3 Managing Supplier Details

This chapter provides information about managing supplier details.

3.1 Managing Your Supplier Profile

The Supplier Interface of Agile PCM helps you manage your RFQ Responses. The sourcing manager creates the RFQ and sends it to the suppliers. As a supplier user, you can submit responses to the sourcing manager, view attachments, view the history of your RFQ Responses and (with the appropriate privileges) import or export responses, run reports, and collaborate in price management. For more information, see "Responding to Request for Quotes" and "Collaborating on Pricing and Contract Information".

3.2 About the Supplier Manager

The Supplier Manager is the user at a supplier organization who maintains his supplier organization's profile, line card offering, users, and RFQ routing setup.

If you have the (Restricted) Supplier Manager role, you can perform administrative tasks. You can view or modify the profile details of your supplier organization. The supplier profile records important manufacturer and commodity information for your company.

3.3 Viewing Your Supplier Profile

The easiest way to view your supplier profile is to search for it, and bookmark it. Whenever you need to view or modify your supplier profile, click its bookmark in the navigation pane on the left side of the Agile Web Client window.

To bookmark your supplier profile:

1. In the top menu bar, click the down arrow next to the Search to Add icon and select Supplier from the dropdown list.

2. Enter your company name in the search field or simply enter * for a wildcard search.

3. Click the arrow to run the search.

4. In the search results (if more than one supplier name appears), click the link for your supplier organization in the Number column.

   The tabbed object for your supplier profile is displayed.

5. From the Actions dropdown list, select Bookmark.

   In Shortcuts in the navigation pane on the left, a bookmark for your supplier organization appears under My Bookmarks. You can use this bookmark at any time to open your supplier profile.

Just as your user profile object displays information about you and your user preferences, the supplier profile object displays information about your supplier organization and the settings you choose to use. The appropriate buyer user (Organization Manager) creates suppliers. You can view this information and edit some of the information on the tabs of your Supplier profile.

The following table shows the tabs and the default fields for suppliers.

Supplier tab name	Default fields include	Tab information includes
General Info	Name, DUNs, Description, Web Supplier, Address, City, Country/Area, Region/Province/State, Postal/Zip Code, Phone, Fax, URL, Corporate Currency, Create User	General information about the supplier organization.
Contact Users	User ID, First Name, Last Name, E-Mail, Business Phone, Status	Contains all associated or created supplier users.
RFx Routing	Continent, Region/Province, User ID, First Name, Last Name, E-Mail, Business Phone, Status	RFQ routing information.
Manufacturers	Manufacturer Name, Rating, Ship-To	Manufacturer line information.
Commodities	Commodity Name, Rating, Ship-To	Commodity information.
PSRs	Product Service Request (PSR) Number and other related fields	PSR information Note This info is visible only if you have the requisite privileges.
Relationships	Name, Description, Current Status, Rule and Type	View Completed, Pending, and Rules not Specified, or All Relationships
Attachments	File Name, File Description, Checkout User, Checkout Date, Checkout Folder, Modified Date, File Version, File Size, File Type, Last View Date	Add files, URLs; Get Shortcuts to Files; View Files, URLs.
History	Action, User, Local Client Time, Details and Comments	Track changes and events.

The General Info tab has fields that contain the general information about the supplier profile object. Some fields are filled in automatically; you complete the rest.

To edit supplier information, click the Edit button. You cannot edit the contents of some fields.

Note: You can use the Agile PLM Help system for more information. From the courtesy controls in the left pane, click the Help dropdown menu button and select Help from the dropdown list. A window appears with a link to the Agile PLM Documentation Web site http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/agile.html, as well as a link to the User Productivity Kit help topics.

3.3.1 Fields on the General Info Tab

The General Info tab of a Supplier object contains the fields that are listed in the following table. The Agile administrator can add custom fields to the General Info tab.

