Without a supplier set against an item record, the system will not know which supplier you obtain the item from, so it will not allow you to add it to a purchase order or transfer.

If you've ever tried to add an item to a purchase order or transfer and have found that you cannot locate the item in the search filter, the likelihood is that there is no supplier set on the item record in the Back Office.

If the item has been imported through SIM, then the supplier will have been automatically set on the item record.  However, if you've manually created the item or used the Item Import functionality, there is the possibility that adding the supplier may have been missed.

You can also add secondary suppliers to an item record, to account for situations where you may be able to obtain the item from more than one supplier.

Adding a supplier to an item

To add a supplier to an item, use the following steps:

1)  From the main menu in the Back Office, expand the Items heading, then click on Items:

2)  Use the wildcard search and filters on the Items grid to find the item, then double-click on the item to open it.

3)  Click on the Suppliers tab.  If there is no supplier set, click the Add A Supplier For This Item button.

4) You can use the Supplier dropdown to choose from a list of the suppliers you have set up on the system:

If you do not see the supplier listed, you will need to add a new supplier record.

5) Click Save. This supplier has now been designated as the Primary Supplier for this item.

6) If the item is available from more than one supplier and you wish to add other suppliers, follow the same steps from Step 3 above.

7) If you have multiple suppliers for this item, and you need to change the primary supplier on the item, you can. Here, Shires Equestrian is the primary supplier:

To make Citrus-Lime the primary supplier, click on the blue pencil icon next to that supplier, then tick the Set as Primary Supplier checkbox, and click Save.  This will automatically untick the same setting from Shires Equestrian:

Once you have set a supplier on an item, you cannot revert back to a situation where there is no supplier set on the item; you will always need to have at least one supplier designated.