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Document Version: DRAFT – 2016-12

Managing Supplier Lifecycles

Content

Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
What is SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Using the Supplier Management dashboard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Using the supplier 360° view. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Managing supplier requests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

The supplier request process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
How to approve or deny a supplier request. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Managing supplier registrations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

The supplier registration process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
About the Registration tile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
How to invite a supplier to register. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
How to re-invite a supplier to register. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
How to approve or deny a supplier registration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Supplier registration status flow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Managing supplier qualifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

The supplier qualification process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
About the Qualification tile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
How to start a new supplier qualification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
How to approve or deny a supplier qualification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Supplier qualification status flow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Managing preferred suppliers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

The preferred supplier management process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
About category status on the Overview tile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
How to request preferred category status for a supplier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
How to approve or deny a preferred supplier category status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Searching for suppliers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

How to search for suppliers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Managing supplier contacts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

About supplier contacts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
About supplier contact synchronization with Ariba Network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
How to add a supplier contact to a supplier's profile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
How to add a supplier contact as a questionnaire recipient. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
How to edit or delete a supplier contact. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Managing Supplier Lifecycles

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 How to approve or deny a new supplier contact from Ariba Network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Synchronizing new suppliers with your ERP System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

How to manually synchronize a new supplier to your ERP system. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Site configuration options for managing supplier lifecycles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

Site configuration options for supplier contacts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

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Content CUSTOMER 3
Overview

What is SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and

Performance
SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance is a set of linked processes for managing suppliers from onboarding
to qualification to preferred supplier management. Category and supplier managers use 365° views of each
supplier to manage these processes and monitor suppliers in one place.

SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance offers:

● Defined, template-based processes for managing suppliers that scales easily to bring large numbers of
suppliers under management.
● A centralized supplier database with a complete vendor model, and native integration to SAP ERP.
● Built-in alignment with SAP Ariba procurement solutions, and Ariba Strategic Sourcing and Contract
Management Solutions to leverage supplier qualifications and preferred status in procurement and sourcing
activities.
● Supplier self-service through Ariba Network
● "Matrix"-based supplier management based on combinations of commodity categories and regions.
● A complete 360° supplier views for each supplier, where both data bout the supplier and all related supplier
management activities is centralized.

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4 CUSTOMER Overview
Using the Supplier Management dashboard
The Supplier Management dashboard tab shows all of your company's suppliers.

Click the Supplier Management tab on your SAP Ariba dashboard to access it.

On this dashboard, you can:

● Search for suppliers. [page 23]

● Sort the list of suppliers by clicking the Supplier name, Supplier status, and Recent activity column
headings.
● Filter the list of suppliers by status by clicking the filter icon ( ) and checking or unchecking statuses.
● Click any supplier's name to see their 360° view [page 5]. This view includes all of their profile information.
If you are a category or supplier manager assigned to the supplier, you manage registration, qualification, and
other processes from there.

Using the supplier 360° view

The supplier 360° view shows all of the information your company has about a supplier. If you are a category or
supplier manager assigned to the supplier, you also manage the supplier from this view.

You open a supplier's 360° view by clicking the supplier's name on the Supplier Management tab. The view
includes tiles for specific activities; the tiles you see vary depending on which solutions your company has
purchased:

● Overview: All SAP Ariba supplier management solutions include this tile, which shows all of information your
company has gathered about the supplier. It has four different tabs:
○ Summary: If the supplier was created from an approved supplier request, this tab shows the information
from that request, including the commodities for which the supplier was requested. If the supplier was
created by importing it into your site, this tab shows the information from the data import.
If your company's registration process includes internal surveys, that internal information is displayed on
that tab. The category or supplier managers assigned to the supplier can fill out those internal surveys on
the tab by clicking Edit.
If your solution includes SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance, the tab shows the commodity
categories for which the supplier is qualified.
If your company uses preferred supplier status, and your solution includes SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle
and Performance, the tab shows the commodity categories for which the supplier is preferred. Category
or supplier managers assigned to the supplier can request preferred status for the supplier here.
○ Contacts: You view and manage supplier contacts on this tab.
○ Profile: Shows all of the detailed profile information your company has gathered about the supplier from
questionnaires, an integrated ERP systems, and other SAP Ariba solutions.
○ Certificates: Shows all of the diversity and other certificates the supplier has submitted.
○ Public Profile: Shows information from the supplier's linked Ariba Network account.
● Registration: All SAP Ariba supplier management solutions include this tile. From here, the category or
supplier managers assigned to the supplier invite it to register, assemble the registration questionnaire,
approve or deny the registration, and complete any registration to do tasks.

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Overview CUSTOMER 5
● Qualification: This tile is only available in solutions that include SAP Ariba Supplier Lifecycle and Performance.
From here, the category or supplier managers assigned to the supplier qualify it for specific commodities and
regions by assembling qualification questionnaires, approving or denying them, and completing any
qualification to do tasks.
● Risk: This tile is only available in solutions that include SAP Ariba Supplier Risk. From here, users in the
Supplier Risk User group can see detailed risk information about the supplier. For information about using
this tile, see Monitoring Supplier Risk.

If your solution is integrated with SAP ERP, and is set up for manual synchronization of supplier data with the ERP,
the category or supplier managers assigned to the supplier can also synchronize new suppliers from the supplier's
360° view.

