| Version | Date | Description | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| v.1 | 30.03.2017 | Creation | Filipe Freitas |
| v.2 | 04.06.2018 | Lightning update | Sophie Millet |
| GBU | Business Rules and Queue Members |
|---|---|
| Aroma Performance | |
| Coatis | |
| Fibras | |
| Novecare | |
| Performance Polyamides | |
| Peroxides | |
| Silica | |
| Soda Ash & Derivatives | |
| Special Chem |
A sample request is a case record type used to manage registration, approval, follow up and feedback about a sample product asked by a customer.
The 4 main reasons identified to create a Sample Request are:
Quality
Customer request
Distribution
Other Business purpose
Each sample is displayed with the same layout, using different components :
| Component | Definition | Standard / Custom |
|---|---|---|
| Compact layout | Shows the most relevant information on the sample record level :
| Standard |
| Path | Highlights the process stage and guidance for sucess when expanded | Standard |
| Chatter, Details, Emails, Related | Standard tabs or related lists containing detailed information from the record or objects related to the record | Standard |
| Warnings | Gives custom warning or information about the record status according to Solvay's business rules | Custom |
| Case team | Lists users related to the record | Custom |
| Shipping information | Displays shipping address and SAP or External source information about order status | Custom |
The Sample Management module allows to capture, log, approve, process and resolve Sample Requests. This module also enables to communicate with the Customer on progress and resolution. Additionally, in case of similar requests, a Sample Request can be cloned. The values can be edited before saving the cloned Sample or can be canceled.
There are 4 main reasons to create a Sample Request:
Depending on the reason it can be created from the Account (“Sold to” and “Sold to & ship to”), the Prospect, the Opportunity or the Complaint. For example when it is Distribution or Business purpose, the Sample Request should be created from the related opportunity.
Sample Request Management has 5 main steps which are as follows:
Sample Request Creation | Prompt logging of a Sample Request after reception with upload of pictures and attachments. Submitting the Sample Request for approval |
| Approval Process | Rules for the Approval process have been implemented by each GBU where a Sample Request can be automatically approved, be assigned to a User to approve or rejected, or be assigned to a group of Users. |
| Sample Request Processing | After the Sample Request is approved, it is assigned to a User, a Group of Users or a Third-Party to be processed. The Process phase can be managed on Salesforce or on other platform (SAP, Third-Party Community Portal) |
| Follow Up | When the process phase is managed outside Salesforce, Users are able to follow up the progressing of the Sample Request |
| Sample Request Closure | When the Sample has been processed, it can be closed. |
The Sample Request Management process is divided into 5 different Phases and 8 different Status.

| Phase | Status | Definition | Record Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creation | New | As soon as the Sample Request is created | Sample Request |
| Approval Process | Approval Process | When the Sample Request is submitted for approval | |
| Approved | Once the Approver has approved the Sample Request | ||
| Rejected | Once the Approver has rejected the Sample Request | ||
| Processing / Follow Up | Ordered | When a Sample order has been submitted on an external system | |
| Shipped | When the Sample Request has been shipped | ||
| Delivered | When the Sample Request has been delivered | ||
| Closure | Closed/Stopped | When the Sample Request is closed but the process was not completed | |
| Closed/Answered | When the Sample Request is completed and closed |

Who can create? | All Users are able to create a Sample Request |
Who can see? | Any user can see all the Sample Requests |
Who can update? | Any user can edit all the Samples Request |
Who can delete? | A Sample Request cannot be deleted. Only the System Administrator (SBS) can delete a Sample Request. |
Assigning a Sample Request to a User or a Group of User is to pass the responsibility to act on the Sample Request on a particular phase of the process. On Salesforce, the Sample Request Assignment is based on the field Case Owner.
A Case Owner can be a User (Solvay employee with a Salesforce license) or a Queue (a group of Users that should be part of a team to handle Complaints with the same criteria).
