Universal Business Language v2.0

One of the following identifiers may be used to identify each Item (for example, a product):

The Item may be further distinguished by the specification of Measurement(s) or Physical Attribute(s). This enables specification of the following kinds of item:

Certain Items may be identified and ordered as individual, unique objects, for example, a specific car rather than a make and model of a car. This form of identification may also be needed for product tracing (e.g., perishable goods) or because of the nature of the commodity (e.g., used, collectible, specialized, or rare).

In data modeling terms, an Item Instance is an extension of an Item.

For any given Item, price ranges by amount, quantity, location, etc., are specified by the Seller during the sourcing stage. They are not repeated back to the Seller during Ordering; only the active price is specified.

In some cases, the Buyer may not know the Item Price, in which case it is not specified. This makes a detailed response from the Seller necessary; see Order Response.

Although ordered items may include Hazardous items, it is not necessary to specify related information at the order stage. The Buyer may not be aware of the nature of the Item. Indication of the Hazardous nature of the Item, and any relevant information, would be indicated in the Despatch Advice and Transportation documents.

In UBL, a party is defined as an individual, a group, or a body having a role in a business function.

Dependent on the business process, a Party may play various roles in the document exchange.

Some textual components, such as Notes and Description, may be specified in several languages. Each should be a separate occurrence of the component, using the language attribute to define its presentation. However, multiple occurrences of the same textual components should not be in the same language.

In the UBL supply chain processes, two main actors, Customer and Supplier, represent the key organizations or individuals involved in the processes. Each of these actors may play various roles. Processes may also involve supplementary roles that may be provided by different parties.

The actual role undertaken is dependent on the context of use. For example, the Despatch Party and Delivery Party as applied to the Procurement process may differ in the Transportation process. In other words, whether the Consignor in a Transportation process is actually equal to the Despatch Party or Seller in the Procurement process depends on the specific circumstances.

The following table contains a description of the typical roles for the actors known as Party, Customer Party, and Supplier Party.

A Catalogue is defined as a document produced by a party in the procurement chain that describes items and prices.

Catalogue provision is the case where a Provider sends information regarding items available for purchase to a Receiver. This may be on request or unsolicited.

Because they are only potential purchasers, a Receiver may never become a Customer Party.

4.3.1.2. Create Catalogue

The process of creating a Catalogue is shown in the following diagram.

Figure 2. Create Catalogue Process

4.3.1.3. Update Catalogue Item Specification

The process of updating a Catalogue Item Specification is shown in the following diagram.

Figure 3. Update Item Specification Process

4.3.1.4. Update Catalogue Pricing

The process of updating Catalogue pricing is shown in the following diagram.

Figure 4. Update Catalogue Pricing Process

4.3.1.5. Delete Catalogue

Deletion of a Catalogue is shown in the following diagram.

Figure 5. Delete Catalogue Process

Customer initiated sourcing is the case where the Originator asks for a quotation, as shown in the following diagram.

Figure 6. Customer Initiated Sourcing Process

Punchout applications are a technological innovation whereby an Originator is able to directly access a Seller’s application from within their own procurement application.

Figure 7. Punchout Sourcing Process

The Originators leave (“punch out” from) their system and interact with the Seller’s catalogue to locate and order products, while their application transparently gathers pertinent information.

While conceptually the punchout request is a form of Request for Quote, the exchange transaction is tightly coupled to the specific catalogue application and considered outside the scope of UBL 2.0.

The Order may specify allowance and charge instructions (e.g., freight, documentation, etc.) that identify the type of charge and who pays which charges. The Order may be placed “on account” against a trading credit account held by the Seller, or against a credit/debit card account, or a direct debit agreement. The Order allows for an overall currency defining a default for all pricing and also a specific currency to be used for Invoicing. Within an Order, additional currencies may be specified both for individual item pricing and for any allowances or charges.

Trade discount may be specified at the Order level. The Buyer may not know the trade discount, in which case it is not specified. This makes a detailed response from the Seller necessary; see Order Response (5.4.3).

The Order provides for multiple Order Lines.

The Order may specify delivery terms, while the Order Line may provide instructions for delivery.

The Buyer may indicate potential alternatives that are acceptable.

The Order Response Simple is the means by which the Seller confirms receipt of the Order from the Buyer, indicating either commitment to fulfil without change or that the Order has been rejected.

