New Sourcing Engine - Buyer Side
Disclaimer
There are no sourcing-specific organizational settings anymore. We subscribe to ORDER organizational settings OR general organizational settings
Available Access Rights
View Sourcing Event
Create Sourcing Event
Delete Sourcing Event
Edit Sourcing Event
View Sourcing Event Template
Create Sourcing Event Template
Delete Sourcing Event Template
Edit Sourcing Event Template
View questionnaire
Edit questionnaire
Templates
Available Status "Draft" & "Active"
User can see "Sourcing Event Template" menu entry if user has "View Sourcing Event Templates"
User can see all templates in sourcing event template list if user has "View Sourcing Event Template" access right AND user is author
Templates can be created if user has access right "View Sourcing Event Template" & "Create Sourcing Event Template"
Templates can be edited as long as template is in "Draft" mode AND user is author of sourcing event template AND user has access right "Edit Sourcing Event Templates"
Templates can be deleted if template is in "Draft" AND user has access right to "Delete Sourcing Event Template" AND user is author
Templates can be used by every user who has "Create Sourcing Event" AND access to the organizational unit the template is created for.
Templates cover all content of Sourcing Event except:
Response comparison matrix setup
Timeline
Contract period
Delivery date (Head or line item level)
Mandatory fields of templates:
Company (Organizational Unit)
Mandatory fields
In an RFI the following attributes are mandatory
At least one supplier
Response deadline that is later than the publishing date (at least 24 hours)
In an RFI there must be at least one question unless that RFI cannot be published
In an RFQ the following attributes are mandatory
Delivery address
Currency
At least one line item
At least one supplier
Response deadline that is later than the publishing date (at least 24 hours)
In an RFP the following attributes are mandatory
Delivery address
Currency
Preamble
At least one supplier
Response deadline that is later than the publishing date (at least 24 hours)
Sourcing Events
Available Status "Draft", “Question window open”, “Question window closed”, "Response window open", "Response window closed" & "Completed", “Canceled”
User can see "Sourcing Events" menu entry if user has "View Sourcing Event"
User can see all Sourcing Events in Sourcing Event list if user has "View Sourcing Event" access right AND user is member of Sourcing Event
Sourcing Events can be created if user has access right "View Sourcing Event" & "Create Sourcing Event"
Sourcing Events can be edited as long as Sourcing Event is in "Draft" mode AND user is team member type “EDITOR” of Sourcing Event AND user has access right "Edit Sourcing Event"
Sourcing Event can be deleted if Sourcing Event is in "Draft" AND user has access right to "Delete Sourcing Event" AND user is team member type “EDITOR”
Templates can be used by every user who has "Create Sourcing Event" AND access to the organizational unit the template is created for.
Prerequisite
Organisation - must be valid and not blocked
Sourcing Event creation
A Sourcing Event can be created by the following ways
New Event
Convert Template to Sourcing Event
Convert one or more requisition line items (RLI) to Sourcing Event
Requisition line items are always transferred to RFQ Sourcing Event type
The requisitions are transferred with the organizational unit of the requisition line item
If two requisition line items are transferred there is a check: If all RLI share the same organizational unit, this organizational unit is selected; if they differ, the default organizational unit of the transferring user is taken as default
Copy Sourcing Event
For all of those actions user needs to have “Create Sourcing Event” access right
General
Internal information
Creator: User who created the Sourcing Event, can't be edited afterwards
Material group: only active ones and those that are released for sourcing – In Material group trees if material group is blocked, all "Child" material groups are blocked as well, can be edited as long as Sourcing Event is in draft. If org setting states that material group is available on line item level, material group is not visible in internal information
Internal description: Rich-text editor, only visible from buyer side, can be edited as long as Sourcing Event is in draft. (We use QuillJS)
Response visibility settings: If setting “View response only after response window closed” is activated, user can see when supplier submitted a response, but user can only see response details (prices, offered line items, answers to questions, documents etc.) only when state “Response window closed” is met. Even if Sourcing Event is cancelled or suspended before, if state “Response window closed” was not met, responses remain sealed.
