- Opening a Vendor Product List
- Filtering the Vendor Product List
- Why Does a Product Have a Book Icon?
- Setting Preferred Columns on a Vendor Product List Screen
- Searching for and Opening a Specific Vendor Product
- Attribute Icon Descriptions for Vendor Products
- Viewing When Vendor Product List was Last Updated
- Determining Source of a Vendor Product List
- What If a Vendor Product is not on the Vendor Product List?
- FAQs
Opening a Vendor Product List
The vendor product list is a list of vendor products in your account that are available to be selected for menu food items. A vendor product list is specific to a distribution centre (DC).
To open a vendor product list:
- Select Procurement > Vendors & Products. The Vendors screen appears.
- For the vendor/DC combination whose product list you want to open, click its name. The Product List screen specific to the vendor appears.
Note: The vendor products selected for menu food items is a different list than the vendor product list explained above. To generate the list of vendor products selected for menu food items, see Viewing Food Item/Vendor Product Selections.
Filtering the Vendor Product List
Click Filters at top of the screen to expose and use the following filters to determine what products populate on the screen.
- Brand
- Purchase in Past - select from 30 days, 60 days, 90 days or 120 days.
- Attributes
- UPC/GTIN - search for a specific UPC (universal product code) or GTIN (global trade item number).
- Availability - select one or more availability status (e.g., Active, Out of Stock, Deleted, Suspended).
- Category
-
Distribution Center
Why Does a Product Have a Book Icon?
Depending on the vendor, the products can be imported from the order guide, which is specific to the client account, and the product catalog, which is the full list of products available from a client's distribution centre (DC). If a product has been imported from the order guide, it presents with the book icon.
Setting Preferred Columns on a Vendor Product List Screen
You can set the columns to display on a Vendor Product List screen along with their sort order. To do so:
- Open the desired vendor product list (as per above steps).
- Click the Set Columns button. The Set Columns pop-up appears.
- For the columns you want onscreen drag-and-drop them from the right side of the pop-up to the left side of the pop-up.
- You can determine the sort order of the columns displayed onscreen by clicking, holding, and dragging a column to it desired spot in the column list.
- Click Apply to apply your changes and close the pop-up.
Column Descriptions on a Vendor Product List Screen
The columns on a Vendor Product List screen are explained as follows:
- Allergens - list any allergens associated with the product.
-
Assigned Pack Size - stock unit per pack and stock unit weight. Note the following:
-
- indicates the pack is breakable, which means an individual stock unit can be purchased from the pack. The green icon indicates the product's "always purchase" setting is set to full pack.
-
- indicates the pack is breakable, which means an individual stock unit can be purchased from the pack. The blue icon indicates that the product's "always purchase" setting is set to individual stock unit.
-
- indicates the product is a catch weight, which is typically associated with meat products to allow pricing based on weight (i.e., price per pound or price per kilogram).
-
-
Attributes - displays an icon attribute associated with the vendor product. For example "Made in the USA" or "Vegetarian". Hovering your cursor over the icon displays the description.
For a description of each attribute icon, see Attribute Icon Descriptions for Vendor Products.
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Availability - the stock status is listed here. For example “Active” or “Out of Stock”.
- Brand - the brand of the vendor product is listed here.
- GTIN - global trade item number.
-
Last Purchased - lists when the vendor was last purchased via one of the following periods: 30 days, 60 days, 90 days or 120 days.
-
Pack Price - the price of a pack/case.
- Parent Food - lists the food item the product is linked to (if linked).
- Product Category
-
Product ID - the ID of the vendor product is listed here.
- UPC - universal product code
- Vendor Pack Size - the original pack size from the vendor before it is automatically parsed or manually edited to the assigned pack size.
Searching for and Opening a Specific Vendor Product
You can search for a specific vendor product to see its details, including availability status. To do so, complete the following steps:
- Open the desired vendor product list (as per above steps).
- In the Search field enter the product ID or description of the product and click the magnifying glass or press Enter on the keyboard.
Note: Vendors can have unique naming conventions for their products (e.g., short forms that may not be intuitive); therefore if entering a description does not return the expected results, attempt a different description. - The screen refreshes with the results.
- To open a vendor product to view its info click its Description link. A separate vendor product info window appears displaying details of the vendor product.