Field	Description	Editable?
Name	Name of the supplier.	No
Supplier Type	Indicates if the supplier is of the following types: Component Manufacturer Contract Manufacturer Broker Distributor Manufacturer Representative	No. Note that the Agile administrator can create or rename supplier types, as needed. The supplier type assigned to your supplier organization may not appear on this list. Contact the Agile administrator or the Agile Organization Manager if you have questions about your supplier type.
Lifecycle Phase	Indicates if this supplier is active or not.	No Note that if you do not have privileges to view the object, the area that would normally display the lifecycle phase will display "No Privilege."
Number	Supplier number assigned to the supplier when it was created.	No
DUNs	The industry standard Data Universal Numbering System (DUNs) number.	Yes. If your supplier organization uses a DUNs number, enter that number here.
Display Name	Display name of supplier.	No
Description	Text that describes the supplier. The maximum length is set by the Agile administrator.	Yes
Web Supplier	Indicates if this supplier logs in to the Web Client or receives offline communication (Yes / No).	Yes. To use the Agile Web Client to complete and submit RFQ Responses, you must set this field to Yes.
Corporate Currency	The default currency for this corporation.	Yes. Select a currency from the drop-down list.
Address	Address.	Yes. Enter the correct contact information for your supplier organization.
Geography	Your Country / Continent	No (only editable by an Agile administrator)
City	City.	Yes
Postal/Zip Code	Postal or Zip code.	Yes
Phone	Phone number.	Yes
Fax	Fax number.	Yes
URL	URL for supplier Web site.	Yes
Maximum Number of Contact Users	The maximum number of supplier users that can be created for this supplier.	No (only editable by an Agile administrator)
Maximum Number of Licensed Contact Users	The maximum number of supplier users that can be assigned a concurrent user license.	No (only editable by an Agile administrator)
Max Number of Named Contact Users	The maximum number of supplier users that can be assigned a power user license.	No (only editable by an Agile administrator)
Default RFQ Recipient	The contact user who automatically receives all RFQs sent to this supplier.	Yes
Default Declaration Recipient	The contact user who automatically receives all declarations for this supplier.	Yes

3.3.2 Buttons on the General Info Tab

The General Info tab of a Supplier object contains the following buttons:

• Edit - appears when the General Info tab is not in edit mode. To edit the General Info tab, click Edit.

• Save - appears when the General Info tab is in edit mode. To save the changes that you made to the tab while it was in edit mode, click Save.

• Cancel - appears when the General Info tab is in edit mode. To undo the changes that you made to the tab while it was in edit mode, click Cancel.

3.4 Managing Contact Users

If you have the (Restricted) Supplier Manager role, you can perform administrative tasks. You can view or modify the profile details of your supplier organization. The supplier profile records important manufacturer and commodity information for your company.

The Contact Users tab of your supplier organization profile lists all the users associated with or created for your supplier organization. Open your supplier profile object and click the Contact Users tab. For details, see "Viewing Your Supplier Profile."

You can click the Personalize button to specify criteria for viewing only certain information on this tab. For more information, see "Personalizing PCM Object Tabs."

3.4.1 Creating a Contact User

Users with the (Restricted) Supplier Manager role can create new contact users.

To create a new supplier user in Web Client:

1. Open a supplier and click the Contact Users tab.

2. Click the Add button.

3. Click the Create New button. The Create New dialog appears.

4. Enter the Username. Type the Login Password, and retype it to confirm.

5. Enter the Approval Password and retype it to confirm.

   
   

   Note: If you want to use the same password as what you entered for the Login Password, select the Use Login Password for Approval checkbox. This will disable the Approval Password fields.

   
   

6. Enter user details - First Name, Last Name, and Email.

7. Click Add.

   
   

   Note: The supplier must be web-enabled in order for the new user to be able to log into the system.

   
   

3.4.1.1 Important Profile Fields

Once a contact user is created, you may consider changing some of the following contact user fields:

• Roles - the user's role assignments, which determine a user's access to Agile objects.

