Questionnaire - Questions
In the Questions tab, you can define the question structure for the supplier. You have the possibility to work with structure elements and to use existing question templates. In addition, you can store your own percentage weighting of the questions for each question/structure.
You can use the Display field to select the following ways of displaying the questions:
Compressed: Only structural elements and titles of questions are displayed, without description, images and file attachments.
Not compressed: All information (headings, descriptive text, images and file attachments) is displayed.
If you do not want to weight your questions, you can select No from the Weight drop-down menu. These settings then apply to all questions within this information request.
Questions from templates can be added to an information request using the New About Templates button. One gets to the information request question templates and can add more questions from here.
The total weighting of the questions must be 100%. With the Adjust weighting button the entered weighting can be adjusted. The system automatically adjusts the weighting to 100% according to the ratio.
Questions can be marked as K.O. criteria. In this case, the abbreviation K.O. is next to the question. Questions marked in this way are highlighted in the display and are only visible as such to internal users. Suppliers do not see which questions are K.O. criteria. K.O. criteria always have a weighting of 0%.
Questions that are not scored are marked with the abbreviation N.B. Questions marked in this way always have a weighting of 0%. It makes sense to mark those questions as non-assessable that are only of an informative nature (e.g. request for contact persons, addresses, etc.).
Non-public issues are also presented separately. These questions are not displayed to the suppliers.
New questions
If you want to insert a question below an existing structure element, click on the New icon. A new window will open and all the details of the question item can be stored there.
The title of the question, a description and the weighting type can now be stored here. The remaining weighting available is displayed in the Free remaining weighting field. The weighting already entered for other questions is taken into account.
In the Weighting field, you can specify a percentage weighting for this question. In total, the weightings of the structural elements of a level must add up to 100%. The residual weighting is used as a guide.
Key Performance Indicator: In the Supplier Management, Settings, Evaluation Settings area, the key performance indicators (KPI’s) can be defined and assigned to the questions. In the later evaluation, the evaluation scores follow key performance indicators.
A file of any format can be attached to the question in the Other section. This is visible to the supplier.
Create and edit response fields
In the Answer Fields tab, the answer fields for the question can be created or edited. To do this, go to the Answer fields tab for a question item. and click on the New Reply Field button.
Enter the rank of the answer field here and the title that should appear in front of the answer field. Here you can define:
Optional field, i.e. the supplier can enter a response.
Mandatory field, i.e. the supplier must enter a response
Invisible field (not public) i.e. only for internal users
Write-protected, i.e. the supplier is not allowed to edit the field.
The field type determines the type of response field. The following are the possible types of response fields.
Possible types of response fields:
Text:
Unit text: In this field, a unit (e.g. unit of quantity, currency, time, etc.) can be entered for the response field.
Number of text lines: Here you can determine the height of the input field by specifying how many text lines the field should have.
Length of the text lines: The number of text lines multiplied by the length of the text lines gives the maximum number of characters.
Number
Date
Selection:
Selection values: Here you can specify the selection values of the drop-down list or the checkboxes.
Field Group:
Using the field type Field group, response fields of any type can be displayed next to each other. You can define how many response fields should be displayed next to each other. In the answer field overview, the title Field group now appears above the following (number of) fields you have defined, i.e. the answer fields created under this title form the field group. As described above, any response fields can be created under the field group. Any number of field groups can be created among each other.
Save and Close saves the changes. If further response fields are to be defined, this is done by clicking on the Save and New button.
Automatic scoring: calculation rules of the question items
In addition to the manual evaluation of answers from the supplier, an automatic evaluation can also be set up for questions. To do this, activate the checkbox Automatic evaluation.
After activating the checkbox, the following options are available:
Add up all points scored
Only lowest score counts
Only the highest score counts
To clarify how it works, an example follows for each possibility:
Auto-scoring criteria are only available for response fields of type “Number”, “Date” and “Selection”.
If this question item has more than one answer field, the drop-down list can be used to specify how the score on the question item should be composed. The following three options are available:
Add up all points scored = The points of all answer fields are added up.
Example: Question item has two answer fields: “Number of employees”.
