Standard Configuration Guide

This document contains key definitions from across Supplier Management and Contract Management for configurations specific to the standard system setup.

The following terms have been split into modules and aligned with the order of the configuration screen for ease of use.

Supplier Management

Supplier Categories

There are four Supplier Categories shipped within standard system: Standard, Preferred, Strategic and Uncategorised.

Uncategorised should only be used as a placeholder until the permanent category is decided and applied.

The supplier category applied to a supplier record will affect the management plan that is automatically applied to that supplier.

Currently, Strategic and Preferred suppliers will have the Enhanced management plan applied and Uncategorised and Standard suppliers will have the Standard management plan applied.

Management Plans

There are two management plans shipped within standard system: Standard and Enhanced.

Standard and Enhanced are both onboarding management plans and will be automatically applied to a supplier based on the supplier category assigned. These management plans are currently identical but can be edited based on your requirements.

Classifications

There are 6 shipped Classification Categories within standard system. Examples of the classifications in each category are shown in brackets:

• Supplier Criticality – Allows users to assign how critical the supplier is to the business, to be reported on and may require more detailed management (e.g. Business critical and Non-Business Critical).
• Payment Terms – Allows users to define the payment term for a supplier (e.g. Immediate Payment, Net 30 days etc).
• Type of Purchase – Allows users to define, at a high level, what goods or service is provided by the supplier (e.g. Goods, Services etc).
• Purchasing Category – Allows users to define at a more granular level, the type of goods or service provided (e.g. Clothing, Construction, Food and Drink etc). This list is defined by your team and should match the Sourcing/Contract Categories within Core Data.
• UK Regions Served – Allows users to define the geographic span that the supplier serves.
• Supplier SME Status – Allows users to define the size of the supplier by turnover or number of employees (e.g. Large (more 250 employees / £50mil turnover), Micro (less than 10 employees / less than £2mil turnover) etc).

Assessments

A number of different assessments are available to use, within the standard system. The assessments are primarily designed to serve three distinct purposes:

• Onboarding assessments – These are to be utilised predominantly to create a more complete supplier record/profile and allow for better management and reporting.
  • Supplier Information Request Form
  • Bank Details Request Form
  • Supplier Insurance & Certification Details Request Form
• Risk assessments – These are to be utilised to have visibility of supplier risks and put you in a position to be able to manage them more effectively.
  • Supplier Risk & Assurance Information Request Form
  • GDPR Compliance Information Request Form
  • Modern Day Slavery Compliance Information Request Form
  • Sustainability & ESG Information Request Form
• Performance reviews – These are to be utilised to allow your team to display how well you rate your suppliers’ performance, and in turn, to allow them to make more effective decisions surrounding the supplier.
  • Supplier Performance Review
  • KPI Performance Review
  • SLA Performance Review

Milestones

A number of milestones are available to choose from, within standard system. Milestones represent upcoming events or required actions for the supplier in question, this includes milestones templates for:

• Action Plan Review
• Onboarding
• Supplier Meeting
• Supplier Revalidation

Activities

There are a number of activities shipped as part of standard system, each with instructions built in. Shipped activities are targeted towards Supplier Onboarding or Performance Review and make up a significant portion of the shipped management plans.

Activities are utilised within management plans as this allows specific instructions to be entered, to guide users on how to complete the task in the correct way.

For example, the activity Send Supplier Information Request Form has instructions to "Navigate to the Assessment tab of the supplier record, click on the chevron on the right of the + Internal assessment button and select External assessments. From the wizard that appears, select the Supplier Information Request Form, fill in the details in the "Assessment templates to generate" section and click generate." as opposed to just including the assessment as part of the management plan without any instruction.

Examples of the activities within the system are sending assessments, adding classifications and changing the status of the supplier within the record.

Risks

The Risk templates available within the standard system are all related to the 4 risk assessments outlined in the Assessments section above. This allows the user to review assessments, and immediately log corresponding risks if there are any concerning answers submitted by the supplier.

For example, within the GDPR Compliance Information Request Form there are a number of sections about different aspects of compliance: Data Subject Rights, Data Breach Response, etc. Within the Risks section of the configuration, there are risks that share the names of these sections: GDPR: Data Breach Response Risk, GDPR: Data Subject Rights Risk. Therefore, if the answers given by the supplier for this assessment are concerning to a user, they can automatically log a corresponding risk.

Issues

There are 7 issue types available within the standard system and cover typical issues risen. These are:

• Breach of Contract
• Cyber Attack
• Delivery Delay
• Dispute over Non-Payment
• Failure to capture Supplier Compliance (This aligns with the shipped Supplier Insurance & Certification Details Request Form)
• Pricing Discrepancies
• Product Quality

Document Categories

10 Document Categories are available to choose from within standard system. These document categories reflect the types of documents that you would typically want to hold a record of against a supplier. Of these document categories, only one is a Key Document.

The Key Document category that we require against a supplier record is a document of 'Signed Bank Details' from a supplier to ensure this information is held against the record and to show that the supplier has approved these in order to prepare you for the possibility of disputes that may arise from missed/incorrect payments.

• Accessibility
• Carbon Reduction Plan
• Registration Documents
• Code of Conduct
• Sustainability Documentation
• Supplier Documentation
• Policies
• Correspondence
• Reports
• Signed Bank Details*

*Signed Bank Details is the only document category within the standard system to be marked as a Key document.

Having these document categories will allow you to store and organise all the relevant documentation associated with a supplier in a central place within the supplier record.