Related Information

Using the Supplier Management dashboard [page 5]

Managing supplier requests [page 7]
Managing supplier registrations [page 9]
Managing supplier qualifications [page 15]
Managing preferred suppliers [page 20]
Managing supplier contacts [page 24]
Synchronizing new suppliers with your ERP System [page 31]

Managing Supplier Lifecycles

6 CUSTOMER Overview
Managing supplier requests

The supplier request process

Users in your company who want to work with new suppliers, such as procurement agents and people running
sourcing events, request the new supplier by filling out and submitting a supplier request.

The supplier request template determines:

● What information users add to the request.

● Which category or supplier managers approve the request.
● Whether other stakeholders at your company must also approve the request.
● Whether a denied request can be resubmitted.

Users create supplier requests from the Create menu on the dashboard. The category or supplier managers
assigned to the supplier review the request, approve or deny it, and monitor the approval flow and status in the
supplier's 360° profile on the Supplier Management tab of the dashboard.

Notifications let the approver know that the request requires approval, let the requesting user know when the
request has been approved or denied, and show the final approver so that requesting users can have further
discussions about denied request.

When a supplier request is approved, the supplier is added to the Ariba supplier database. Integration settings
determine when the supplier is added to your ERP vendor master list, at which point your company's users can
begin creating requisitions for the supplier, adding them to sourcing events, and so forth; one of the options is
after the request has been approved.

How to approve or deny a supplier request

If you are in the approval flow for a supplier request, you can approve or deny it. Approving a supplier request
creates the supplier in your site.

Context

Approvers can edit supplier requests in order to add missing information, correct mistakes, or supply information
that was designed to be added by approvers, before approving the request and creating the supplier.

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Procedure

1. Perform one of the following actions:

○ Click the link in the notification email to open the request.

○ On the dashboard, click Manage My Tasks . Locate the supplier request you want to work with, click
the associated approval task, and choose Approve or Deny.

The supplier request approval page opens.

2. Review the information in the supplier request.
3. (Optional) Click Edit to edit the supplier request, then click Save.
4. Perform one of the following actions:

○ Click Approve to approve the request.

○ Click Deny to deny the request, enter explanatory comments to tell the requester the reason for the
denial, and click Confirm Denial.
○ If your site's supplier request template is set up to allow the requester to edit and resubmit the request,
click Request additional info.

Results

If you have approved the supplier request, the supplier is created in your site with the status Not Invited, and the
supplier contact specified in the request is added as the primary contact. The supplier now has a 360° view, and its
Overview tile shows information from the supplier request.

If you have requested additional information, the request is denied at this time, but the requester can resubmit it
for approval.

Next Steps

After the supplier request is approved, you can invite the supplier to register [page 9].

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Managing supplier registrations

The supplier registration process [page 9]

About the Registration tile [page 10]

How to invite a supplier to register [page 11]

How to re-invite a supplier to register [page 12]

How to approve or deny a supplier registration [page 13]

Supplier registration status flow [page 14]

The supplier registration process

After the request for a supplier has been approved, a category or supplier manager assigned to the supplier invites
the supplier contact to register and sends them a registration questionnaire, reviews the supplier's answers, and
approves or denies the registration.

The registration process typically solicits basic profile information from the supplier; for example, what
commodities they supply, the regions in which they operate, whether they have certifications in broad categories
such as diversity, whether they will agree to a code of conduct, and so forth. It can also include internal questions
that allow supplier or category managers to add internal information to the supplier's profile.

The supplier registration template determines:

● What questionnaire segments the category or supplier manager can select to assemble the questionnaire, and
which segments are required.
● The content of the questionnaire segments.
● Which category or supplier managers approve the registration.
● Whether other stakeholders at your company must also approve the registration.
● Whether a denied registration can be resubmitted.
● Whether internal surveys or other tasks are part of the registration process.

The category or supplier managers assigned to the supplier invite the supplier to register, assemble and send the
questionnaire, review the supplier's answers, fill out internal surveys, complete to do tasks, approve or deny the
registration, and monitor the approval flow and status in the Registration tile on the supplier's 365° profile on the
Supplier Management tab of the dashboard. The supplier answers the registration questionnaire in their Ariba
Network for Suppliers profile; they must register with Ariba Network if they have not already. The supplier's profile
is automatically shared between Ariba Network and your Ariba supplier management solution.

Notifications let supplier know that they have been invited to register and provide a link to the questionnaire; let
the user who created the original supplier request know that registration has started; let approvers know that they
need to approve a supplier registration; let internal stakeholders know if they need to complete other tasks; and let
the supplier know that the registration has been approved, denied, or requires more information.

Integration settings determine when the supplier is added to your ERP vendor master list, at which point your
company's users can begin creating requisitions for the supplier, adding them to sourcing events, and so forth;

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options include after the request has been approved, when the supplier is in the registration process, and after the
registration has been approved.

In solutions that include Ariba Sourcing, event templates can specify that suppliers must be registered in order to
either participate in or be awarded events.

The following diagram shows a registration workflow where integration is set to synchronize the supplier
automatically with the ERP vendor master after registration is approved:

About the Registration tile

Every supplier's 360° profile includes a Registration tile, whether or not the supplier is registered.

You can do the following things on the Registration tile:

● Invite [page 11] or reinvite [page 12] a new supplier to register.

