How to manage vendors

What you can do

Create and maintain vendors in CRIBWISE — the suppliers that decide where each item is bought, what it costs, and who services it. Every item needs a vendor, so a vendor is usually the first record you create in a new system.

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Before you start

• Administrator access to the Admin Portal, under Data management > Vendors.
• At least one order template must exist. You cannot save a vendor without one — see System settings reference.
• Decide whether the vendor is internal (your own workshop services the items) or external (items are sent away for service).
• For consignment invoicing, consignment must be switched on in system settings and your user needs the privilege to manage consignment.

Important: Internal is locked as soon as you save the vendor for the first time. If you choose wrong, the only fix is a new vendor record.

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Quick start

Experienced users — create a vendor in 5 steps:

1. Go to Data management > Vendors.
2. Select New vendor.
3. Fill in Vendor ID and Name.
4. Choose an Order template and a Consignment order template.
5. Select Save vendor.

Need more detail? Follow the full steps below.

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Steps

Step 1 — Open the vendor list

1. In the left menu, select Data management.
2. Select Vendors.

The list shows every vendor with its ID, name, and whether it is internal.

The vendor list. New vendor (3) starts a blank record and View detail (4) opens the row you selected — double-clicking a row does the same. Use the Name field (5) to filter a long list.

Step 2 — Create the vendor and save it

Only four fields are mandatory. Shaded fields are the ones CRIBWISE requires.

1. Select New vendor.
2. Enter a Vendor ID.
3. Enter a Name.
4. Choose an Order template.
5. Choose a Consignment order template.
6. Select Save vendor.

The blank vendor form. Vendor ID (1), Name (2), Order template (3) and Consignment order template (4) must all be filled in before Save vendor (5) works. The five remaining tabs (6) stay greyed out until the vendor exists.

Fill in the rest of the identification fields now or later. They all appear on purchase orders through the order template.

Field	Required	What to enter
Vendor ID	Yes	A unique identifier used for purchasing and integration. Cannot repeat another vendor’s ID.
Name	Yes	The vendor’s name as you want to see it in lists and on orders. Must be unique.
Description	No	Free text for your own reference.
Shipping note	No	Text the order template can print on the purchase order.
Frame order number	No	A default order reference added to the Purchase order reference field of every order a script creates automatically.
Customer number	No	Your account number with this vendor. Used for order integration and can be printed by the order template.
Default order ID prefix	No	Up to 10 letters or numbers, added to generated order IDs as prefix-order ID. Can be overridden per order.
Default Ship to ID	No	The vendor’s identifier for your delivery address. Can be overridden per order.
Delivery condition	No	Printable by the order template.
Terms of payment	No	Printable by the order template.

Step 3 — Set how the vendor behaves in purchasing

These settings drive automatic ordering, restocking on the Shop Floor Interface, and service routing. They are all on the same General information tab.

Purchasing and service settings: lead times (1), Internal (2), Allow restock without purchase order (3), the order value limits (4) and Purchasing currency (5).

Setting	What it controls
Lead time	Expected delivery time in days for items bought from this vendor.
Service lead time	Expected turnaround in days for items this vendor services.
Is manufacturer	Creates a manufacturer with the same name the first time you save the vendor. Useful when the supplier also makes the tools — see How to manage manufacturers.
Internal	Decides where service and calibration happen. Items on an internal vendor can go on service lists and are handled in-house. Items on an external vendor go out on purchase service orders. Locked after the first save.
Allow restock without purchase order	Lets Shop Floor Interface users restock this vendor’s items with no purchase order behind them.
Allow overstock of non-quoted items	Lets you restock more pieces than were ordered even when the item is not marked as quoted. This raises the ordered quantity on the order and creates extra purchase transactions. Leave it off to allow overstocking only on quoted items.
Minimum order value	Tick it, then enter an amount. A scheduled script that builds an order below this value leaves the order in Suggested state with the alert Minimum order value not reached instead of sending it.
Maximum order value	Same idea in reverse. An order above the amount stays in Suggested state with the alert Maximum order value exceeded.
Order template	The default PDF or Excel layout for this vendor’s purchase orders. Order settings can override it — see How to customize purchase order email templates.
Consignment order template	The same, for consignment orders.
Purchasing currency	The currency used for purchase and service prices on this vendor’s items, and on its orders. See How to configure currencies for purchasing.

