This 26B cycle is dominated by some familiar themes: Redwood and AI! Below are the top new features for each area, which I’m most excited to introduce with my clients! If you don’t have time to read this short summary, the top two takeaways
-AI Agents for Self Service Requisitions make a great experience even better
-Contracts Module is undergoing a revolution, and for the better!
Self-Service Procurement
Chat-based requisition creation is now a class leading experience with Purchase Requisition Creation Guide. A requester can shop via natural language, add items to the cart, and submit a requisition. This includes highly requested features like having the AI Agent suggest the proper purchasing category. This is an update you cannot ignore! Requisition Agent
A common reason for not using Credit Lines on a PO is that they could not be listed on the requisition. Now it does! Great time to review if this feature will help your organization. Credit Lines on Req
Similarly now you can create an amount based line with a $0 dollar amount, so you can order and receive free things with your shipment. Perfect for those suppliers that put details like “warranty” on the invoice, which causes match issues! Allow a Value of Zero for Amount-based lines
Honorable mentions:
Search and transparency improve: multi-select filters with keyword searching and filter result counts appear in Shopping Search and My Requisitions. Search Filters
Additional supplier details are visible on requisition pages. Supplier View
Non workers can be requisition preparers. NonWorker Req
Shopping cart usability improves in three high-impact ways:
– Edit Description and Justification on the cart.
– Edit billing/distributions directly from the cart
– Navigate between line details from the cart
Procurement
Contracts in Redwood adds Terms plus holds at contract and line levels, a Notes feature, and Related Contracts. If you held off testing Redwood for Contracts in 26A, now is the time to enable and start! Contract Redwood
Contract amendments can now drive downstream purchasing updates automatically: after opt in, approved contract amendments can trigger automatic purchasing change order creation for a linked purchasing document (if original PO comes from same contract fulfillment!) Contract PO CO
The roadmap for Contracts is strong with significant AI features and Word add in redesign coming in 26C and beyond. Oracle has an early adopter program for some AI features. If you are a heavy Contracts user, we recommend requesting access now! Contract AI Early Adopter
Honorable mentions
Purchase Order Status Agent builds on the successful Req version, with similar features. PO Status Agent
Now Visual Builder extensibility rules apply to more agreement and acknowledgement attributes.
Inventory
Here’s one I didn’t see coming: you can add approval workflows for receipts! Neat for organizations that have decentralized receiving and want an extra layer of control. Receipt Approvals
Also new is the ability to add attachments or update DFFs after the fact on receipts, which better aligns with most organizations process flow. Receipt Attachments
If you are using Advanced Inventory, now you can use the Inventory Task Allocation Agent to automatically assign and reassign tasks. This will be a huge time saver—but it does require that you use HCM Workforce Scheduling module as well. Task Allocation Agent
The Inventory Shortages Assistant can both identify shortages, make a recommendation, and execute the recommendation after approval. Shortage Assistant
Honorable Mentions
Lot Management Advisor helps with more than just expiration, also split, merge, relocate and other lot attributes, and this is in addition to Lot Management page now in Redwood. Lot Agent
Recall Management gets the ability to select specific organizations and route to task owners without heavy rule maintenance. Recalls
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