Vendor Relations Specialist

Department: VRM — Vendor Relationship Management
Level: Operational
Primary objective: Maintaining daily relationships with suppliers — portal, catalogue, documents, communication

What this role does

The Vendor Relations Specialist is the operational interface between the company and its suppliers. They manage portal access, maintain the items catalogue and pricing, track orders and quotes, process returns, and ensure every supplier has up-to-date information. They work closely with the Buyer in Acquisitions and the AP Accountant.

Modules used regularly

Module	Where to find it	What you use it for
Vendors	Acquisitions → Vendors	Profiles, contacts, terms, documents
Vendor Items Catalogue	Acquisitions → Vendor Items	Price catalogues per vendor
Vendor B2B Portal	`/purchase/vendors_portal/`	Supplier access
RFQ	Acquisitions → Requests for Quotation	Track RFQ responses
Purchase Orders	Acquisitions → Purchase Orders	Status of active orders
Purchase Contracts	Acquisitions → Contracts	Framework and project contracts
Debit Notes	Acquisitions → Debit Notes	Credits, invoice corrections
Vendor Invoices	Acquisitions → Vendor Invoices	Invoices submitted by suppliers in portal

Daily routine

Morning — check inbox and portal

Vendor portal → are there new quotations submitted by suppliers? → notify Buyer
Purchase Orders → POs unconfirmed by supplier > 48h → direct follow-up or via portal
RFQs → have all invited suppliers responded? → follow up with those who haven't
Returns → pending return requests at supplier → check status

During the day — day-to-day management

Onboard new vendors — complete profile + portal access
Update price catalogues when receiving new price lists from suppliers
Process supplier comments on documents (PO, quotes, contracts)
Add internal notes about supplier interactions

Weekly

Check contracts expiring in 60 days → escalate to Manager
Clean up inactive suppliers (mark as Inactive in category)
Verify all active suppliers have contact persons with portal access activated

Onboarding a new supplier

1. Acquisitions → Vendors → Add new vendor
   → Fill in: Company name, VAT/registration no., address, currency, payment terms
   → Add bank details (IBAN, bank)
   → Set category (Strategic A / B / Operational / Spot / Evaluation)

2. Contacts tab → Add primary contact
   → First name, Last name, Email, Phone, Job title
   → Check is_primary = YES
   → Activate email preferences: invoices + orders + contracts

3. Activate portal access:
   → From contact record → Send portal invitation
   → Supplier receives email with credentials for /purchase/vendors_portal/

4. Verify supplier has logged in and completed company profile
   (VAT, address, IBAN from portal → `/purchase/vendors_portal/company`)

Alternative — supplier registers themselves:

Send link /purchase/authentication_vendor/register
Supplier fills in their own data
You verify and validate the registration in /admin/purchase/vendors

Managing the price catalogue

Where: /admin/purchase/vendor_items

Each item in the procurement catalogue can be associated with multiple suppliers, each with their own price:

Example: Item "A4 80g/m² Paper"
  → Vendor A (V-001): 15.50 RON/ream — their code: HAR-001
  → Vendor B (V-002): 16.20 RON/ream — their code: A4-STD
  → Vendor C (V-003): 14.80 RON/ream — their code: P-A4-80

When creating RFQ → select vendors → prices from catalogue pre-filled automatically

When to update catalogues:

On receiving new price lists from suppliers
Monthly or quarterly (depends on price volatility)
Immediately on receiving price change notification from supplier

Vendor's own catalogue in portal: The supplier can manage their own catalogue from the portal (/purchase/vendors_portal/items) — add new products, update prices, import from Excel. You validate items introduced by the supplier and map them to internal items.

Tracking RFQs and quotes

Where: Acquisitions → Requests for Quotation / Quotes

1. Buyer creates RFQ and selects invited vendors
2. You monitor: which vendors have responded, which haven't

3. Follow up on vendors who haven't responded by the deadline:
   → Check in portal if they've opened the RFQ
   → Direct contact (phone/email) with contact person
   → Internal note on RFQ: "V-002 contacted 05.06 — confirm response by 07.06"

4. On receipt of quotes → notify Buyer they can compare offers
5. Buyer approves/rejects quotes → supplier sees status in portal

Communicating with suppliers

Comments on documents (visible in portal)

Each document (PO, RFQ, contract, invoice) has a comment thread accessible to the supplier in the portal:

Example use:
→ PO sent → you add comment: "Please confirm ETA for
  items in positions 3 and 5"
→ Supplier responds in portal → you receive notification
→ Entire exchange remains documented on the PO

Internal notes (invisible to supplier)

From vendor file → Notes tab → add notes about the relationship:

Feedback from recent negotiations
Attitude or behaviour observations
Communication preferences ("prefers morning calls")
Delivery quality assessment

Automatic emails (no manual action required)

Supplier automatically receives email when:

PO issued → PDF attached
RFQ created → portal link
Quote approved or rejected
Debit note created
Return request approved

Managing supplier returns

Where: Acquisitions → Purchase Orders → from PO → Create Return

Return reason: defective goods / incorrect quantity / specification non-conformity

1. Open original PO → Create Return
2. Select items with issue + quantities + reason
3. Request appears at supplier in portal → `/purchase/vendors_portal/order_returns`
4. Supplier updates status: Received / Approved / Rejected
5. On approval → goods leave stock (return delivery note)
6. You receive credit: Debit Note created → visible in Acquisitions → Debit Notes

Return window per vendor: set in vendor profile (return_within_day). If not set individually, global setting from /admin/purchase/mysetting applies.

Metrics to track daily/weekly

Indicator	What to track
Unconfirmed POs	> 48h without portal confirmation → follow-up
RFQs without response	Vendors who haven't submitted quote within deadline
Pending returns	Days from return creation to supplier confirmation
Contracts nearing expiry	< 60 days → escalate to VRM Manager
Vendors without portal access	Active vendors without an activated portal contact

Collaboration with other departments

Department	How you collaborate
Acquisitions — Buyer	They create RFQs and select vendors; you track responses and maintain the relationship
Acquisitions — AP Accountant	They validate invoices; you are the vendor contact point when they have payment queries
Warehouse	Flags quality issues at receipt → you initiate return to supplier
VRM Manager	Report relationship issues, escalation suppliers, contracts needing renegotiation

Practical tips

Internal notes are the team's memory. Any conversation with a supplier containing a promise, a verbal agreement, or important feedback → documented immediately in Notes on the vendor file. If it's not written down, it doesn't exist.

Check portal status at onboarding. It's not enough that you sent the invitation — verify the supplier actually logged in and completed company data. An unused portal means communication reverts to email and traceability is lost.

Catalogue prices are the source of truth. Any price negotiated verbally or by email → entered immediately in the Vendor Items Catalogue. The Buyer needs to be able to create a PO without asking you "how much does it cost at X?".

Don't delete vendors — mark them Inactive. Document history (POs, returns, payments) remains intact for audit.

Tip

Verify that a newly onboarded supplier has actually logged into and completed their portal profile — sending the invitation is not enough. An unused portal reverts communication to email and all traceability is lost.

Warning

Never delete a vendor record — mark them Inactive instead. Deletion breaks the audit trail across all linked Purchase Orders, payments, debit notes, and returns. Historical records remain accessible only if the vendor record is preserved.