Skip to main content
ExLibris
  • Subscribe by RSS
  • Ex Libris Knowledge Center

    Processing Claims

    Translatable
    To process claims using the Claim page, you must have one of the following roles:
    • Purchasing Operator
    • Purchasing Manager
    Claims are created for PO lines when an order does not arrive or does not become activated by the expected date. Claim notifications to vendors can be sent for electronic or physical PO lines, as explained below. In many cases, multiple claims from a single vendor can be combined in a single notification. 
    The following diagram provides an overview of the processing of claims:
    Processing of Claims flow chart
    If a PO line is overdue, you can view it on the Claim page (Acquisitions > Purchase Order Lines > Claim). You can also open this page by selecting Order Lines with claims in the Tasks List in the persistent menu (see Tasks in the Task List).
    Claims page.jpg

    PO Lines Sent to Claims Task List According to Type

    Several fields from both the PO line and the item work together to determine when a PO line is sent to the Claims Task List. The fields associated with the PO line (the Vendor Information area of the Summary tab in Manually Creating a PO Line) and with the item are displayed below.
    PO Line Type Claims
    For one-time physical PO lines
    • Expected receipt after ordering (days) - After the PO line is sent, the Expected receipt date is set to the date on which the order was sent + this value.
    • OR Expected receipt date - This field overrides either the Expected receipt date calculated as described above, or the Expected receipt date defined in the item.
    • Claiming grace period -  This value is added to the Expected receipt date. The PO line is sent to Claims Task List after the grace period elapses: Expected receipt date + Claiming grace period. The default value depends on what was configured in the vendor account (see Adding a Vendor and Vendor Account ).
    • Reclaim Interval (days) - Alma sends reclaim letters at the defined interval after the initial claim letter is sent. If the field is not populated, a reclaim letter is not sent.

    claim one-time physical po line.png

    For continuous physical PO lines
    • Expected receipt after ordering (days) - After the PO line is sent, the Expected receipt date is set to the date on which the order was sent + this value.
    • Subscription interval (days) - If you are not using prediction patterns, then after any item in the holdings associated with this PO line is received, the PO line's Expected receipt date is updated to the last received item's Receiving date + this value.
      If you are using prediction patterns, Alma ignores the "Subscription interval" value. See Prediction Patterns and Updating Item-Level Information.
    • OR Expected receipt date - To manually override either of the two previous fields, set this field to a specific date. When done, the Expected Receiving dates of the items associated with this PO line are changed.

      When a Continuous PO Line does not have any expected item and the Expected receipt date is in the past, Alma will send the PO Line to claim based on the Expected Receipt date + grace period on the PO Line.

      If the system is configured, the claiming date is recalculated each time the PO Line is sent to claim by the Claiming date + reclaim interval on the PO Line.

    • Claiming grace period (days) -  This value is added to the Expected receipt date in any of the above cases. The PO line is sent to claims after the grace period elapses: Expected receipt date + Claiming grace period. The default value depends on what was configured in the vendor account (see Adding a Vendor and Vendor Account ).
    • Reclaim Interval (days) - After the initial claim letter is sent, Alma sends subsequent reclaim letters at the defined interval. If the field is not populated, subsequent reclaim letters are not sent.claim continuous physical po line.png

    The fields associated with the item are (see Prediction Patterns and Updating Item-Level Information):

    • Receiving date - This is the date that the item was received. When the Expected receipt date of the associated PO line is changed, this date is changed to match.
    • Expected receiving date - An item only has its own Expected receiving date if you are using prediction patterns. This field is set by the prediction pattern configuration. When there is a value for this field, the Expected receipt date of the PO line is ignored. Just like the Expected receipt date in the PO line, the PO line is sent to claims after the grace period elapses: Expected receipt date (of the item) + Claiming grace period (of the PO line).
    • Reclaim Interval (days) - After the initial claim letter is sent, Alma sends subsequent reclaim letters at the defined interval. If the field is not populated, subsequent reclaim letters are not sent.clipboard_e74583e3eeffbb75af511d89fbba67919.png
      If the customer parameter claim_continuous_item_level is set to True, more items may be added to the claiming notification (see Combined Email Claim Notifications below).
    For electronic PO lines (both one-time and continuous)

