This table holds all Supplier Response records, which are used to manage responses to individual Sourcing Events.

Use Case

Sourcing Event Managers and Suppliers can create Response records. These users can create Supplier Response records in two ways:

• Sourcing Event Manager: can create Supplier Response records if "Include Supplier Invitation?" is Yes from the Supplier Invitation tab of the Sourcing Event and then clicking the “Invite to Apply” button within the Sourcing Event. The supplier then receives a notification with a link to edit their Response record.   
• Supplier: can create Supplier Response records through the End User Interface (EUI). Users can view public Sourcing Events in a status of "Posted" and use a button in the Sourcing Event to express their interest, which creates the Response record.

Responses are created in a status of "New" by default. If the supplier is required to indicate their intent to bid before submitting a response, they can do so by clicking the “Interested” or “Not Interested” buttons on the EUI of the Response record. If the supplier indicates interest, they are able to ask additional questions about the Sourcing Event. The Sourcing Event Manager can then respond to the question directly and indicate if the question and its answer should be made public. All public Sourcing Event Questions are visible in the Response records as FAQs. If the supplier indicates they are not interested, then the status is changed to Not Interested.

The Response record indicates if the supplier is required to add documents before submitting. The supplier must provide the correct amount of additional documentation before submitting.  

If the Sourcing Event Bidding Type is "Open", suppliers can view competitor bids from their Supplier Response in the "Competitor Bids" tab. 

If the supplier does not submit before the Sourcing Event Deadline, the Response becomes Expired.  

As responses are received, a staff member may review them and change their status to Criteria Met if they meet the general criteria, or to Rejected if they do not meet the general criteria.

Once the deadline for the submission of responses has passed, the Evaluation team reviews the proposals and marks ones they believe are the best with an Award Recommended status. These records are included in the selection approval, and once approved, their Status is changed to Awarded. Records that are not selected are given a Status of Not Awarded.

Automation

There are three rules in the Supplier Response table. There are two active rules:

• Create: All Supplier Response Create Actions: This rule runs when the new record is created. If the Status is New it emails the Sourcing Event Invitation to Supplier Contact. Also, it shows the Submit button if the Supplier isn't required to indicate interest before submission.
• Edit: Updates by Party (Email): This rule runs when the record is edited by the supplier via email. It notifies Sourcing Event Owner of outside party update.

There is one inactive time-based rule:

• TB: (disabled) Daily check for response expiration: When activated, it runs every 2 days on Supplier Responses where the Solicitation Due Date is in the past and the status is New or Interested. It sets their Status to Expired.

Workflow

There is a simple workflow for Supplier Responses that currently does not execute any actions. Status changes are performed using action buttons.

Ownership

Response records are owned by the Supplier company. They may be created and edited by the end users up to a point.