Success: the breadcrumb and the panel header show the vendor name, the vendor appears in the list on the left, and the five other tabs become available. Internal is now greyed out.

The saved vendor. The new row is in the list (1), the five tabs are now open (2), and Internal is locked (3).

Step 4 — Add contact details and addresses

Open the Address information tab. The top half holds one set of primary contact details. The bottom half holds as many addresses as you need.

1. Fill in Primary E-mail address, Web address, Primary phone, and Fax number as needed.
2. Under Address, select the add button (+).
3. Enter the Street, then City, Postal code, Country, and a Comment if useful.
4. Select Save in the Address panel.
5. Select Save vendor to keep the primary contact details.

The Address information tab with the Address panel open. The add button (3) creates an address; the edit and remove buttons (4) stay greyed out until you select a row in the grid. Street (5) is the only mandatory address field.

Step 5 — Add contact persons

Open the Contact person tab to record the people you deal with at this vendor. There is no limit on how many you add.

1. Select the add button (+).
2. Enter the Surname. This is the only mandatory field.
3. Fill in Name, E-mail, Phone, Mobile no., and Position as needed.
4. Select Save in the Contact person panel.

The Contact person tab. Add (1), edit (2), and remove (3) work the same way as on the address grid. Surname (4) is mandatory.

Step 6 — Set up consignment invoicing (optional)

On consignment stock you pay for items as they are consumed. This tab tells CRIBWISE to collect that consumption on a schedule and send the vendor an invoice request.

1. Open the Consignment invoicing tab.
2. Select Generate consignment invoice requests. The remaining options appear.
3. Choose a Period and a Starting day.
4. Select Send automatically if the request should go out as soon as it is created.
5. Tick the distribution channels to use, and pick a template for each file format. The template lists show only the invoice request templates defined in system settings — see How to customize consignment invoice templates.
6. Select Save vendor.

Consignment invoicing switched on. Period (2) and Starting day (3) set the schedule; Send automatically (4) and the distribution channels (5) control how the request leaves CRIBWISE.

Option	What it does
Period	How often a request is generated: Weekly, Biweekly, or Monthly.
Starting day	The weekday the period starts on.
Last period	Read-only. The date range of the last request that was generated.
Next period	Read-only. The date range of the next request. The request is created the day after the period ends. This is calculated once you pick a period and save the vendor.
Send automatically	Sends the request to the selected channels as soon as it is created. Unavailable until at least one channel is set up.
B2B	Sends the request over the B2B interface. Unavailable until the B2B fields on the Integration tab are filled in.
Web service	Posts the request to a web service endpoint. Needs the web service fields on the Integration tab.
FTP	Uploads the request to your FTP server as XML, PDF, or Excel. PDF and Excel each need an invoice request template. Needs the FTP fields on the Integration tab.
Mail	Emails the request as XML, PDF, or Excel, with a template per format. Needs an integration email address on the Integration tab.

Step 7 — Turn on vendor notifications (optional)

Vendor notifications email you about purchasing events for this one vendor. The same events can be set for every vendor at once under Administration → System settings → Purchase, and actions on a single item have their own notifications on the item detail. See System settings reference and How to configure item notifications.

1. Open the Notifications tab.
2. Select Set custom vendor notifications.
3. Tick the events you want: New suggested order, Order sent, Sending of order failed, Order canceled, Order is late, or Service item scrapped.
4. Enter the recipients in E-mails.
5. Select Save vendor.

Vendor notifications. Tick the events (2) and add the recipients (3). The notice under the checkbox (1) confirms these are sent on top of the system-level notifications.

Note: When the same event is set at both system and vendor level, both sets of recipients get an email.

Three purchasing events cannot be set per vendor: No order generated by script, Transfer list created, and Items added to transfer list. They exist only at system level, because they are not tied to a single vendor.