    Alma calculates the claim date as described above for electronic PO lines, except that the fields Expected activation date and Expected activation after ordering (days) are used instead of Expected receipt date and Expected receipt after ordering. When the Expected activation date + Claiming grace period arrives, and the PO line (either one-time or continuous) is still not activated, the PO line is sent to Claims Task List. 

    claim continuous electronic po line.png

    Example: If the vendor is configured with Expected activation after ordering = 5 and Claiming grace period = 2, then if the electronic resource is ordered on April 20, it is expected to be activated by the end of April 27 (April 20 + 5 days + 2 days grace = April 27), and the PO line goes into the Claims Task List on April 28. 

    Claims Sent by Email/EDI

    A claim is sent automatically to the vendor only the first time this PO line is sent to the Claims page. If later an Operator updates the PO line's expected receipt date, and the PO line is sent to the Claims page again after the new date, another notification is not sent.

    A notification is automatically sent to the vendor using email when all of the below take place:

    • The vendor has a defined email addresses (see Managing Vendors)
    • If the email Claims Letter is enabled (see Enabling/Disabling Letters)
    • If the relevant claim parameters is set to Y (see Configuring Other Settings):
      • auto_claim parameter for physical one-time PO line
      • auto_claim_co for physical continuous PO line 
      • auto_claim_electronic for electronic PO line

    For all PO line types, if EDI Claim Letters are enabled, then for vendors that use EDI and have enabled EDI claims, a notification is sent using EDI instead of email (Claims must be checked on the EDI Information tab of the vendor; see Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)).

    Otherwise, a notification is not sent automatically, for both email and EDI. You can send a notification manually using email (see Communicating with Vendors).

    • When a claim letter is sent for a given month, and the item is never received, if the following month's item also goes into claim, a claim letter can be sent with details for both months. To enable this option, set the claim_continuous_item_level parameter to true (see Combined Email Claim Notifications below).

    Alerts Generated

    When a PO line is overdue, one of the following alerts is generated:
    • Overdue PO line – The PO line was not received/activated within the expected number of days after placing the order or by the expected receipt/activation date.
       
    • Open claims exist for this PO line – The PO line was sent to the Claims Task List. For one-time physical PO lines (or any PO lines, for vendors that support EDI claims), an email is automatically sent to the vendor, inquiring about the late delivery of the order. Note that the automatic email is sent only once to the vendor.
      Note that the PO line may leave the Claim Task List, but this alert will remain until the claim is closed.
      Subsequent communication with the vendor takes place using the Communications tab on the PO Line Summary page (see Communicating with Vendors).
      When claiming notification is sent to the vendor by email, and a claim is created for this PO Line, it can be handled in the PO Line and Vendor Communication tab.
       
    • For one-time physical PO lines: <x> items were received out of <y> ordered – How many items have been received out of the total number ordered. In the Alerts tab, there is a link to the Received Items List (note that you must be within the correct department), which contains a list of all the items in the PO line.
       
    • For continuous physical PO lines: No item was received in more than <Subscription interval> days – The number of days that have passed since an item was received. For example, if the PO Line subscription interval is 30 days, then every 30 days an item should be received, so if the PO Line does not have expected items and for more than 30 days no item was received, then the PO Line is set to claim with this alert.
       
    • Electronic resource was not activated (for electronic PO lines) – The PO line’s electronic resource has not yet been activated. In the Alerts tab, there is a link to the Electronic Resource Activation Task List.