Proposed changes to an Order by the Seller are accomplished through the full Order Response document.

The Order Response proposes to replace the original Order. It reflects the entire new state of an order transaction. It also is the means by which the Seller confirms or supplies Order-related details to the Buyer that were not available to, or specified by, the Buyer at the time of ordering. These may include:

The Seller may advise on replacements or substitutes which will be made, or changes necessary, using the Order Response.

The Buyer may change an established Order in two ways, subject to the legal contract or trading partner agreement: first, by sending an Order Change, or second, by sending an Order Cancellation (see 5.4.5) followed by a new, complete replacement Order.

An Order Change reflects the entire current state of an order transaction.

Buyers may initiate a change to a previously accepted order for various reasons, such as changing ordered items, quantity, delivery date, ship-to address, etc. Suppliers may accept or reject the Order Change using either Order Response or Order Response Simple.

At any point of the process, a Buyer may cancel an established order transaction using the Order Cancellation document. Legal contracts, trading partner agreements, and business rules will restrict at what point an Order Cancellation will be ignored (e.g., at the point of manufacture or the initiation of the delivery process). Given the agreements and rules, an Order Cancellation may or may not be an automated business transaction. The terms and conditions of contract formation for business commitments will dictate which, if any, of these restrictions or guidelines will apply.

The Despatch Advice is sent by the Despatch Party to the Delivery Party to confirm shipment of items.

The Despatch Advice provides for two situations:

Additionally, in either case, the Despatch Advice may advise:

Despatch Lines of the Despatch Advice need not correspond one-to-one with Order Lines, and are linked by a reference. The information structure of the Despatch Advice may result in multiple Despatch Lines from one Order Line. Equally, partial despatch may result in some Order Lines not being matched by any Line in a Despatch Advice.

Within a Despatch Advice, an Item may also indicate the Country of Origin and the Hazardous nature of the Item.

The Receipt Advice is sent by the Delivery Party to the Despatch Party to confirm receipt of items and is capable of reporting shortages or damaged items.

Figure 10. Fulfilment with Receipt Advice Process

The Receipt Advice provides for two situations. For ease of processing claimed receipt against claimed delivery, it must be organised in the same way as the corresponding Despatch Advice:

The Receipt Advice allows the Delivery Party to state any shortages from the claimed despatch quantity and to state any quantities rejected for a given reason.

The Invoice is normally issued on the basis of one despatch event triggering one invoice. An Invoice may also be issued for pre-payment on a whole or partial basis. The possibilities are:

The Invoice only contains the information that is necessary for invoicing purposes. It does not reiterate any information already established in the Order, Order Change, Order Response, Despatch Advice, or Receipt Advice that is not necessary when invoicing. If necessary, the Invoice refers to the Order, Despatch Advice, or Receipt Advice by a Reference for those documents.

Taxation on the Invoice allows for compound taxes, the sequence of calculation being implied by the sequence of information repeated in the data stream (e.g., Energy tax, with VAT — Value Added Tax — superimposed). The OASIS TaxML Technical Committee (http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=tax) is developing UBL implementation profiles for various tax regimes, such as those required by the European Community.

Charges may be specified either as a lump sum or by percentage applied to the whole Invoice value prior to calculation of taxes. Such charges cover:

Each Invoice Line refers to any related Order Line(s) and may also refer to the Despatch Line and/or Receipt Line.

Traditional billing is where the supplier invoices the customer when the goods are delivered or the services provided.

In this case, the invoice may be created at the time of despatch or when the Delivery Party acknowledges that the goods have been received (using a Receipt Advice).

When there are discrepancies between the Despatch Advice, Receipt Advice, and/or the Invoice and the goods actually received, or the goods are rejected for quality reasons, the customer may send an Application Response or a Debit Note to the supplier. The supplier may then issue a Credit Note or another Invoice as required.

A Credit Note or Debit Note may also be issued in the case of retrospective price change.

Credit Notes or Debit Notes may be also issued after the Billing collaboration (as part of the Payment collaboration).

4.6.2.1. Billing using Credit Notes

Billing using Credit Notes is shown in the following diagram.

Figure 11. Billing with Credit Note Process

When using Credit Notes, the Supplier (in their Accounting role) is responsible for specifying the tax requirements.