Preamble
Rich-text editor, visible also for supplier side (QuillJS)
Attachments: Uploaded attachments also visible for supplier side, can be edited as long as Sourcing Event is in draft, max. 100MB per single file, allowed attachment types:
.pdf
.docx
.doc
.csv
.xlsx
.xls
.ppt
.pptx
.zip
.png
.jpeg (.jpg)
.dwg
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Can be edited as long as Sourcing Event is in draft
Commercial conditions
Company: Every organizational unit the user can use from users master data; default users organizational unit. (Mandatory field)
Address: every address that is released for that organizational unit; default assigned delivery address
Address attributes: [organizational unit Name][organizational unit Name 2][Building Floor][Department][Street][PO Box][ZipCode][City][Country][Sub-National-Division]
When organizational unit is changed we change to default delivery address
Ad-hoc addresses need to be filled out with mandatory fields "Company name", "Street", "Country", "ZipCode", "City"
If organizational setting states that delivery addresses are available on line item level, delivery address is not available in commercial conditions
Delivery terms: Depending on organizational setting "Terms of delivery from Incoterm(s) selectable" either dropdown + "Place" free text field or free text. If dropdown is activated, buyer can select incoterm from list and optionally fill out "Place" field. No check applied if "Place" is mandatory. Delivery terms either can be set OR requested by the supplier. If requested, field is write protected for the buyer
Delivery date: Depending on organizational setting "Delivery date at line item level", field is not displayed on header level. If organizational setting is deactivated, field can be requested or set. If set, delivery date must be later than current date AND response window close date. If requested, field is write protected for the buyer
Delivery time: Depending on organizational setting "Delivery date at line item level", field is not displayed on header level. If organizational setting is deactivated, field can either be set or requested by the supplier. If requested, field is write protected for the buyer
Contract period: Contract period can either be set or requested by the supplier. If requested, contract period start needs to be later than current date and response window closed date. Contract period end date needs to be later than contract period start date. If one is filled, the other needs to be filled too. If requested, fields are write protected for the buyer
Payment terms: Depending on organizational setting "Preset payment terms selectable", either dropdown or free text field. If dropdown, all payment terms are selectable. Payment terms can be either requested by the supplier or set by the buyer. If requested, field is write protected for the buyer
Currency: From Onventis currency list. Can be filled by buyer or requested by the supplier. If requested, field is write protected for the buyer
Timeline
Created At: filled per system as Sourcing Event is created
Question window open: Appears when question window closed is configured and Sourcing Event is published
Question window closed: Optional, if configured supplier is able to submit questions regarding the content of the Sourcing Event
Opened At: filled per system as Sourcing Event is published
Closed At: Mandatory, needs to be filled by user, defines the response deadline.
Manually Closed At: filled per system if user ended Sourcing Event response window early.
Round [N] opened At: Filled automatically when new round is published
Round [N] Closed At: Filled automatically with the end date of the respective round
Round [N] Manually Closed At: Filled automatically when Rounds response window is closed manually
Completed At: filled per system if Sourcing Event is set to "Completed" state
Timeline configurator
Enabling the “Question window close” date in the timeline configurator enables a new timeline point “Question window close” date and the Q&A Phase.
Validation
Response window close date must be at least 24 hours later than publishing date
Question window close date must be at least 24 hours later than publishing date
Response window close date must be at least 24 hours later than question window close date
Response window close date must be earlier than all delivery dates & contract period start date, must be later than publishing date
Team management
Two types of team members: “Watcher” & “Editor”
Editor can edit the Sourcing Event (of course they also need user access right “View Sourcing Event” & “Edit Sourcing Events”)
Watcher can see the Sourcing Event (of course they also need user access right “View Sourcing Event”)
Creator of Sourcing Event automatically becomes editor of Sourcing Event
If requisition line item becomes transferred to Sourcing Event requisitioner automatically becomes “Watcher” of Sourcing Event
As long as Sourcing Event is in state “Draft” team members can be added, removed, promoted or demoted
To add a user, a user needs to be
Part of the organization
Needs access to the organizational unit the Sourcing Event is to be published for
Must be valid (Valid from, Valid to)
Must not be blocked
When organizational unit is changed, all team members that don’t have access to the organizational unit are removed from Sourcing Event
User can be set as “Contact person”. A contact person will be displayed to the supplier
All team members receive all mails (e.g. supplier participation confirmed, supplier response submitted, etc.)
A team requires at least one contact person and one editor
In mails that are sent out, the action user is mentioned in the mail (e.g. user A, who is not contact person, publishes Sourcing Event, that user is shown in the mail anyway)
Subject
Line items
“Add new line item” button either offers “Add new line item” or split button “Add as a service”. Depending on organizational setting “Service function - With-labeling of line items and purchase orders”
Type: Either “Goods” or “Service” depending on which button was selected during line item creation
Title: Mandatory, automatically prefilled with “Line Item #No”. Max. 100 characters
Unit of measurement: Mandatory, automatically prefilled with either default for goods or default for services. All quantity units are shown, we don't consider "display in sourcing application"
Price Quantity: Mandatory, value 0<x<99,999,999.9999
Select line item option: Determines if the line item is mandatory for the supplier to answer or not. Default = optional.
