- Overview
-
Selecting a System Vendor and its DCs
- Creating an Account-Specific Vendor and its DCs
- Unpublishing a Non-Partner Vendor
- Republishing a Non-Partner Vendor
Overview
A corporate or system account (i.e., parent account) can select a non-partner vendor (i.e., a vendor without an interface) and its distribution centers (DC) that exist in the system to add to its account. Alternatively a corporate or system account can create a new vendor and its DCs in its account.
Once a vendor/DC combination exists in the parent account, then that vendor/DC combination is available for the child accounts to add to their accounts.
Once that vendor/DC combination exists in a child account, then the parent account has the ability to publish the DC-specific vendor product list to that child account, with latest availability status, pricing, etc.
There are two types of non-partner vendors that can be added to your account:
- System vendor - a vendor and its DCs that exist in the system and can be selected by an account. With a system vendor, its products are also maintained in the system, meaning they will be verified and linked to their appropriate food items (i.e., ingredient or prepared food). Note that a system vendor is also referred to as a "managed vendor".
- Account-specific vendor - a vendor and its DCs that are manually created by your account. Because the vendor is specific to your account, any products added by your account will only be specific to your account, and as such you will have to request that the products be verified and linked to the appropriate food items (i.e., ingredient or prepared food) in the system (see Suggesting a Vendor Product be Linked to a Food Item). Note that an account-specific vendor is also referred to as "user-maintained vendor".
Selecting a System Vendor and its DCs
As a corporate or system account, to add a system vendor (aka a "managed vendor") and its DCs to your account, complete the following steps:
- Select Procurement > Vendors & Products. The Vendors screen appears.
- Click the Add New button. The Add Vendor slide-out panel appears (screenshot below).
- The Other Vendors drop-down (first screenshot below) at the bottom of the slide-out panel contains the system vendors available in the system. Search for and select the vendor. Once selected, the vendor slide-out panel appears (second screenshot below).
- In the Customer Number field, enter your customer number with the vendor.
- If your account is set up with more than one business line, then the Business Lines field is available. From this field, select the business line(s) associated with the customer number. If a separate customer number is associated with a business line, then click the Add customer number link to add another customer number and associated business line. Note: A business line can only be associated with one customer number.
- In the Which Distribution Center/Store do you purchase from? fields, select a DC associated with the vendor.
- If the DC is not available, then click the Request New link to refresh the screen with the following fields:
- Distribution Center/Store Name - enter the name of the DC.
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Distribution Center/Store ID - enter the ID of the DC.
When you save the vendor, the system will send your request for a new DC to MealSuite Support. Once approved, the DC will be created and available for use in the vendor account. You will be notified via email and also on the home page (accessed by clicking logo at top left of screen).
- Click Save. A message appears asking you if you want to import product. Click No, Thanks to the message, and instead see When to Import Product List section below for your next steps.
When to Import Product List
If the DC was requested (step 7 above), then products cannot be imported until the request is approved by MealSuite. Once you receive approval, the vendor product import process can begin.
If you want to also publish that vendor product list to your child accounts, then each child account must first have the vendor and associated DC added to their account. Once the child accounts add the vendor and DC. You can access the child account itself (via the Accounts drop-down in the top menu of the MealSuite screen) to add the vendor and DC, or have a user in the child account add the vendor DC. Either way, instructions to add a vendor and DC in a facility account are explained in the following article: Facility Account: Adding a Non-Partner Vendor to Your Account.
Once the vendor and DC are added to a child account, then any vendor product list imported to a parent account can then be uploaded to your child accounts. See Importing Vendor Product List from Excel® File for instructions to do so.
Creating an Account-Specific Vendor and its DCs
As a corporate or system account, to create an account-specific vendor (aka a "user-maintained vendor") and its DCs in your account, complete the following steps:
- Select Procurement > Vendors & Products. The Vendors screen appears.
- Click the Add New button. The Add Vendor slide-out panel appears (screenshot below).
- Click the Create My Own Vendor button at the top of the slide-out panel. The New Vendor slide-out panel appears (screenshot below).
- In the Name field, enter the name of the vendor.
- If the vendor is to be used for demo or testing purposes, then you can select the Test/Demo Vendor check box. You can select this check box to identify the vendor for testing or demo purposes. This setting can then be used as a filter by MealSuite Nutrition Services team when verifying vendor products for food items.
- In the Customer Number field, enter your specific customer number with the vendor.
- If your system or corporate account is set up with more than one business line, then the Business Lines field is available. From this field, select the business line(s) associated with the customer number. If a separate customer number is associated with a business line, then click the Add customer number link to add another customer number and associated business line. Note: A business line can only be associated with one customer number.
- Your next steps are to add the distribution centers (DC's) that the vendor is associated with. The DC's you add will then be available to your child accounts to select from when they add this vendor to their account. Complete the following steps:
- In the Distribution Center/Store Name field, enter the name of a DC associated with the vendor, and in the adjacent Distribution Center/Store ID, enter the ID of the DC.
- To add additional DC's, click the Add link and a new Distribution Center/Store Name field and Distribution Center/Store ID field appear for you to complete.
- Click Save. The system will send your request for a new vendor and DC to MealSuite Support.
- When the request for the new vendor and DC's is approved, the vendor and DC's will be created and available for use in the vendor account, and you will be notified via email and also on the home page (accessed by clicking logo at top left of screen).
- To import a product list, or add individuals products, for your newly-created vendor, see Uploading Vendor Product List (e.g., Order Guide) / Adding Individual Products.
Unpublishing a Non-Partner Vendor
A non-partner vendor (either a system vendor (aka "managed vendor" or an account-specific vendor (aka "user-maintained vendor") can be unpublished by a parent account so that the vendor is not available for selection by any of the parent’s child accounts. If the vendor is currently in use by a child account, it remains in use.
To unpublish a non-partner vendor, complete the following steps:
- Select Procurement > Vendors & Products. The Vendors screen appears.
- Locate the non-partner vendor you want to unpublish and either:
- Click its gear icon and select Unpublish.
- Click the gear icon and select Edit. The vendor slide-out panel appears with a green Published notification-button. Click the Published notification-button to unpublish the vendor. The notification-button changes to Unpublished.
Republishing a Non-Partner Vendor
To republish a non-partner vendor that has been unpublished, complete the following steps:
- Select Procurement > Vendors & Products. The Vendors screen appears.
- Locate the vendor you want to republish and either:
- Click its gear icon and select Publish.
- Click the gear icon and select Edit. The vendor slide-out panel appears with a black Unpublished notification-button. Click the Unpublished notification-button to republish the vendor. The notification-button changes to Published.