The Sourcing Event table holds records that reflect different requests, and manages the Sourcing Event process lifecycle. In the standard system demo, the Sourcing Events Table has three types: Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Information (RFI), and Request for Quote (RFQ). For more information on Sourcing Event Types, visit Sourcing Event Types.

Information stored in the Sourcing Event record includes:

Use Case

Sourcing Event Requesters and Sourcing Event Managers create Sourcing Event records. Different fields are displayed in the record layout depending on the Sourcing Event Type selected. The system handles various notifications surrounding dates of the Sourcing Event, many of which can be found in the Tentative Schedule of Events section.

When all required fields are completed, the Requester submits the Sourcing Event for review, which notifies the Sourcing Event Manager Team that there's a new Sourcing Event to process. The Sourcing Event Managers assign an internal Sourcing Event Manager who is responsible for routing the Sourcing Event forward.

RFP and RFQ Sourcing Event Types involve an Evaluation of the Supplier Response. In these Sourcing Events, the Sourcing Event Managers define an Evaluation Committee who are responsible for evaluating Supplier Responses, defining the Selection Approver, and defining the Evaluation method. There are three Supplier Response scoring methods: Skip Criteria, Add Template, or Create Criteria Manually. 

If Skip Criteria is chosen, no scoring is needed.

If Create Criteria Manually is selected, it defines the qualification criteria used to evaluate the Supplier Responses, choosing from existing criteria that they may adjust for this Sourcing Event, or creating new criteria. For more information on qualification criteria, visit the Qualification Criteria Table page.

If Add Template is chosen and a template is uploaded, the Sourcing Event Manager manages the actual scoring outside of the application by manually updating the Scoring Template with an Evaluation Matrix with all of the suppliers added and scored accordingly.  The scores from the template are then transferred to the Response Evaluation.

The process of defining an evaluation committee, defining a Selection Approver, and creating a Response Evaluation remains the same. However, the Evaluation Metrics will be based on data coming from the Scoring Template instead of Sourcing Event Criteria.

The Sourcing Event Managers generate one or more documents from selected print templates, make any changes, and then route the Sourcing Event for internal pre-approval based on the Sourcing Event Type’s predefined workflow. Once approved, the Sourcing Event Managers can merge the files to create a final document, publish the Sourcing Event, and proceed with supplier invitation.

Sourcing Event Managers can choose specific Suppliers who they'd like to invite to respond by choosing from existing External User records, or by creating new Company and External User records. They can filter Company and External User records by the Purchase Type defined in the Sourcing Event matching the Goods / Services the Supplier offers. For more information, visit the Goods and Services page.

The Sourcing Event Manager can change the status to Posted by inviting suppliers or by clicking the Posted button on Public Sourcing Events. When suppliers are invited, a Supplier Response record is created for each invited supplier. The record is used to submit documents, questions, and ultimately, their response to the Sourcing Event. On public Sourcing Events, suppliers can click "I am Interested" in Sourcing Event from the Supplier Portal to create a Supplier Response record and submit questions, documents, and a response. For more detail, view the Supplier Responses table. 

Suppliers can submit questions while the Sourcing Event is in the "Posted" status. The Sourcing Event Manager can respond to the questions from the Sourcing Event and mark select questions as published FAQs, which become available to other Suppliers invited or interested in the public sourcing event.

Once the "Date and Time Responses Due" date is reached, the Sourcing Event changes to the "Reviewing Responses" status, at which point the Evaluation Committee can review the supplier responses using the selected scoring method. After the response evaluation is completed, the Sourcing Event Manager can indicate how responses should be handled using the "Actions" on the related table. Responses can be Create Response Evaluation, Reject, Criteria Met, or Recommend Award.


When response(s) are marked as "Recommend Award", final approvals can be launched, if needed. The designated Selection Approver receives a final approval. 

The Sourcing Event Manager can create contracts from any response marked as "Award Recommended" once the Sourcing Event Status is "Selection Approved." The status will be changed to "Contract Created." Once the Contract is signed, the Sourcing Event will change to "Contract Executed."

If the Sourcing Event Type does not require the Sourcing Event to end in a selection and a Contract, the Sourcing Event can be marked as "Closed."

Automation

There are several rules in the Sourcing Events table:

There is one inactive time-based rule:

Saved Searches

For convenience, the standard system demo has three searches added to the left pane of the Sourcing Events table:

Other searches set up in this table are:

Workflow

There is a linear workflow for Sourcing Events that currently does not execute any actions. Status changes are performed with action buttons and automatic changes when certain conditions are reached.

Ownership

Sourcing Event records are owned by the record Requester. The field by which the ownership is determined is user ID.

Reports

Standard System Demo has three reports set for the Sourcing Events table: