Outlining Workflows for Requests for Quotations

The flexible workflow allows you to define the approval process for requests for quotations (RFQs) according to your requirements.

Using the SAP Fiori app My Inbox, users with the role Approver can then approve or reject the corresponding work items.

The following table shows the roles and the apps that are used in the business process.

Approvers receive notifications regarding new work items in the SAP Fiori launchpad. You can also configure email notifications to be sent to an approver. Initiators of the workflow are notified when the work item is approved or rejected. RFQ approval is set to automatic by default, if you do not want all RFQs to be approved automatically, you can configure the flexible workflow according to your requirements.

With the Manage Workflows for RFQs app, you can configure workflows to optimize the approval process for RFQs as a business process specialist. For example, an RFQ that has not yet received a status needs to be approved or rejected to ensure the workflow process. This app provides several options for determining the approver, such as the manager of the workflow initiator, and assigning specific users. If a workflow with one or more steps is activated and the configured start conditions are fulfilled, the approval process is initiated.

With the Manage Workflows for RFQs app, you can do the following:

• Display the list of existing workflow definitions.

• Display the detailed information for a workflow definition.

• Create new workflows or copy existing workflows and modify them according to your requirements. You can configure the workflow as follows:

  • Define properties such as a description and a validity period.

  • Define start conditions for a workflow.

    In the section Start Conditions, define start preconditions for the new workflow. These criteria must be fulfilled for the workflow to start, for example, the net value of the RFQ.

    Under the section Preconditions, choose the criteria that must be fulfilled for the workflow to start, for example the net value of the RFQ.

    In the section Step Sequence, add one or more workflow steps and assign recipients, step preconditions, and, if necessary, actions for exception handling.

  • Define the order in which the start conditions of existing workflows are checked

    If you have defined several workflows, the start conditions are checked in the order you have defined. As soon as the start conditions for a workflow are met, this workflow is used. This ensures that only one workflow in the list of your defined workflows is started, even if several workflows have matching start conditions.

    Ensure that a fallback workflow is activated

    We recommend defining the fallback workflow as the last one in the order. In this case, the workflow is started if none of the other workflows apply.

• Activate or deactivate workflows

  Once you have activated the workflow, you can copy, deactivate, or delete it, but you can no longer edit and change it.

• Delete a workflow if it is no longer required

You can streamline the approval process for requests for quotations and to check them before they are published. You can either approve or reject the RFQs using the My Inbox app.

If an RFQ has been approved, it gets published and the bidding process starts.

If an RFQ has been rejected, it receives the status Rejected.

You can do the following:

• Display the list of all RFQs that have been sent for approval

• Approve RFQs

• Reject RFQs

• Claim an RFQ so that only you can approve or reject it

• Forward an RFQ to another user for approval

• Suspend an RFQ for a certain period of time

• Display the workflow or task log