● Track the progress of the registration process on the status graph. On the graph, the approval nodes show the
approver (either a user or a user group) in [brackets]. If you hover your mouse over approval tasks in the
graph, you can see a list of possible approvers. If you hover your mouse over other tasks in the graph, such as
to do tasks, you can see their status. The status graph is visible on the Registration tile while the registration is
in progress.
● See the supplier's answers to the registration questionnaire in the Questionnaires table.
● See all of the tasks associated with the registration in the Tasks table, and complete them if you are a task
owner. Once the registration is finally approved, you can click View for a task to see its status graph.
● Approve or deny the registration [page 13] if you are in the approval flow.

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How to invite a supplier to register
Inviting a supplier to register involves assembling a registration questionnaire and sending it to a supplier contact.

Prerequisites

You must be a member of the Supplier Registration Manager group to invite suppliers to register. Depending on
how your site's registration process is set up, you might only be able to invite the suppliers that are assigned to you
to register.

Context

You assemble a registration questionnaire for the supplier by selecting from a list of available questionnaires,
some of which might be specific to the commodities or regions associated with the supplier.

Procedure

1. On the Supplier Management tab, locate the supplier you want to invite. You can search for the supplier by
name, or use the filter icon () on the Status column to show suppliers with status Not Invited.
2. Click the supplier's name to open the 360° profile.
3. Click the Registration tile.
4. Click Invite
5. Check the questionnaires you want to send to the supplier. You cannot uncheck required questionnaires.
To see the content of a questionnaire, click Preview.

6. Choose the supplier contact who will receive the questionnaire. If you want to send the questionnaire to a new
contact, you can add that person here [page 27].
7. Click Send Invite.

Results

The supplier now has the status Invited. An invitation email is sent to the supplier contact you specified. The
supplier contact can use the link in the email to create a login and fill out and submit the questionnaire.

The Questionnaires table on the Registration tile shows the questionnaire you just sent. To view it, choose
Action View .

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Related Information

Supplier registration status flow [page 14]

How to re-invite a supplier to register

Re-inviting a supplier reminds the supplier contact to fill out the registration questionnaire, or allows you to send
the questionnaire to a different supplier contact.

Prerequisites

You must be a member of the Supplier Registration Manager group to re-invite suppliers to register. Depending
on how your site's registration process is set up, you might only be able to invite the suppliers that are assigned to
you to register.

Procedure

1. On the Supplier Management tab, locate the supplier you want to re-invite. You can search for the supplier by
name, or use the filter icon () on the Status column to show suppliers with status Invited.
2. Click the supplier's name to open the 360° profile.
3. Click the Registration tile.

4. In the Questionnaires table, choose Action Reinvite .

5. Check the questionnaires you want to send to the supplier. You cannot uncheck required questionnaires.
To see the content of a questionnaire, click Preview.

6. Choose the supplier contact who will receive the questionnaire. If you want to send the questionnaire to a new
contact, you can add that person here [page 27].
7. Click Send Invite.

Results

An new invitation email is sent to the supplier contact you specified. The supplier contact can use the link in the
email to create a login and fill out and submit the questionnaire.

The Questionnaires table on the Registration tile shows the questionnaire you just sent in addition to the original
questionnaire. To view it, choose Action View .

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How to approve or deny a supplier registration
If you are in the approval flow for a supplier registration, you can approve or deny it.

Context

Suppliers who have submitted registration questionnaires are in Pending Approval status.

Procedure

1. Perform one of the following actions:

○ Click the link in the notification email to open the registration.

○ On the Supplier Management dashboard tab, click the name of the supplier, then click the Registration
tile.
2. Review the supplier's answers by performing the following steps:

a. In the Questionnaires table, choose Action View .

b. After reviewing the supplier's answers, click Done to return to the Registration tile.

3. In the Tasks table, for the approval task, choose Action Approve/Deny .
4. In the top right corner of the page, perform one of the following actions:

○ To approve the registration, click Approve.

○ To deny the registration, click Deny, enter an explanatory comment for the supplier, and click Confirm
denial.
○ To request additional information, click Request additioanl info, enter a comment for the supplier
explaning what information you want, and click Confirm request additional info.

Results

If you are the final approver, the supplier is now in Registered or Registration Denied status and is notified of that
status by email. If not, the supplier remains in Pending Approval status until the final approval or denial.

Next Steps

If your SAP Ariba supplier solution includes qualification, you can start the process of qualifying the supplier for
specific commodities and regions after registration is finally approved.

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Related Information

Managing supplier qualifications [page 15]

Supplier registration status flow

Action Registration status

A user submits a supplier request. In Creation

The supplier request has been denied. Not Created

The supplier request has been approved, but the supplier has In Creation > Not Invited
not yet been invited to register.

The supplier has been invited to register and sent a link to the Not Invited > Invited
registration questionnaire.

The supplier has started but not completed the registration Invited > In Registration
questionnaire.

The supplier has submitted responses to the registration In Registration > Pending Approval
questionnaire and they are in the approval process.

The category or supplier manager has asked the supplier for Pending Approval > Registration Denied
more information as a condition of approving the registration.

The supplier has resubmitted more information for registra­ Registration Denied > Pending Approval
tion questionnaire and they are back in the approval process.

The supplier registration has been finally approved. Pending Approval > Registered

The supplier registration has been finally denied. Pending Approval > Registration Denied

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Managing supplier qualifications

The supplier qualification process

After a supplier is registered, a category or supplier manager qualifies the supplier for specific commodities and
regions by sending a qualification questionnaire, reviews the supplier's answers, and approves or denies the
qualification.

