Overview:
Historically, every cost update to a vendor’s VPN required Catalog specialist to manually prepare and maintain Excel-based macros. Catalog specialists were responsible for performing the necessary this tedious process and uploading the resulting data through the legacy cost update process in Impulse. This approach was time-consuming, operationally intensive, and prone to manual errors.
To streamline and modernize this process, the Global Cost Engine (GCE) was introduced. GCE centralizes and automates the execution of business rules, calculations, and validations associated with vendor cost updates via XCM catalog ingestion. Based on the configured business logic, GCE approves the appropriate Base Cost and Vendor Retail Price and distributes the resulting cost data to MDG, IMPULSE and other downstream applications (XCM, GDL, OEM, IM360) in a consistent and scalable manner.
This article explains how to access and use the Global Cost Engine (GCE) in Xvantage for Associates (X4A) to review catalog cost updates, monitor exceptions, and approve or reject cost update requests. GCE centralizes vendor cost management by automating cost validations, business rules, and downstream distribution processes, reducing manual effort and improving data accuracy.
Process:
Go to My Apps and open Okta.
In Okta, search for X4A and open it. Xvantage for Associates (X4A) will open in a new window tab.
Tip: You can also access Xvantage for Associates directly from My Apps.
In X4A, select Revenue from the left navigation menu.
Under the Costing section, click Product Costing.
Locate and select the vendor catalog file you want to review.
Example: Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) catalog file.
Review any cost exceptions by hovering over the Exception indicator to view additional details.
Select the ingested catalog file to view the Cost Update Lifecycle within GCE.
This view provides visibility into the processing status and approval workflow for cost updates.
Open the Update Status tab and filter the records by Needs Approval to display products requiring review and action.
Select the product record that requires attention.
Review the exception details and choose one of the following actions:
Approve the cost exception.
Reject the cost exception.
If you choose Reject, select the appropriate Reject Reason and submit your decision.
The selected cost exception is either approved or rejected in Global Cost Engine (GCE). Approved updates continue through the cost update lifecycle, while rejected updates are recorded with the specified rejection reason for further review and resolution.