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Suppliers

Suppliers are the vendors who provide your products and materials. Tether helps you manage supplier information, capabilities, and costs for effective supply planning.

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What is a Supplier?

A supplier is any external party that provides goods to your business:
  • Product manufacturers
  • Raw material vendors
  • Packaging suppliers
  • Component providers
  • Distributors

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The Suppliers Dashboard

Navigate to Suppliers from the sidebar.

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Dashboard Columns

The supplier list displays the following information:

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Creating a Supplier

1

Navigate to Suppliers

Go to Suppliers from the sidebar
2

Click New Supplier

Click the New Supplier button
3

Enter Basic Information

4

Add Address (Optional)

Click Add Address to expand the address section:
5

Add Contact Information (Optional)

Click Add Contact to expand the contact section:
6

Save

Click Create Supplier to create the supplier. You’ll be redirected to the new supplier’s detail page.

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Supplier Detail View

Click on a supplier to see full details. The detail page has the following tabs:
The Inventory, Inventory Settings, and Lead Times tabs are fully functional only when a supplier has a linked warehouse. Otherwise, they display a message indicating no warehouse is linked.

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Overview Tab

The Overview tab contains two main sections:
  1. Supplier Details — Editable form showing name, code, description, address, and contact information. Click Edit to modify.
  2. SKU Capabilities — Data table showing which products this supplier provides and the terms for each.

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Supplier Capabilities

Capabilities define what SKUs a supplier can provide and the terms for each.

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Capabilities Table Columns

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Viewing and Filtering Capabilities

The capabilities table supports several filters:
  • Product Hierarchy — Filter by hierarchy fields (if configured)
  • Collection — Filter by product collection
  • SKU — Filter by specific SKUs
  • Status Toggle — Switch between All, Enabled (SKUs with capabilities), and Disabled (SKUs without capabilities)

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Editing Capabilities

Click on any editable field (Lead Time, MOQ, Vendor SKU) to modify it inline:
  1. Click the field value to enter edit mode
  2. Type the new value
  3. Press Enter or click away to confirm
  4. Pending changes are highlighted in blue
  5. Click Save to save all pending changes, or Discard to revert

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Bulk Editing

Apply settings to multiple SKUs at once:
  1. Set values in the Lead Time and/or MOQ bulk input fields
  2. Click Apply to N Enabled to apply those values to all enabled (with capabilities) SKUs matching the current filters

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Cost Configuration

Costs are managed through a cost items approach, where each SKU’s total cost is composed of individual cost components.

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How Cost Items Work

Each SKU-supplier combination can have multiple cost items that sum to the total cost per unit:

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Managing Cost Items

Click on the Cost column for any SKU to open the cost breakdown popover:
  1. View — See all cost items and their amounts
  2. Add — Enter a cost name and amount, then click the + button
  3. Edit — Modify existing cost item names or amounts inline
  4. Delete — Remove a cost item by clicking the trash icon
  5. Save — Click Save to apply changes (only appears when changes are pending)
Cost is always expressed per the SKU’s default unit of measurement.

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Supplier Lead Times

Lead times for each SKU are configured directly in the capabilities table.

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Setting Lead Times

  1. Navigate to the supplier’s Overview tab
  2. Find the SKU in the capabilities table
  3. Click the Lead Time (days) value
  4. Enter the total lead time in days
  5. Save changes

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What Lead Time Includes

The lead time value should account for the total time from placing an order to having inventory available:
  • Order processing time
  • Manufacturing time (if made-to-order)
  • Shipping time to your warehouse
  • Customs clearance (if international)
  • Receiving and stocking time
Use realistic lead times. Overly optimistic times lead to stockouts. Add buffer for reliability.

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Supplier Held Inventory

Some suppliers hold inventory on your behalf in a linked warehouse. This is the Supplier Held Inventory feature.

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How It Works

A supplier can be linked to a specific warehouse (the linked_warehouse_id). When linked:
  • The Inventory tab shows inventory at the supplier’s linked warehouse
  • The Inventory Settings tab allows configuring SKU-warehouse assignments for the linked warehouse
  • The Lead Times tab shows transit lead times from the supplier’s linked warehouse to your other warehouses (using the same interface as warehouse lead time configuration)

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When to Use

Supplier Held Inventory is useful when:
  • A supplier maintains stock in their own facility on your behalf
  • You need to track inventory at a supplier’s location
  • Transfer times from the supplier’s warehouse to yours need to be configured

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Suppliers in Supply Planning

Supplier data powers supply planning:

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Order Recommendations

Tether recommends purchases based on:
  1. Demand forecast
  2. Current inventory levels
  3. Supplier lead times for each SKU
  4. Minimum order quantities

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Order Timing

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Supplier Status

Suppliers can be Active or Inactive:

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When to Deactivate

  • Relationship ended
  • Quality issues
  • Temporary suspension
Deactivating doesn’t delete history. Past transactions and costs remain for reporting.

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Best Practices

For supply planning to work well:
  • Add capabilities for all SKUs each supplier provides
  • Set accurate lead times
  • Include cost information with detailed cost items
  • Define minimum order quantities
Break costs into components for better analysis:
  • Separate raw material, manufacturing, and packaging costs
  • Makes it easier to identify cost optimization opportunities
  • Provides transparency into total cost composition
Keep information current:
  • Review lead times quarterly
  • Update costs when pricing changes
  • Verify contact information
Use the description field to record:
  • Payment terms
  • Special agreements
  • Historical notes

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Troubleshooting

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Supplier Not Appearing in Recommendations

Possible causes:
  • No capabilities configured for the relevant SKUs
  • Supplier is inactive
  • Lead times not set
Solutions:
  1. Add capabilities for relevant SKUs
  2. Verify supplier is active
  3. Set lead times in the capabilities table

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Inventory/Lead Times Tabs Show “No Warehouse Linked”

Possible cause:
  • Supplier doesn’t have a linked warehouse configured
Solution: The Inventory, Inventory Settings, and Lead Times tabs require a linked warehouse. These tabs are used for the Supplier Held Inventory feature. If the supplier doesn’t hold inventory for you, this is expected behavior.

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Cost Not Showing

Possible cause:
  • No cost items have been configured for the SKU
Solution:
  1. Click the cost cell for the SKU
  2. Add cost items with names and amounts
  3. Save changes

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Next Steps

Supply Planning

See supplier recommendations in action

Transactions

Create purchase orders

Lead Times

Configure warehouse transfer times

Demand Forecasting

View demand and supply projections