Based on each GBU own process and rules, the Complaint Assignment can be performed by:
The Sample Request Actors are managed on the Case Team section on the Sample Request Layout page. The Users are added to the Case Team i) manually by a User or ii) automatically by the System when they are the new Owners of a Sample Request. When the Users are added automatically to the Case Team, they are added with the correct Role based on the current Sample Request Management Phase.
After the registration phase is completed by the User and all the information related to the Sample Request is provided (General Information, Description, Accounts and Contacts, and Attachments), the Sample Request must be manually submitted by the User to be approved by clicking on the ‘Submit for Approval’ button. Based on System Rules and GBU Rules, a Sample Request can be:
During the approval process, the Sample Request will be frozen until it is “Approved” or “Rejected”.

If additional information is needed before the approval of the Sample Request, it can be recalled with a comment “Additional Information Required". Once the information has been delivered, the request can be submitted for approval again.
An email is sent automatically to notify a group of users, triggered by :
Changing a Sample request status, to the case team
Approving a Sample Request, for processor and CSR
Approving a Sample Request, for third party user
Each notification trigger have a group of Solvay Contacts (Salesforce or not Salesforce Users) that are receiving a notification email and this email is displayed in the Activity History section.
Notification mails are triggered manually, by approval rules, workflow rules, process builder or Apex code. More information in this file
For the GBUs that manage the Sample Request on SAP by submitting a new Sample Order, an Interface has been implemented to allow users to follow up the progress of the Sample directly on Salesforce. After a Sample Request is approved and assigned to the CSR in charge of this step, the User should create the Order in SAP and add the Salesforce Case ID in the SAP form. This will allow the SAP to provide the information related to the Ordering, Shipping and Delivery to the Sample record on Salesforce.

Solvay works globally with a number of Third-Party providers that manage the Processing phase of the process - Ordering, Shipping and Delivering.
The Processing phase managed by a Third-Party can be interfaced bi-directionally:
Sending information of a new approved Sample to be processed
Receiving information regarding the different Status of the Sample Requested
The third-party will be responsible to provide information on the following fields:
Order date (date when the third-party receives the Sample request)
Shipping date
Delivery date
Delivered volume
Batch number
Tracking number
Carrier partner name
For the GBUs that use Third-Parties to manage the Processing Phase of the Sample Request Process, there is a Community Portal where the Third-Party can log in and manage the Sample assigned to the Third-Party directly on the Salesforce platform.
This will allow the communication between Solvay and the Third-Party much more efficient and productive. Please find here the link to the Third-Party Community Portal documentation
This component aims at giving custom warning and information to the user :

If there is no warning, the left-top part of the component is colored in green. If there is a warning, the left-top part of the component is colored in red. Possible warnings :
| If estimated delivery date > requested arrival date, the font of the field label is red If estimated delivery date <= requested arrival date, the font of the field label is black |
Information: ID to be copied to SAP Order (current record ID) | Button directing to GDrive process folder |
This component aims at managing the case team membership of users :

Any user accessing the case may add a new case team member to the case, using the button "+Member" on the top of the component.
Case team members are listed (Tile view - List view) with user information. When edited, only the role of the user may be changed.
This component aims at managing shipping address (where to deliver the sample once shipped) and order information coming from SAP/external source:
This component allows to edit the shipping address (usually entered during creation process). The address is editable until an order has been placed in SAP.
Depending on the address type, the system will prompt the user to edit only relevant fields :
Order information is usually interfaced with SAP, but it could happen that information is entered manually by the user (or an external source as a 3rd party)
Fields on the component are either fields manually entered or populated by SAP: the controlling field is the "order number". Once the sample has been processed as an SAP order (order number is filled in SFDC), the order information is not editable anymore.
If order information is populated from SAP, there is a logo displayed on the component :
| Field (displayed) | Record field name (source SAP) | Record field name (non SAP) |
|---|---|---|
| Order number | Order number | n.a. |
| Order date | Order date (SAP) | Manual Order Date (No SAP order) |
| Order type | Order type | n.a. |
| Order status | Order status | n.a. |
| Batch number | Assigned SAP Batch number (SAP) | Batch number |
| Shipping date | Shipped date (SAP) | Manual shipping date (No SAP order) |
| Shipping references | Shipping references (SAP) | Carrier partner name / Tracking number |
| Estimated Delivery Date | Estimated Delivery date after shipment (SAP) or, if not available, Estimated Delivery date after order (SAP) | Manual Delivery Date (No SAP) |
| Requested arrival date | Requested arrival date | |
The color of the component header changes against the status of the sample request.
