Uploading Suppliers

Uploading Suppliers

1. Click on the Supplier Database icon from the dashboard page, as shown below.

2. This action (Step 1) will take you to the screen below.

3. You have a choice to add suppliers individually or via spreadsheet. To add them individually, click on the Add supplier link. 

This will require you to fill in the following fields, and save the suppliers one by one, by clicking on the Save Supplier button.

Spreadsheet Upload:

4. If you choose to enter suppliers via a spreadsheet (this is the recommended method) click on the Upload suppliers link. This is shown below.

5. Once you have clicked on the link, you will be required to follow the steps provided in downloading a copy of the supplier upload template. See the screen below.

NB: It is important to use the latest template provided, as the system will only read data off this template.

The spreadsheet template for suppliers includes the following columns:

• Trading Name: Enter the the trading name of the supplier. This is a mandatory field.

• Vat Number: This is not a mandatory field, it is useful however as the Supplier Management System automatically matches the VAT number to the Mpowered database of verified B-BBEE scorecards using the VAT number as the unique identifier. Please note that only valid VAT numbers will be accepted. The IT systems use the SARS algorithm to determine the validity of the VAT numbers entered.

• Vendor Code: Enter the vendor code of the supplier. This code is a unique identifier assigned to each supplier internally. This is a mandatory field, your spreadsheet will not upload if you leave this field blank.  The Supplier Management System uses the vendor code to associate other various sets of data to your suppliers.

• Telephone: Enter the telephone number.  This is not mandatory but can be useful when fully utilizing the supplier database.

• Email Address: Enter a valid email address of the person that can be contacted when requesting B-BBEE scorecards.

• Cost Centre: If the supplier has been assigned to a cost centre within the company, list the cost centre in this field.

• Excluded: Enter suppliers that are excluded from your procurement calculation. You have the choice of either leaving them out of the SMS completely, or loading them, and marking them as excluded. Either way, they will not form part of your Preferential Procurement scorecard. For more information on performing this calculation see the TMPS article.

• ED Recipient: Enter companies you procure goods and services from (suppliers) who you also support through Enterprise Development contributions.

• Custom Fields: Enter any additional information that your company wishes to store for that supplier. An example would be the name of a contact person, or website address. Please note that all users within an SMS account need to use the custom fields for the same data (i.e. these data fields need to be standardized across the account to avoid confusion).

7. Once you have populated the spreadsheet save it to a location on your computer, and then follow the instructions listed below:

a. Click on the Browse or Choose File button;

b. Select the saved spreadsheet in the location on your computer; and then

c. Click on the Save button.

The system will upload the spreadsheet and populate the suppliers data accordingly.

Troubleshooting

When using the spreadsheet upload facilities please use the spreadsheet template provided on the system as the Supplier Management System will not be able to read data from another spreadsheet. When populating the spreadsheet it needs to be in the format as indicated on the template. Where applicable please make use of the drop down fields to specify your data input.

8. Should there be any errors on your spreadsheet, the system will give you an error message. Therefore, by clicking on the "link" the error message will give you an indication as to what information is incorrect. An instance of an error message is shown below.

NB: In the event of receiving an error message, all correctly input supplier data will be uploaded into the system; therefore you would only have to amend the errors and re-upload the amended suppliers.