Attribute Icon Descriptions for Vendor Products
The icons that appear in the Attributes column for a vendor product (either a Vendor Product List or the Vendor Product Selection screen) are described as follows:
Icon | Description |
Made in USA | |
Made in Canada | |
Contracted Manufacturer Agreement (Premier GPO product) | |
Compostable | |
Demand Item (shipped from product manufacturer; requires additional lead time to order) | |
Direct Item (shipped from product manufacturer; requires additional lead time to order) | |
Just in Time. Indicates product must be ordered by a specific time. Hovering cursor over the icon displays the following message: |
|
Gluten Free | |
Halal | |
HPSI™ (GPO product) | |
Kosher | |
Lactose-Free | |
Locally Produced | |
Marine Stewardship Council | |
Navigator (GPO product) | |
Tree Nut Free | |
Peanut Free | |
Ocean Wise | |
Organic | |
Sysco-recommended product | |
Vegetarian | |
Vegan | |
Vizient Manufacturer Agreement (Vizient GPO product) |
Viewing When Vendor Product List was Last Updated
A date and time stamp is applied whenever a vendor product list is updated with additions or removals of products, and changes to individual products (e.g., status, price, etc.). To view the date and time stamp of the last update to a vendor product list, complete the following steps:
- Open the desired vendor product list (as per above steps).
- The date and time of the last update for the vendor product list of a vendor is displayed in the Last Update Product List column.
Note 1: If the Last Update Product List column is not displayed, then it can be added via the Set Columns button. Ensure to click Apply to apply the change.
Note 2: When you open the vendor product list, the date and time of the last update is also displayed at the top right of the screen.
Note: If you have a partner vendor (i.e., interface-enabled vendor), and it is discovered that the vendor product list is not being updated, then see the following section: What if My Vendor Product List is Not Being Updated from Interface?
Determining Source of a Vendor Product List
You can determine the source of your vendor product lists on the Vendors screen (Procurement > Vendors & Products) via the Order Guide Source column (screenshot below). Manual means the vendor does not use an import interface and Electronic means the vendor has an import interface.
What if My Vendor Product List is Not Being Updated from Interface?
If you have an interface-enabled vendor, and the vendor product list is not being updated, you can check the status of the electronic order guide (eOG) file. If the file has failed to import, then an appropriate status message appears to help troubleshoot the issue. As a parent account, the eOG statuses for your child accounts are also listed.
Note that if the vendor product list is not being updated, it could be an issue with your vendor customer number entered for that vendor in your account (screenshot below).
- Check with your vendor to ensure you have the correct customer number.
- Ensure there are no leading zeros in the customer number, and ensure there are no spaces before and after the customer number.
What If a Vendor Product is not on a Vendor Product List?
If the vendor product you are searching for is not on its vendor product list, then the following options are available:
- If your vendor is partner vendor (vendor with interface to automatically populate and update vendor products in your account), then contact the vendor to have the product added.
- If your vendor is a non-partner vendor (i.e., vendor without interface), and the vendor products are controlled by your parent corporate account, then contact your parent account to have them manually add the product.
- If your vendor is a non-partner vendor (i.e., vendor without interface), and the vendor products are controlled by your account, your account can manually add the product.
After Product is Added, Confirm if it is Linked a Parent Food Item
When a product has been added to the vendor product list, it will go through the automatic process to be verified and linked to a parent food item (i.e., ingredient or prepared food) in the system.
From the food item's verified vendor products, one is automatically selected to determine the nutrient data and price for the food item (for more information, see Verified Vendor Products and the Selected Product for a Food Item).
To confirm if the product got automatically linked to a food item, open the vendor product list screen and search for and open the product to see if it has a parent food item; see Searching for and Opening Specific Vendor Product. Alternatively, you can ensure the Parent Food column is displayed on the vendor product list screen to see parent food items for the products displayed; if a parent food is not displayed, then the Request Food link is available to suggest a link.
If the vendor product did not get automatically linked, then you will have to request that the product be linked to the appropriate food item; to do so see Suggesting a Vendor Product be Linked to a Food Item.
Note: If the vendor is an account-specific vendor (aka "user-maintained vendor"), you will have to request that the product be verified and linked to the appropriate food item in the system, as automatic linking will not occur with account-specific vendors; see Suggesting a Vendor Product be Linked to a Food Item).
FAQs
My customer number has changed. Will that affect by vendor product list?
Yes. For a partner vendor (i.e., interface vendor), your customer number is required to populate your vendor product list specific to your DC.
If your customer number has changed, contact MealSuite Support so that they can enter the new number in your account settings.