Answer field 1: “How many employees does your company employ in Germany?”
Reply box 2: “How many employees does your company employ in France?”
Based on the supplier’s response, the software automatically determines the following points:
Answer field 1: “50 employees” => 2 points
Answer field 2: “10 employees” => 1.5 points
Result:
+ 2.0 points
+ 1,5 points
—————–
=3,5 points
Only lowest score counts = Only the result of the answer field that scored the lowest score is valid. The remaining answer fields remain without consideration.
Example: Question item with three answer fields: “In which countries do you operate service branches”.
Reply box 1: “Establishment in Germany available”.
Reply box 2: ‘Establishment in France available’.
Reply box 3: “Establishment in Poland available”.
Based on the supplier’s response, the software automatically determines the following points:
Answer field 1: “No” => 1 point
Answer field 2: “Yes” => 5 points
Answer field 3: “Yes” => 5 points
Result:
Answer field 1 has the lowest score => 1 point
Only highest score counts = Only the result of the answer field that scored the highest score is valid. The remaining answer fields remain without consideration.
Example: Question item has two answer fields: “Certificates”.
Answer box 1: “Is your quality management certified?”
Response Box 2: “If you are certified, what certificate do you hold?”
(Supplier has choice between “EN ISO 9000 ff” and “We have another certificate)
Based on the supplier’s response, the software automatically determines the following points:
Answer field 1: “Yes” => 3 points
Answer field 2: “We hold another certificate” => 2 points
Result:
Answer field 1 has the highest score => 3 points
Automatic scoring: calculation rules of the answer fields
With the help of criteria it can be defined with which score a certain answer should be evaluated automatically. If a supplier submits a response, the system checks which criteria are met. If more than one criterion is fulfilled, the drop-down list “Calculation rule question position” can be used to define how the score should be calculated.
Add up all achieved points = The points of all fulfilled criteria are added up.
Example: Field type “Selection / Checkboxes (multiple selection)”.
Response field “In what colors can you deliver?”
Criterion 1: = “Green” (1,25 points)
Criterion 2: = “Yellow” (1,25 points)
Criterion 3: = “Red” (1,25 points)
Criterion 4: = “Blue” (1,25 points)
Based on the supplier’s response, the software automatically determines the following points:
Supplier ticks the following checkboxes “Green”, “Yellow” and “Blue”.
Result:
+ 1,25 points (“Green”)
+ 1,25 points (“yellow”)
+ 1,25 points (“Blue”)
=3.75 points
Only lowest score counts = All criteria are checked. Of the criteria that are met, only the criterion that results in the lowest score is taken into account. The other criteria met are not taken into account.
Example: Field type “Number
Response field: “How many employees do you employ?”
Criterion 1: “< 10” (1 point)
Criterion 2: “< 100” (2 points)
Criterion 3: “< 500” (3 points)
Criterion 4: “>= 500” (5 points)
Based on the supplier’s response, the software automatically determines the following points:
Supplier answers: “93” Employees
All criteria are checked:
“< 10” –> criterion not met
“< 100” –> criterion met
“<500” –> criterion met
“>= 500” –> criterion not met
Result:
Criteria met
“<100” (2 points)
“<500 ” (3 points)
–> Minimum = 2 points
Only the highest score counts = all criteria are checked. Of the criteria that are fulfilled, only the criterion that results in the highest score is taken into account. The other criteria met are not taken into account.
Example: Field type “Number
Answer field: “What is the hourly rate (in euros) for a painter in your company?”
Criterion 1: “< 50” (5 point)
Criterion 2: “< 100” (3 points)
Criterion 3: “<150 ” (2 points)
Criterion 4: “>= 150” (1 point)
Based on the supplier’s response, the software automatically determines the following points:
Supplier answers: “59,50” Euro
All criteria are checked:
“< 50” (5 point) –> Criterion not met.
“< 100” (3 points) –> Criterion met.
“<150 ” (2 points) –> criterion met
“>= 150” (1 point) –> criterion not met
Result:
Criteria met
“<100 ” (3 points)
“<150” (2 points)
–>Maximum = 3 points