Step-by-Step Guide to Configuring and Executing Supplier Qualifications in Oracle Fusion

 Oracle Fusion Redwood

Supplier Qualification Management

 

Overview

Oracle Supplier Qualification Management (SQM) is a comprehensive solution designed to strengthen supplier compliance, improve data accuracy, and enhance visibility into supplier capabilities. By centralizing qualification processes, organizations can make more informed sourcing decisions while reducing supplier-related risks. 

Key Benefits

• Ensure suppliers comply with corporate policies
• Gain visibility into key supplier characteristics and capabilities
• Reduce the risk of supplier-related issues
• Improve sourcing decisions by incorporating relevant supplier evaluation factors

Key Features

• Manage and organize supplier qualification information into meaningful categories
• Survey suppliers using easy-to-use online questionnaires
• Build a reusable question library for future initiatives
• Evaluate specific qualification areas and assess suppliers against predefined criteria
• Automatically score suppliers based on configured scoring rules
• Leverage both internal and external data sources
• Incorporate qualification data into supplier research and RFx invitation lists
• Receive alerts when relevant supplier information is updated or when qualifications are approaching expiration

Introduction

This article provides a step-by-step guide to setting up and evaluating Supplier Qualifications in Oracle Fusion. The setup covers the following key configuration areas:

1. Questions - Define the questions that will be presented to suppliers
2. Question Areas - Group related questions into meaningful qualification areas
3. Qualification Model - Combine question areas into a structured evaluation model

The end-to-end supplier qualification process involves the following steps:

1.  The sourcing team creates an Initiative
2. The supplier contact responds to the questionnaire (the internal team may submit a surrogate response if needed)
3. The sourcing team reviews and accepts the responses
4. Individual qualifications are evaluated per area
5. An overall assessment is completed at the model level

Prerequisites

Roles Required

• Buyer
• Procurement Manager
• Supplier Administrator
• Supplier Manager
• Supplier Qualification Manager

Navigation

Navigation: Procurement > Supplier Qualification (New)

This opens the Redwood landing page for Supplier Qualification Management.

 

 

Redwood Landing Page:

 

 

Step 1: Configure Questions

Questions are the foundation of the qualification process. Each question defines what information will be collected from the supplier.

Navigation: Quick Actions > Manage Questions > Create New

Set the Question Name, Question Text, and Response options for each question. Use the question type "Multiple Choice with Single Selection" unless a text entry is required. You can also make attachments mandatory where supporting documents are needed.

The following five questions were configured for this scenario:

#	Question Name	Question Text	Response Options
1	Years of Experience	How many years of experience does your organization have?	Less than 2, 2-5, 5-8, 8 or more
2	ISO Certification	Is your company ISO certified? (Hint: Please attach the certificate if applicable)	Yes (attachment mandatory), No
3	Financial Statement	Please share the financial statements for your organization	Text entry (mandatory)
4	Number of Employees	How many employees work in your organization?	Less than 100, 100-500, 500-1,000, 1,000-10,000, 10,000 or more
5	Prior Engagement	Has your organization previously completed or been awarded a project with us?	Yes, No

Years of Experience

 

ISO Certification

 

Financial Statement

 

Number of Employees

 

Prior Engagement

 

Step 2: Configure Question Areas

Question Areas allow you to group related questions into logical qualification categories. Each area can be assigned an outcome scale to facilitate evaluation.

Navigation: Quick Actions > Manage Question Areas > Create New

For each Question Area, set the Area Name, Short Name, Description, and Owning Procurement BU (set to US1 Procurement in this example). If you set the area as Global BU Access, it will be available across the entire enterprise.

Assign the relevant questions to each area and define the qualification outcome responses: Excellent, Average, Below Average, Poor.

Experience

 

 

Finances

 

 

Human Resources

 

 

ISO Certification

 

 

Step 3: Configure the Qualification Model

The Qualification Model brings all Question Areas together into a single structured framework for evaluating suppliers. Set the Model Name, Description, and relevant details.