Until the order is shipped, there is an information about the number of remaining days before the requested arrival date :
In order to create a new Sample Request, on the Case tab, the user needs to click on the “New” button, select the Sample Request record type and click on “Continue”. Additionally, Sample Requests can be found in a related list on the Account page from which the user can see all existing Sample Requests that this Account is the Ship-to or the Ship-to, as well as creating a new one. When creating a Sample Request from this related list on the Account page, the record type is by default “Sample Request” and the Account is automatically populated in the Account Name field.
When the user creates a Sample Request, the information related to i) Sold-To and General information, ii) Shipping and iii) Product should be provided.
| Field | Definition |
|---|---|
| Sold To Account | Sold To Customer related with the Sample Request |
| Customer Classification | Classification of the Sold To Customer defined on the GBU Customer Segmentation. Automatically calculated by the system based on the Sold-To and GBU/BU selected |
| Contact/Demander | Contact from the Sold To requesting the Sample Request |
| Opportunity | Automatically populated if the Sample Request is created from an Opportunity |
| Initial Description | Description of the Sample Request |
| Subject | General Topic of the Sample Request |
| Category | Business Category related to the Sample Request. |
| Sub-Category | Business Sub-Category is related to the Sample Request. The values available are related to the Category Selected. |
| Region | Region of the Sold-to Address. Automatically calculated by the System |
| Sub Region | Sub Region of the Sold-to Address, based on each GBU Sub Regions. Automatically calculated by the System |
| Case Record Type | Type of Case. Always "Sample Request" |
| Id to be copied in SAP Order | Salesforce Id that Users responsible for processing the Sample Request on SAP should transport for the ERP System when creating an Order related to the Sample Request. Automatically created by the System |
| Case Number | Salesforce Case Number automatically created by the System |
| Status | Sample Request Status |
| Follow-up date Reminder | Date after the Closure of a Sample Request when a Task will be automatically created for the User to remind that a Business Follow Up with the Customer should be done |
| Priority | Business Priority with which the Sample Request should be processed (High, Medium, Low) |
| GBU | GBU related to the Sample Request |
| BU | BU related to the Sample Request and to the GBU selected |
| Date/Time Opened | Time that the Sample Request has been created on the System. Automatically populated by the System |
| Case Owner | User (Solvay or Third-Party User) or Group of Users responsible to act on the Sample Request on a given Type. |
| CSR | Solvay User that should be responsible for the processing of the Sample Request |
| Account Manager | Solvay User that is the Account Manager |
When creating a Sample Request, the information related to where the Sample should be shipped is mandatory. There are three types of addresses that can be provided when registering a Sample on the System:
| Field | Definition |
|---|---|
| Address Type | Type of Address to where the Sample Request should be shipped: Ship-To, Contact, or Manual |
| Ship To Account | Ship-To Customer to where the Sample should be shipped. Mandatory if the Type of Address selected is Ship-To or Contact. Must be empty if the Type of Address selected is Manual. |
| Contact | Ship-To Contact that should be responsible for receiving the Sample Request. Mandatory if the Type of Address selected is Ship-To or Contact. Must be empty if the Type of Address selected is Manual. |
| Shipping name | Name of the Entity to whom the Sample Request should be shipped if the Address Type is Manual. Mandatory if the Type of Address selected is Manual. Must be empty if the Type of Address selected is Ship-To or Contact. |
| Shipping Address fields | Address to where the Sample Request should be shipped if the Address Type is Manual. Mandatory if the Type of Address selected is Manual. Must be empty if the Type of Address selected is Ship-To or Contact. |
| Shipping Contact name | Contact that should be responsible for receiving the Sample Request if the Address Type is Manual. Mandatory if the Type of Address selected is Manual. Must be empty if the Type of Address selected is Ship-To or Contact. |
| Additional shipping information | Additional Information related to the Shipping |
| CSR Comments | Additional Comments from the CSR |
When creating a Sample Request, the information of the Product related to the Sample is mandatory. The main information required is the Product Level 4 or Level 5 related to the Sample Request. For situations that the Product is not yet created on the Product Catalogue, Users will be able to select a GBU Dummy Product and will need to provide a Product Label to identify the Product.