    Updating Claim Dates

    You can edit or update the dates of overdue PO lines. In certain cases, you can also relink, close, or cancel an overdue PO line, or activate an overdue electronic PO line. Most of these actions will remove the claim, either immediately or after the PO Line – Claiming - Process Automation job runs.
    For details, see the following sections:

    In addition to the collapsible sections that appear at the bottom of the PO lines lists, a second collapsible section appears on the Claims Task List for physical PO lines. The One Time Claiming Information or Continuous Claiming Information sections list the items or holdings linking to the PO line that are claimed. For continuous PO lines, the claim is based on the prediction patterns, if they are enabled. When the PO line is in claim but no actual item is in claim, the section is called the Last Received Item section. For physical one time orders, the list displays all unreceived items linked to this PO Line. The Go to inventory link displays the item editor. For physical continuous orders, the list displays all unreceived items that are under the holdings linking to this PO line, based on the prediction pattern. In this case, if there are items, the Go to inventory link goes to the the item editor, otherwise it goes to the holdings item lists.

    Watch the View Unreceived Items for Order Lines with Claims video (1:17 min). 

    Updating Dates

    You can enter a new expected receipt date or expected activation date from the vendor. Where the same expected date applies to multiple PO lines, the new date can be entered globally for all the applicable PO lines. When a future date is entered:
    • Any claim alerts applied to the PO lines are removed.
    • The PO lines no longer appear on the Claim page.
    • The PO lines are removed from the Order lines with claims link in the task list (see Tasks in the Task List).
    To update dates:
    1. Select whether to update dates globally or individually:
      • To update the expected dates for multiple PO lines that appear on the Claim page, select the check boxes for all PO lines for which you want to update the date and select Change Expected Date.
      • To update the expected dates for an individual PO line on the Claim page, select Change expected date in the row actions list (or update the date by editing the PO line – see Editing PO Line Information).
      The Expected Receipt Date (for physical PO lines) or Expected Activation Date (for electronic PO lines) dialog box appears.
      expected_receipt_date_dialog_ux.png
      Expected Receipt Date Pop-up Window
      expected_activation_date_dialog_ux.png
      Expected Activation Date Pop-up Window
    2. Select a new date.
    3. Optionally, enter any notes in the Note area.
    4. Select Save. The expected date is updated and the alerts for the PO lines are removed. Additionally, the PO lines are no longer listed on the Claim page and are removed from your task list.
    Watch the Post Receiving Process and Claims video (3:00 mins).

    Combined Email Claim Notifications

    When the PO Line – Claiming - Process Automation job runs, it checks if there are multiple claims from a single vendor. If there are, and the claim notification is going to be sent by email, Alma combines the notifications for all of the claims from that vendor into a single claim letter, the PO Line Aggregated Claim Letter. Both physical and electronic items can be included in a single notification of this type.

    Claim notifications that are sent by EDI cannot be combined, and are always sent individually for each PO line.

    The following Customer Parameters can affect the combining of claim notifications. The values of these parameters can be modified in the Mapping Table page (Configuration > Acquisitions > General > Other Settings); see Configuring Other Settings (Acquisitions).

    Customer Parameter Effect on Combining Claim Notifications
    claim_aggregated_letter

    Controls whether multiple claims are included in a single notification:

    • TRUE (Default): Multiple claims notifications are combined into a single email message.
    • FALSE: Separate messages are sent for each claim, even if they are to the same vendor.

    If the claim_aggregated_letter Customer Parameter is set to TRUE, but the PO Line Aggregated Claim Letter letter is disabled, no claim letter is sent to the vendor.

    acq_use_vendor_account_email

    Controls whether notifications are combined per vendor record or per vendor account:

    • FALSE (Default): Notifications are combined per vendor record and sent to the vendor's email address.
    • TRUE: If a vendor has multiple accounts, notifications are combined per vendor account and sent to the email address associated with the relevant account. 
    claim_continuous_item_level

    For continuous orders, controls whether missing items for which a claim letter was already sent are included in new claim notifications. For example, if the May issue of a periodical has not been received by its claim date, and the March and April issues were also not received, this parameter controls whether March and April are included in the claim notification for the May issue.

    • TRUE: Previous items are included in the new claim notification.
    • FALSE (Default): Previous items are not included in the new claim notification.