What is the difference between a notification and a discussion?
In the "News" area you find the discussions and notifications.
Discussions show the conversation between customer and supplier. You can also use messages to communicate to the colleagues in your company. You can submit comments on the following topics:
- Requests for quotations and projects from Sourcing
- Complaints from Problem Solver
- Supplier evaluations from the Performance Monitor
Notifications are automatically created by SupplyOn for every event for which an e ‑ mail notification was submitted by SupplyOn services:
- Business Directory
- Document Management
- Performance Monitor
- Problem Solver
- Sourcing
- User management and suppliers' rollout
What is a message, what is a discussion?
Discussions in SupplyOn consist of multiple messages concerning one topic. A discussion is always directed at certain recipient list to which more users can be added later. All discussions that are visible to your user are displayed with the filters "Discussions" and "Discussions and notifications" of the menu item "My SupplyOn ". You can use filters to search for certain messages or restrict the amount of shown discussions. You can filter by SupplyOn service, message type and read/unread messages. You can also access a discussion from a specific SupplyOn service, for example from a transaction or on the first page of the service. If your user has read or write access to a transaction, you also have access to discussions linked to this transaction.
How can I use discussions in SupplyOn as a supplier?
As a supplier you can create discussions that are directly attached to a transaction. This way you can for example submit queries about a request for quotation to your customer. The customer's answer will also be documented in this request afterwards.
How can I use discussions in SupplyOn as a customer?
Discussions can be linked directly with business transactions (for example a request for quotation or complaint) and can therefore easily be found in context of these transactions. This is a lot easier and clearer than a clarification using e-mail. Thus, colleagues can easily collaborate when simultaneously working on a transaction. It is also possible to ask an involved supplier to rework his offer. You can also create discussions that are independent from a transaction. This way you can for example get general information from your supplier.
Which SupplyOn services contain discussions?
Discussions can be attached to the following transactions:
- Requests for quotations and projects from SupplyOn Sourcing
- Complaints from SupplyOn Problem Solver
- Supplier evaluations from SupplyOn Performance Monitor
Who can participate in a discussion?
Registered companies, SupplyOn users and not registered users can be invited to a discussion. In a discussion, every recipient has access to all messages in the discussion. Participants that were added to a discussion cannot be removed from the discussion later. Participants that were added to the discussion at a later stage can also view messages that were submitted previous to their invitation. If a user loses read or write access to a transaction, he/she cannot see the transaction's discussions anymore.
Working with discussions
The following features are available for already created discussions:
- Reply: You can reply to your own message or a message from another user.
- Add recipient: You can add more recipients (users, not companies) to an already existing discussion.
- Mark as read/unread: You can mark a whole discussion or individual messages as read or unread.
- Delete: You can delete individual messages.
Do I receive e-mail notifications?
You will receive an e-mail containing the discussion for all messages that were sent to you via SupplyOn . Excluded are messages that are attached to requests you only have read access to. You can directly answer via e-mail using the link contained in the E-Mail. It is therefore not necessary for you to previously log in to SupplyOn. Your e-mail message is added to the corresponding discussion in SupplyOn . Attachments from a discussion are sent by e-mail to recipients who are not registered for SupplyOn and were added to the discussion using an e-mail address. Furthermore, these recipients can add an attachment via e-mail. The attachment will then be added to the corresponding discussion
How can I create a discussion?
Creating of a discussion that is attached to a transaction:
- Open the SupplyOn -service (e.g. Sourcing or Problem Solver ).
- Open the transaction.
- SupplyOn Sourcing and Problem Solver : Click on the request or complaint.
- SupplyOn Performance Monitor : Select the data set within the supplier evaluation by clicking on a link in column "Further information".
- Click on the link "Discussions" in the transaction.
- Enter a message in the area "Your message".
- Add the needed recipients.
- If you want to add an attachment, click on "Attach file" and select the file.
- Click on the button "Send".
Creating a discussion that is independent from a transaction:
- Click on the menu item "My SupplyOn " and select the tab "Discussions and notifications".
- Enter a message in the area "Your message".
- Add the desired recipients.
- If you want to add an attachment, click on "Attach file" and select the file.
- Click on the button "Send".
