients. Any message you have started and sent will be listed in the list view. You can delete messages and edit any unsent (draft) messages.
To edit a message in the ‘Draft’ status, click the menu button.