In the Supplier Management → Supplier Self Assessment section, you can send Supplier Self Assessments (aka Questionnaires) to new and existing suppliers. The module offers you the possibility to create individual questions for suppliers, attach file attachments such as the general terms and conditions, as well as to store individual texts. You can weigh the questions according to their importance for your company. After receiving the information, you can evaluate the answers and compare the information from several suppliers.

Create new version

After the Supplier Self Assessment has been sent, the changes can only be made by creating a new version. Open the Supplier Self Assessment, by clicking on the title of the Supplier Self Assessment and pressing the button Action, New version.

The version number indicates the version in which changes are currently being made. Before sending the revised version, a reason for the new version must be stored. This is a required field.

By changing the version number, older versions can be opened.

After the desired changes have been made, the Supplier Self Assessment must be resent. The suppliers receive an e-mail via the system that a new version of the Supplier Self Assessment has been sent.

Confirmation of participation

After receiving the Supplier Self Assessment, the supplier must confirm or decline participation. An email is received about this.

Canceling and archiving Supplier Self Assessments

Via Action, Cancel a current information request can be canceled. To archive a Supplier Self Assessment, click the Action, Archive button.

Supplier Self Assessments can have the following status:

In capture: status of the information request as long as it has not been sent. A Supplier Self Assessment can only be processed in this status.

Sent to suppliers: The Supplier Self Assessment has been sent to the assigned suppliers.

Archived: Supplier Self Assessment that have been archived.

Canceled: Supplier Self Assessment that have been canceled.

Printing supplier questionnaires

Supplier Self Assessment sent to suppliers can be converted into a PDF file via the Print button and then printed out.

Tab: Basic information

In the area Supplier Management → Supplier Self-Information you can create a new supplier information via the New button.

To edit information requests, click on the title of the corresponding information request in the information request list.

Please first enter a title, optionally an external comment, the corresponding material group and an information period. Furthermore, an external remark, visible for the supplier, as well as an internal remark, not visible for the supplier, can be stored and own files can be attached.

Contents of an information request (texts, positions, questions) can be saved as a template. The contents can be saved specifically for each material group. If content from templates is to be added to an information request, those that have been marked as “standard” or that match the material group are displayed.

You can define your own number range for information requests. You can set this under Configuration → Organizational Settings in the Organizational Settings – Number Ranges tab .

Tab: Texts

In the Texts tab, you can create general texts, such as non-disclosure agreements for information requests, using the New Structure Element… and New Text… buttons, or import previously created questions using the Template button. Structural elements (dark grey) represent the superordinate points, similar to the chapter heading of a book. The actual texts follow below.

The action buttons on the right-hand side can be used to create, copy or delete new structural elements or texts. The order of the individual points can also be changed by adjusting the numbering at the beginning of a text.

The following display modes of the text structure can be selected via the Display field:

• Compressed: Only structural elements and titles of texts are displayed, without description, images and file attachments.
• Not compressed: All information (headings, descriptive text, images and file attachments) is displayed.

Texts from templates can be added to an information request via the button Templates. This takes you to the information request text templates, from which you can add further text areas.

edit texts

To edit the text structure, click on the title of the corresponding structure element. Then the position no., the title, the description and the attachments can be edited. If the position no. is changed, the text will be reordered after saving.

Tab: Line items

In the Positions tab, articles can optionally be created. Either the positions are imported via Import positions… per Excel list, from a position template, Favorites, Catalog, Auto-Learn list or free text positions are added via the New free text position… button. Here, too, you have the option of structuring the items accordingly via New structural element….

The following display modes of the positions can be selected via the Display field:

• Compressed: Only structural elements and titles of items are displayed, without description, images and file attachments.
• Not compressed: All information (headings, descriptive text, images and file attachments) is displayed.

Create new position

If an item is to be inserted below an existing structural element, click on the New button. A new window will open and you can enter all the details of the requested position.

