OCI Catalog: the Supplier Shop as an External Catalog in SAP
What defines an OCI catalog, when it pays off and what the shop has to be able to do
An OCI catalog is a web shop or web catalog that a procurement system calls through the Open Catalog Interface. This entry compares it with static catalogs, describes the requirements for the supplier shop and the SAP OCI catalog integration, and shows how procurement stays in control.
- OCI catalog or static catalog
- Requirements for the supplier shop
- Integration into SAP
- Control by procurement
What Is an OCI Catalog?
An OCI catalog is an external web catalog, usually a supplier's online shop, that is called from a procurement system through SAP's Open Catalog Interface. The product data stays with the supplier; only the items a user has selected and transferred in the shop reach the procurement system.
The OCI Catalog from the Buyer's and the Supplier's Perspective
For procurement, an OCI catalog is one more entry in the catalog selection of the procurement system. One click leads to the supplier's shop, which already shows the agreed assortment and customer-specific prices. The session does not end with an order in the shop but with a transfer of the items into the buyer's own shopping cart or purchase requisition.
For the supplier, the same catalog is its shop with one additional capability: it accepts users through parameters and returns the cart in OCI format. One shop can serve many customers and show each of them its own assortment and terms.
OCI catalogs are typical for indirect demand and C-parts with large, frequently changing assortments: tools and operating supplies, standard parts, personal protective equipment, office and laboratory supplies or IT accessories. In tool and mold making, too, standard components and cutting tools are often sourced through the OCI shops of manufacturers and distributors.
OCI Catalog or Static Catalog?
The alternative to an OCI catalog is the static catalog: the supplier delivers its product data as a file, for example in BMEcat or CSV format, and procurement loads it into its own catalog system after checking it.
| Criterion | OCI catalog (punchout) | Static catalog (import) |
|---|---|---|
| Data storage | With the supplier | In the customer's catalog system |
| Currency of data | Prices and availability as current as the shop | As current as the last version delivered and approved |
| Assortment size | Very large assortments without data transfer | Practical for defined, negotiated assortments |
| Configurable items | The shop's configurators and accessory logic can be used | Only as predefined variants |
| Search across suppliers | Search takes place in the individual shop | All items comparable in one common search |
| Control over content | Supplier changes assortment and prices itself; control through contract and spot checks | Every catalog version is checked and approved before publication |
| Effort for the customer | One-off setup of the interface | Ongoing import and approval of updates |
Most companies run both forms side by side. Negotiated core assortments with fixed prices are handled as static catalogs, broad assortments and configurable products as OCI catalogs.
What a Shop Needs to Serve as an OCI Catalog
- Login through the parameters passed, without the user having to enter a password
- Customer-specific assortment and customer-specific prices per account
- A transfer function in place of checkout that posts the cart in OCI format to the return address
- Return values in the customer's units of measure and material groups, or in an agreed classification
- Clean separation of parallel sessions when many users share the same technical login
- Availability over HTTPS and a test environment for alignment
SAP OCI Catalog Integration
In SAP SRM, external catalogs appear in the shopping cart. SAP ERP and S/4HANA can call OCI catalogs from the purchase requisition, so the returned items are created directly as requisition items. In every case the catalog is stored once as a web service with its call structure and assigned to the authorized users.
The more supplier shops are connected, the more often an upstream catalog shop is used: the ERP then knows only one catalog, and that catalog bundles static catalogs and punchout shops in one interface and one cart.
How Procurement Stays in Control
Because the supplier maintains content and prices of an OCI catalog itself, procurement needs different control points than with a static catalog. Proven measures are contractually defined assortments and pricing rules, assignment of catalogs to user groups, approval rules by order value and regular spot checks of the prices returned.
Used well, OCI catalogs steer demand into regulated channels: people who can order conveniently from the contracted supplier within the procurement system are less likely to bypass procurement.
Related Terms and Matching Ovenca Modules
- OCI (Open Catalog Interface)
The standard behind the OCI catalog, with flow and field example.
- Setting up the OCI interface
The technical integration of a shop step by step.
- Punchout catalog
The umbrella term for OCI and cXML catalogs.
- Catalog management
Import, check and approve static catalogs via CSV or BMEcat.
- Catalog shop
Imported catalogs and punchout shops in one search and one cart.
- Supplier portal
Suppliers maintain catalog data themselves and coordinate changes with procurement.
The OCI Catalog in Four Points
What matters in selection and operation
Data stays with the supplier
Assortment, prices and availability are maintained in the shop. The customer does not take over product data, only selected items.
- No catalog import needed
- Customer-specific prices in the shop
- Large assortments possible
Ordering stays with the customer
No order is placed in the shop. The items travel back to the procurement system and go through account assignment and approval there.
- Transfer instead of checkout
- Approval by your own rules
- Purchase order from your own system
Complement to the static catalog
OCI catalogs suit broad and configurable assortments; static catalogs suit negotiated core assortments.
- Combine both forms
- Consider search across catalogs
- Weigh the maintenance effort
Control through rules
Contractual assortments, catalog assignment per user group and approvals by value replace the review of individual catalog versions.
- Catalog access per user group
- Value limits in approval
- Spot checks on prices
Static Catalogs and OCI Catalogs in One Shop
Ovenca brings imported catalogs and punchout shops together in one catalog shop, so requesters need only one entry point.
- Central punchout cart
- Items from several supplier shops and from imported catalogs end up in one shared cart.
- Import and approve catalogs
- Static catalogs enter the system via CSV or BMEcat, are validated and can only be ordered from once procurement has approved them.
- Punchout access per user
- Permission management determines which users see which punchout catalogs.
- Multi-level approval
- Whatever the catalog type, every cart runs through the same multi-level approval process.
- Involve suppliers
- Through the supplier portal, suppliers maintain their catalog data themselves; changes are coordinated with procurement.
- Integration with SAP and other ERPs
- Ovenca connects to your ERP via OCI, cXML or API.
OCI Catalog: Questions and Answers
Related pages
Bring OCI Catalogs and Your Own Catalogs Together
We show you how requesters reach all approved catalogs and supplier shops through one catalog shop.