Three Options to establish a Trading Relationship
Building on previously defined and completed activities – flight plan, communication strategy and change management – the final step is the configuration of the SAP Business Network buyer account templates.
Depending on the matching output result and the business requirements specified in the flight plan, the buyer organization can select one out of three available enablement methodologies:
- Interactive purchase order email.
- Trading relationship request directly to supplier account.
- Trading relationship request invitation template.
Note
Buyer needs to review and customize all message templates available on SAP Business Network buyer account which is to be used for enablement process and transactions. Ideally, the purchase order templates should be customized in test environment and included in the technical testing phase of system implementation.
However, before starting any of the enablement methodologies, it is important to pre-inform all targeted trading partners with a Project Notification Letter or an equivalent communication form. The success of any of the enablement methodologies is highly dependent on trading partner’s project awareness and compliance.
The following description provides more detailed insight into each enablement methodology, and where and how vendor master data needs to be managed on SAP Business Network buyer account.
Enablement per interactive Purchase Order
The interactive Purchase Order process allows for the buyer to send out an order with included trading relationship request embedded into the same message. Following a pre-defined timeline, the process allows full flexibility of ad hoc enablement.
Buyer needs to assure the accuracy of the trading partner email address to initiate a successful transaction and completion of onboarding. Once the trading relationship is established, trading partner can instantly send back order confirmation and/or invoice from the newly created account back to the buyer organization through SAP Business Network.
After the completion of the initial onboarding, all further purchase orders send from buyer procurement application will be routed directly to the trading partner’s account.
Enablement per Walk Up ("Search for Suppliers")
The Walk Up process allows buyer to send a TRR manually and directly to a known supplier account. To do so, the buyer needs to know the AN ID (identification number of an active trading partner’s account) of the trading partner’s existing account. The ANID could be either communicated by the trading partner to buyer. Otherwise, or the SAP Business Network matching result on AVATAR provides the ANID in case a supplier account was identified.
To complete the onboarding activities, it is mandatory for the buyer to add required master data of trading partner to the newly created trading partner record on SAP Business Network buyer account. The specification of the trading partner’s Vendor ID (how to set up a new vendor in the buyer ERP) and System ID (as pre-defined on the buyer account business end-points configuration)
- Manage Vendors
In your SAP Business Network for Procurement buyer account, go to the Supplier Enablement tab and then to Manage Vendors. At the bottom of the page, you will find the "Search for Suppliers" button.
- Search for Suppliers
You can search for your trading partners by their company name. When possible, we recommend using their supplier account ANID, if previously received by trading partner or through the SAP Business Network matching process. Make sure to adjust the country filter before pressing on "Search".
Keep in mind: an account AN ID is unique for the whole SAP Business Network. If it is not clear, which address is defined on the trading partner account, do not specify any country and press "Search".
- Request a Relationship
Review the search results and the Supplier Profile before requesting a Relationship.
- Vendor ID and System ID
After the successful creation of a trading relationship with your trading partner, it is mandatory to further specify the Vendor ID (ERP generated supplier ID by buyer organization) and System ID (name of the end-point configuration predefined on your buyer account to your ERP system) for the newly created trading partner record on buyer account.
Go to "Active Relationships" on your Supplier Enablement tab and search for your trading partner by name.
Select "More Action" and then "Edit". Create a new data set by pressing "Add" and list your trading partner’s Vendor ID and the System ID, press "Save".
Enablement per Vendor Upload File
The initiation of trading relationship requests in bulk and at the same time is possible with the use of Vendor Upload File (VUF) process. This process allows for the buyer to execute the enablement process with the wave approach directly from the SAP Business Network buyer account and to complete onboarding activities with each trading partner before business go live.
This process requires buyer to:
- Populate the CSV-based document with trading partner’s master data (vendor ID, company name, address, contact details, targeted account type, etc.).
- Upload VUF document to buyer account tab "Manage Vendors" using the button "Upload" and option "Upload Vendors".
- Assign activities to each trading partner depending on business case.
Note: Only trading partners with assigned activities are listed in the supplier enablement report available for download on buyer account.
- Select trading partner box and click on button "Start" to initiate the enablement process.