This is the complete guide to building a sourcing activity, such as an RFI, RFQ or RFP, in the sourcing wizard and sending it to suppliers. Each wizard step links to a more detailed guide if you need it.
Before you start
Start the wizard and choose your areas
Click Create Sourcing Activity
Go to Sourcing > eSourcing and click Create Sourcing Activity. The wizard opens on the Sourcing Wizard step.
Tick the areas to include
Under What Areas Would You Like To Include In Your Sourcing Activity?, tick any combination of:
Internal Sourcing Sections: information for suppliers, such as background and submission rules.
Supplier Sourcing Sections: written answers you want from suppliers, such as an implementation plan.
Supplier Questionnaires: scored sets of questions.
Pricing: products or services you want quoted.
Each ticked area adds a step to the wizard. On the free plan, the first three show a lock and an upgrade message.
Click Next
If you later come back and untick an area that already has content, oboloo asks you to confirm before removing it.
Activity Overview
Describe the activity
Enter the Activity Title and Description/Scope (both required). Suppliers see both.
Classify it
Choose a Location, Department, Category (required; you can pick several), Sub Category and Sourcing Type. If you have permission, you can add a missing option with New Location, New Category and so on at the top of each list.
Set the response window
Enter Opening Date & Time and Closing Date & Time (both required). Suppliers can only respond between the two. Times use your company time zone. See Set Opening and Closing Dates for a Sourcing Activity.
Choose the currency
If you ticked Pricing, choose the Currency suppliers should quote in (required). Complete any custom fields.
Click Next
oboloo saves the activity as a Draft. From here on, each step is saved when you click Next, so you can close the wizard and come back. See Save and Resume a Draft Sourcing Activity.
Internal and supplier sections
You'll see these steps if you ticked Internal Sourcing Sections or Supplier Sourcing Sections. Both work the same way.
Find the sections you want
The library table lists available sections. Narrow it with Section Category, Created By or Search.
Tick them and click Add To Activity
The sections move to Selected Sourcing Section. Drag them to change the order, or click the bin icon to remove one. You must add at least one section to continue.
Click Next
Supplier questionnaires
Tick the questionnaires
On Select Supplier Questionnaires, tick the questionnaires suppliers should complete. They come from Sourcing > Supplier Questionnaires, where you can create new ones.
Click Add To Activity, then Next
You must add at least one questionnaire to continue. See Adding Supplier Questionnaires to Your Sourcing Activity.
Pricing
Enter or paste your products
On Request Pricing From Suppliers, fill in a row per product or service: Product Name, Product Code (optional), Unit of Measure and Quantity. You can paste rows straight from Excel or Google Sheets.
Add or remove rows
Click + Add another product for more rows (up to 500). Tick rows and click Delete selected to remove them.
Fix any red cells and click Next
Next is available once the summary shows all rows ready. See Add Pricing Requests to a Sourcing Activity.
Supporting documents
Click Add New Document
On Add Supporting Documents for Suppliers, click Add New Document.
Complete the Add Document dialog
Enter a Document Title, choose a Sourcing Document Type, add a Document Description and choose the file in Select Document (PDF, Office, image, TXT, CSV or ZIP, up to 16 MB). Click Save.
Click Next
Adding documents is optional. See Add Supporting Documents to a Sourcing Activity.
Request documents
Click Request New Document
On Request Supporting Documents from Suppliers, click Request New Document to ask every invited supplier for a file, such as an insurance certificate.
Choose the type, describe it and save
Select the Requested Document Type, complete Description of Requested Document, and click Save. Suppliers can't submit until they've uploaded every requested document.
Click Next
Requests are optional. See Request Documents From Suppliers in a Sourcing Activity.
Weighted scoring
This step only appears when there's more than one area to score: two or more supplier sections, two or more questionnaires, or any two of supplier sections, questionnaires and pricing.
Enter a Score (%) for each area
In Assign Weighted Scores to Evaluation Areas, give each supplier section, questionnaire and pricing a whole-number percentage.
Make the Total 100% and click Next
You can't continue until the total is exactly 100%. Pricing is scored automatically from cost; scorers mark the rest. See Apply Weighted Scoring to a Sourcing Activity.
Invite suppliers and send
Choose a supplier and contacts
On Invite Suppliers To Respond To This Sourcing Activity, select a Supplier Name, then one or more contacts in Supplier Contact. Several contacts from the same supplier can work on one response. Use New Supplier or New Supplier Contact at the top of the lists to add someone who isn't in oboloo yet.
Add more suppliers
Click Add Another Supplier for each extra supplier.
Preview the activity
Click View As Supplier to see the activity as suppliers will.
Set Record Access
Under Record Access, choose No restriction, Only owners can edit or Only owners can view and edit. See Record Access – Restricting Individual Records.
Click Send To Suppliers
In Confirm you want to send this to your supplier(s), tick I understand that I cannot change the activity after sending the invitation and click Confirm And Send. Click OK on the confirmation.
What happens next
Suppliers are invited: each selected contact gets an email with a link and a unique access code to respond through the supplier portal. See Log In to the oboloo Supplier Portal.
You can track invitations: on the activity's Overview tab, the Invited Suppliers table shows who has responded. Click View/Edit in Supplier Contacts to check email delivery or add and revoke contacts, and Invite New Suppliers to invite more. See Inviting Suppliers To Your Sourcing Activity.
You're notified as responses arrive: oboloo emails reminders and tells the activity's creator and Sourcing Owners when a supplier submits. See Automated Sourcing Notifications.
Then evaluate and award: review responses, assign scorers from Scoring Management, and award the winner. See View Supplier Responses to a Sourcing Activity and Award a Supplier Against a Sourcing Activity.
Troubleshooting
An area is locked on the first step
Internal sections, supplier sections and questionnaires need the Sourcing Plus plan. You can still build an activity with Pricing, supporting documents and requested documents. See What's Included on the Free Plan and Plus Plans.
I closed the wizard and lost my work
The draft is only created when you click Next on Activity Overview, and each later step is only saved when you click Next. Find the draft by choosing Draft in the Status filter on Sourcing > eSourcing.
Next won't work on a step
Check for required fields, red pricing cells, a weighted scoring total that isn't 100%, or a sections or questionnaires step with nothing added.
Send To Suppliers is greyed out
You don't have edit access to this activity. Ask its creator or an administrator.
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If you need further assistance, please contact your internal platform administrator for support. Otherwise please reach out to oboloo's support team. If you are unable to view the above area in the oboloo platform, please check your user permissions and access rights.