Quantity: Mandatory, value 0<x<99,999,999.9999
Quantity scales: Up to ten quantity scales are possible, every quantity scale must have higher quantity than previous one. Value 0<x<99,999,999.9999
Select delivery option: Mandatory, only applies if in organizational settings both options “Delivery date on line item level” and “Delivery schedule possible” are activated. If “Complete” is selected, there is only delivery date. If “Schedule” is selected, up to 12 delivery schedules can be entered. If “Schedule” is selected, quantity scales are disabled and deleted. Quantity field becomes view only and the overall quantity sums up out of all quantities from delivery schedules. Each delivery schedule must be later than previous one. All delivery dates must be later than response window closing date. Value of all delivery schedules 0<x<99,999,999.9999, value of total quantity 0<x<99,999,999.9999.
If delivery schedule is selected no quantity scales can be applied.Delivery date: Optional, only applies if in organizational settings “Delivery date on line item level” is activated. Must be later than response window close date
Delivery time: Optional, only applies if in organizational settings “Delivery date on line item level” is activated.
Delivery address: Mandatory, only applies if in organizational settings “Delivery address on line item level” is activated. Every address that is released for that organizational unit; default assigned delivery address
Address attributes: [organizational unitName][organizational unit Name 2][Building Floor][Department][Street][PO Box][ZipCode][City][Country][Sub-National-Division]
When organizational unit is changed we change to default delivery address
Ad-hoc addresses need to be filled out with mandatory fields "Company name", "Street", "Country", "ZipCode", "City"
Item number: Optional, 35 characters
Internal item number: Optional, 35 characters
Manufacturer number: Optional, 50 characters
Manufacturer: Optional, 50 characters
EAN/GTIN no.: Optional, 35 characters
Description, optional:
Rich-text-editor, visible also for supplier side,
Attachments: Uploaded attachments also visible for supplier side, can be edited as long as Sourcing Event is in draft, max. 100MB per single file, allowed attachment types:
.pdf
.docx
.doc
.csv
.xlsx
.xls
.ppt
.pptx
.zip
.png
.jpeg (.jpg)
.dwg
Can be edited as long as Sourcing Event is in draft
Corresponds to “Data sheets” for order line items
External comment, optional, only applies if organizational setting “Block miscellaneous visible” & “Display file attachments” is activated
Rich-text-editor, visible also for supplier side,
Attachments: Uploaded attachments also visible for supplier side, can be edited as long as Sourcing Event is in draft, max. 100MB per single file, allowed attachment types:
.pdf
.docx
.doc
.csv
.xlsx
.xls
.ppt
.pptx
.zip
.png
.jpeg (.jpg)
.dwg
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Can be edited as long as Sourcing Event is in draft
Corresponds to “External attachments” in order line item
Internal comment, optional,
Rich-text-editor, visible only on buyer side,
Attachments: Uploaded attachments only visible for buyer side, can be edited as long as Sourcing Event is in draft, max. 100MB per single file, allowed attachment types:
.pdf
.docx
.doc
.csv
.xlsx
.xls
.ppt
.pptx
.zip
.png
.jpeg (.jpg)
.dwg
X80
DA80
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Can be edited as long as Sourcing Event is in draft
Corresponds to “Internal attachments” in order line items
Line Items can also be exported to Excel XLSX
Line Items can also be imported via Excel XLSX
Line Items can also be edited via Excel XLSX
Attachments cannot be imported at the moment but only added via GUI
Cost-Breakdown
Cost-Breakdown can be requested per line item as long as Sourcing Event is in Draft mode.
To enable cost breakdown, activate the checkbox “Request Cost Breakdown.”
Activating this feature enables the user to create up to ten cost breakdown criteria and three subtotals.
Criteria can be connected with a plus operator or a percentage operator.
To add a percentage operator, the user needs to create a subtotal.
A percentage criterion is always connected to the subtotal that is aligned above it.
The cost breakdown setup must end on a criterion. Two subtotals must be separated by at least one criterion.
Cost breakdown cannot be maintained via template but only via GUI.
Document Request
Document requests enable the buyer to ask for documents from the supplier.
Title: Mandatory, prefilled with “Document-Request [no.]”. 100 characters
Document request option: Determines if document request is mandatory for the supplier to answer or not. Default = optional.
Description: Rich-text editor, visible only on buyer side.
Attachments: Uploaded attachments visible to the supplier side, can be edited as long as Sourcing Event is in draft, max. 100MB per single file, allowed attachment types:
.pdf
.docx
.doc
.csv
.xlsx
.xls
.ppt
.pptx
.zip
.png
.jpeg (.jpg)
.dwg
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Can be edited as long as Sourcing Event is in draft.
