Qualification Management – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

General Concepts

1. What is the redesigned Qualification Management?

It is a process‑based qualification system that replaces rulebooks, templates, and standalone workflows. Users configure Qualification Processes, which automatically generate Qualification Requests for suppliers.

2. What is the difference between a Qualification Process and a Qualification Request?

A Qualification Process defines how suppliers should be qualified (scope, questionnaires, assessment rules, triggers).
A Qualification Request is an individual instance of that process sent to a specific supplier. Each qualification Request is part of some process.

3. How can I find my previous qualification configuration of Rulebook, Template, and Requests?

• Old Rulebook & Template settings were migrated into an auto-triggered processes highlighted in the list of processes via icon❗

• To view the old configuration, open the process details and click on action ‘View Process’

• To view the History Logs for Rulebook, open the process details and click on action ‘View History Log’

• All legacy standalone requests remain available under:

  • The migrated auto-triggered process

  • All Requests tab

No historical data is lost.

Assessment Scope & Disciplines

4. Which disciplines can be included in a Qualification Process?

A process may include:

• Master Data Update – Supplier updates company, address, bank and contact person information

• Document Acceptance – Supplier accepts published document sets

• Questionnaires – Supplier answers organizational scope or material-group questionnaires.

5. How are different disciplines assessed?

• Master Data Update → Auto-assessed (cannot be overridden)

• Document Acceptance → Auto-assessed (cannot be overridden)

• Questionnaires

  • Manual if scoring disabled or auto-assessment off

  • Auto if scoring + auto-assessment enabled (Green = pass, Amber = manual, Red = fail)

Qualification Processes

6. What types of qualification processes can I create?

You can create:

• Manual processes, where suppliers are added explicitly

• Auto-triggered processes, where qualification requests are created automatically based on supplier status changes

7. Can the same supplier status be used in multiple auto‑triggered processes?

Only if the organizational scope differs.

8. Can I configure qualification at organizational unit level?

Yes. During process creation, you can choose:

• Organization level, or

• A specific organizational unit

Only one organizational unit can be selected per process.

9. Can a qualification process be edited after publishing?

• Published processes are read-only

• You can:

  • View the configuration

  • Add suppliers (manual processes only)

  • End the process

• To change configuration, you must create a new process

10. What happens when I end a qualification process?

• All open qualification requests belonging to the process are set to Canceled

• Completed requests (Succeeded or Failed) remain unchanged

Actions on Qualification Processes

11. What are the available actions for qualification process depending on process status?

• View Process – Published or Ended

• Delete – Only in "Being Entered"

• Add Suppliers – Manual + Published

• End Process – Published

• Export – Published or Ended

12. Why can’t I add a supplier to a manual process?

A supplier cannot be added if:

• There is already an active qualification request for that supplier

• The existing request has the same organizational scope (Organization or Org Unit)

This applies regardless of whether the other request is from a manual or auto-triggered process.

Process Configuration

13. Do I need to enable all disciplines (Master Data, Documents, Questionnaires)?

No.
However, at least one discipline must be enabled for a qualification process to be published.

14. Why must at least one questionnaire be without material group assignment?

This ensures there is always a general qualification assessment that applies to the supplier as a whole, independent of material groups.

15. Are assessment rules global or process-specific?

Assessment rules are defined per qualification process and apply only to requests generated by that process.

Qualification Request Status Logic

16. How is the overall Qualification Request status determined?

A request is Succeeded only if ALL disciplines succeed.

17. Which disciplines contribute to the request result?

18. How many Qualification Requests can a supplier have at the same time?

A supplier can have only one active Qualification Request per organizational scope.

“Active” means any status where the request is not yet fully completed.

Active request states include:

• Invitation queued

• Sent

• In Progress

• In Assessment

❗ What is allowed?

Examples

• Example 1: Not allowed

  • Supplier has a request "In Progress" for Organization: Germany

  • You try to add them to another process also scoped to Germany

→ The system blocks the addition.

• Example 2: Allowed

  • Supplier has a request "Succeeded" (completed) for Organization: US

  • You add them to a new process with the same scope

→ Allowed, since the previous request is complete.

• Example 3: Allowed (different scopes)

  • Supplier has active request for Org Unit: Procurement Europe

  • You add them to a process for Organization: Global

→ Allowed, because the scopes differ.

19. In what request states can the supplier be added to another qualification process?

A supplier can be added to another process ONLY if no active requests exist for that supplier and scope.

Supplier can be added in these completed request states:

Supplier cannot be added when any request is still active:

20. How is the supplier’s Qualification Status calculated?

It is always based on the latest Qualification Request for the selected organizational scope:

• Not Yet Qualified – no request exists

• Ongoing – at least one active request exists

• Failed – latest completed request failed

• Successful – latest completed request succeeded

21. Does an expired request affect supplier Qualification Status?

Yes.
Expired → Failed qualification status

Qualification Requests – Actions

22. Which actions are available for a Qualification Request?

23. What happens when restarting a request?

• Supplier receives new invitation

• Questionnaire answers are prefilled

• Allowed only if no other ongoing request exists for the same supplier & scope

24. What is the difference between Abort and Confirm Failed?

• Abort cancels the request without evaluating qualification results

• Confirm Failed finalizes a negative qualification outcome after assessment

All Requests

25. What does the All Requests tab show?

It shows all qualification requests across:

• Manual processes

• Auto-triggered processes

This includes request status, scope completion, and assessment progress.

Supplier Status & Workflow

26. How does qualification affect supplier status?

Qualification status is mapped to supplier status per organizational scope via Status Mapping.

When a qualification status changes:

• The supplier status is updated automatically

• Any configured supplier approval workflow is triggered

History Log

27. What is the History Log?

The History Log is a complete chronological record of all important events related to a Qualification Request.
It includes:

• Timestamps

• Event type (creation, submission, assessment, expiration, restart, abort, etc.)

• Assessment details (scores, pass/fail results)

• User actions and comments

• System‑generated actions

28. How does it support auditability?

The History Log enables:

• Complete audit trail of every qualification activity

• Accountability for manual assessments, with user names and comments

• Transparency regarding system evaluations (auto-fail, auto-success)

• Compliance evidence for internal audits, external audits, or regulatory checks

Example audit scenario

An auditor asks:
“Why was this supplier’s qualification marked as failed?”

Using the History Log, users can see:

• Which discipline failed

• Which thresholds caused auto-failure

• Who performed manual assessments

• Comments explaining the decision

• When the request was restarted, aborted, or expired

This ensures defensible, documented, and tamper‑resistant qualification decisions.