Challenges in practice
The selection, qualification, and regular evaluation of suppliers is a key component of effective quality management. Even in the pre-selection phase, relevant information must be collected, evaluated, and documented in a structured manner. Self-assessments, preliminary audits, and periodic supplier evaluations are also essential for identifying risks early on.
In practice, however, this process often relies on manual questionnaires, email communication, or isolated documents. Responses are incomplete, versions are difficult to track, and deviations are not systematically followed up. Transparency regarding processing status and open issues is limited.
Therefore, sustainable supplier qualification requires a digital, structured, and traceable approach to supplier integration. Questionnaires, evaluations, and resulting actions must be centrally documented and transparently managed – ideally online, without complex cloud access or technical hurdles for the supplier.
Solution QS1
Through the QS1 supplier portal, you provide your suppliers with structured audit or self-assessment questionnaires. These can be used both as part of an initial supplier qualification pre-selection process and for regular preliminary audits or requalifications.
The supplier answers the questions directly online in the portal and adds any required supporting documents or evidence in a structured manner within the system. The evaluation is carried out transparently and traceably within your QS1 environment.
If deviations or areas for improvement are identified, these can be immediately translated into concrete measures. Responsibilities, deadlines, and proof of effectiveness are clearly defined and tracked via workflow management through the integrated action management system.
This creates a seamless, digitally documented audit process – from the initial self-assessment through the evaluation to sustainable supplier development. All participants maintain an overview of the status, results, and outstanding issues at all times.
- Digital self-assessment and audit questionnaires directly in the supplier portal
- Use for pre-selection, initial qualification, pre-audits, and requalifications
- Structured online responses including document upload
- Transparent evaluation and approval processes
- Direct translation of deviations into concrete measures
- Workflow-driven tracking of audit measures
- Complete history of all audit cycles
- Internal and external views of questions, evaluations, and status
- Browser-based use without installation
- Audit-proof documentation of all audit documents
Does this sound familiar?
- Supplier qualification begins early, but the data foundation is cumbersome: questionnaires are sent out manually, responses are incomplete, supporting documentation is missing, and versions are difficult to reconstruct accurately later.
- Self-assessments, pre-audits, and requalifications are conducted via email and individual documents: the processing status is unclear, open issues are not consistently followed up, and deviations get lost in the daily grind.
- Evaluation and approval are difficult to track: without a central structure, there is no reliable documentation of which responses, documents, and decisions led to qualification.
- Deviations are identified but not addressed effectively: while measures are defined, clear responsibilities, deadlines, escalation procedures, and proof of effectiveness are lacking.
- Digital integration is hampered by obstacles: suppliers are expected to deliver online, but complex access or technical requirements reduce acceptance and increase lead times.
This should be achieved through a robust process
- Structured online data collection: Audit and self-assessment questionnaires must be provided centrally to ensure that pre-selection, initial qualification, and requalification follow the same logic.
- Completeness and traceability throughout the process: Responses, uploads, and references must be requested by the system, clearly assigned, and documented in an audit-proof manner.
- Transparent evaluation and approval: Evaluation criteria, scoring, approvals, and history must be traceable to provide sound justification for decisions both internally and externally.
- Direct implementation of measures: Findings must be translated into concrete measures without any media breaks, with responsibilities, deadlines, and effectiveness tracked via workflow.
- Continuous status overview: Open questionnaires, responses, deviations, and action statuses must be transparent to enable manageable supplier qualification.
Coverage in QS1
- Provides structured audit and self-assessment questionnaires via the QS1 supplier portal, which can be used for pre-selection and initial qualification as well as for preliminary audits and requalifications.
- Enables structured online responses by the supplier, with required supporting documents and evidence uploaded directly to the portal and clearly assigned to the process.
- Supports transparent evaluation and approval processes within the QS1 environment, ensuring that responses, documents, and decisions remain consistently documented and traceable.
- Immediately translates deviations and improvement potential into concrete measures, which are tracked workflow-driven via the integrated action management system with responsibilities, deadlines, status, and effectiveness verification.
- Ensures a complete history of all audit cycles and provides internal and external views of questions, evaluations, and status, with browser-based access requiring no installation.
- Enables evaluations via business intelligence, allowing open audits, deviations and action statuses to be visualized, thus supporting strategic decisions in supplier management, including the integration of the results into supplier evaluation.
Your Result: Faster, objective supplier qualification with early risk detection, significantly less manual questionnaire and email effort, transparent evaluation and approval decisions, consistently tracked measures with proof of effectiveness, and complete, audit-proof documentation throughout the entire supplier lifecycle.
Your Advantages
- Structured and objective supplier qualification
- Early risk identification during the pre-selection process
- Reduction of manual questionnaire and email processes
- Clear traceability of deviations and corrective actions
- Greater transparency regarding audit status and processing progress
- Sustainable supplier development based on documented results
- Time savings in audit preparation and execution
- Uniform evaluation criteria across all suppliers
- Improved decision-making basis for supplier selection
- Complete documentation for internal and external verification
