Glossary

Punchout catalog

A punchout catalog lets a buyer’s procurement system use a supplier’s online shop. The buyer jumps into the shop, fills a cart, and the cart returns to the buyer’s system, where the order is placed.

In short

  • A punchout catalog connects a buyer’s procurement system, such as SAP, to a supplier’s online shop. The buyer jumps from the procurement system into the shop (“punches out”), fills a cart there, and the cart returns to the procurement system.

  • Two protocols are common. OCI (Open Catalog Interface) comes from SAP, and cXML PunchOut is associated with Ariba. The BMEcat specification names both as such protocols.

  • OCI covers only the catalogue and the cart. Orders, order confirmations, ship notices and invoices are not part of OCI.

Example

A facility manager’s buyer opens the wholesaler’s shop from SAP, chooses 50 LED panels and 50 drivers, and transfers the cart. SAP creates a purchase requisition with the wholesaler’s article numbers, units and prices. After approval, the purchase order goes to the wholesaler by e-mail, EDI or openTRANS, not through OCI.

The two protocols return the cart in different ways. With cXML, the procurement application first sends a PunchOutSetupRequest to the supplier, through a network hub. When the user is done, the supplier’s site returns a PunchOutOrderMessage with the cart contents by HTML form submission. With OCI, the shop returns each cart line as a set of fields with an index per line, such as NEW_ITEM-DESCRIPTION[1].

What to watch for

  • Check the units and article numbers in the cart before it is sent back. They become the order lines in the buyer’s system.

  • Agree which protocol and which version the buyer’s system expects. OCI and cXML are different protocols.

  • A transferred cart is not yet an order. The buyer’s system approves it and places the order, which travels later on a separate channel. Agree that channel with the buyer before the first cart is transferred.

Not to be confused with

  • IDS Connect: the same idea between a wholesaler’s web shop and installer software.

  • BMEcat catalogue file: a product catalogue that is sent once and is not live. A punchout catalog is a link to the shop itself.

Cart lines returned by OCI (simplified)
NEW_ITEM-DESCRIPTION[1]=LED-Panel 620 x 620 mm, 4000 K
NEW_ITEM-QUANTITY[1]=50
NEW_ITEM-UNIT[1]=PCE
NEW_ITEM-PRICE[1]=48.90
NEW_ITEM-CURRENCY[1]=EUR

Related terms

IDS interface (IDS Connect)

The IDS interface, also called IDS Connect, links a wholesaler's web shop with installer software in the German plumbing and heating (SHK) trade. The installer fills a shopping cart in the shop and sends it back into their software.

openTRANS

openTRANS is an XML standard for business documents in the order process, such as orders, order responses, dispatch notifications and invoices. It is built on BMEcat, the format for product catalogues.

Purchase order (PO)

A purchase order (PO) is the buyer's document that orders goods or services from a supplier. It states the PO number, the buyer, the ship-to address, the line items, the requested dates and the terms.

Unit of measure (UoM)

A unit of measure (UoM) is the unit in which a quantity is counted or measured, such as piece, metre, square metre, kilogram or pack. Every order line, LV position and catalogue article has one.

Sources

Updated

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