Which direction does data move between Plex and SAP Ariba?

The main flow is SAP Ariba into Plex. Purchase orders, invoices, and supplier data move from Ariba into Plex for financial reconciliation and GL posting. Most write operations in Ariba use SOAP or cXML rather than REST, so ml-connector naturally reads Ariba data and writes into Plex for a clean one-way flow from procurement to finance.

How does ml-connector handle SAP Ariba's dual authentication requirement?

SAP Ariba requires both an OAuth 2.0 bearer token and a static API key header on every call. ml-connector stores both credentials encrypted, refreshes the OAuth token before the one-hour expiry window, and includes both on each request. The dual credential requirement is handled transparently, so your setup is standard.

How does the integration handle the lack of webhooks on both sides?

Both Plex and SAP Ariba offer polling only, with no native webhooks. ml-connector submits async reporting jobs to Ariba filtered by date ranges, paces requests within Ariba's rate limits, and polls both systems on a schedule tied to your AP calendar. Multi-year backfills are split into annual chunks to respect Ariba's one-year date window constraint.

PlexSAP Ariba

Plex and SAP Ariba integration

Plex runs discrete manufacturing finance and operations. SAP Ariba runs procurement and supply chain. Connecting the two keeps your purchase orders, supplier master data, and accounts payable in one flow. New supplier agreements and purchase orders in SAP Ariba can flow into Plex for sourcing and planning, while invoices posted in Plex match against the original Ariba purchase orders for clean month-end close. ml-connector handles the different credential models on each side and moves the data on a schedule you control.

How Plex works

Plex Adaptive ERP exposes suppliers, purchase orders, invoices, GL accounts, customers, sales orders, and inventory through REST business document APIs at cloud.plex.com/api, authenticated with OAuth 2.0 client credentials against a bearer token endpoint. Legacy SOAP endpoints are also available with basic auth using a username, password, and PCN (company code). Plex has no native webhook system for cloud connectors, so finance and procurement records are read by polling on a configurable interval, typically 5 to 15 minutes, filtering by modified_date or created_date. Role-based permissions are enforced, so the integration user must have the correct Plex role assigned.

How SAP Ariba works

SAP Ariba exposes purchase orders, invoices, suppliers, requisitions, and contracts through REST Open APIs at openapi.ariba.com. Every call requires OAuth 2.0 client credentials and a static API key header, making credential setup more complex than a single credential pair. Ariba offers no outbound webhooks, so the standard pattern is to submit async reporting jobs filtered by date ranges, poll for completion using a job ID, and download paginated results up to 50,000 records per call. OAuth tokens expire in one hour and must be refreshed before reuse. Cursor-based pagination with pageToken indicates the last page when absent.

What moves between them

The main flow moves from SAP Ariba into Plex. Purchase orders and invoices are read from Ariba on a configurable schedule, mapped to matching Plex suppliers, and posted into Plex for financial reconciliation and GL posting. Supplier master data can be aligned in both directions if new suppliers are onboarded in Ariba and need to be synchronized to Plex. Most write operations in Ariba use SOAP or cXML rather than REST, so ml-connector reads Ariba data and writes into Plex for a natural one-way flow from procurement to finance.

How ml-connector handles it

ml-connector stores both credential sets encrypted and refreshes the Ariba OAuth token before the one-hour window expires, caching it to reduce token requests. The dual Ariba authentication (OAuth plus static API key header) is handled transparently on each call. On the Plex side, it accepts the configured OAuth endpoint and bearer token, and applies Plex role validation to ensure the integration user has read and write access to the required entities. Because both systems offer polling only, ml-connector submits async reporting jobs to Ariba filtered by date range, paces requests to stay within Ariba's rate limits (which vary by endpoint, typically 1 per second to 300 per second), and polls for job completion. Supplier references in Ariba invoices are mapped to Plex supplier codes before posting, ensuring the GL posting lands on the correct vendor dimension. Ariba date range queries are limited to one-year windows for multi-year backfills, so ml-connector splits longer date ranges into annual chunks. Every record carries a full audit trail and can be replayed if a downstream posting fails.

A real-world example

A mid-sized automotive supplier runs Plex for manufacturing, procurement, and finance, and uses SAP Ariba for strategic sourcing and contract management across its global supply base. Before the integration, the AP team received approved purchase orders and invoices from Ariba via email and spreadsheet exports, manually re-entered critical fields into Plex, and spent the first week of month-end matching invoices to the original procurement records. With Plex and Ariba connected, each approved purchase order and invoice flows automatically into Plex, pre-matched to the supplier and cost account, and the AP team verifies and posts the invoices in a single step. Supplier changes in Ariba are also reflected in Plex without re-keying.

What you can do

Read purchase orders and invoices from SAP Ariba and post them into Plex for three-way matching and GL posting.
Synchronize supplier master data from SAP Ariba to Plex so procurement records reference valid vendors.
Handle Ariba's dual OAuth token and static API key authentication on every call, with token refresh before expiry.
Map Ariba supplier and cost references to Plex GL accounts and suppliers so invoices post to the correct dimension.
Poll both systems on a schedule tied to your AP calendar, with retries, rate-limit backoff, and a full audit trail on every record.

Questions

Which direction does data move between Plex and SAP Ariba?: The main flow is SAP Ariba into Plex. Purchase orders, invoices, and supplier data move from Ariba into Plex for financial reconciliation and GL posting. Most write operations in Ariba use SOAP or cXML rather than REST, so ml-connector naturally reads Ariba data and writes into Plex for a clean one-way flow from procurement to finance.
How does ml-connector handle SAP Ariba's dual authentication requirement?: SAP Ariba requires both an OAuth 2.0 bearer token and a static API key header on every call. ml-connector stores both credentials encrypted, refreshes the OAuth token before the one-hour expiry window, and includes both on each request. The dual credential requirement is handled transparently, so your setup is standard.
How does the integration handle the lack of webhooks on both sides?: Both Plex and SAP Ariba offer polling only, with no native webhooks. ml-connector submits async reporting jobs to Ariba filtered by date ranges, paces requests within Ariba's rate limits, and polls both systems on a schedule tied to your AP calendar. Multi-year backfills are split into annual chunks to respect Ariba's one-year date window constraint.

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