Suppliers

The Suppliers screen brings together what used to be scattered across five screens: who can supply us, with what approval, through which channel — and what is in progress with each. One line per partner carrying the supplier role (a manufacturer can very well also carry this role, without ceasing to be a manufacturer — see Partners).

The columns

Supplier — name, code and NCAGE. The name opens the partner record (the same record reached from Organization).
Roles — the organisation’s nature (Manufacturer, MRO, Squadron…) and the roles it holds for us (Supplier, Customer — cumulative). Nature stays unique, roles add up.
Approval — the consolidated state, with reference and date. Detail (scopes, evidence) lives in the Approvals tab.
Channel — Portal or File, with the number of active accounts when the supplier uses the portal.
Catalog — how many parts this supplier can sell us. Detail lives in the Catalog tab.
In progress — open orders and invoices still to decide.
To watch — facts worth a look (see below).

The four approval states

Approved — an approval covers this supplier, valid as of today.
Expiring within 60d — the approval is still active, but its expiry falls within less than 60 days. An approval that expires unnoticed blocks purchasing overnight — this signal is what makes it visible in time.
Expired — the expiry date has passed.
None — no approval has ever been declared for this supplier.

The four « to watch » signals

Facts, never an invented performance indicator: no score, no service rate, as long as the kept promise is not measured.

Late response — at least one order is waiting past its required acknowledgement deadline.
Refused invoice — at least one invoice from this supplier was refused.
Order without approval — at least one open order is not covered by any approval.
Active derogation — at least one approval derogation is currently in effect for this supplier.

Adding a supplier

The Add a supplier button covers the two real situations, and deliberately tells them apart:

the partner is already known — a manufacturer, a repair shop, even a customer, that starts selling to us. We add the supplier role: their record stays unique. Two records for the same company means orders, invoices and history cut in half;
the supplier is not known yet — we create their partner record, with the supplier role already ticked.

Creating a partner remains a write to the reference data: it requires administration rights, just like from Partners.

The three cross-cutting views, as tabs

The Approvals, Derogations and Catalog tabs remain the flat views, for audit: every approval, every derogation, every catalog offer, across all suppliers. They replace the former separate entries of the Procurement menu — nothing is lost, navigation now happens through the tabs rather than the menu.

Each tab carries its volume: the number of rows it holds, unfiltered. You therefore know before clicking whether the detour is worth it — and a tab at zero says so plainly. The number only appears once the read has come back: a temporary “0” would state the opposite of the truth. Each of these three tabs also carries the same supplier search field as this list (name, code or NCAGE).