Quantity scales:

If you want to include the quantity scales in the information request and define them yourself, you must activate the button Quantity scale.

Must-Have Position:

If this checkbox is set, the supplier cannot send the quotation if no quotation is stored for this position.

Position Type:

Here you can select whether the position should be a standard position, an alternative position or an optional position. The items are displayed accordingly in the overview.

Cost Type:

The cost type can be used to determine whether the requested item belongs to the fixed or variable costs. If this is stored, it can be taken into account in the later comparison in the break-even analysis.

Save and Close saves the changes. If several positions are to be entered consecutively, click on the Save and New button.

Assign material group at item level

It is possible to assign material groups at item level. If this assignment is to be used, the checkbox in the Administration, Settings, Custom Settings, Requests area must be activated.

After activation, a material group can be assigned for each inquiry item.

Insert additional fields

Additional fields can be used to store other important attributes for your information request items. To do this, go to the Additional fields tab for an information request item and click the New additional field button.

In the new window that opens, the details of the additional field can be defined and the field type can be specified as follows:

• Text
• Number
• Date
• Selection
• Field group

Save and Close saves the changes. If further additional fields are to be defined, this is done by clicking on the Save and New button.

Import items via Favorites/Catalog/Auto-Learn list

Other ways to import items are:

The transfer of positions from favorites, from a catalog or from the Auto-Learn list is done by selecting the desired button and confirming the selection with OK.

After searching for the desired article from a catalogue, transfer it to the open enquiry by clicking on the Use button.

Now revise the article, by clicking on the title. Now, for example, the position no. to specify where this position should appear in the request. Additional fields can be defined or further remarks can be stored. After saving, the article appears in the item list of the inquiry.

Proceed in the same way if an article is to be transferred from the Favorites list or the Auto-Learn list.

Import items via Excel import file

After clicking the button Excel-Import-File you will get to the following page:

On this page, the template for the import can be downloaded via the link Template. Please use this template only. Via the link Order units you can see the order units created in the company in the area Administration, Internal organization, Order units and via the link Currencies the currencies stored in the system. On the other hand, the filled and saved file can be selected and imported into the opened query via the Import button.

Once the import has been started, the status of the import can be checked by clicking the Refresh button.

Tab: 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

Tab: Suppliers

The Suppliers tab lists the suppliers associated with the information request. To get detailed information about the suppliers listed here, click on the name of the respective supplier.

You can add suppliers from the supplier master via the Add supplier… button, the selection of the supplier(s) in the supplier master and via the button Add supplier to an information request.

You can add a new supplier that has not yet been created in the supplier master via the New Supplier... button, filling out the form.

Assign suppliers

Before the current information request is sent, suppliers can be added and added suppliers can be removed.

The Delete icon can be used to remove individual suppliers from the Suppliers tab.

To add suppliers, click on the button Assign suppliers in the Suppliers screen. In the opening mask all suppliers of the organization are listed by default. The Use button assigns the suppliers to the information request.

New supplier

In addition to existing suppliers, new suppliers can also be invited to request information. For this purpose, the desired supplier receives an e-mail with a registration link and can submit an offer for the information request after registration.

With the button New supplier a new window opens automatically. In this window the data of the supplier can be entered, which is not yet deposited in the supplier administration.

The supplier receives an e-mail with a registration link when the information request is published. After successful registration he can submit an offer.

The Send Mail button can be used to send an individual e-mail or an e-mail from a template to selected or all suppliers. There is the possibility to use different variables to individualize the e-mails.

Clicking the Send button sends the e-mail to the selected suppliers.

Send Supplier Self Assessment as request to Supplier

When the information request is sent, all suppliers assigned to the information request receive an e-mail.

Additional suppliers can also be assigned after dispatch by assigning them via the above-mentioned way and then the e-mail can be sent to the newly assigned suppliers via button Action Send.