• Lists - the routable object manager lists on which the user's name appears, for example, the Change Analyst list (depending on your privileges, this field may not be editable).

• Searches - determines which predefined search folders are available to the user, for example, the Change Analyst searches (depending on your privileges, this field may not be editable).

• Use Login Password for Approval - if set to Yes, use one password (login password) for both login and routable object, e.g. PCO, approval.

• Allow Escalation Designation Approval - this setting determines whether the user's designated escalation persons can approve a routable object for the user only After Escalation or Always.

• Sites, Default Site - the list of manufacturing sites where the user is involved. The Default Site is the user's main base of work.

The General Info tab also includes fields for contact information such as mailing address and phone numbers.

For detailed information about all the User object fields, see the Administrator Guide.

3.4.2 Modifying a Contact User's Information

You can make modifications, such as changing the password and specifying whether the user is active or inactive, to the contact user's information.

To modify contact user information:

1. Search your supplier. For details, see "Viewing Your Supplier Profile."

2. Click on your Supplier Name/Number link. The supplier object appears.

3. Click the Contact Users tab.

4. Click the User ID link. The User page appears.

5. To modify General Info tab data, click Edit. Make changes as required.

6. To enable or disable the user, select Active or Inactive in the Status dropdown list. An inactive user cannot log in to Agile and, therefore, cannot respond to RFQs.

7. To save the changes that you made to the User page while it was in edit mode, click Save. To undo the changes that you made to the User page while it was in edit mode, click Cancel.

3.4.3 Changing a Contact User's Password

You might need to change or reset a user's password.

To reset a user password:

1. Open the supplier object and click the Contact Users tab.

2. Click the User ID link for the user whose password needs to be changed. The User page appears.

3. In the General Info tab, click the Change Password button. The Change Password dialog appears.

4. Type the new login password in the New Login Password and Confirm Login Password fields. (Passwords are case-sensitive.)

5. Fill in the Approval Password fields.

   
   

   Note: If the Use Login Password for Approval field in the user's profile is set to Yes, then you see only the Login Password fields.

   
   

6. Click Save.

   
   

   Note: If you have not followed the rules defined in your Agile system for selecting passwords, you are prompted to correct your password.

   
   

3.4.4 Deleting a Contact User

You may want to delete a contact user if that person no longer works at your organization.

To delete contact user information:

1. Open the supplier object and click the Contact Users tab.

2. Click the User ID link for the user who needs to be deleted. The User page appears.

3. In the Actions menu, choose Delete.

   
   

   Note: You can delete a contact user only if the contact user is not set as the Default RFQ Recipient for a supplier. If you want to delete the current default, you must set another contact user as the Default RFQ Recipient before you can delete it.

   
   

4. When the confirmation prompt appears, click OK.

   The user remains listed on the Contact Users tab, but the user's status changes to Inactive.

3.5 Managing RFQ Routing

When a buyer sends an RFQ, it is based on a specific Ship To location. In a supplier organization, you can choose to have the system send notifications of RFQ Responses to specific users based on the Ship To location in the RFQ. Note that, if there are multiple supplier users assigned to the same Ship To location, only one of them gets a notification. You can configure the routing rules in the supplier object's RFx Routing tab.

If you do not specify RFQ routing rules, all RFQs are sent to the default recipient. The default recipient must then forward each RFQ to the appropriate contact user.

Note: You must have the (Restricted) Supplier Manager role to set up RFQ routing.

To add a new routing rule:

1. Open a supplier, and then click the RFx Routing tab.

2. Click Add.

3. Select a user from the Contact dropdown list.

4. Specify the Geography by selecting the continent, country/area, and state/province/region to associate with the contact user.