A sample request is linked to only one product (possibility to clone a sample request if multiple products are requested).
| Field | Definition |
|---|---|
| Product | Product Level 4 or Level 5 from the Salesforce Product Catalogue. The products available are filtered by the GBU selected |
| Product Label | Product Label mandatory in case the Product select is a Dummy or a Product in Development |
| Packaging | Type of Packaging of the Sample Request |
| Requested arrival date | Date that was requested by the Customer to receive the Sample Request |
| Requested Volume | Sample Requested Volume |
| Unit of Measure | Sample Requested Volume Unit of Measure |
| Shipping Site Code | Plant that should ship the Goods |
| Manufacturing Plant | Plant that should manufacture the Goods |
| Batch number requested | Number of the Batch request |
| Product comments/specification | Details about the Product and Product Specification |
| Third-Party | Third-Party Account that should be responsible by the Processing Phase |
| Third-Party Contact | Contact from the Third-Party Account that should be responsible by the Processing Phase. Automatically populated if the Third-Party selected only has one Contact registered. |
| Free of charge | A checkbox indicating that the Sample should not be charged to the Customer. Is true by default. |
| Pricing comments | Comments regarding the pricing of the Sample Request |
| Case Currency | Case Currency. By default, the Currency of the User logged in. |
| Sample Unit Price | Unit Selling Price |
| Export sample | Checkbox indicates that the Sample is for exporting |
| Shipping Cost | Costs related to the Shipping of the Sample |
As detailed in the Approval Process section above, users must at all times submit manually a Sample Request for approval after all the relevant information is provided regarding the Sample Request.

When an approval is requested by the GBU the status is changed to Pending Approval and the User or Group of Users responsible for the approval are notified. When the Sample Request is approved, the status is changed to Approved.
Once the Sample Request is approved, it should be assigned to the Users or group of Users responsible for processing, meaning Ordering, Shipping and Delivery a Sample Request. This assignment can be done i) automatically by the System based on each GBU rules or ii) manually by the Approver if there is no rules implemented. For the Cases that the rules have been implemented, there are three possibilities of assignment of the Sample Request to be processed:
*If the Sample Request is processed by a Third Party that has not been onboarded on the Sample Community Portal, the CSR of the sample will manually update CRM with Shipping and Delivery information taken from the 3rd party website as it is done today.
In order to manage the progress of a Sample Request, different Users will be using different sections of Sample Request Process:
Section to be manually filled in when there is no Sample Order manage in SAP or automatically field in when the Sample should be managed in the Third-Party Community Portal
| Field | Definition |
|---|---|
| Manual Order Date (No SAP order) | Date that the Sample Request was ordered |
| Manual Shipping Date (No SAP order) | Date that the Sample Request was shipped |
| Manual Delivery Date (No SAP order) | Date that the Sample Request was delivered. This date can be real or estimated based on each GBU process |
| Real delivered volume | The Sample Volume that was delivered to the Customer |
| Batch Number | Batch Number |
| Tracking Number | Tracking Number from the Logistic Company |
Section to be automatically filled in when there is a Sample Order manage in SAP.
| Field | Definition |
|---|---|
| Order Number | SAP Order Number |
| Order Type | Type of Order |
| Order Date | Date that the Sample Request was ordered |
| Order Status | SAP Order Status |
| Shipping References | Shipping References |
| Shipped Date | Date that the Sample Request was shipped |
| Assigned SAP Batch number | Assigned SAP Batch number |
| Estimated delivery date after order | Estimated date that the Sample Request was delivered. Information available after the Sample was ordered |
| Estimated delivery date after shipment | Estimated date that the Sample Request was delivered. Information available after the Sample was shipped |
On the Processing/Follow Up Phase, the Status are automatically changed by the System based on the Dates provided either on the Other order and Shipping information section or the SAP Shipping information section:
Once the sample request is processed it should be closed in order to avoid having open requests in the reports and list views. Samples that were managed by a Third-Party on the Sample Community Portal are assigned to the CSR automatically after the Status is changed to Delivered for Closing.