Adding recipients to a discussion
Users from a customer company and suppliers can be participants of a discussion. Tip: Since all participants of a discussion can see all replies from each other, please be aware of not inviting competitors by E-Mail. Adding recipients underlies certain rules that vary according to the SupplyOn service you use. You can find more detailed information on how to invite participants to a discussion using the menu on the left.
Note: Messages that do not relate to a business transaction cannot be created by supplier companies.
Adding participants to a discussion (for suppliers)
Performance Monitor
As a supplier you can invite your own company, colleagues and individual users to a discussion linked to a supplier evaluation in SupplyOn Performance Monitor .
Problem Solver
As a supplier you can invite your own company, colleagues and the customer company to a discussion linked to a complaint of
SupplyOn Problem Solver .
Sourcing
As a supplier you can invite your own company, colleagues and the customer company to a discussion linked to a request in SupplyOn Sourcing .
Hint: If you invite your own company, all users having access to the process are addressed.
You can also add further recipients (e.g. user of your customer) by entering an e-mail address.
Adding participants to a discussion (for customers)
Performance Monitor
You can invite your own company (all users that have access to Performance Monitor role), colleagues, your supplier's customer responsible and the supplier company to a discussion that is linked to a supplier evaluation of SupplyOn Performance Monitor .
Problem Solver
You can invite your own company, colleagues, your supplier's contact persons (customer responsible) and the supplier company to a discussion linked to a complaint of SupplyOn Problem Solver .
Sourcing RFQ
You can invite your own company, colleagues, your supplier's customer responsible and maximum one supplier company to a discussion linked to an RFQ in SupplyOn Sourcing . If you invite a company, all users having access to the RFQ are addressed. Since you are only able to add one supplier company to a discussion, competitors cannot be invited at the same time. You have the opportunity to invite customer responsibles who belong to a different company than the already invited users, but who are part of the same corporate group.
Sourcing Project
You can invite your own colleagues to a discussion linked to a project of SupplyOn Sourcing .
Hint regarding Performance Monitor and Problem Solver discussions:
If you invite the whole supplier company, all users of this company who have access to the corresponding process are addressed.
You can also add further recipients by entering an e-mail address. Please keep in mind not to invite competitors to the same discussion unintentionally by e-mail.
In standalone discussions (for customers)
Select recipients individually
You can invite your own colleagues, your supplier's customer responsible and supplier companies to a standalone discussion. If you invite a supplier company, all its customer responsible have access to this discussion. During the creation and the sending process of a standalone discussion, invited supplier companies are not validated. It is therefore possible to invite competitors to the same discussion. Please keep in mind not to invite competitors to the same discussion unintentionally.
Select recipients based on assignment to plants
You can select control points (plants) within your customer group to define the recipients. All supplier companies that have an active network link with the selected control points will be included in the message sending. In order to use this function, you need the role " SocialCommunicationManager ".
Selection based on SupplyOn Service and / or country
You can select the supplier companies that have a dedicated SupplyOn service (select one from the dropdown list) or are located in a dedicated country (select one from the dropdown list). When combining both options – SupplyOn Service and country – the number of recipients will be reduced. In order to use this function, you need the role " SocialCommunicationManager ".
Upload recipients list
You can provide a list of supplier companies that will receive discussions. For information on the file format of the list, please download the template Excel file here. While uploading, a validation is performed if the supplier company is known at SupplyOn , if it is active and has at least one active business service connect with your company. The results of the validation are summarized and can be downloaded separately in a detailed Excel spreadsheet together with the results. You may repeat the upload (e.g. after correcting some errors). When uploading another Excel file, the already uploaded recipients and the results will be deleted and overwritten. In order to use this function, you need the role " SocialCommunicationManager ".
Upload recipients list template
In Sourcing (for customers)
You can invite your own company, colleagues, your supplier's customer responsible and one supplier company to a discussion linked to an RFQ in SupplyOn Sourcing . If you invite a company, all users having access to the RFQ are addressed. Since you are only able to add one supplier company to a discussion, competitors cannot be invited at the same time. You have the opportunity to invite customer responsibles who belong to a different company than the already invited users, but who are part of the same corporate group.
In Sourcing (for suppliers)
As a supplier you can invite your own company, colleagues and the customer company to a discussion linked to a request in SupplyOn Sourcing . If you invite a company, all users having access to the request are addressed.