Global Supplier Management

The Suppliers section is your organization’s central directory for managing supplier relationships, contacts, and diversity tracking — independent of any specific project.

What is Global Supplier Management?

While the Suppliers tab within a project manages quotes for that specific project, the global Suppliers section (/suppliers) is your master directory of all suppliers your organization works with.

Global Suppliers includes supplier company profiles, contact management, diversity/attribute tracking, response form templates, and supplier status tracking.

Accessing Global Suppliers

1. Click Suppliers in the main navigation
2. Or navigate to /org-suppliers/supplier-list

Suppliers Interface

Navigation Tabs

Layout

The Suppliers page has a split layout — searchable supplier list on the left, selected supplier details and contacts on the right.

Supplier Directory

Viewing Suppliers

The sidebar shows all suppliers: - Active suppliers — Currently working with - Pending suppliers — Invited but not yet onboarded - Archived suppliers — No longer active (hidden by default)

Searching Suppliers

Use the search bar to find suppliers by company name, contact name, or email. Results highlight matching text.

Supplier Card

Each supplier card shows company name, status indicator (Active/Pending), number of contacts, and diversity attributes (if any).

Adding a New Supplier

1. Click + Add Supplier in the sidebar
2. Fill in supplier details:
   • Company Name (required)
   • Description — Internal notes about this supplier
   • Attributes — Diversity certifications
   • Primary Contact — At least one contact required
3. Click Create Supplier

What Happens Next

Supplier appears in your directory with “Pending” status. When added to a project and invited, they receive an email. After accepting and onboarding, status changes to “Active”.

Supplier Details

Click any supplier to view/edit their profile:

Company Information

Editing Supplier Details

1. Click the Edit (pencil) icon
2. Modify fields as needed
3. Click Save

For quick edits, click directly on the description to edit inline, or click attributes to add/remove.

Contacts Management

Each supplier can have multiple contacts.

Contact List

The contact list shows active contacts (current points of contact) and inactive contacts (archived, in a collapsible section). Contacts are sorted alphabetically within each section.

Adding a Contact

1. In the supplier detail view, click + Add Contact
2. Fill in:
   • Name (required)
   • Email (required for first contact)
   • Additional fields (phone, title, etc.)
3. Click Save

Contact Fields

Each contact can have multiple field types:

Adding Contact Fields

1. Click on a contact to select
2. Click + Add Field
3. Select field type
4. Enter value
5. Save

Editing Contacts

1. Click a contact to select
2. Edit fields directly
3. Changes save automatically

Deactivating Contacts

Instead of deleting, contacts are deactivated:

1. Select the contact
2. Toggle Active to off
3. Contact moves to “Inactive” section

Deactivated contacts don’t appear in project supplier invitations, are preserved for historical record, and can be reactivated anytime.

Supplier Attributes (Diversity Tracking)

Track diversity certifications and attributes:

Available Attributes

Adding Attributes

1. Edit the supplier
2. In the Attributes section, click + Add
3. Select applicable attributes
4. Save

Attributes appear as colored chips on supplier cards.

Why Track Attributes?

• Diversity reporting — Track spend with diverse suppliers
• Compliance — Meet client diversity requirements
• Visibility — Quickly identify certified suppliers

Supplier Status

Status Transitions

New Supplier → Pending → Active
                  ↓
              Archived
                  ↓
              Active (reactivated)

Archiving a Supplier

1. Open supplier details
2. Click Archive
3. Confirm

Archived suppliers are hidden from the main list (toggle to show), cannot be added to new projects, but historical data is preserved.

Response Form Templates

Templates define what information suppliers provide when submitting quotes.

Accessing Templates

1. Go to Suppliers → Response Form Templates
2. Or navigate to /org-suppliers/response-form-template

Creating a Template

1. Click + New Template
2. Configure fields:
   • Field Name — What you’re collecting
   • Field Type — Number, text, select, currency
   • Options — For select fields, define choices
3. Assign to services
4. Save

Template Field Types

Using Templates

When you add a supplier to a project: 1. Templates are automatically applied based on services 2. Supplier sees template fields in their quote form 3. Submitted data flows into your pricing comparison

Best Practices

Directory Hygiene

• Keep information current — update contacts when they change
• Use consistent naming — company names should match official names
• Archive don’t delete — preserve historical relationships
• Document in description — note important context

Contact Management

• Multiple contacts per supplier — don’t rely on one person
• Verify emails — incorrect emails = missed invitations
• Include titles — helps route requests appropriately
• Deactivate, don’t delete — preserves audit trail

Diversity Tracking

• Verify certifications — confirm before adding attributes
• Keep updated — certifications expire
• Use for reporting — generate diversity spend reports

Troubleshooting

Supplier not appearing in project

Check supplier status is Active or Pending, verify supplier exists in global directory, search may need exact match.

Can’t add contact

Ensure supplier is selected, check required fields (name, email), first contact requires valid email.

Email invitation not received

Verify email address is correct, ask supplier to check spam folder, resend invitation from project.

Attributes not showing

Ensure attributes are saved, refresh the page, check if filtering is hiding them.

Related Guides

• Suppliers in Projects
• Response Form Templates
• Requesting Quotes

Next: Response Form Templates