Vendors & manufacturers
Vendors are the companies you buy from; manufacturers are the companies that make the parts. A part can come from a distributor (the vendor) but be made by someone else (the manufacturer), and BOMs Away records both. Set vendors up before you add vendor sources to parts or raise purchase orders.
Permission
Everyone can view vendors and manufacturers. Creating or editing them needs the Edit vendors & manufacturers permission.
The vendor list
Click Vendors in the top menu. Search, filter and choose columns as on any list (see Lists & search); the Columns picker can add the address and default currency. Click a vendor's name to open its details.
Creating or editing a vendor
- On the Vendor List, click New — or open a vendor and click Edit.
- Fill in the fields described below.
- Click Save. You land on the vendor's details page.
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Vendor name | Required, and unique within your company. This is the name you pick from when adding vendor sources and creating POs. |
| Vendor website | Optional. You can type just example.com; https:// is added for you. |
| Company name & address | The block printed as the Vendor on every purchase order and its PDF, exactly as you type it. Start with the company name — nothing else on the PO names the supplier. |
| Default currency | The currency this vendor quotes and invoices in. Start typing a code, currency name or country to search. |
| Payment terms, FOB, Ship via, Freight terms | The terms you have agreed with this vendor. See below. |
Currency
All prices you enter for this vendor's parts — base prices and price breaks — are in the vendor's default currency, and a new purchase order to this vendor starts in that currency. Reports convert to your company's home currency using the exchange rates BOMs Away keeps (see Company administration).
Default purchase order terms
The four term fields pre-fill every new purchase order you raise with this vendor:
| Term | What it means | Typical values |
|---|---|---|
| Payment terms | When you pay the invoice. | Net 30, 2/10 Net 30, Due on receipt |
| FOB | Where ownership and risk pass to you — and so who files a damage claim with the carrier. | Origin, Destination |
| Ship via | The carrier and service to use. | Your company's shipping accounts, or "Vendor's carrier — vendor to arrange" |
| Freight terms | Who receives and pays the carrier's bill. | Prepaid, Collect, Third Party, Prepaid & Charged Back |
Click into a term field to see suggestions, but you can type anything — use whatever you actually negotiated. Ship via suggests the shipping methods your administrator has set up under Company settings.
Leave a term blank to use the company-wide default from Company settings instead. A purchase order copies the terms (and the address) when it is created, so editing the vendor later only affects future orders — an order already sent to the vendor never changes behind your back. To correct the terms on one draft order, edit them on that order (see Purchasing).
The vendor details page
The details page shows the vendor's website, address, currency and PO terms, followed by a Parts table listing every part you buy from this vendor with the vendor part number, manufacturer and price.
To add a part to a vendor, go to the part's details page and add a vendor source — see Adding a vendor source.
Manufacturers
Manufacturers work the same way, with just a Manufacturer name and Website.
- Click Manufacturers in the top menu.
- Click New, or open a manufacturer and click Edit.
- Enter the name (required, unique within your company) and optionally the website, then click Save.
The manufacturer details page lists every vendor source that names this manufacturer, so you can see which of your parts they make and who you buy them from.
You link a manufacturer to a part on the part's vendor source, by picking it in the Manufacturer field and entering the Mfr Part #.
Related pages
- Parts & BOMs — vendor sources, prices, packs and price breaks.
- Purchasing — raising purchase orders with a vendor.
- Company administration — company-wide default terms, shipping methods and exchange rates.