How You Use Qualification Models

Qualification models are containers for qualification areas. You use a qualification model and its qualification areas to perform a comprehensive evaluation of a supplier known as an assessment.

When creating an assessment initiative, you specify a single qualification model containing one or more qualification areas. The questions contained in the model's qualification areas are used to create the questionnaire that's sent to your suppliers and any internal responders. The application creates draft qualifications and assessments when you launch the initiative.

If you try to use a qualification model whose qualification areas have been updated, an alert icon displays. You're prompted to revise the qualification model definition, by using Uptake Latest Revision. If you don't update the qualification model definition, it uses the previous version of the qualification area definition.

Once all the responders have submitted replies, you review each of the responses and either accept it or return it back to responders. The responders can update their responses and resubmit. Once you view and accept a supplier's responses as well as any internal responses associated with the supplier, all qualifications for that supplier are in Ready for Evaluation. During the evaluation step, the designated reviewers view the supplier responses and assign an outcome value. (You define the possible outcome values that are available when you define the qualification model.)When all qualifications are evaluated and finalized, corresponding assessment becomes active.

The table displays qualification model attributes and explains the attribute values.

Name

Explanation

Question Model

The name of the qualification model you're creating. This name is used as the name of the assessment.

Revision

The number of the current version of this qualification model definition. As changes are made to the qualification model definition, the Revision number is incremented.

Owner

The owner of the qualification model definition.

Owning Procurement BU

The procurement business that owns this definition

Default Assessment Owner

Select a user to set as the default assessment owner for all the accessing procurement BUs when this qualification model is included in an assessment.

When a default assessment owner is assigned, then all the procurement BUs that have access to this model will have this user as the default assessment owner unless specified otherwise in the Business Unit Access or Business Unit Defaults table.

Business Unit Access

You can assign a default assessment owner for various business units. When the area isn't global BU access, you can also add the procurement business units which can use this qualification model.

Status

Qualification model definitions can be in one of four statuses:

  • Draft - the initial definition hasn't yet been activated for use.

  • Active - the definition is available for use in initiatives.

  • Inactive - the definition is disabled and can't be used. It can be reactivated for use when necessary.

  • Archived - this definition has been superseded by a more recent revision.

Global BU access

These values control who can use this qualification model. The default is for the model to be available to the procurement business unit of the creator. If you check Global, the qualification model can be used by all procurement business units in the application. Otherwise, you choose the procurement business unit which can use this qualification model. You can insert multiple rows as access procurement BUs.

Business Unit Defaults

When you chose Global BU access, you provide access to this qualification model for various business units and assign a default assessment owner to manage the evaluation.

Share Assessment with Supplier

You can expose assessment evaluation decisions to suppliers if you select the Summary option for the Share Assessment with Supplier attribute. If you select this option, any assessment created using the areas in this model can be communicated to a supplier when you finalize the assessments. You can choose to share:

  • Summary (outcome, start date, and end date)

  • Qualifications (qualification information included in the assessment)

  • Note to supplier - You can also add a note that the supplier can see when viewing the assessment.

Qualification Model Level

Whether assessments generated using this model apply only at the supplier site level or at both the supplier and the supplier site level.

Enable scoring

If you enable scoring for this qualification model, it must contain at least one qualification area with scoring defined, and the qualification area must contain at least one question with scoring defined.

Also, you define the model outcomes in terms of total scores. A model's total score is the sum of the scores of all the areas in the model. Typically, for each outcome, you specify a beginning and ending score range.

Automatically evaluate assessment (only available if scoring is enabled)

You can also choose to have assessments automatically evaluated. The application uses the scoring information defined for the model's outcomes to evaluate the assessment.

Automatic reassessment on new qualification

You can choose to use the requalification results to automatically reassess the supplier. You can keep your assessment outcome as current without manual intervention.

Supplier Eligibility

You can use this qualification model for evaluating and assessing supplier eligibility. Includes options Sourcing and Share eligibility.

Sourcing

You can choose to use this model to assess or evaluate supplier's eligibility for negotiations in the Sourcing work area at a particular procurement BU.

Share eligibility

You can choose to share the supplier eligibility resulting from the assessment outcome with other Procurement BUs by also updating the supplier's default sourcing eligibility.

Expiration Reminder

Sets a future point in time before the qualification expires when the application starts sending alerts to the qualification manager. The value you set is the default that's used for any assessment created using this qualification model. The owner of the assessment can override the value.

Owner

The owner of the qualification model definition

Areas and Outcomes icon

Use the Areas and Outcomes icon, to display the Create Qualification Model: Areas and Outcomes page where you can choose the qualification areas and add them to your qualification model.

Add icon (Qualification Area section)

Use the add icon to open a window where you can choose the qualification areas and add them to your qualification model.

Procurement BU/Qualification Area (Search and Add dialog box)

Enter the name of a qualification model for which you want to search. You choose the appropriate questions from the search results. When you're returned to the Create Qualification Model, the qualification areas you chose are displayed. Note that you can update the question branching for questions in this area if necessary.

Display Sequence and Outcome

You can define possible outcomes for your qualification model. Then when evaluators are viewing a supplier's response, they can assign the response a particular outcome.

From Score/To Score (only available if Enable scoring is selected)

For each outcome, you specify the range of values that include that outcome. Also, you identify one outcome to be used as the knockout outcome.

Knockout Outcome

Indicates which outcome is the knockout outcome.

Notify (only available if Automatically Evaluate Assessment is selected)

If you choose to have assessment automatically evaluated, for each outcome, you can choose to have the application send a notification to the assessment owner whenever an assessment that evaluates to that outcome is received.

The process for creating a qualification model includes these steps.

  • Use the Create Qualification Model page to define the qualification model header values, such as name, business unit access, and expiration reminder values

  • Click the Areas and Outcomes icon to display the Create Qualification Model: Areas and Outcomes page.

  • Search for and add the qualification areas that are appropriate for the supplier that you want to qualify.

  • Specify any additional classification values appropriate for this qualification model.

  • Once you've completed defining the qualification model, use Activate to make the qualification model available for use.