Questionnaire
To be able to work with the questionnaire, the user needs access right “Edit questionnaire.”
As long as Sourcing Event is in “DRAFT” state, the editor can edit the questionnaire.
To activate the questionnaire, the user needs to toggle it on in the questionnaire menu step.
In comparison to the questionnaire service, the general information, the question type “File upload,” the summary, and the dynamic panel are disabled. The rest of the configuration is the same between those services.
Comparison matrix setup
A response comparison matrix helps to objectify numerical data and shift the focus from purely commercial evaluation toward a more balanced, qualitative assessment of supplier responses.
As long as Sourcing Event is in “DRAFT” state, the editor can edit the comparison matrix setup.
To activate the response comparison matrix, the user needs to toggle on the questionnaire in the questionnaire menu step.
In this step, the user sets up the matrix; scoring is done later.
Comparison matrix works as follows:
There are evaluation categories, and within the categories, there are criteria (Questionnaire doesn't have criteria within the category).
By default, there are always “Commercial conditions” and “Questionnaire” categories.
All categories' weights must sum up to 100%.
If the questionnaire is not activated for the event, the user cannot assign category weight to this category.
All criteria must sum up to 100% within one category.
The user can add free-text categories (up to ten).
Within that free-text category, there needs to be at least one free-text criterion.
The user can also add more criteria to the commercial conditions category.
By clicking on the button “Evaluators,” the user can decide who from the Sourcing Event team can later score the responses.
All users from the Sourcing Event team can be selected. At least one person must be selected. The user can assign weight to different users. Total weight must sum up to 100%.
If a user is removed from the Sourcing Event team but was selected as an evaluator, the comparison matrix setup becomes invalid.
Supplier
Regular Supplier
To add a supplier to the Sourcing Event, the supplier needs to be:
Extended for the organizational unit the Sourcing Event is created for.
Not “Blocked.”
Supplier status that allows being used in “Request for quotation.”
The following rules are applied to find the recipient mail address of the supplier. We follow the rule from specific to general:
Contact person assigned to the org unit (where org unit is the one for which the sourcing event is published) extension of that supplier (T: SupplierContact; F: Email; L: 200).
Email for requests for quotation of the org unit (where org unit is the one for which the sourcing event is published) extension of that supplier (T: ESSupplier; F: EmailForRequest; L: 200).
Email for general business notification of the org unit (T: ESSupplier; F: Email; L: 200).
Default contact person assigned to the supplier (T: SupplierContact; F: Standard; V: 1).
Email for requests for quotation of the supplier (T: Supplier; F: EmailForRequest; L: 200).
Email for general business notification of the supplier (T: Supplier; F: Email; L: 200).
Suppliers can only be added to the Sourcing Event as long as the Sourcing Event is in Draft mode.
Guest Supplier
For suppliers that are not connected to the Supplier Portal, there is the option to select the “Guest access.”
If guest access is selected, the supplier will receive an invitation mail which either leads the supplier to the portal registration or directly to the Sourcing Event.
Guest access only allows access to the current version; after registration, the supplier can see all old versions.
New Supplier via Mail
A new supplier via mail can be added, and the following mandatory information needs to be filled out:
Supplier Name
E-Mail
Language qualifier
The invited supplier will receive a special invitation in which the supplier will be guided to the TC registration form.
Once the supplier is registered, they are able to receive manual or automatic system access. The supplier needs to register in the supplier portal then.
Once the supplier is registered, they get access to the Sourcing Event.
New supplier and guest access are not combinable at the moment
Publishing
When publishing the Sourcing Event, team members and suppliers are informed about the Sourcing Event.
As soon as the Sourcing Event is no longer in Draft, it cannot be edited anymore.
There is also a new section “Sourcing Event Results”.
The Sourcing Event either transforms to “Response window open” or “Question window open” if Q&A was activated.
In the state “Response window open,” the user can either cancel the Sourcing Event or “Close the response window early.”
In the response window open state, the buyer waits for responses from suppliers. The buyer can either enter responses on the supplier's behalf or close the response window early.
In that case, the suppliers are informed that the response window has closed and the Sourcing Event transforms to “Response window closed.”
Response on behalf
When the Sourcing Event is published, every editor of the Sourcing Event is able to enter the response on behalf of the supplier.
This option is available on the supplier list and forwards the user to the supplier side.
As soon as the supplier confirms or declines participation, the buyer cannot take over response creation for the supplier anymore.
As soon as the buyer confirms or declines participation, the supplier will see that the response is under control of the buyer but cannot enter data on their own anymore.