The qualification process typically solicits detailed information from the supplier that is specific to the
qualification's regions and commodities; for example, their sourcing and sustainability processes; shipping,
delivery, and return policies; commodity-specific certifications; methods of compliance with regional laws; and so
forth. Qualifications are always based on commodities and regions; they do not have to be for the commodities
and regions for which the supplier registered.

The supplier qualification template determines:

● What questionnaire segments the category or supplier manager can select to assemble the questionnaire, and
which segments are required.
● Which category or supplier managers approve the qualification.
● The content of the questionnaire segments.
● Whether other stakeholders at your company must also approve the qualification.
● Whether a denied qualification can be resubmitted.
● Whether internal questionnaires or other tasks or documents are part of the qualification process.

The category or supplier managers assigned to the supplier start the qualification, assemble and send the
questionnaire, review the supplier's answers, approve or deny the qualification, and monitor the approval flow and
status in the Qualification tile on the supplier's 365° profile on the Supplier Management tab of the dashboard.
The supplier answers the qualification questionnaire in their Ariba Network for Suppliers profile. The supplier's
profile information is automatically shared between Ariba Network and your Ariba supplier management solution.

Notifications let supplier know that they have been invited toqualify for specific commodities and regions and
provide a link to the questionnaire; let approvers know that they need to approve a supplier qualification; and let
the supplier know that the qualification has been approved, denied, or requires more information.

At any point after the supplier qualification has been approved, category or supplier managers can:

● Start new qualifications for additional commodities and regions.

● Evaluate the supplier for a preferred status level (if your company uses preferred supplier levels).

In solutions that include Ariba Sourcing, event templates can specify that suppliers must be qualified in the event's
commodities and regions in order to either participate in or be awarded events.

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About the Qualification tile

The Qualification tile only shows on the 360° profiles of registered suppliers.

You can do the following things on the Qualification tile:

● Start a qualification.
● Track the progress of the qualification process on the status graph. On the graph, the approval nodes show the
approver (either a user or a user group) in [brackets]. If you hover your mouse over approval tasks in the
graph, you can see a list of possible approvers. If you hover your mouse over other tasks in the graph, such as
to do tasks, you can see their status. The status graph is visible on the Qualification tile while the qualification
is in progress.
● See the supplier's answers to qualification questionnaires in the Questionnaires table.
● See all of the tasks associated with the qualification in the Tasks table, and complete them if you are a task
owner. Once a qualification is finally approved, you can click View for a task to see its status graph
● Approve or deny the qualification if you are in the approval flow.

How to start a new supplier qualification

Starting a new supplier qualification involves assembling a qualification questionnaire and sending it to a supplier
contact.

Prerequisites

You must be a member of the Supplier Qualification Manager group to start new suplier qualifications.
Depending on how your site's qualification process is set up, you might only be able to start qualifications for the
suppliers you are assigned.

Context

Supplier qualifications are always based on commodity and region. You assemble a qualification questionnaire for
the supplier by specifying the commodity and region, and then selecting from a list of available questionnaires,
some of which might be specific to that commodity and region.

Since commodities and regions are hierarchical, with higher and lower levels, qualifying a supplier for a commodity
or region qualifies them for the lower levels of the hierarchy tree. For example, qualifying a supplier for the US
qualifies if for all 50 states.

You can start any number of qualifications for the same supplier in order to qualify it for different commodity/
region combinations.

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16 CUSTOMER Managing supplier qualifications
Procedure

1. On the Supplier Management tab, locate the supplier you want to qualify.
2. Click the supplier's name to open the 360° profile.
3. Click the Qualification tile.
4. Click Start new qualification
5. Enter a descriptive name for the qualification. It's helpful to include the commodities and regions being
qualified in the name.
6. For Category and Region, perform one of the following actions:

○ Click Search and enter search terms in the field, then choose a value from the list of search results.
○ Click Browse and use the arrows () to navigate through the commodity tree, then check the commodities
you want to qualify the supplier for.
7. Click Next.
8. Check the questionnaires you want to send to the supplier. The list of available questionnaires is based on the
commodies and regions you selected. You cannot uncheck required questionnaires.
To see the content of a questionnaire, click Preview.

9. Choose the supplier contact who will receive the questionnaire. If you want to send the questionnaire to a new
contact, you can add that person here [page 27].
10. (Optional) To change the name, commidities, or regions of the qualification, click Edit, make your changes,
and click Next.

Your changes might cause the list of available questionnaires to change. Review the list and check or uncheck
questionnaires as needed.
11.
12. Click Send Qualification.

Results

If the supplier has never been qualified before, it now has the status Qualification Started. If it has at least one
approved qualification, its status remains Qualified. A notification email is sent to the supplier contact you
specified. The supplier contact can use the link in the email to fill out and submit the questionnaire.

The Questionnaires table on the Qualification tile shows the questionnaire you just sent. To view it, choose
Action View .

Related Information

Supplier qualification status flow [page 19]

Managing Supplier Lifecycles

Managing supplier qualifications CUSTOMER 17
How to approve or deny a supplier qualification
If you are in the approval flow for a supplier qualification, you can approve or deny it.

Procedure

1. Perform one of the following actions:

○ Click the link in the notification email to open the qualification.

○ On the Supplier Management dashboard tab, click the name of the supplier, then click the Qualification
tile.
2. Review the supplier's answers by performing the following steps:

a. In the Questionnaires table, choose Action View .

b. After reviewing the supplier's answers, click Done to return to the Qualification tile.

