Supplier

On viewing the Supplier List, all active suppliers will be displayed, by default; the quick search option is a wildcard search on Supplier Name, Supplier Code and Supplier Address fields. Suppliers can be deactivated either from the list or from the details page. The list can be sorted by either Supplier name or Supplier Code.

A shipped supplier record ‘Unknown Supplier’ allows Off Catalog requests to be raised when the supplier is not known. The display of this supplier in the Off-Catalog page can be controlled via a system setting.

The following topics are covered in this article:

• Creating a Locally Maintained Supplier
• PunchOut to an External Catalog
• Editing a Supplier
• Associating a Supplier Account
• Associating a Product Type

Related topic:

• Commodity Type

Creating a Locally Maintained Supplier

To create a supplier on the system, select Supplier > Add in the Supplier, Catalog & Bundle category. Each supplier requires a unique code (alphanumeric and underscore supported); this is automatically prefixed with an ‘X’ if created in Front Office – denoting a locally maintained supplier. Many settings are available within the Supplier Maintenance screen, including:

• Supplier currency - active currencies displayed
• Commodity type - standard and off-catalog items
• Category levels - for catalog; 0-5 valid
• Contact method - for request submission to supplier (e-procurement solutions)
• Off catalog requests accepted
• File attachments on PO - email-only contact method
• Address & contact details

PunchOut to an External Catalog

A requester can access an external supplier website to select products and add these products to the Front Office cart. The external website can be accessed via the Service Catalog or via standard catalog browsing (denoted under an External Catalogs category). PunchOut parts can be created in Catalog Maintenance and be linked to the Service Catalog. The destination supplier site is configured via the PunchOut tab within Supplier Maintenance for locally maintained suppliers. 

If the user experiences any problems, e.g., unsuccessful connection to the external site or the item retrieved in an unknown currency, a friendly message will be displayed. Further diagnosis is available through the PunchOutLog option within the Support > Other Logs screen, where the full outbound and response cXML is available. Any errors are also reported in the Error Log, as well as via Other Logs Editing a Supplier.

Suppliers created within the Front Office system can be edited at any time via the Supplier > View option in the Catalog, Supplier & Bundle category. The Supplier’s currency is only editable if no catalog exists.

Note: A Supplier must be set up within the Front Office System before Catalog Items can be imported. The Supplier record must have a selection against ‘Supplier Category Level’ to enable a catalog to be created and displayed although this category level may be set to zero if the Supplier is to be used for Off-Catalog requests only.

Associating a Supplier Account

The Supplier Account screen can be accessed from a drop-down list against the specific supplier within the Supplier List. This allows the registration of account codes for a supplier, which will be included in the supplier orders sent to the Supplier Gateway and ensures invoices can be assigned to the correct entity.

Associating a Product Type

Product Types provide a low maintenance facility for ensuring an updated catalog continues to be associated to a Commodity Type for request field filtering purposes. Product Types can be assigned to a product item by the supplier and imported with the catalog. 

Product Types can be linked to a Commodity Type within the Front Office system, so that when a new product is added to the Supplier Gateway catalog file with that specific Product Type, a manual link does not need to be created to the correct commodity type. This reduces ongoing maintenance significantly.

To create this link, select Product Type from the More... link within the Supplier, Catalog & Bundle category.

Any Product Types that have been passed from the Supplier Gateway into Front Office will appear under the relevant supplier’s name. Select each Product Type and select the required Commodity Type. If a new Product Type is used in a supplier catalog, then the link to a Commodity Type will be required.