Inviting Suppliers To Your Sourcing Activity

This guide provides a step-by-step process for inviting suppliers to participate in a sourcing activity within the platform.

This guide explains how to select suppliers to invite to the sourcing activity, choose the appropriate supplier contacts, and send invitations. It also covers how to review the sourcing activity from the supplier's perspective, ensure all relevant information is included, and track supplier responses.

Additionally, it provides instructions for managing multiple contacts from the same supplier, adding new suppliers, and removing suppliers before sending the activity.

When to Use This Feature

• When setting up a sourcing activity and inviting suppliers to respond.

• When managing multiple supplier contacts for collaboration on responses.

• When ensuring that all relevant suppliers receive the invitation to participate.

Inviting Suppliers To A Sourcing Event: Skip to 6 Minutes & 15 Seconds

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Selecting Suppliers for Your Sourcing Activity

• Click on the Supplier Name dropdown.

• A list of all active suppliers available in your organization’s oboloo account will be displayed.

• Select the supplier you want to invite.

Step 2: Selecting Supplier Contacts

• After selecting a supplier, click on the Supplier Contact dropdown.

• This will display all contacts associated with that supplier.

• Select the correct contact(s) for the sourcing activity.

Step 3: Adding Multiple Suppliers and Contacts

Adding More Suppliers

• If you need to invite multiple suppliers, click on the "Add Another Supplier" button.

• Repeat the selection process for each additional supplier.

Adding Multiple Contacts for a Supplier

• If multiple contacts from the same supplier should be involved, select multiple contacts under the Supplier Contact dropdown.

• Each selected contact will receive a unique login code to collaborate on their company’s response.

Step 4: Removing Suppliers from the Activity

• If you need to remove a supplier before sending invitations, click the delete icon next to their name.

• This will remove the supplier and their contacts from the sourcing activity.

Step 5: Sending Invitations to Suppliers

• Once you have finalized your list of suppliers and contacts, click on the "Send to Suppliers" button.

Step 6: Confirming the Invitation Before Sending

• A confirmation message will appear before sending invitations.

• Tick the confirmation checkbox to proceed.

• Once the invitation is sent, you will not be able to make any further changes to the sourcing activity.

Step 7: Finalizing and Sending Invitations

• Click the "Confirm and Send" button.

• The selected suppliers will now receive an email containing:

  • Details of the sourcing activity

  • A unique access code

  • A login button to access the supplier portal

Step 8: Viewing Your Sourcing Activity

• To review the sourcing activity, navigate back to the eSourcing Home Page and select the activity from the table.

Step 9: Monitoring Supplier Responses

• You can track supplier participation on the first tab of your sourcing record.

• View which suppliers have responded and which are yet to submit their responses.

• Receive email and in-system notifications whenever a supplier submits a response.

Email Invite Status

The Email Invite Status feature provides visibility into whether supplier invitation emails have been successfully delivered, helping you quickly identify and resolve any delivery issues.

• Where to Find This:
  Navigate to a sourcing activity and locate the Invited Suppliers table. Click View/Edit on a supplier to open the Edit Supplier Contact modal.
  Within this table, the Email Invite Status column appears directly after the Contact Name column.

• How It Works:

  • A column called Email Invite Status displays a status indicator for each supplier contact.

  • The status is shown as a coloured button:

    • Delivered (Green): The invitation email was successfully delivered.

    • Delivery Failed (Red): The invitation email failed to send or was rejected.

  • These buttons are display-only and cannot be clicked.

• Why This Matters:
  This feature improves transparency and reduces guesswork by clearly showing whether an invite email reached the supplier, allowing you to take action where needed and keep sourcing activities on track. If a supplier contact is showing as 'Delivery Failed', please check their email address and readd them to the sourcing activity.

Inviting Suppliers and Contacts After Publishing your Sourcing Event

This feature allows you to add new suppliers or update supplier contacts after a sourcing activity has already been published, ensuring you can make changes without recreating the activity.

• Where to Find This:
  Navigate to Sourcing, open a sourcing activity, and remain on the first tab.
  All actions are managed from the Invited Suppliers table.

• Inviting Additional Suppliers:

  • Click Invite New Suppliers above the Invited Suppliers table.

  • Select the suppliers and their contacts, then confirm.

  • Once added:

    • The suppliers appear in the Invited Suppliers table.

    • Selected contacts receive invitation emails.

    • Suppliers can access and respond to the sourcing activity as normal.

• Managing Supplier Contacts:

  • In the Invited Suppliers table, click View/Edit within the Supplier Contacts column.

  • A modal will open displaying all invited contacts for that supplier.

  • The table includes:

    • Contact Name

    • Last Logged In (date/time of last access to the sourcing activity)

    • Revoke Access

• Revoking Contact Access:

  • Click Revoke next to a contact to remove their access.

  • Confirm the action when prompted.

  • Once confirmed:

    • Access is removed immediately.

    • The contact is removed from the list.

    • The contact can be invited again later if required.

  • Important Restriction:

    • Each supplier must have at least one active contact.

    • If you attempt to revoke the last remaining contact, the system will prevent this action.

• Inviting Additional Contacts:

  • Within the View/Edit modal, click Invite New Contact.

  • Select a contact and confirm.

  • The contact will:

    • Be added to the list immediately.

    • Receive an invitation email.

• Why This Matters:
  This functionality gives you full control over supplier participation, allowing you to correct mistakes, add missed suppliers, and manage access efficiently without disrupting your sourcing activity.

Key Considerations & Best Practices

✅ Ensure Supplier Contact Accuracy – Verify that you invite the correct contacts within a supplier’s organization.

✅ Check for Archived Suppliers – If a supplier does not appear, confirm whether they have been archived in the Supplier Management module.

✅ Manage Multiple Contacts Wisely – Assign multiple contacts per supplier only when necessary to avoid redundant communication.

✅ Confirm Before Sending – Once invitations are sent, no further edits can be made to the sourcing activity.

✅ Monitor Responses Regularly – Keep track of supplier responses and follow up if necessary.

Additional Resources

📌 Related User Guides:

• Reopening a Sourcing Activity – How to re-open a sourcing activity.

• Viewing Supplier Responses – How to view supplier responses to a sourcing activity.