Responses on behalf of the supplier are treated as regular responses but receive a flag that shows that the response was created by a buyer user - This is visible in the response, price comparison, and response comparison matrix.
Response on behalf is deactivated during the Q&A session.
Response on behalf doesn't allow the user to switch between versions; the user needs to stay in the current one.
Q&A
In the state “Question window open,” the user can cancel the Sourcing Event or create a new version of the Sourcing Event.
In the state “Question window open,” the buyer can receive questions from the supplier. The buyer will find those questions in the “Response section” under the menu entry “Questions by suppliers.”
The buyer can already start working on answers as soon as questions arrive.
The questions are ordered by context and the date of questioning.
Answers can be saved; they are not directly shared with the supplier.
Questions are only answerable privately, so only the supplier who asked the questions can receive answers.
When the “Question window close” date is met, the Sourcing Event state transforms to “Question window closed.”
In that state, the buyer can still work on answers to the supplier questions.
The buyer can also now publish the answers. Publishing answers is only possible one time and in this state.
After publishing the answers, the state of the Sourcing Event transforms to “Response window open.”
If the buyer doesn’t publish the answers during the question window closed phase and the “Response window close” date arrives, the Sourcing Event transforms to “Response window closed” state without the chance for the suppliers to submit their response.
During the “Question window closed” state, the buyer is also able to create a new version or cancel the Sourcing Event.
Versioning
In states “Question window open,” “Question window closed,” “Response window open,” or “Response window closed,” the editor of the Sourcing Event can create a new version of the Sourcing Event.
A new version will be created in the “Draft” state.
There can be only one version in the draft state.
This new version can also be deleted. If that's the case, nothing further happens.
All users mentioned in team management of the new draft version are able to see the Sourcing Event (including previous versions) and editors can edit it.
A draft version copies all data the buyer entered before except timeline information. New suppliers are taken over as regular suppliers if they registered before. If they didn't, they are ignored when the new version is created.
The buyer can change everything now.
Upon publishing a new version, the buyer needs to enter a reason why that new version has been created. This reason will be exposed to the supplier.
When the new version is published, the initial version (or previous versions if there have been any) is “Suspended.”
Suspended versions mean that nothing can be done with that version anymore. No response scoring, no order creation from it, nothing.
When a version is suspended, the supplier is informed that either there is a new Sourcing Event (if the supplier wasn't part before), there is a new version (if the supplier was part before and is now again), or that the Sourcing Event is suspended (if they were part before but no longer).
Max. 10 versions per Sourcing Event.
Response assessment
In order to display assessments in the response comparison matrix, responses need to be scored by all evaluators.
A response can be scored by the evaluator as soon as the response is available to the buyer.
If “Sealed responses” (View response only after response window closes) is activated, responses can only be scored after the response window is closed.
Responses are displayed in the response comparison matrix when all evaluators have scored the responses.
Scores can be edited as long as the Sourcing Event is not “Completed”, “Cancelled”, or “Suspended”.
As long as the Sourcing Event is not completed, the individual scores are only available to the evaluator. After the Sourcing Event turns “Completed”, the scores become visible to all team members.
An evaluator must score all criteria. Scoring range is 0 - 100.
When a Sourcing Event is cancelled, individual scores remain limited to the evaluator.
When a Sourcing Event is suspended, individual scores remain limited to the evaluator.
Rounds
Rounds are meant for simulating negotiations. Rounds are exclusive to Sourcing Event type RFQ and RFP.
As long as the Sourcing Event is in the “Response window closed” state AND at least one response was submitted by a supplier, the editor of the Sourcing Event can create a new round.
In order to create a new round, the user needs to enter a reason, select suppliers to go into the second round (only suppliers that have submitted a response are available for selection), and enter a round closing date including time.
The closing date is validated against mentioned delivery dates and contract period start date again.
As soon as the round is published, suppliers and team members are informed about the new round.
Responses from the previous round cannot be converted into orders anymore.
As soon as a round is created, there cannot be any versions anymore for that Sourcing Event.
A supplier is able to edit prices and requested commercial conditions.
Max. 10 rounds per Sourcing Event.
Order Creation
Order creation is exclusive to Sourcing Event type RFQ and RFP.
As long as the Sourcing Event is in the “Response window closed” state, a response can be converted into an order.
To do so, the editor needs to open response details and press the “Create order” button.
In the following line item configuration page, the editor can define which line items should be converted and with which quantity scale.
At least one line item needs to be converted.
If payment terms have been requested from the supplier and in organizational settings payment terms from selection is activated, on that page the user can also select a payment term from the list which is then used in the order.