Characterizing Supplier Disqualifications

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to summarize the characteristics of supplier disqualifications in SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance.

About Supplier Disqualifications

Once your organization qualifies or designates a supplier as preferred, you might need to disqualify them if they no longer meet your standards or requirements. Disqualifications are always based on existing qualifications. You can choose to fully or partially disqualify a supplier by selecting the specific combination of commodity, region, and department that applies when you start the disqualification process. This flexibility allows you to target the disqualification to the specific areas where the supplier does not meet expectations.

As with qualifications, a supplier can have multiple separate disqualification projects, each for a different combination of commodity, region, and department.

Disqualification is designed to be an internal process involving only members of your organization, keeping sensitive decisions about supplier relationships confidential. You can manage disqualifications using template-based projects, supplier-related data import tasks, or the Supplier Data API with Pagination.

Note

Project-based disqualifications are available only in solutions that include SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance.

Disqualifying a supplier through data import or API doesn't create associated projects. Administrators should consult the Supplier Management Setup and Administration Guide for details about supplier-related data imports or utilizing the Supplier Data API with Pagination.

In the SAP Ariba supplier lifecycle, you can disqualify a supplier after they’ve been qualified or after they’ve been both qualified and designated as preferred, as shown in the following diagram:

A diagram of the SAP Ariba supplier lifecycle, highlighting that the Disqualification step can occur either after a supplier is qualified or after a supplier has become both qualified and preferred.

Supplier Disqualification Methods

If your company disqualifies suppliers, you'll use one of two methods:

  • Legacy Supplier Disqualification Projects

    If your company qualifies suppliers using legacy qualification projects, you use this method. You view and manage legacy supplier disqualification projects exclusively in the Qualifications area of supplier profiles. When you search for suppliers, you won't find filters for process status.

  • Discontinuation Process Projects

    You use this method if your organization qualifies suppliers using qualification process projects. Discontinuing a qualification process is a disqualification. With this method, you can view and manage disqualifications in either the Qualifications or Processes area of supplier profiles. When you search for suppliers, you'll see process status filters.

Discontinuation process projects offer a more customizable alternative to legacy disqualification projects.

Summary

  • Supplier disqualification in SAP Ariba is an internal process that keeps sensitive supplier decisions confidential.
  • Disqualifications are always based on existing qualifications and can be fully or partially targeted by commodity, region, and department.
  • You can manage disqualifications through template-based projects, data imports, or API.
  • Two methods exist: legacy disqualification projects and discontinuation process projects, based on how your organization qualifies suppliers.