How is a PunchOut Catalog different from a CIF Catalog

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How is a PunchOut Catalog different from a
CIF Catalog
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PunchOut catalog and CIF catalog are the two
different ways by which a supplier communicates
with buyers about his products and services.
Although CIF catalog is easier to implement, it
comes with a lot of limitations, hence can be a
cause of great headache in the long run for both
the supplier and the buyer. For instance, CIF
catalog can considerably reduce the efficiency in
your purchasing process. So bluntly speaking,
usage of CIF catalog has become
obsolete. Following are the factors that help us
to differentiate PunchOut catalog from a CIF
catalog Feature CIF catalogs are static, as a
result data exchange between supplier and buyers
eprocurement system does not happen in real time.
So when any new product is included or there are
changes in product pricing or description in CIF
catalog, it is not immediately available to the
buyer. Firstly, the new product information has
to be entered manually in a spreadsheet. You have
to then convert the spreadsheet into a CIF file
format, which is then loaded into the procurement
system. Also, dealing with end of life products
that need to be removed from the catalog is a
nightmare as it requires a lot of manual
work. Ariba PunchOut catalogs are dynamic, hence
they support real time price and availability. No
wonder, adding or deleting products in PunchOut
catalog is a breeze. Since exchange of
information is dynamic, constant changes being
made to product information are available to the
buyer in real time. In short, it enables you to
offer live data to your customers. Moreover,
PunchOut catalog completely eliminates the need
for any manual intervention.
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Configuration Products that require configuration
are not stored in CIF catalog. Inability to
provide configurable products is one of the
biggest disadvantages of using CIF catalog. It is
mainly used when suppliers have non-configurable
products i.e. basic products and services to
offer. OCI PunchOut catalog can easily handle
highly configurable content. If you are into the
business of selling IT products such as
computers, laptops, CPU and servers, you need to
provide configuration options. With a PunchOut,
you can provide options to configure
products. Updates CIF catalog is not suitable
for frequent updates. In fact, companies that
provide services related to creation of CIF
catalog specifically mention that catalog can be
updated at the most 4 times in a year. Even
making a small change in CIF catalog content such
as modifying the description of product, will
require replacing the catalog completely, which
is an arduous task. So if you are offering
products whose pricing, available, product
descriptions and other attributes do not change
over a significant period of time, then use of
CIF catalog is recommended. Suppliers who change
the catalog content very often are advised to use
a JD Edwards PunchOut catalog. Updates with
PunchOut catalog are quick, convenient and hassle
free. So if you wish to update the catalog
several times in a year, go for a PunchOut
catalog.
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Catalog Size CIF catalog can be difficult to
manage, if it has more than 1000 products. Also,
a CIF catalog restricts the space for describing
the products. It is not possible to describe the
products in a visually appealing manner.
Suppliers who are offering large number of
products should not use the PunchOut catalog.
When the catalog size is relatively small, you
can opt for CIF styled catalog. When it comes to
handling large number of products, you can rely
on Oracle iprocurement PunchOut catalog. It is
useful when you are offering huge volume of data
with extensive documentation (reviews and user
guide) for various products. You can also use
images more effectively to display the
products. On the whole, in todays fast paced
environment that is highly dynamic, it doesnt
make sense to use a static CIF catalog that
burdens you with extra manual work. Whereas,
PunchOut catalog offers a better way to
communicate as it supports real time exchange of
information. Hence using this dynamic product is
always a better option in terms of ease of
business and attracting more customers.