3. In the Tasks table, for the approval task, choose Action Approve/Deny .
4. In the top right corner of the page, perform one of the following actions:

○ To approve the qualification, click Approve.

○ To deny the qualification, click Deny, enter an explanatory comment for the supplier, and click Confirm
denial.
○ To request additional information, click Request additional info, enter a comment for the supplier
explaining what information you want, and click Confirm request additional info.

Results

If you are the final approver, the supplier is now in Qualified or Qualification Rejected status and is notified of that
status by email. If not, the supplier remains in Pending Qualification Approval status until the final approval or
denial.

Next Steps

If your company uses a process to designate preferred suppliers, after the qualification for the specified
commodities and regions is finally approved, you can start the process of making the supplier preferred for those
commodities and regions.

Related Information

Managing preferred suppliers [page 20]

Managing Supplier Lifecycles

18 CUSTOMER Managing supplier qualifications
Supplier qualification status flow
The qualification status displayed in the banner across a supplier 360° view is based on the supplier's first
qualification. However, suppliers can have multiple qualifications for different commodity/region combinations;
each of these statuses are listed on the Overview tile.

Action Qualification status

The supplier has completed the registration process, but no Not Qualified
qualifications have been started for it.

A qualification questionnaire has been sent to the supplier. Not Qualified > Qualification Started

The supplier has started but not yet completed the qualifica­ Qualification Started > In Qualification
tion questionnaire.

The supplier has submitted responses to the qualification In Qualification > Pending Qualification Approval
questionnaire and they are in the approval process.

The category or supplier manager has asked the supplier for Pending Qualification Approval > Qualification Rejected
more information as a condition of approving the qualification.

The supplier has resubmitted responses to the qualification Qualification Rejected > Pending Qualification Approval
questionnaire and reentered the approval process.

The supplier's qualification has been finally rejected. Pending Qualification Approval > Disqualified

The supplier's qualification has been finally approved. Pending Qualification Approval > Qualified

The supplier's qualification has expired. Qualified > Expired

Managing Supplier Lifecycles

Managing supplier qualifications CUSTOMER 19
Managing preferred suppliers

The preferred supplier management process

After the supplier is qualified for a specific commodity and region combination, a category or supplier manager can
designate them as a preferred supplier for that commodity and region. Preferred suppliers show first in supplier
search results and can be automatically invited to sourcing events for their commodities and regions.

The preferred supplier management template determines:

● What information users add to the form

● Whether the preferred status designation requires approval, and if so, which category or supplier managers
approve it
● Whether other stakeholders at your company must also approve the status change.
● Whether a denied status designation can be resubmitted.

Users specify that they want to designate a supplier as preferred for a commodity and region in the supplier's 365°
profile on the Supplier Management tab of the dashboard.

If the process includes an approval flow, notifications let the approver know that the request requires approval, let
the requesting user know when the request has been approved or denied, and show the final approver so that
requesting users can have further discussions about denied request.

In solutions that include Ariba Sourcing, event templates can automatically invite the suppliers that are preferred
for the event's commodities and regions..

About category status on the Overview tile

If your company uses a process to designate preferred suppliers, you manage preferred category status on the
Overview tile of supplier 360° views. The Category Status area only shows for suppliers that are qualified for at
least one commodity category.

You can do the following things in the Category Status area of the Overview tile:

● View current preferred category status information, which includes any outstanding requests that are still
pending approval. Preferred category status is based specific commodities and regions; each request shows
on a separate row in the area.
● Request a preferred category status change [page 21] by clicking Add or Edit.
● View a preferred category request by clicking View.

Managing Supplier Lifecycles

20 CUSTOMER Managing preferred suppliers
How to request preferred category status for a
supplier
Requesting preferred category status for a supplier involves filling out and submitting a request form.

Prerequisites

You must be a member of the Preferred Supplier Manager group to request preferred category status. Depending
on how your site's registration process is set up, you might only be able to request preferred category status for
the suppliers that are assigned to you.

Preferred status is always based on commodity and region. You can only request preferred status for the
commodities and regions for which the supplier has already qualified.

Context

Preferred category status is designed to encourage your company's procurement and sourcing agents to do
business with certain suppliers. Depending on how your site is set up, suppliers with the highest preferred
category status might appear at the top of guided buying search results or automatically be invited to sourcing
events.

Procedure

1. On the Supplier Management tab, locate the supplier for which you want to request preferred category
status.
2. Click the supplier's name to open the 360° view.
3. Click the Overview tile.
4. In the Category Status area, perform one of the following actions:

○ To create a new request for preferred category status (for a commodity and region for which the supplier
previous had no preferred status), click + Add.
○ To request a change in preferred category status (for a commodity and region for which the supplier
previously already has a preferred status), locate the status and click Edit.
5. Enter information in the form.
6. Click Submit.

Results

The request, with its current status, is visible in the Category Status area.

Managing Supplier Lifecycles

Managing preferred suppliers CUSTOMER 21
How to approve or deny a preferred supplier
category status
If your preferred supplier management process uses an approval flow, and you are in it, you can approve or deny it.

Context

If your site is configured to allow email approvals, you can approve or deny a task without logging in to the Ariba
solution by replying to the email notification. For more information, see Searching, Completing Tasks, and Other
Common User Actions.

Procedure

1. From the My Tasks area, click the task name and choose Action View Task Details .

Alternatively, you can select Action Approve or Action Deny to approve or deny the task without
viewing the task details and document.