4.6.2.2. Billing Using Debit Notes

Billing using Debit Notes is shown in the following diagram.

Figure 12. Billing with Debit Note Process

When using Debit Notes, both the Supplier (in their Accounting role) and the Customer (in their Accounting role) are responsible for providing taxation information.

A self billing process is where a Customer “invoices” itself, in the name and on behalf of the Supplier, and provides the Supplier with a copy of the self billed invoice.

4.6.3.1. Self Billing Using Credit Notes

Self Billing using Credit Notes is shown in the following diagram.

Figure 13. Self Billing with Credit Note Process

If the Supplier finds that the Self Billed Invoice is incorrect, e.g., wrong quantities or wrong prices, or if the goods have not been invoiced at all, it may send an Application Response or a Credit Note to the Customer. The customer may then verify whether the adjustment is acceptable or not and consequently issue another Self Billed Invoice or a Self Billed Credit Note.

4.6.3.2. Self Billing Using Self Billed Credit Notes

Self Billing using Self Billed Credit Notes is shown in the following diagram.

Figure 14. Self Billing with Self Billed Credit Note Process

When using Self Billed Credit Notes, the Customer is raising the Self Billed Credit Note in the name and on behalf of the Supplier. Therefore the Supplier and the Customer are still both responsible for providing taxation information.

An extension of the Billing process is that of Freight Billing. This represents the billing process between the Transport Service Buyer and Transport Service Provider through the use of an Invoice for freight charges.

The Transport Service Provider initiates the process of billing the Transport Service Buyer for logistic services.

The Freight Invoice lists the charges incurred in order to fulfill the agreed service.

Figure 15. Freight Billing Process

A Reminder may be used to notify the Customer of accounts due to be paid.

Figure 16. Reminder for Payment Process

A Statement of Account may be used to notify the Accounting Customer of the status of the billing.

Figure 18. Statement Process

Forwarding Instructions are normally used by any party who gives instructions for the transportation services required for a consignment of goods (the Transport Service Buyer) to any party who is contracted to provide the transportation services (called the Transport Service Provider). Forwarding Instructions may also be used by any party who requests a booking of shipment space to be made for the transportation services required for a consignment of goods to any party who will provide the underlying transportation services. The parties who issue this document are commonly referred to as the shipper, consignee, or consignor, while the parties who receive this document are forwarders, carriers, shipping agents, etc.

Forwarding Instructions may also be issued by a freight forwarder or shipping agent in their capacity as a Transport Service Buyer. This document may be used to arrange for the transportation:

A Bill of Lading is issued by the party who provides the physical transportation services (e.g., carrier) to the party who gives instructions for the transportation services (shipper, consignor, etc.) stating the details of the transportation, charges, and terms and conditions under which the transportation service is provided.

It may also be issued by the party who acts as an agent for the carrier or other agents to the party who gives instructions for the transportation services (shipper, consignor, etc.) stating the details of the transportation, charges, and terms and conditions under which the transportation service is provided but does not provide the physical transportation service.

A Bill of Lading corresponds to the information on the Forwarding Instructions. It is used for ocean or river modes of transport.

A Bill of Lading may serve as a contractual document between the parties for the transportation service. The document evidences a contract of carriage by sea and the acceptance of responsibility for the goods by the carrier, by which the carrier undertakes to deliver the goods against surrender of the document. A provision in the document that the goods are to be delivered to the order of a named person, or to order, or to bearer, constitutes such an undertaking.

A Waybill is issued by the party who provides the physical transportation services to the party who gives instructions for the transportation services (shipper, consignor, etc.). It states the details of the transportation, charges, and terms and conditions under which the transportation service is provided.

Unlike a Bill of Lading, a Waybill is not negotiable and cannot be assigned to a third party. It is issued as a cargo receipt and is not required to be surrendered at the destination in order to pick up the cargo. This simplifies the documentation procedures between a transport service buyer and a transport service seller.

A Packing List is normally issued by the Consignor. It states the distribution of goods in individual packages. Based on this detail, the party who provides the logistic services will make arrangement for the transportation of the goods.

Four standard code list schemas imported for use in UBL 2.0 are included in the xsd/common directory. These are defined by UN/CEFACT for use with their Unqualified Data Type schema and should not be modified.