Step 8 — Connect the vendor to an external system (optional)

The Integration tab defines the channels this vendor’s orders and invoices can use. Which channel a specific order actually uses is chosen on the order itself, under its send options.

The four integration channels. Integration ID (1) identifies you to the vendor’s B2B system (2). The web service (3) and FTP (4) sections each take their own credentials; Test connection (5) becomes active once the FTP details are filled in.

Channel	What to set up
B2B	Pick Production or Testing, then enter the Integration ID — it becomes mandatory and tells the vendor which system the order belongs to. Ask the vendor for the correct ID. Choose Testing to send orders to the vendor’s test system. See Consignment management for how B2B is used for invoice requests.
Web service	Enter the target URL, and a User name and Password if the endpoint uses basic authentication. Orders are sent as a POST request with the order as XML in the body, using the same schema as the B2B interface.
FTP	Enter the FTP URL, tick SFTP if the server requires it, and add the credentials. The URL must point at the user’s root folder — subfolders are not accepted, so set the subfolder as that user’s root instead. Use Test connection to check the details before saving.
E-mail	Enter one or more addresses in E-mails. Tick Custom e-mail content to write your own subject and body for the orders and invoices sent to this vendor.

Note: B2B is available for the Sandvik Group brands — Seco Tools, Walter, Sandvik Coromant, and Dormer Pramet. The Integration ID you get from the vendor determines which system receives the order.

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Delete a vendor

1. Go to Data management > Vendors.
2. Select the vendor row.
3. Select Delete vendor.

Warning: A vendor with items attached cannot be deleted. Move those items to another vendor first, or delete them. If you only want to stop ordering from a vendor, leave the record in place instead — deleting it breaks the history on its past orders.

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Next steps

1. Assign the vendor to your items — set the purchase and service vendor, prices, and pack sizes on each item. See Item supplier settings reference.
2. Automate the ordering — let a scheduled script build and send this vendor’s orders. See Custom scheduled scripts.
3. Set up consignment stock — if you agreed consignment terms, configure the stock side too. See Consignment management.

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Troubleshooting

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
Save vendor does nothing and two fields turn red	Order template and Consignment order template are empty	Both are mandatory. Choose a template in each list, then save again. If the lists are empty, create an order template first — see System settings reference.
The other five tabs are greyed out	The vendor has not been saved yet	Fill in the mandatory fields and select Save vendor. Addresses, contacts, consignment, notifications, and integration all need an existing vendor.
The Internal checkbox is greyed out	It locks on the first save	Create a new vendor with the correct setting and move the items across. The setting cannot be changed on an existing vendor.
A vendor cannot be deleted	Items are still attached to it	Reassign those items to another vendor, or delete them, then delete the vendor.
Saving fails on the ID or the name	Another vendor already uses it	Vendor ID and Name must both be unique. Search the list for the value and pick a different one.
The Consignment invoicing tab is empty or missing	Consignment is off in system settings, or your user lacks the privilege to manage consignment	Switch consignment on in system settings and check that your user group has consignment management rights.
A distribution channel cannot be ticked	The matching fields on the Integration tab are empty	Fill in the B2B, web service, FTP, or email details first. Each channel unlocks only when its own integration is configured.
An automatic order stays in Suggested state	The order is below Minimum order value or above Maximum order value	Check the alert on the order. Send it manually, or adjust the limit on the vendor.

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Related articles

• Item supplier settings reference — how a vendor is attached to an item, with prices, pack sizes, and the service vendor.
• Understanding stock structure: stocks, devices, and locations — where vendors sit in the wider data model.
• Consignment management: setup, ordering, and invoicing — the full picture behind the Consignment invoicing tab.
• How to configure currencies for purchasing — set up the currencies you can pick as a purchasing currency.
• Custom scheduled scripts: flexible rules for automated ordering — automate the orders sent to this vendor.
• How to manage manufacturers — for vendors that also make the tools they sell.
• System settings reference — order templates, system-level purchase notifications, and the consignment switch.