🛠 Create Your Own - File Expiration Workflow

Create an automated process to keep on top of your expiring Compliance/Insurance/Certification documents

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   Estimated Read Time: 9 minutes                        Estimated Configuration Time: 20-30 Minutes

 


 

Sections in this Article

Introduction & Demonstration

Workflow Diagram

Configuration

Mandatory Configuration Steps

Additional Configuration Steps

Before you Start - Other Considerations

Getting Started

Additional Reading



 

 

The Workflow - Overview & Demo

This is a triggered workflow to facilitate the replacement of key documents you have stored in Gatekeeper (such as Accreditation or Insurance certificates)

So long as you are storing expiration dates as metadata for your files, this workflow will automatically initiate a replacement review

It will even notify/chase your Vendor to provide their up-to-date versions directly in Gatekeeper

 

 

Workflow Diagram: XML / PDF

 

 


 

The Workflow - Configuration

Adding the Template

Before you get started with the configuration, you will need to add the Template workflow to your tenant.

Step 1) Head to the Workflows page

Step 2) Hit Add > Workflow Template

Step 3) Select the File Expiry Review Template

Step 4) If necessary, amend the new workflow's Title

Step 5) Hit ✅ Create

 


 

🛠 Mandatory Configuration Steps 🛠

 

These are the basic steps required to make the workflow functional

Technically, once you complete this chapter, your new workflow will work as an end-to-end process

The ⬇️ Additional Configuration ⬇️ steps are optional additions to change the scope of the process & adapt the workflow further to fit your organisation's practices & Gatekeeper subscription 

 

Assign Action Owner/s

Step 1) Head to "Internal Review" and hit Edit this Phase

Step 2) Navigate to the Form Access tab

Step 3) Select the User/Group who should confirm the File update, then hit ✅ Save

 

It is recommended to have your main Gatekeeper admin team perform this action

e.g. Procurement / Vendor Management / Contract Management

⬇️ If you do not have any Workflow Groups yet, visit the below step to add these ⬇️

 


 

🛠 Additional Configuration Steps 🛠

This chapter will contain optional steps to amend the scope  or preconfigured settings of the workflow so that it works optimally for your organisation & users

 

Configuration Video Coming Soon...

Create Workflow Groups

Step 1) Head to Settings > Users

Step 2) Hit Add > Workflow Group

Step 3) Enter the Title of this new group

Entering a Description is optional but can be included to help you identify the group if making updates to your workflow groups in future. It may be useful to mention the team & processes this group has been created for

Step 4) Edit this new Group to begin adding Members

 

Amend the Trigger

The standard trigger for this workflow will initiate a review when any file is due to expire in 14 days time

However, you may wish to amend this standard period

You may also wish to create multiple varying triggers depending on the file type

⬇️ If so, see the below action ⬇️

Step 1) Head to the Workflows page

Step 2) Click to edit the workflow then select the Workflow Triggers option

Step 3) Click an existing trigger name to amend the Conditions

Step 4) Hit the Edit icon to amend the specifications of existing conditions or ➕ ADD to add new conditions to the set

Add Extra Triggers

Example Use Case

"ISO Certificates" (which should be renewed well in advance of the expiration date) could be configured to trigger 14 days in advance

Whereas other documents (like Insurance/Indemnity evidence replacements) may only become available on the day of expiry. In this case, asking for the file 14 days in advance is far too long (and may lead to the workflow being forgotten!)

Step 1) Head to the Workflows page

Step 2) Click to edit the workflow then select the Workflow Triggers option

Step 3) Hit ➕ ADD TRIGGER  to begin creating a new set of conditions which could start the workflow

Step 4) Name your trigger, then use the ➕ ADD button to start assigning conditions for the trigger to fire

💡 You can configure multiple triggers for the same workflow

Gatekeeper will regularly check all live triggers and trigger any matches it finds!

 

 

Amend "Late Response Escalation" phase owner

By default, this workflow will escalate cards which have not received a response within the duration of the SLA timer to the Internal Vendor Owner

If an Internal Vendor Owner cannot be assigned, forms will be escalated to the Card Creator

💡 In a Triggered workflow (like this one), Gatekeeper attempts to assign a "Card Creator" based on the following rules:

If there is an Internal Owner -> Assign them as the Card Creator, Otherwise:

If there is a Vendor Creator -> Assign them as the Card Creator, Otherwise:

If there is a Workflow Creator -> Assign them as the Card Creator

Step 1) Find the Late Response Escalation phase & hit Edit this Phase

Step 2) Navigate to the Form Access tab

Step 3) Select the User/Groups who should be responsible for dealing with Vendors replacing expired files

Step 4) Hit ✅ Save

 

Amend SLA/Reminder Timers

In this workflow, 2 configuration settings are in place to avoid cards getting ignored/forgotten - this is key for avoiding expired documents in your system being forgotten & not replaced

a) Reminder emails will be sent to Vendors every 3 days

b) After 14 days, the SLA timer for Vendor File Replacement will automatically transition the card to the Internal Vendor Owner*