Supplier Data

Supplier Types

The Supplier Types available to choose from within standard system are:

• Not For Profit
• Partnership
• Limited Liability Company (LLC)
• Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)
• Sole Trader
• Registered Charity
• Public Limited Company (PLC)
• Private Limited Company (LTD)
• Research Partner
• Government Agency
• Trust
• Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
• Unincorporated Association
• Charitable Company (Limited by guarantee)
• Other

Contract Management

Classifications

There are 16 shipped Classification Categories within standard system. Examples of the classifications in each category are shown in brackets:

• Contract Criticality – Allows users to assign how critical the contract is to the business, to be reported on and may require more detailed management (e.g. Business critical and Non-Business Critical).
• Termination Clauses – Allows users to define which termination clauses are in place for a contract (e.g. Break Clause, Force Majeure, Termination for convenience).
• Options/Rights of Renewal – Allows users to define what Options/Rights of Renewals were agreed upon for a contract (e.g. Automatic Renewal Clause, Fixed Term Renewal, None).
  • Example Classification – for when …
  • Automatic Renewal Clause –
  • Continuous Agreement –
  • Extension Clause –
  • Fixed Term Renewal –
  • Mutual Agreement Renewal –
  • None – There is no renewal clause within the contract
  • Option to Renew –
  • Renewal at Market Rates –
  • Right of First Refusal –
  • Rolling Renewal –
  • Step-Up Renewal –
• Service Levels Agreement – Allows users to record whether SLAs exist against a contract and therefore need managing by a contract owner (e.g. No SLAs Exist, SLAs Need Managing).
• Key Performance Indicators – Allows users to record whether KPIs exist against a contract and therefore need managing by a contract owner (e.g. No KPIs Exist, KPIs Need Managing, KPIs Need Publishing).
• Supplier Performance Management – Allows users to record whether the Supplier needs to be managed in terms of performance reviews (e.g. Required, Not Required).
• Data Processing Compliance – Allows users to record whether the Supplier is required to have GDPR compliance based on the contract in place (e.g. GDPR Assessment Required, GDPR Assessment Not Required).
• Modern Day Slavery Compliance – Allows users to record whether the Supplier is required to have Modern Day Slavery compliance based on the contract in place (e.g. MDS Assessment Required, MDS Assessment Not Required).
• Indexation & Price Increases – Allows users to record how price increases should be applied to the contract, to allow for better forward planning and visibility (e.g. Annual Price Increases, Static Price - No Price Increase)
• Financial Benefit – Allows users to record financial benefits in place for the contract. These can be reported on and provide visibility (e.g. Rebate Lever Exists, Service Credit Claim Exists).
• Forward Planned Tender  – Allows users to record if a forward planned tender that allows management to be able to take a strategic approach in anticipating future procurement needs and being able to plan those in advance. Reduces risk as resources can be allocated earlier, promotes transparency and collaboration with suppliers is improved (e.g. Scheduled, Not Scheduled).
• Procurement Method – Allows users to record which approach or process was used to acquire the goods/service/works (e.g. Competitive Three Quote Process, Tender Process Above Threshold, Tender Process Not Above Threshold).
• Route to Market – Allows users to record the strategy used to deliver a product/service to target customers (e.g. Direct Award, Framework, Tender).
• Disclosure Status – Allows users to record if the contract provides relevant information to all parties involved (e.g. Disclosed, Not at Threshold, Not Disclosed). The level of disclosure required depends on the type of contract and the legal context. For example, consumer credit vs a commercial agreement have different requirements however transparency and clear communication are essential in contractual relationships.
• Supplier Tier – Allows users to record the tier that the supplier is assigned to (based on what was assigned to the supplier record. Assigning this at contract level, provides visibility through reports and can show management how many contracts are in place for suppliers who affect the business in different ways (e.g. Standard, Preferred, Strategic).
• Contracting Method – Allows users to record the way the contract was entered into (e.g. Master Services Agreement, Statement of Work, Supplier Contract).

Checklists

There is one shipped Checklist available to use within standard system called Standard Contract Checklist. It contains the basic tasks we require and recommend to be able to class the contract as Healthy. The required items for the Standard Contract Checklist are:

• Contract Signed
• Document Stored
• PO Created
• Complete Recommended information
• Classify Contract with an Option/Rights of Renewal Classification

If you do not think any of these steps are required for a specific contract, they can be marked as Not Applicable.

This checklist is assigned to ALL Contract Types.

Milestones

A number of milestones are available to choose from, within standard system. Milestones represent upcoming events or required actions for the supplier in question, this includes milestones templates for:

• Annual Price Increase
• Breakpoint
• Contract Compliance Review
• Payment Milestones
• Review Date
• Service Credit/Rebate
• Service Progress Report

Document Categories

7 Document Categories are available to choose from within standard system:

• Service Information
• Pricing Schedule
• Signed Contract*
• Purchase Order
• Correspondence
• Change Requests/Variations
• Contract Management Plan

*Signed Contract is the only document category within the standard system to be marked as a Key document and should be attached to every contract record.

Contract Data

Contract Types

The Contract Types available to use within standard system are:

• Consultancy
• Fixed Term
• Goods
• Goods & Services
• One Off
• Professional Services
• Services
• Software

Core Data

Sourcing/Contract Categories

This will be configured to your specifications. Categories are not required to be shipped with the standard system.

Income Types

Income types are set up to allow users to determine what type of contract has been created. 2 Income Types are available within standard system (Revenue and Expense).

Renewal Option Types

Renewal Option Types correspond to the Options/Rights of Renewal contract classifications list, for consistency. The available options will be known when the contract is signed and so should be added into the contract record as soon as possible.

• Automatic Renewal
• Break Clause
• Continuous Agreement
• Extension Clause
• Fixed Term Renewal
• Mutual Agreement Renewal
• Option for Renewal
• Renewal at Market Rates
• Right of First Refusal
• Rolling Renewal
• Step-Up Renewal