Creating Scorecards

A scorecard is a tool used to track supplier’s performance in key areas represented by KPIs. A scorecard contains KPIs but can also include supplier description, comments, an issue resolution plan or any other supporting information. A scorecard provides a summarized view of how well the supplier is doing.​

Scorecards are based on scorecard models from the templates. The scorecard templates are designed with the intention of providing a standardized scorecard design with the core KPIs as selected by your organization. Sometimes there are considerations that might cause the project owner to a scorecard in a project. ​

Standardizing the core performance criteria ensures that you measure suppliers on the same objectives enabling a comparison of performance across suppliers, industries and regions as well as for roll-ups of overall scores. For example, you will be able to see which suppliers of Facilities Services are best at providing these services in your particular region of the country.​

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There are two main types of KPIs: KPIs based on transactional data and KPIs containing supporting data. A scorecard can contain KPIs of both types​

When creating a KPI based on transaction data, you must first determine the source of that data. The most common situation is to base KPIs on a survey. The survey answers and scoring associate with it generates a score that is then pushed to the KPI. Those KPIs can be mapped to a survey question or section, depending how much granularity you want to see in your scorecard. KPIs can also be based on transactional data captured in a report. The prerequisite is that report with the exact data that will be pushed into the scorecard can be run in SAP Ariba’s reporting tool. This is often used for quantitative scorecards, where KPIs are based on numeric data. When mapping a KPI to a report, remember to add Common Organization filter to that report. Lastly, the KPI can be left unmapped to allow for manual entry. This would require the owner of the scorecard to edit it and input the value into the KPI.​

KPIs containing supporting data, work as sections - but in addition to organizing content, it aggregates the scores. KPIs cannot be added to a regular section.​

All KPIs in your scorecards should be based on master KPIs originally created in the Sourcing Library. The most common KPIs should be defined during the implementation. In the future, the administrators can add or edit KPIs as needed. Master KPIs can be copied to scorecards and templates very easily. ​

By using the Sourcing Library, your organization standardizes the performance criteria which allows for ‘apple to apple’ comparison between suppliers. There are certain situations, when a new KPI must be added to the scorecard. In that situation, you can contact your administrator and ask them to create the KPI in the Sourcing Library or you can create your KPI in the Library yourself.​

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SAP Ariba strongly recommends that all KPIs are created with their appropriate hierarchies in the Sourcing Library. Even though it is technically possible to create a KPI directly in your scorecard or scorecard template, it is strongly discouraged. The Sourcing Library allows you to create KPIs that will be copied to several scorecard templates and scorecards. By starting in the library, the KPIs will be assigned an original identifier. That ID is very important in reporting, as it allows SAP Ariba’s reporting tool to recognize KPIs from different projects as the same one and roll them up, even if the name of that KPI was changed. Creating KPIs in a scorecard directly will make it impossible to run roll up reports.​

Similar situation applies to hierarchies. KPI sections are used for rolling up the scores. Changing them in your scorecard will not be pushed into SAP Ariba’s reporting tool and your results will be skewed.​

Sometimes there are cases where a contract might require a specific and unique Service Level or a region may have specific requirements. An example of this might be pollution control in the state of California which is significantly stricter than for the rest of the US. Other examples might be labor regulations or health privacy regulations in Europe versus in the US.​

Once you create your scorecard from the scorecard template in the project, you are able to edit your individual scorecard as needed either in the Master document or, when you start the recurrence, in the Period document. If you make changes to the Master document, it will be the basis for the scorecard from this point forward. If you change the scorecard in the period scorecard, it will only affect that period’s document. If you also change the weights of the scorecard, your supplier comparison capabilities may be reduced or eliminated, since there will no longer be apples-to-apples KPIs. This is true both for comparing previous supplier scorecards and in comparing to other suppliers of similar or different commodities or regions. ​

If changes are needed to the overall scorecard design, it is best to have the advanced user make changes in the original template, so all new projects and scorecards generated from the template inherit the new design. ​

When you first create your scorecard from the scorecard template, it will be an exact copy of the scorecard template (with the exception of the scorecard name). All of the scorecard KPI information, including weights, target grades, and pre-grades, are the same as those in the scorecard template. It is best not to make any changes to the individual scorecard, since you want to measure suppliers using the same criteria. However, if it is necessary to make changes to an individual scorecard, it is possible.​

You should not make changes to existing KPIs in the Sourcing Library as they may be used in other scorecards. New KPIs should be stored in the system in the Sourcing Library, usually in a folder called KPI’s or KPI Library. ​

Its a best practice to store all KPIs in the Sourcing Library. Like KPIs in the scorecard, they can contain weights, target grades, and pre-grades. Whenever you need to add KPIs or change your custom ones, only use KPIs from the library. This ensures consistency in your scorecards. It also ensures consistency when running reports based on KPI data. ​

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