5. Click Add.

To edit a rule:

1. Open a supplier, and then click the RFx Routing tab.

2. Make the required changes directly to editable fields, e.g. Continent.

3. To undo the changes that you made to the RFx Routing tab, click Cancel. To save your changes, click Save.

To delete a rule:

1. Open a supplier, and then click the RFx Routing tab.

2. Select the routing rule that you want to delete.

3. Click Remove.

To change the default recipient:

1. Open a supplier, and then click the General Info tab.

2. Click Edit.

3. Select the Default RFQ Recipient from the list of contact users for the supplier.

4. Click Save.

3.6 Changing the Default Recipient

After a supplier is created, the first contact user that is added becomes the default RFQ recipient. The default recipient receives any RFQs that could not be routed based on a routing rule. You can change the default recipient at any time.

To change the default recipient:

1. Open the supplier and click the General Info tab.

2. Click Edit.

3. Use the dropdown list next to the Default RFQ Recipient field to select a user.

4. Click Save.

3.7 Defining Manufacturer Offerings

Suppliers have two types of line cards-manufacturer and commodity. Manufacturer offerings define which product lines are carried by a manufacturer. Commodity offerings define which product lines are associated with a commodity.

The manufacturer line card is a detailed list that maps each manufacturer whose goods you carry to a specific geographic location where those goods are available. This is a way to indicate the manufacturers whose goods you are franchised to offer in certain geographic regions.

For example, a supplier called ACME Corp. might sell Motorola and Kemet products. The supplier should have one manufacturer line card per manufacturer per location.

The manufacturer line card is one of the settings that determine which RFQs you receive from buyers.

When you update the geographical information or Ship To locations for a manufacturer or commodity for a line card, the organization manager receives a notification in his inbox so that he can approve the line card offering.

Note: You must have the correct privileges to add and remove manufacturer offerings. The Agile PLM Administrator needs to modify your (Restricted) Modify My Supplier Profile privilege.

3.7.1 Creating a New Manufacturer Offering

You can specify general information about manufacturer offerings from the Manufacturers tab. Each manufacturer line card definition is a unique combination of manufacturer, supplier, and Ship To locations. You can have multiple lines for each manufacturer, with each line for a manufacturer associated with a different Ship To location. If there are changes to the geographic locations where the goods are offered, then you can edit the manufacturer line cards.

When you create an offering, make sure the geographical data you specify is not narrower than an existing offering for the same manufacturer or commodity. For example, if the Region/Province/State for an existing offering is set to all locations (by selecting the root Location folder), you can not create a new offering for the same manufacturer or commodity with the Region/Province/State set to California because the existing offering covers a broader region.

If you choose to add a manufacturer offering by Geography, rather than Ship To location, an offering is only added if there is a Ship To location defined in that particular region.

For example, assume that the following are the only Ship To locations defined in the system:

• Santa Clara, CA, USA

• Los Angeles, CA, USA

• Bangalore, India, Asia

If a user uses the Geography option and selects San Jose, CA, USA as the geographical location, the system does not add any rows to the Manufacturers table, because there are no Ship To locations defined for that specific location. On the other hand, if the user selects CA, USA as the location, the Santa Clara, CA, USA and Los Angeles, CA, USA Ship To locations are added, because those locations are included in the broader region of CA, USA.

To create a new manufacturer offering:

1. Open the supplier object.

2. Click the Manufacturers tab.

3. Click the Add button. The Add Manufacturer Offerings dialog appears.

4. If you already know the manufacturer name, type it into the field. Otherwise, you can click the Search to Add icon to select the Manufacturer Name. Searches are provided to lead you through the process of selecting a manufacturer.

5. Select a For Locations option. You can define the offering by a Ship To location or by Geography, which defines the continent, country, and area.

6. If you selected Geography, specify the continent, country/area, and state/province/region. If you selected Ship To, specify one or more locations by clicking the icon or by simply typing the location(s) into the field.

7. Select the Rating from the dropdown list.

   
   

   Note: During the RFQ dissemination process, suppliers receive notifications based on the rating criteria set by the buyer when the RFQ is created.

   
   

8. Click Add to complete the operation. The new manufacturer line card definition appears in the list.

3.7.2 Deleting a Manufacturer Offering

You can delete a manufacturer offering.

