Managing Disqualification Workflow

If the process project feature is enabled in your site:

• Yes, for existing legacy qualification projects
• No, for process qualifications (change its status to denied instead)

If the process project feature is not enabled in your site:

• Yes, for new and existing suppliers (with considerations)
  • Current state qualification process is not recommended for component suppliers or regulated industries

Integrations with other SAP Ariba solutions and ERP

• May limit sourcing event participation and/or award eligibility in SAP Ariba Sourcing
• Disqualified suppliers won’t show up in guided buying
• Disqualifying a supplier does not deactivate the supplier in your organization’s SAP Ariba supplier database
• Disqualifying a supplier does not block a supplier in ERP

If the process project feature is enabled in your site, decision-makers can change the final status of a process project at any time unless:

• A renewal is in progress
• The process has expired

For example, if an important questionnaire in a qualification process is expiring and the recipient hasn’t updated it yet, a decision-maker for that process can update its status from approved to conditionally approved.

• If the recipient allows the questionnaire to expire without updating it, the decision-maker can update the process status again to change it from conditionally approved to denied

If the process is a qualification process and you changed its status from approved to conditionally approved or denied, any preferred category statuses associated with the previous qualification are removed from the supplier.

You can disqualify a previously qualified supplier when they no longer meet your organization's standards or requirements.

• If the process project feature is enabled in your site, you can only start a disqualification project for an existing, legacy qualification project

The supplier disqualification process is used to:

• Ask for which combination of commodity, region, and department should the supplier be disqualified
• Optionally, set a phase out period to schedule disqualification for a future date
• Optionally, set a date on which the supplier becomes eligible for requalification
• Optionally, collect internal comments and justification

The supplier disqualification project template defines the process by which your company disqualifies suppliers for the specific combinations of commodities, regions, and departments for which they were previously qualified.

1. A user creates a supplier disqualification request from the Qualification area of the supplier’s 360° profile.
2. Notifications let the approvers know that the supplier disqualification requires approval. They can also see outstanding requests using Manage → My Tasks on the dashboard. The assigned approvers review the supplier disqualification and approve or deny it. Alternatively, the disqualification request can be set to automatically approve, which is recommended when trusted users are the only users in the system with the permission to request disqualifications.
3. Notifications let the requesting user know when the supplier disqualification has been approved or denied.
4. When a supplier disqualification is approved, the supplier’s qualification status is updated to Disqualified or, if a phase-out period has been set, Restricted.
5. If a phase-out period has been set, the status changes from Restricted to Disqualified once the disqualification date is reached.

A supplier’s qualification status changes throughout the disqualification process based on the actions that are performed.

Once a disqualification is approved, any preferred supplier status for the disqualified commodities, regions, and departments is removed.

• The preferred supplier status for any commodities, regions, or departments above or below the disqualified items in the same branch of the hierarchy is also removed

Scenario A:

• Trends4Less is a preferred supplier for shoes and later disqualified for apparel

  (Result: The preferred status for shoes is automatically removed)

Scenario B:

• Style Direct is a preferred supplier for apparel and later disqualified for shoes

  (Result: The preferred status for apparel is automatically removed)

Disqualification and Preferred Supplier Status: Scenario A

This graphic illustrates the effect of disqualification on preferred supplier status for commodities and regions in the same branch of the hierarchy as the disqualified commodities and regions. In this scenario, if a supplier is preferred for shoes and later disqualified for apparel, the preferred status for shoes is automatically removed.

Disqualification and Preferred Supplier Status: Scenario B

This graphic illustrates the effect of disqualification on preferred supplier status for commodities and regions in the same branch of the hierarchy as the disqualified commodities and regions. In this scenario, if a supplier is preferred for apparel and later disqualified for shoes, the preferred status for apparel is automatically removed.

After a supplier disqualification has been approved, category or supplier managers can:

• Requalify disqualified suppliers
  • If a minimum disqualification period is set, can only do so after that date has passed (or restriction is manually removed)
• Start new qualifications for other commodity, region, and department combinations

Qualifications and requalifications use the same process; however, a requalification is always based on the same commodities, regions, and departments as the previous disqualification or expired qualification.