Automatic pipeline project creation via Shopping Hub or Employee Center intake requests

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 3 minutes to read
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    Summary of Automatic Pipeline Project Creation via Shopping Hub or Employee Center Intake Requests

    This feature allows for the automatic creation of pipeline projects when shoppers submit sourcing requests for products. The auto-creation is contingent on whether the product price falls within the budget conditions defined in a decision table, with a default budget threshold of $250,000. Customers can customize these budget conditions to align with their business needs.

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    Key Features

    • Single Pipeline Project Creation: If multiple sourcing requests are submitted for products under the same spend category or sourcing manager, only one pipeline project is created to consolidate those requests.
    • Auto-Populated Fields: Key fields such as short description, requestor, number, estimated end date, and spend category are automatically populated in the pipeline project record based on the sourcing requests.
    • Grouping Logic: Sourcing requests are grouped based on spend category, with specific rules for handling requests that lack defined categories.
    • Spend Category Restrictions: Sourcing requests can be added to an existing pipeline project if they match the project's spend category or if the category is blank, provided they are in the appropriate states.
    • Cancellation Behavior: The cancellation of pipeline projects depends on how they were created; auto-created projects can be canceled if in Draft state, while manually created projects remain unaffected by the cancellation of associated sourcing requests.

    Key Outcomes

    By utilizing automatic pipeline project creation, customers can expect streamlined management of sourcing requests, enhanced organization through grouping by spend categories, and automated documentation within the pipeline project records. This functionality also simplifies the process of project cancellation, ensuring clarity in project status based on sourcing request actions.

    When a shopper submits sourcing requests for products, pipeline projects are automatically created, provided the product price meets the budget conditions defined in the decision table.

    By default, the budget threshold is set to $250,000. However, you can configure the budget conditions in the decision table to suit your business requirements. For more information, see Pipeline project creation rule for high-value sourcing requests.

    If multiple sourcing requests are submitted for products that belong to the same spend category or the same sourcing manager, only a single pipeline project is created to group all those products.

    Pipeline projects created automatically through sourcing intake requests are set to the Draft state.

    Fields automatically populated in the pipeline project record

    The following fields are automatically populated for pipeline project records created through an intake request:

    Field Description
    Short description
    • If the intake request results in a single sourcing request (SR), the short description follows this format:

      PIPE00001 for <Product Name>

    • If multiple SRs are created from the same intake request, the format is:

      PIPE00001 Multiple requests for <Requestor Name>

    Requestor Populated based on the value provided in the Who is this request for field.
    Number An auto-generated number that uniquely identifies the pipeline project.
    Estimated end date If multiple SRs have different delivery dates, the earliest delivery date is used as the estimated end date.
    Spend category Derived from the Product Category field using predefined spend category to product category mappings.
    Note:
    If the sourcing requests in a pipeline project have different spend categories, the Spend category field is left blank. If the sourcing manager is the same across different spend categories, the requests are grouped into one pipeline project. In such cases, the Spend category field is left blank.

    Sourcing requests grouping logic

    The following conditions determine how sourcing requests (SR) are grouped into pipeline projects.

    Grouping logic Condition
    Group SRs by spend category (if available)
    • If an SR includes multiple products with different product categories, and category taxonomy is configured, then separate pipeline projects are created for each spend category.
    • However, if the sourcing manager is the same for those spend categories, they’re grouped into one pipeline project. In this case, the Spend Category field is left blank in the grouped pipeline project.
    Group SRs without spend categories
    • SRs that do not have a spend category are grouped into a single pipeline project.
    • If four SRs are created from the same intake request, and three have spend categories while one doesn't, the one without is grouped with the others.
    Spend category restrictions for adding SRs to a pipeline project SRs can be added to an existing pipeline project in the following scenarios:
    • The spend category of the SRs matches with that of the pipeline project.
    • The spend category is blank and not defined for the SRs.
    • The SRs must be in either the Pending Review or Pending Approval state.

    How pipeline project creation affects cancellation

    The way a pipeline project is created determines when and how it can be canceled.

    Pipe creation method Cancellation behavior
    Auto-created pipeline projects from sourcing requests If a pipeline project is auto-created from a sourcing request (SR), and that SR is later canceled, the pipeline project is also canceled but only in Draft state.

    If the pipeline project has progressed to the Work in Progress (WIP) state, it isn’t canceled, even if the associated SR is canceled.

    Manually created pipeline projects For pipeline projects created manually from the List view, the project isn’t canceled even if the associated sourcing request is canceled.
    For both auto-created and manually created pipeline projects If all sourcing requests under a pipeline project are in Closed – Cancelled or Closed – Rejected state, the pipeline project also moves to the Closed – Cancelled state.