(or whomever you choose in the ⬆️ above configuration setting ⬆️)

The reminder/escalation timers can be amended, if desired:

Amending the SLA Deadline

Step 1) Go to the Vendor File Replacement phase & hit Edit this Phase

Step 2)  Navigate to the SLA tab

Step 3) Choose a number of Days/Hours for your SLA deadline, then hit ✅ Save

Amending the Reminder Email Period

Step 1) Go to the Vendor File Replacement phase & hit Edit this Phase

Step 2)  Navigate to the Notifications tab

Step 3) Alongside the enabled notification under EMAIL REMINDERS,  choose a new number of days in the Reminder every X days column

Step 4) Hit ✅ Save

⚡️ Expert: "Invite Vendor User to Portal" action phase

If this is your only Vendor Portal workflow (or maybe the first which you are deploying with Gatekeeper) you may have not invited all your vendor users to Gatekeeper yet

However, this workflow relies on your vendors users logging in to upload file replacements

Therefore you may want to enable an action on the workflow to automatically invite them to activate their accounts (if they have not done so already!)

Part 1 - Add a new Supplier File Review Phase

This feature we're enabling to automatically invite your Vendor Users is classed as a "Workflow Action"

Since Workflow Actions cannot be configured on the "Start Phase" of a workflow, we have to move it to "position 2" on the kanban board

Step 1) Navigate to the right hand side of the workflow board

Step 2) Next to New Phase, hit ADD

Step 3) Copy the phase Title from the Current Start Phase, then hit ✅ Save

Step 4) Hit Reorder & Minimise to move your phase to position 2 on the workflow

Step 5) On the Actions tab, enable ☑️ Invite / notify Card Owner to the Vendor Portal

Step 6) Now replicate all the settings from the Start Phase (Form, Form Access, Notifications, SLA, Transitions)

Part 2 - Reconfigure the start phase

Step 1) Navigate to the Start Phase of the workflow & hit Edit this Phase

Step 2) Change the name to "AutoStart" (or something similar) & hit ✅ Save

Step 3) Change the "Submitted" transition to now point to your new Phase 2

Step 4) Disable all Notifications & hit ✅ Save

Step 5) Navigate back to the kanban board view & hit Reorder & Minimise

Step 6) Check the Minimise ☑️ box for Phase 1 & hit ✅ Update

Part 3 - Update the trigger/s

Step 1) Navigate to your workflow trigger/s

Step 2) Hit the Edit icon next to Apply transitions on card creation

Step 3) Tick the checkbox for ☑️ Apply transitions on card creation & hit ✅ Update

Step 4) Repeat for any additional triggers you have added

 

 


 

✋ Before you start - Additional Configuration to Consider 🤚

 

If you have followed all the steps above, your workflow is almost ready to go

However, to ensure this process runs as smoothly and reliably as possible, there are some other areas of your Gatekeeper environment you should check over!

 

Adding Vendor Users & Assigning Vendor Owners

Step 1) Click to open a Vendor Record

Step 2) Navigate to the Vendor Users tab to check what user contact details have been already added

Step 3) Hit Add > Vendor User to add a new contact

If you want to invite them to the Vendor Portal straight away you can tick ☑️ Invite into Gatekeeper before hitting ✅ Save

Otherwise, you could configure the ⬆️ above action ⬆️ to invite them only when they have a file to replace

 

You can see a full list of all Vendor users in your tenant in the Vendor Users Report:

Setting File Metadata (Expiry Dates & File Types)

Files will not trigger for review & replacement unless they have dates assigned

This can be done in a few places (such as a Vendor Files tab, or the Files menu)

Step 1) Click the Edit Icon alongside your file

Step 2) Populate the Expiry Date field (and set a File Type)

Step 3) Hit ✅ Update

 

To see/amend the list of File Types in your tenant, you can navigate to:

Settings > Configuration > Dropdown Lists > File Type

Here you can Edit/Delete existing file type options or Add New file type options

 


 

Getting started! ⚡️

Activating your trigger/s 

Step 1) Head to the Workflows page

Step 2) Click to edit the workflow then select the Workflow Triggers option

Step 3) Click your trigger's name

Step 4) Switch the Trigger Status from Pipeline to Live

Step 5) Hit < Back and Repeat Steps 3 - 4 for any additional triggers you have configured

 

Your File Monitoring workflow is now active!

Any of your files approaching their expiration date will automatically begin a review & replacement process

 


 

Additional Reading 📚

 

Supplier Portal Expert Series ⚡️

This workflow will engage your vendor contacts, therefore you should endeavour to configure your Vendor Portal to its full potential.

In this Series, discover how to:

(a) Ensure vendor users find your workflows easy to understand & use

(b) Paint you in a good light to any external parties so they see you as a dependable and tech-savvy partner!

 

File Expiry Dates

Learn about File Expiry dates in Gatekeeper, including how to set and view this in the system