An Approval Task page opens. The left pane contains a link to the preferred supplier category status request.
The right pane contains buttons to complete the task.
2. Click Deny or Approve.
3. Perform one of the following actions:

○ If you clicked Deny in the previous step, enter a message to the user who created the request.
○ If you clicked Approve in the previous step, enter a message and click OK.

Managing Supplier Lifecycles

22 CUSTOMER Managing preferred suppliers
Searching for suppliers

You search for suppliers in your site using the search bar on the Supplier Management dashboard.

How to search for suppliers

Procedure

1. On the dashboard, click the Supplier Management tab.

2. Perform one of the following actions:

○ To perform a targeted search, enter a supplier name or ID in the search bar at the top of the dashboard
and press Enter or click the search icon ().
○ To filter the entire supplier search list using search filters, leave the search bar at the top of the dashboard
empty and press Enter or click the search icon ().

The search results display a list of suppliers on the right and a set of filters to the left. The filters that are
available depend on the characteristics of the suppliers in the search results; for example, the category filter
shows all of the commodity categories associated with the suppliers in the search results.
3. (Optional) Refine the search results by performing any of the following actions to filter the list:

○ Check a qualification status.

○ Click a commodity category.
○ Click a region.
○ Check a preferred supplier category status.
○ Check a registration status.
○ Click Yes or No to filter the list by suppliers that are or aren't integrated with an ERP.
○ Click Clear for any filter to remove it.

Next Steps

Click a supplier's name to open its 360° view.

Managing Supplier Lifecycles

Searching for suppliers CUSTOMER 23
Managing supplier contacts

About supplier contacts [page 24]

About supplier contact synchronization with Ariba Network [page 25]

How to add a supplier contact to a supplier's profile [page 26]

How to add a supplier contact as a questionnaire recipient [page 27]

How to edit or delete a supplier contact [page 28]

How to approve or deny a new supplier contact from Ariba Network [page 29]

About supplier contacts

Supplier contacts are the people you interact with while doing business with the supplier. They have logins that
allow them to fill out questionnaires, participate in events, negotiate contracts, and perform other tasks in your
site.

Approved contacts are added to a supplier in your site in one of the following ways:

● By supplier contact data imported into your site.

● When the supplier is created through an approved supplier request [page 7], which must contain a supplier
contact.
● When a category or supplier manager adds a contact to the supplier's profile [page 26].
● When a category or supplier manager adds a recipient for a questionnaire [page 27].
● When a supplier user creates a login to the supplier's Ariba Network account, and your site is configured
synchronize them to the supplier's contacts.

You view and manage supplier contacts on the Contacts tab on the supplier 360° profile Overview tile. On that
tab, table of your company's contacts displays all of the approved contacts that have been added to the supplier in
your site. The table shows the following information for approved contacts:

Column Description

Name The contact's first and last name.

Contact The contact's email address, which is also their unique user­
name. You can also see other contact information in this col­
umn, such as regions and title, by clicking Show more.

Type The type of contact, if any (for example, accounts receivable

or bid manager).

Managing Supplier Lifecycles

24 CUSTOMER Managing supplier contacts
 Column Description

Category The commodity categories that the supplier contact handles,

if any.

Has AN account/Status Has AN account is an indicator of whether or not the supplier

contact has created a login on Ariba Network in the supplier's
account. You can add contacts that do not yet have Ariba Net­
work logins, but they must create them in order to answer
questionnaires, bid on events, or negotiate contracts. The
links in notification emails to supplier contacts prompt them to
either login or create an account on Ariba Network.

Status indicates the supplier contact's status, which can be

Approved, Unapproved, or Rejected.

The Additional contacts from Ariba Network table on the Contacts tab shows the names, email addresses, and
phone numbers of any additional contacts in the supplier's Ariba Network. These Ariba Network contacts cannot
log into the supplier's Ariba Network account, and cannot be synchronized as contacts in your site. However, you
can add them as contacts manually, at which point they will need to create logins to the supplier's Ariba Network
account in order to interact with you.

Related Information

About supplier contact synchronization with Ariba Network [page 25]

About supplier contact synchronization with Ariba

Network
Depending on your site's configuration, new users in the supplier's Ariba Network account might be added as
contacts in your site automatically or might require manual approval.

The suppliers in your SAP Ariba supplier management solution must have Ariba Network accounts in order fill out
questionnaires, bid in events, negotiate contracts, and otherwise perform tasks in your site.

The supplier contacts you create in your site are not synchronized to the supplier's Ariba Network account and
exist only in your site unless you invite them to a sourcing event. If you do invite a supplier contact to an event and
that contact does not exist in the supplier's Ariba Network account, the supplier account administrator must
approve the contact before they can participate in the event.

Managing Supplier Lifecycles

Managing supplier contacts CUSTOMER 25
How to add a supplier contact to a supplier's profile
Supplier contacts are the people with who interact with your company on behalf of the supplier in order to register,
fill out questionnaires, bid on events, negotiate contracts, and so forth.

Prerequisites

You must be a member of the Supplier Request Manager, Supplier Registration Manager, Supplier
Qualification Manager , or Preferred Supplier Manager group to add contacts to a supplier. Depending on how
your site's supplier processes are set up, you might only be able add contacts to the suppliers that are assigned to
you.

Procedure

1. On the supplier's 360° profile, click the Overview tile.

2. Click the Contacts tab.
3. In the upper right corner of the tab, click + Add.
4. Enter information for the supplier contact, including the required first and last name and email address.
5. To make the new contact the primary contact for the supplier, chose Primary.

