A workflow is a defined sequence of tasks, decisions, states, evidence, roles, and handoffs used to move a record toward an outcome. Procurement workflows can route requests, supplier reviews, sourcing events, contracts, orders, receipts, invoices, or exceptions. Configuration should reflect decision rights, service expectations, escalation, audit needs, and authorized variations rather than only the happy path.
In plain English
It is the structured path that tells a procurement record what happens next and who acts.
Illustrative example
At Northstar Industrial Systems, an onboarding workflow moves from supplier submission through finance, risk, and procurement reviews, with returned and escalated states available.
- Related terms
- Approval workflow; Business rule; Exception handling; Process mapping
- Lifecycle stages
- All stages
- Stakeholders
- All stakeholders