Sending forms by e-mail with HTML attachments

Request for Information (RFI) forms can also be emailed to vendors with HTML attachments. For this purpose, the function Send RFQs as HTML attachment to suppliers must be activated in the Miscellaneous area of the corresponding suppliers in the Supplier Management, Suppliers, Advanced tab.

If this function is activated, the supplier receives an e-mail with an HTML attachment after publishing a request for information (RFI).

By double-clicking on the HTML attachments, the supplier can edit items and questions and submit the information report via the Submit button.

Information

Newly received information will be announced with an e-mail.

All the information contained in a request for information can be consulted. To do this, open the Supplier Management, Information Requests area, select the relevant information request by clicking on the title open, select the version and then switch to the Information tab.

The mask that opens lists all the information received:

By clicking on the title, individual information can be opened and the answers and prices can be viewed in detail.

Price comparison

Select the information to be compared by activating the checkbox in front of the supplier name. Then click on the price comparison button at the end of the screen.

Scale prices offered by the vendor are highlighted in the article item. The graduated prices can be viewed by clicking on the [+].

Furthermore, the scale prices and the total and individual prices are displayed in detail via the export function.

Indication of additional costs by customer in price comparison

As a customer, you have the option of defining additional internal costs per offer (supplier) in the price comparison, thus making the offer more comparable. Proceed as follows:

Open the desired request and switch to the Offer tab. Click on the corresponding button to open the price comparison . In the price comparison, you can define the internal additional costs and store the amounts accordingly.

Clicking on the Add New Additional Cost icon takes you to the following view:

Now the desired additional costs can be defined and with Save and Close these additional costs are displayed in the offer comparison.

Comparison price

It is possible to enter a comparison price for each inquiry item. This comparison price can be, for example, the old price from a previous request.

This comparison price is displayed as a comment in the price comparison and in a separate column in the exported Excel price comparison. It can be used for further calculations.

Furthermore, there is the possibility of importing the position within the enquiry and calculating the comparative price incl. the price of the order. Currency to import.

Question comparison

Mark the information to be compared by activating the checkbox in front of the supplier name. Then click on the Question comparison button at the end of the screen.

Furthermore, the answers are displayed in detail via the export function.

If key indicators have been assigned to the questions created, the calculation of the evaluation scores is carried out according to key indicator in the Key Indicators (KPI’s) tab.

In order to include the respective evaluation score with the supplier, the symbol marked in red must be clicked on for the respective information in the Information tab.

Weighting Wizard

The weighting assistant supports you in weighting your questions within the information requests. The wizard can be called up for each structure item in the Questions tab. It does this in a semi-automated way by generating 1:1 comparisons.

To use the weighting wizard, open the desired query and switch to the Questions tab. Formulate the desired question structure using structural elements.

To start the wizard, click on the button.

After confirming the start of the wizard, the window opens in which the pair comparisons can be performed in order to create the weighting.

The task now is to compare the displayed pairs and to determine with the button arrow right which area has the higher weighting. The pull-down menu Rank can be used to go through and weight the individual areas.

One possible weighting as an example:

Service is more important than quality

Service is more important than the price level

Service is more important than the additional offers

This means that the force element is weighted accordingly according to the user’s own specifications.

To change the weighting, open the weighting wizard again using the button.

The weighting wizard can be run on RFQs that are in In Progress status, RFQs that have been sent to the supplier, or RFQs that are in Award status. To do this, the specified checkbox must be activated in the Administration, Settings, My Settings, Requests area.

Information correction

If a supplier has made a mistake when entering the information, this supplier can be given the opportunity to correct the information by clicking on the button Information correction .

Open the information to be corrected by clicking on the title and confirming the information correction button.

A short explanation can be stored in the field Vendor information.

Cancel information requests

Analogous to requests, a request for information (RFI) can also be cancelled.

If the right is active, the option Cancel appears after clicking the Action button.

The supplier will be informed by e-mail. He can make the desired changes and then send the changed information.