A message indicates which supplier contact you are replacing with the new contact as the primary contact for
the supplier. The primary contact is listed in the banner across the top of the supplier's 360° profile and
receives all questionnaires by default.
6. (Optional) From the Type, dropdown menu, choose the type of contact you are creating.
7. (Optional) Enter the contact's title.
8. (Optional) Choose the commodities and regions for which the supplier contact is responsible.
9. Click Add.

Results

The new supplier contact is automatically approved and is added to the supplier's profile, as well as to the list of
available recipients for questionnaires. The contact's unique username is their email address.

Related Information

How to edit or delete a supplier contact [page 28]

About supplier contacts [page 24]

Managing Supplier Lifecycles

26 CUSTOMER Managing supplier contacts
How to add a supplier contact as a questionnaire
recipient
If you do not see the supplier contact you want to work with listed as a recipient when you are assembling a
questionnaire to send, you can add the person at that time.

Prerequisites

You must be a member of the manager group for the questionnaire in order to add supplier contacts as recipients
for it. For example, for a registration questionnaire, you must be a member of the Supplier Registration Manager
group. Depending on how your site's questionnaire processes are set up, you might only be able send
questionnaires to the suppliers that are assigned to you.

Context

Procedure

1. On the page where you are assembling the questionnaire, below the list of recipients, click Add User.
2. Enter information for the supplier contact, including the required first and last name and email address.
3. To make the new contact the primary contact for the supplier, chose Primary.

A message indicates which supplier contact you are replacing with the new contact as the primary contact for
the supplier. The primary contact is listed in the banner across the top of the supplier's 360° profile and
receives all questionnaires by default.
4. (Optional) From the Type, dropdown menu, choose the type of contact you are creating.
5. (Optional) Enter the contact's title.
6. (Optional) Choose the commodities and regions for which the supplier contact is responsible.
7. Click Add.

Results

The new supplier contact is added to the list of recipients for the questionnaire, and is also added as an approved
contact Contacts tab of the Overview tile. The contact's unique username is their email address.

Managing Supplier Lifecycles

Managing supplier contacts CUSTOMER 27
Related Information

How to edit or delete a supplier contact [page 28]

About supplier contacts [page 24]

How to edit or delete a supplier contact

Prerequisites

You must be a member of the Supplier Request Manager, Supplier Registration Manager, Supplier
Qualification Manager, , or Preferred Supplier Manager group to edit or delete a suppliers' contacts. Depending
on how your site's supplier processes are set up, you might only be able work with the contacts of the suppliers
that are assigned to you.

Procedure

1. On the supplier's 360° profile, click the Overview tile.

2. Click the Contacts tab.
3. For the contact you want to edit or delete, click Actions and perform one of the following steps:

○ To delete the contact, choose Delete.

○ To edit the contact, choose Edit and make changes as needed, then click Save.

Related Information

About supplier contacts [page 24]

Managing Supplier Lifecycles

28 CUSTOMER Managing supplier contacts
How to approve or deny a new supplier contact from
Ariba Network
If your site is set up to to automatically add new, unapproved supplier contacts from the supplier's Ariba Network
account, you must approve them before they can respond to questionnaires, bid on sourcing events, negotiate
contracts, and so forth.

Prerequisites

You must be a member of the Supplier Request Manager, Supplier Registration Manager, Supplier
Qualification Manager, or Preferred Supplier Manager group to approve contacts for a supplier. Depending on
how your site's supplier processes are set up, you might only be able approve contacts for the suppliers that are
assigned to you.

Context

Unapproved supplier contacts are listed on the Contacts tab of the supplier 360° Overview tile with the status
Unapproved.

Procedure

1. On the supplier's 360° profile, click the Overview tile.

2. Click the Contacts tab.

3. For the supplier contact you want to approve or deny, click Actions Approve or Actions Deny .

Results

The supplier contact now shows a status of either Approved or Rejected.

Next Steps

Once the supplier contact is approved, you can edit it [page 28] to add information such as commodities, regions,
title, and so forth. You can also it the recipient of supplier management questionnaires.

Managing Supplier Lifecycles

Managing supplier contacts CUSTOMER 29
Once the supplier contact is either approved or denied, you can delete it [page 28]. You cannot delete unapproved
supplier contacts from the contacts list.

Managing Supplier Lifecycles

30 CUSTOMER Managing supplier contacts
Synchronizing new suppliers with your ERP
System

How to manually synchronize a new supplier to your

ERP system
Manually synchronizing a new supplier to the your ERP system adds then to the ERP vendor master. After the
manual synchronization, updates occur automatically.

Prerequisites

You must be a member of the Supplier Request Manager, Supplier Registration Manager, Supplier
Qualification Manager, or Preferred Supplier Manager group to synchronize the supplier with the ERP.
Depending on how your site's supplier processes are set up, you might only perform ERP synchronization for the
suppliers that are assigned to you.

Context

Your company's ERP vendor master is the official record of your company's suppliers. Typically, companies have
many potential suppliers; the ERP vendor master only includes those suppliers that your company actually does
business with. ERP synchronization adds suppliers that have been created in SAP Ariba supplier management
solutions to the ERP vendor master.

Your company's ERP integration setup determines whether this synchronization is automatic, or whether you
must manually synchronize the supplier to the ERP. If the synchronization is manual, the setup also determines at
what stage you can synchronize a new supplier: immediately after the supplier's request is approved, during the
registration process, or only after the registration is approved.