There are two processes to Close a Sample Request:
The sample request can be closed automatically once customer feedback has been entered and the field Approved by Customer is populated. In this case and once the sample request is closed no field can be updated anymore. The only action available is to clone the sample request.
The sample request can be closed manually if the user knows that the customer feedback will be entered after a while. In that case, the sample request will be closed but customer feedback fields only will be editable after closure.
As manual closure is allowed and customer feedback is not mandatory, we need to make sure that the Sample request is followed up. To do so, a check box “to be followed” has been created and defaulted to “check”. It will be unchecked by CSR if needed. But if it is checked and closed then an automatic task will be created and assigned to the owner of the creator request to remind him that he has to complete the customer feedback
Any User assigned to the case team can close the Sample Request by clicking on the “Close” button. This redirects the User to the closure page where the status will be by default Close/Completed, meaning that the Sample Request was completed. If the Sample Request was Rejected or has not completed the process, the Status can be changed to Closed/Stopped.
This section groups all the fields related to the Closure phase
| Field | Definition |
|---|---|
| Status | Sample Request Status |
| Approved By Customer | Indicates if the Customer has approved the Sample Received |
| Reason not Approved | If the Sample was not approved by the Customer, the User should identify the reason. |
| Follow Up Date Reminder | Date when a Follow Up Task should be created and assigned to the User |
Category | Sub-Category |
|---|---|
Quality | Change in formula |
| Change production site | |
| Concession form (quality pbs) | |
| For chemicals external ref analytic by authority | |
Complaint | |
| Industrial test | |
| Internal quality customer process | |
| MOQ derogation | |
| On demand reference sample | |
| University & R&D center | |
| R&D test | |
| Pre-qualification | |
Distributor | - |
| Opportunity | New customer |
| New end use | |
| New product |
| Follow Up Date Reminder | Date when a Follow Up Task should be created and assigned to the User |
New process for sample requests treatment for Novecare:
Access to the simplified Layout:
Very important all users will see both record types: Sample Request and Simplified Sample
The access to the simplified layout is based on the field multi GBU on user object
If the user has only one GBU other than Novecare, the user will be automatically redirected to the standard layout, even if he clicks on the simplified sample.
if the user has in multi GBU field only Novecare, we display automatically the simplified layout for Novecare.
If the user has multi GBU includes Novecare and other GBU, then we display pop up to select the GBU layout.

Request Entry:
Every request of sample for a commercial product should be recorded in SFDC.
-From an opportunity
-Cloning one existing sample request (re-sampling, or when you need to send different samples to the same contact.
- From scratch (new sample request).