 

Under the Areas and Outcomes section, assign all the Question Areas created in the previous step and configure the outcome responses accordingly.

 

Note: Supplier qualification initiatives can be triggered manually (as demonstrated in this article) or automatically using the ESS program: Requalify Supplier Qualifications. For automatic initiation, a Rule Set must be configured.

Step 4: Create and Launch an Initiative

There are two types of initiatives in Oracle Supplier Qualification:

•       Assessment - Evaluates the supplier holistically based on the Qualification Model. Provides an overall outcome for each area.

•       Qualification - Assesses the supplier against a specific individual question area.

 

In this walkthrough, we will create an Assessment initiative based on the Qualification Model configured above.

Navigation: Supplier Qualification Home > Quick Actions > Manage Initiatives > Create New

Configure the initiative with the following values:

•       Type: Assessment

•       Procurement BU: US1 Business Unit

•       Owner: Assign the responsible user

•       Title & Description: Provide a meaningful title and description

•       Qualification Model: Select the model created earlier - all associated question areas will be populated automatically

•       Supplier: Lee Supplies

 

 

 

On the next screen, uncheck Reuse Active Qualification to ensure a fresh evaluation is performed rather than reusing any existing active qualification data.

 

Review the questions across all sections using the Next Section button at the bottom right to navigate between sections.

 

Next, review and then Validate the initiative. Once validated, Launch it.

 

Initiative #10223 has been successfully created, validated, and launched. Its status is now In Progress.

 

Step 5: Supplier Responds to the Questionnaire

Log in to the Supplier Portal using the Supplier Contact credentials. The supplier contact will receive a notification for Assessment #10223. The supplier can access the assessment directly from the notification or by navigating to the Questionnaires and Qualifications landing page.

 

Click Respond to Questionnaire, fill in the responses for each section, and use the Next Section button to navigate through all sections.

 

 

Once all section values are provided, submit the completed response.

 

Step 6: Review and Accept Responses

Log back in as the Buyer and navigate to the Supplier Qualification home page. Search for Initiative #10223, open it, and select Monitor from the Actions menu.

From the Qualification table, select each Question Area to review and accept the corresponding supplier responses. The business team also has the option to Return to Supplier for clarification or correction if needed.

 

Review and accept qualification area responses. For this test, we will accept all responses to proceed to the evaluation stage.

 

Step 7: Evaluate Qualifications

Once responses are accepted, click the Evaluate Assessment button to begin the evaluation process.

 

From the overview page, navigate to the Qualification tab on the left panel.

 

Evaluate each qualification area by selecting the appropriate Qualification Outcome (Excellent, Average, Below Average, or Poor) based on the supplier responses. Set the Qualification Start and End Date for each area. The business team should collaboratively review and document all evaluation outcomes.

 

 

Complete the evaluation for all remaining qualification areas:

 

 

Step 8: Complete the Overall Assessment

Once all individual qualification areas have been evaluated, complete the overall assessment at the model level:

•       Set the Assessment Outcome

•       Optionally add comments

•       Set the Assessment Start and End Date

•       Under Controls, add any Notes to Supplier - these will be visible to the supplier on the Supplier Portal

 

 

The initiative status will update to Complete, and the progress chart will reflect 100% completion across all steps.

 

Review Supplier Qualification Results

Once the assessment is complete, navigate to the Supplier Qualification profile to review the final qualification results and outcomes recorded for the supplier.

 

Conclusion

This article walked through the complete configuration and testing of Oracle Fusion Supplier Qualification Management, including:

•       Setting up Questions, Question Areas, and a Qualification Model

•       Creating and launching a Supplier Assessment Initiative

•       Completing the full evaluation cycle - from supplier response to final assessment outcome

Oracle SQM provides procurement teams with a structured, automated, and auditable approach to supplier evaluation - ultimately supporting better sourcing decisions and stronger supplier relationships.

Additional Resources

Oracle Supplier Qualification Management Cloud - Data Sheet: oracle.com/sqm-cloud-ds

Oracle Procurement 25B - What's New: docs.oracle.com/procurement-25b