If your site uses manual synchronization, when to synchronize a supplier is dependent on your company's
integration setup, its policies for adding suppliers to the ERP vendor master, and the circumstances under which
the supplier was added.

For example, if a sourcing agent has requested that a new supplier while adding participants to a sourcing event,
and your company requires potential new suppliers in sourcing events to be added to the ERP vendor master, your
site's integration setup will allow you to manually synchronize the supplier as soon as the request is approved, and
you would do so in order to allow the supplier to participate in the event.

Managing Supplier Lifecycles

Synchronizing new suppliers with your ERP System CUSTOMER 31
Procedure

● In the upper right corner of the supplier's 360° profile, click  Sync now.

Results

A message lets you know that the synchronization has started. Once it is finished, the new supplier is added to the
ERP vendor master. Any updates made to the supplier in the ERP are also updated in Ariba.

Managing Supplier Lifecycles

32 CUSTOMER Synchronizing new suppliers with your ERP System
Site configuration options for managing
supplier lifecycles

Site configuration options for supplier contacts [page 33]

Site configuration options for supplier contacts

Some of the functionality for supplier contacts is controlled by configuration options, which Ariba sets for you
Application.AOD.EnableAdditionalSupplierUserDataSync
This parameter specifies whether or not new supplier users in supplier Ariba Network
accounts are automatically synchronized with existing suppliers in your site. If this
parameter is set to Yes, the new users are added to your site as new supplier contacts. The
default setting is Yes.

A separate parameter,
Application.AOD.EnableAutoApproveSupplierUserOnDataSync, specifies whether
or not the supplier contacts are automatically approved when they are synchronized, or
whether they require manual approval.
Application.AOD.EnableAutoApproveSupplierUserOnDataSync
This parameter specifies whether or not new supplier contacts added to your site through
synchronization with the suppliers' Ariba Network account are automatically approved. If
this parameter is set to Yes, the new supplier contacts are automatically approved. If it is
set to No, the new supplier contacts must be approved or denied manually. The default
setting is No.

This parameter is only applicable if

Application.AOD.EnableAdditionalSupplierUserDataSync is set to Yes.

Managing Supplier Lifecycles

Site configuration options for managing supplier lifecycles CUSTOMER 33
Important Disclaimers and Legal Information

Coding Samples
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environment. The Code is only intended to better explain and visualize the syntax and phrasing rules of certain coding. SAP does not warrant the correctness and
completeness of the Code given herein, and SAP shall not be liable for errors or damages caused by the usage of the Code, unless damages were caused by SAP
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Accessibility
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binding guideline on how to ensure accessibility of software products. SAP in particular disclaims any liability in relation to this document. This disclaimer, however, does
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Gender-Neutral Language
As far as possible, SAP documentation is gender neutral. Depending on the context, the reader is addressed directly with "you", or a gender-neutral noun (such as "sales
person" or "working days") is used. If when referring to members of both sexes, however, the third-person singular cannot be avoided or a gender-neutral noun does not
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Managing Supplier Lifecycles

34 CUSTOMER Important Disclaimers and Legal Information
Managing Supplier Lifecycles
Important Disclaimers and Legal Information CUSTOMER 35
www.ariba.com

Copyright © 2016 Ariba, Inc. All rights reserved.

This documentation, as well as the Ariba solutions, software and/or
services described in it, contain proprietary information. They are
provided under a license or other agreement containing restrictions
on use and disclosure and are also protected by copyright, patent
and/or other intellectual property laws. Except as permitted by such
agreement, no part of the document may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical or
otherwise, without the prior written permission of Ariba, Inc.
Ariba, Inc. assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or
inaccuracies that may appear in the documentation. The
information contained in the documentation is subject to change
without notice.
Ariba and Ariba products and services mentioned herein as well as
their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of
Ariba, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Please see
http://www.ariba.com/legal/trademarks for additional trademark
information and notices.
Ariba Sourcing solutions (On Demand and software) are protected
by one or more of the following patents, including without limitation:
U.S. Patent Nos. 6,199,050; 6,216,114; 6,223,167; 6,230,146;
6,230,147; 6,285,989; 6,408,283; 6,499,018; 6,564,192; 6,871,191;
6,952,682; 7,010,511; 7,072,061; 7,130,815; 7,146,331;
7,152,043;7,225,152; 7,277,878; 7,249,085; 7,283,979; 7,283,980;
7,296,001; 7,346,574; 7,383,206; 7,395,238; 7,401,035; 7,407,035;
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7,571,137; 7,599,878; 7,634,439; 7,657,461; 7,693,747; 8,364,577;
and 8,392,317. Patents pending.
Other Ariba product solutions are protected by one or more of the
following patents:
U.S. Patent Nos. 6,199,050, 6,216,114, 6,223,167, 6,230,146,
6,230,147, 6,285,989, 6,408,283, 6,499,018, 6,564,192, 6,584,451,
6,606,603, 6,714,939, 6,871,191, 6,952,682, 7,010,511, 7,047,318,
7,072,061, 7,084,998; 7,117,165; 7,225,145; 7,324,936; 7,536,362;
8,364,577; and 8,392,317. Patents pending.
Certain Ariba products may include third party software or other
intellectual property licensed from a third party. For information
regarding software or other intellectual property licensed from a
third party, go to http://www.ariba.com/copyrights.cfm.