Vendors

Keep supplier information connected to the work.

Vendor records bring supplier details, linked parts, and purchase order history together in SparesHaven. Use them to keep supplier information organised and understand how each vendor connects to your inventory and incoming stock.

Vendor records

Understand what a vendor record represents.

A vendor record represents a supplier your organisation works with. Instead of keeping supplier information separately from inventory activity, SparesHaven connects the vendor to the parts it supplies and the purchase orders raised against it.

Vendor Details gives you one place to review the supplier, contact information, status, PO ordering availability, linked parts, and purchase-order history.

Supplier details

Keep useful contact, address, website, and reference information together.

Linked parts

See which inventory records are associated with the supplier.

Order history

Review purchase orders raised against the vendor and open the related order records.

Connect supplier information to inventory.

A vendor record becomes most useful when it is connected to the parts and incoming orders your team already works with.

Create

Create a vendor once, then reuse it.

Create a vendor when you want a supplier to be available across SparesHaven. Once created, the vendor can be associated with parts and selected during purchasing workflows.

The full Create Vendor form lets you enter the vendor name, status, contact name, email, phone, country, and whether PO ordering is available.

Required

Vendor name

Every vendor needs a name so it can be identified throughout SparesHaven.

Optional details

Contact and ordering information

Add contact name, email, phone, country, and PO ordering information when they are useful to your team.

Some SparesHaven workflows can also use a shorter Quick Vendor form. This captures the essential supplier information without requiring the full vendor record to be completed immediately.

You can add more information later.

Start with the information you know. The vendor can be edited later to add address details, website information, notes, and other supplier context.

Status

Understand the vendor lifecycle.

Vendor status helps distinguish suppliers that are currently in use from records that should no longer be treated as normal active suppliers.

Active

Use for a supplier that is currently available for normal vendor activity.

Inactive

Use when you want to retain the vendor record but mark the supplier as no longer active.

Archived

Archived vendors are removed from normal vendor views while their record is retained and can be restored later.

Inactive and archived are different.

Inactive is a maintained vendor status. Archiving removes the vendor from the normal active vendor view while preserving the record for later restoration.

Supplier information

Keep useful vendor details up to date.

Edit Vendor expands the supplier record beyond the initial creation form. This is where you can maintain the information your team needs when working with the supplier.

Editable information includes vendor name, Active or Inactive status, contact name, email, phone, address, city, country, website, notes, and PO ordering availability.

Contact

Contact name, email, and phone.

Address

Address lines, city, and country.

Online

Store the supplier website with the record.

Context

Use notes for useful supplier information your team should retain.

Renaming a vendor keeps linked records aligned.

When a vendor name is changed, SparesHaven also updates the corresponding vendor name held on linked part records so the supplier information remains consistent.

Linked parts

See the inventory connected to a supplier.

Vendor Details shows the parts associated with the supplier. This makes the vendor record useful for more than contact information: it also becomes a quick view of the inventory relationship.

Linked parts include useful stock context, and you can open the corresponding Part Details record directly when you need to investigate or manage the part.

If the vendor does not yet have linked parts, SparesHaven can take you into the Create Part workflow with that vendor already selected.

Build the relationship from either direction.

You can associate a vendor while working with a part, or start from Vendor Details and create a new part for that supplier.

Purchase orders

Review the vendor's order history.

Vendor Details includes purchase orders associated with the supplier. This gives you purchasing context without having to leave the vendor record and search the full Orders area first.

Order information includes the SparesHaven order number, vendor reference when available, part, order status, relevant dates, quantities ordered and received, and the quantity remaining.

Open an order from the vendor record when you need the complete Order Details view or want to continue the purchasing workflow.

Ordered

The quantity originally placed on the incoming order.

Received

The quantity already received against that order.

Remaining

The quantity still outstanding after receipts and any cancellation.

Vendor history and inventory stay connected.

Use Vendor Details for supplier context, then move directly into Order Details or Part Details when you need to work with the underlying record.

PO ordering

Record whether purchase orders can be raised.

The PO ordering setting records whether purchase orders can be raised for the vendor. It can be set when the vendor is created and maintained later from Edit Vendor.

Vendor Details surfaces this information alongside the rest of the supplier record, making the vendor's ordering status easy to understand.

Keep the setting current.

If your purchasing relationship with a supplier changes, update the vendor so the PO ordering information continues to reflect how your team works with that supplier.

Find vendors

Move quickly through your supplier records.

The Vendors area supports search across vendor name, contact name, email, and phone. You can also switch between Active, Archived, and All vendor views.

The vendor overview helps you understand how many vendors are visible, how many are linked to parts, and which supplier records are currently unused.

When you open Vendor Details from the vendor list, the Previous and Next navigator lets you move through the vendor records while retaining the context of the list you came from.

Search first, then work from Vendor Details.

Use the Vendors list to locate the supplier you need, then use Vendor Details as the working view for supplier information, linked parts, and purchase-order history.

Retire vendors without losing the record.

Archiving is the normal way to remove a vendor from everyday use without permanently deleting the supplier record.

A vendor must have no linked parts before it can be archived.

An archived vendor is hidden from normal vendor lists, but the record is retained. If the supplier needs to be used again, the vendor can be restored.

Restore

Bring an archived vendor back when the supplier needs to become available again.

Prefer archiving for normal lifecycle changes.

Archiving preserves the vendor record and gives you a path back. Permanent deletion serves a different purpose and should be reserved for records that should never have existed.

Permanent deletion

Delete only genuinely unused vendor records.

Permanent deletion is intended for vendors that were created by mistake or for duplicate vendor records. Unlike archiving, permanent deletion cannot be undone.

SparesHaven protects connected data by refusing permanent deletion when the vendor is referenced by any parts or purchase orders.

Permanent means permanent.

If a vendor has been used operationally, preserve the record instead of trying to remove its history. Use permanent deletion only when the vendor is unused and was created in error or as a duplicate.

Continue learning

Learn how SparesHaven works with your team.

Understand member roles, invitations, access, and how your organisation works together inside SparesHaven.

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