The Layout of the Simplified:
Rules to be taken into account on the simplified layout:
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Auto-completion of Simplified Samples:
Once the Sample is created, the system will auto-complete some fields on sample: the table below explains how this automatic completion is done on the system:
Fields | HOW | Who is responsible of maintaining data |
Account manager | The system looks at the BU of the sample and retrieve the corresponding Distribution Channel from Utility and then check the association ship-to account and distribution channel from Account team Member object | The account team member is a technical object updated automatically thanks to the interface from SAP |
Customer Service Representative | The system looks at the BU of the sample and retrieve the corresponding Distribution Channel from Utility and then check the association ship-to account and distribution channel from Account team Member object | The account team member is a technical object updated automatically thanks to the interface from SAP |
Distribution Channel | The system looks at the BU of the sample and retrieve the corresponding Distribution Channel from Utility | The account team member is a technical object updated automatically thanks to the interface from SAP |
Division | The system looks at the BU of the sample and retrieve the corresponding Distribution Channel from Utility and then check the association ship to account and distribution channel from Account team Member object | The account team member is a technical object updated automatically thanks to the interface from SAP |
Sales Org | The system looks at the BU of the sample and retrieve the corresponding Distribution Channel from Utility and then check the association ship to account and distribution channel from Account team Member object | The account team member is a technical object updated automatically thanks to the interface from SAP |
Requested arrival date | The system is retrieving this information from the model file determined by business on utility object and record type Samples Model File based on the country of the shipping account and the product of the sample | The model file records are updated by Business thanks to Google doc for salesforce, only three users has now access to update this file: Jean Baptispte Cerceuil, Jean François Poullin and Pam Acardi |
Unit of Measure | The system is retrieving this information from the model file determined by business on utility object and record type Samples Model File based on the country of the shipping account and the product of the sample | The model file records are updated by Business thanks to Google doc for salesforce, only three users has now access to update this file: Jean Baptispte Cerceuil, Jean François Poullin and Pam Acardi |
Requested Quantity | The system is retrieving this information from the model file determined by business on utility object and record type Samples Model File based on the country of the shipping account and the product of the sample | The model file records are updated by Business thanks to Google doc for salesforce, only three users has now access to update this file: Jean Baptispte Cerceuil, Jean François Poullin and Pam Acardi |
Shipping Site Code | The system is retrieving this information from the model file determined by business on utility object and record type Samples Model File based on the country of the shipping account and the product of the sample | The model file records are updated by Business thanks to Google doc for salesforce, only three users has now access to update this file: Jean Baptispte Cerceuil, Jean François Poullin and Pam Acardi |
Manufacturing Plant Code | The system is retrieving this information from the model file determined by business on utility object and record type Samples Model File based on the country of the shipping account and the product of the sample | The model file records are updated by Business thanks to Google doc for salesforce, only three users has now access to update this file: Jean Baptispte Cerceuil, Jean François Poullin and Pam Acardi |
NB: to access the model file in Salesforce, there is a list view Sample Novecare Model File
For Novecare the sample assignment rules are based on the ship to region and BU
The file of Novecare BUSINESS Rules Sample Management is updated with the new Queues on 28/11/2019
Sample Request Approval Process:
For the new process of Sample Novecare, the samples are auto-approved after submission of the sample if:
If one of these criteria has been not respected, the sample should be approved by approvers.
How we maintain the blacklist account vs product for Novecare Samples:
The blacklisted account and product is a list maintained by Business and is defining the list of products that are blacklisted for a specific account or corporate account.
This list is created in salesforce on GBU Customer Segmentation object and can be edited thanks to google document for salesforce feature by 3 users: Jean Baptiste Cerceuil, Pam Accardi and Jean François Poullin
These lists can be updated by Data Steward directly in salesforce.
Below is the google files of blacklisted accounts:
Black List PROD: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19aNF_cArqlKiM6txnzqhY_EVK6Ow-udel9BFiIi7t-A/edit#gid=0
Corporate PROD: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Lwlxi9dGMBZtjkqIXcyetityDdxgJnK5SMUJ18zqu0k/edit#gid=0
The approver lists are maintained directly by data steward on utility object: the list view of the approvers by BU and Region https://solvay-crm.lightning.force.com/lightning/o/SLV_Utility__c/list?filterName=00B1p000005OhpFEAS
Notification Management:
Notification for status update: only for Account Manager and CSR
Notification TO be sent if the status of the sample has not been updated after two days: owner of the sample
Notification for status approved: to be sent to the shipping center of the sample, the list view of the Novecare shipping plant for sample
The shipping center members are defined by Business on the object Email Mapping Rules: https://solvay-crm.lightning.force.com/lightning/o/SLV4_EmailMappingRule__c/list?filterName=00B1p000005OgSjEAK
Automatic Closure:
If customer feedback has been provided samples are closed as Closed/Completed.
