Supplier qualification is a component of supplier management at DB AG. Its goal is an optimum selection of suppliers based on objective results from supplier qualification, appraisal and development and considering aspects of procurement and public funding law.
Supplier qualification serves to verify minimum suitability of suppliers for supply/service in DB Group product groups.
This verification is independent of any specific tender and must be repeated regularly in a requalification.

General supplier qualification is free of charge for you. However, costs will occur for specific supplier qualification such as the prequalification procedure. You can get detailed information from our supplier hotline and during supplier registration in the WebPortal.
Independent of supplier qualification, further costs can result from audits and certifications (such as manufacturer related product qualification) from DB quality assurance for suppliers in individual product groups.

A prequalification process is a verification system pursuant to Section 24 SektVO (Sector Regulation) and can be set up and applied independently of a specific tender process. With the prequalification process, suitability checks in a specific tender process can be replaced or shortened because it can be used for procurement processes as a call to competition, so it is similar to a preceding competition independent of an tender process. The checks in a prequalification process involve an assessment of whether a company is generally suitable for performing certain services. If specific tender processes occur later, then DB AG does not need to repeat the suitability checks for prequalified companies. The examination criteria can go beyond expertise, capability and reliability and must be clearly related to the impending orders; here DB AG may set up various assessment or qualification stages depending on the complexity of the respective subject matter. Prequalification processes established by DB AG are publicised throughout the EU.

Small companies:
Sole proprietorships are not required to provide a DUNS number during the supplier registration. Small businesses (all natural persons and small companies not subject to Section 1 (2) HGB (German Commercial Code) and thus not listed in the commercial register) should enter "KleinGW" in the corresponding field instead of a DUNS number.
 

Large enterprises:
In the DB Group, only one creditor per company (with its own legal entity and DUNS number) is kept. For supplier qualification, this means that for a branch (e.g. Northern Germany branch) a separate supplier qualification is neither necessary nor possible.

Subsidiaries with their own legal entities must qualify on their own if interested.The data provided in the qualification process should always refer to the qualifying company. If a subsidiary is involved, its own numbers such as sales, number of employees etc. must be provided and not those of its group as a whole.

Manufacturer-related product qualification is part of the quality policy at Deutsche Bahn AG and consists of a facility assessment and the examination of products at an external test laboratory (DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025).

You can get more information at the following links:

Product groups with identical supplier qualification requirements are grouped into product categories.

Supplier qualification is the entry to supplier management at DB AG and will be a condition for participation in tenders at DB AG in future. It does not matter whether tenders are granted via DB AG's electronic tender platform or the conventional way.

Qualified companies can extend their supplier qualification to other product groups at any time. To this end, they must apply for a new supplier qualification.

A requalification is the extension of supplier qualification for a specific product group.

Your company must submit an application for requalification in time before expiry of the supplier qualification, which is always of limited duration.
The process is similar to that for the initial supplier qualification. Your company submits an application for requalification in the desired product category with the registration in our WebPortal.

During registration on our WebPortal, your company selects the product categories for which it wishes to apply for supplier qualification.

For confirmation of the registration application and acceptance of any costs resulting for you, your company will receive a confirmation mail with a link to your completed registration. The data entered there must be confirmed again by you. In this step, your company can also abort the registration; then your data would be deleted.

After successful confirmation of the supplier registration by your company and examination of your information, your company will receive an e-mail with a link to the questionnaire for the selected product category. For each product category, you will receive a separate e-mail with a corresponding link.
This questionnaire must be answered entirely and submitted online; then you will receive an e-mail with links for uploading supporting documentation.

In the next step, we will assess the information in the questionnaire and the supporting documents.
If all documents are plausible and complete, your company will be requested by e-mail to select the specific products/services (product groups) for which you want to qualify within the product category.
Now, your company must upload references specific to the product group into the system.
After final examination of your references, the decision about the qualification follows.

Your company receives the results with a supplier qualification certificate by e-mail.

In the product groups for which you receive no qualification, you can apply again for qualification after at least six months.
Following successful supplier qualification, your company will be accepted in the pool of potential contract partners.

Please note, however, that acceptance to the DB Group's supplier pool results in neither a direct claim on participation in a tender nor in an order. In addition, we reserve the right to request the submission of further or updated documents before participation in a tender.

For supply/service for product groups in the "normal" and "high" requirements classes, you can register your company on our WebPortal since 2013 and thereby submit an application for supplier qualification. The qualification process includes completing questionnaires related to supply and service and submitting any required documentation and references.

For suppliers in the "low" requirements class, advance registration on our WebPortal is not required. They are assessed directly during the tender (e.g. via the tender platform) and added to the corresponding product group as qualified suppliers once contracted.