- Feature
- RFQ bid-driven fixed asset field updates
- Availability
- Generally available in Supply Chain Management 10.0.49
- Industry focus
- Hospital and health system capital procurement
Hospitals buy expensive equipment: imaging systems, ventilators, theatre tables, sterilization units and laboratory analysers. These purchases go through formal competitive processes and end up on the fixed asset register, where they are depreciated, maintained and eventually replaced. The link between what was tendered, what was bought and what was capitalized needs to be clean.
The industry challenge
Capital requests in a hospital usually start as purchase requisitions that carry fixed asset information, such as the asset to be created or acquired, its group and other attributes. The requisition then goes out to competitive tender through a request for quotation (RFQ).
The winning bid often differs from the original request. A different model may be offered, with different specifications, a different price or even a different supplier. If the fixed asset details on the requisition are not updated to reflect the accepted bid, the asset information that flows onward is out of date. Finance and biomedical engineering teams then correct asset records manually after the purchase, and errors creep into depreciation, maintenance planning and capital reporting.
In a health system with a large annual capital program, those corrections are a recurring burden.
What Microsoft delivered in Supply Chain Management 10.0.49
Supply Chain Management 10.0.49 allows updates from RFQ bids to flow through to fixed asset fields on purchase requisitions. When a bid is accepted, relevant fixed asset information on the requisition reflects the outcome of the tender.
The asset information that continues through procurement and into the asset register is therefore based on what was actually selected.
Where the value shows up
| Business area | Impact |
|---|---|
| Capital procurement | Asset details stay aligned with the accepted bid |
| Asset accounting | Fewer manual corrections to fixed asset records after purchase |
| Biomedical engineering | More accurate starting data for maintenance and lifecycle planning |
| Capital reporting | Better alignment between approved, tendered and capitalized amounts |
| Audit | A clearer trail from tender decision to asset record |
A worked scenario
(An illustrative example.) A hospital trust approves the replacement of two ultrasound machines. The requisition carries fixed asset information for the planned purchase and goes out to RFQ. Three suppliers bid, and the evaluation panel selects a different model from the one originally specified, at a different price.
Previously, the asset accountant would have found out about the change only when the invoice arrived, and then corrected the asset details by hand. With bid-driven updates, accepting the winning bid updates the relevant fixed asset fields on the requisition, so the purchase order and the resulting asset carry the right information from the start. Biomedical engineering receives accurate asset data for the maintenance schedule.
Adoption considerations
- Map your capital process. Confirm how requisitions with fixed asset information flow into RFQs in your current set-up.
- Check which fields update. Review in a sandbox exactly which fixed asset fields change from the bid, and confirm that meets your needs.
- Align roles. Procurement, finance and biomedical engineering should agree who reviews asset information at each step.
- Review approvals. If the accepted bid changes value significantly, make sure capital approval rules still apply.
- Clean up templates. Update RFQ and requisition templates so suppliers provide the information needed for the asset record.
The bottom line
In hospital capital procurement, the tender decision should flow cleanly into the asset register. Carrying RFQ bid updates through to fixed asset fields removes a common point of manual rework and improves data quality for finance and clinical engineering alike. It is a straightforward improvement for organizations with significant capital programs. Talk to an experienced Dynamics 365 adviser about streamlining your capital procurement process.
Source: Microsoft: What's new or changed in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management 10.0.49