To delete an offering:

1. Open the supplier object.

2. Click the Manufacturers tab.

3. Select the row(s) of manufacturer offering(s) that you wish to delete.

4. Click Remove.

3.7.3 Filtering the Manufacturers Tab

You can filter the Manufacturers tab to display only certain information. Click the Personalize button to specify what information you want to see. For more information, see "Filtering Objects."

3.8 Defining Commodity Offerings

Your commodity offerings define the categories of product you sell. For example, a supplier called ACME Corp. might sell commodities such as fuses, integrated circuits, and resistors. The commodity line card is a detailed list that maps each commodity you carry to a specific geographic location where those goods are available.

Note: You must have the correct privileges to add and remove commodity offerings. The Agile PLM Administrator needs to modify your (Restricted) Modify My Supplier Profile privilege.

3.8.1 Creating a New Commodity Offering

You can specify general information about the commodity offerings from the Commodities tab. Each commodity line card definition is a unique combination of commodity and Ship To locations. You can have multiple lines for each commodity, with each line of a commodity associated with different Ship To locations. If there are changes to the geographic locations where the goods are offered, the Supplier Manager can edit the commodity line cards for your supplier organization.

If you choose to add a commodity offering by Geography, rather than Ship To location, an offering is only added if there is a Ship To location defined in that particular region.

For example, assume that the following are the only Ship To locations defined in the system:

• Santa Clara, CA, USA

• Los Angeles, CA, USA

• Bangalore, India, Asia

If a user uses the Geography option and selects San Jose, CA, USA as the geographical location, the system does not add any rows to the Commodities table, because there are no Ship To locations defined for that specific location. On the other hand, if the user selects CA, USA as the location, the Santa Clara, CA, USA and Los Angeles, CA, USA Ship To locations are added, because those locations are included in the broader region of CA, USA.

To create a new commodity offering:

1. Open the supplier object.

2. Click the Commodities tab.

3. Click the Add button. The Add Commodity Offering dialog appears.

4. If you already know the commodity name, type it into the field. Otherwise, you can click the Search to Add icon to select the Commodities.

5. Select a For Locations option. You can define the offering by a Ship-to location or by Geography, which defines the continent, country, and area.

6. If you selected Geography, specify the continent, country/area, and state/province/region. If you selected Ship To, specify one or more locations by clicking the list icon or by simply typing the location(s) into the field.

7. Select the Rating from the dropdown list.

   
   

   Note: During the RFQ dissemination process, suppliers receive notifications based on the rating criteria set by the buyer when the RFQ is created.

   
   

8. Click Add to complete the operation. The new commodity line card definition appears in the list.

3.8.2 Deleting a Commodity Offering

You can delete a commodity offering.

To delete a commodity offering:

1. Open the supplier object.

2. Click the Commodities tab.

3. Select the row(s) of the commodity offering(s) that you want to delete.

4. Click Remove.

3.8.3 Filtering the Commodities Tab

You can filter the Commodity tab to display only certain information. Click the Personalize button to specify what information you want to see. For more information, see "Filtering Objects."

3.9 Editing Manufacturer and Commodity Offerings

You can edit a manufacturer offerings and commodity offerings. To edit an offering on the Manufacturers or Commodities tab of the supplier, click directly in the field you want to edit and make changes, as needed. Some fields may not be editable.

Note: For the first field you attempt to edit, you will have to double-click in it to make it editable. Any subsequent fields will only require a single-click to enable editing.

While editing, you can edit multiple rows simultaneously by using the Fill-up and Fill-down options via the More button. For example, if you changed the Rating field for one offering, but wanted the same rating value for a few of the offerings below it, you can select the Rating table cell for the offerings that should be copied and the Rating cells of the offerings to which you want the value copied. When you click More > Fill-down (selected cells) the value that was in the first price line that you selected is copied to the selected cells below it. Note that there are also keyboard shortcuts available for these edit options.