Describing the Preferred Supplier Management Process

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to describe the preferred supplier management process in SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance.

The Preferred Supplier Management Project Template

Administrators define your company’s process for granting preferred category status to suppliers in the preferred supplier management project template. This single template determines the workflow for every preferred supplier management project in your site.

The template controls the following aspects of the preferred supplier management process:

What information users must include in the preferred category status request form
Whether the preferred category status request requires approval
Who the approvers are, if required

Preferred Supplier Management Personas

A persona symbolizes a distinct type of user who could work with SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance in a similar way. These individuals can be categorized into personas based on how and when their job role contributes to the supplier management process.

The following personas may be involved in preferred supplier management:

Category manager
Supplier manager

Let’s meet the people who represent these personas.

Headshots of category manager Joe Ortiz and supplier manager Amy Chen.

Category Manager

Joe Ortiz is a category manager at the buying organization NSM Global. He can set and approve preferred category statuses for information technology and telecommunications suppliers in North America.

Supplier Manager

Amy Chen is a supplier manager at the buying organization NSM Global. She can request, but not approve, preferred category statuses for suppliers.

Preferred Supplier Management Process Example

After a supplier is qualified for a specific commodity, region, and department combination, a category or supplier manager may request a preferred category status change for that combination in the supplier’s profile. This process is entirely internal, meaning the supplier does not participate.

The preferred supplier management process has two main steps:

A user requests a preferred category status change.
Approvers make an approval decision for the request.

Note

Administrators can configure the process to auto-approve if your organization doesn’t require approvals for preferred category status changes.

In this video, you’ll learn more about the preferred supplier management process.

Summary

Administrators define the preferred supplier management process using a single template that controls workflow and approval requirements.
Preferred supplier management is an internal process and does not involve the supplier's participation.
Category and supplier managers may participate in preferred supplier management.
The process involves requesting a preferred category status change and obtaining approval from designated approvers.
Administrators can configure auto-approval for preferred category status changes if organizational approval is unnecessary.