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Manage suppliers

The Suppliers section allows you to build and maintain a directory of your upstream supply chain partners — the companies who provide components, materials, and subassemblies that go into your battery products. Once a supplier is in your directory, you can send them structured data requests for DPP field information and track their responsiveness over time.

Adding a Supplier​

Suppliers do not self-register on Traceable. They must be invited by an operator. To add a supplier to your directory:

  1. Navigate to Suppliers in the sidebar.
  2. Click Add Supplier.
  3. Enter the supplier's details:
    • Company name — the legal name of the supplier organisation.
    • Primary contact name — the name of the person at the supplier who will manage data requests. This is the individual who receives invitation and data request emails.
    • Primary contact email — the email address for the invitation and all subsequent communications.
    • Supplier type — optionally categorise the supplier's role: Cell manufacturer, Module assembler, Raw material supplier, Component supplier, Testing laboratory, or Other.
    • Internal reference — optional. Your internal vendor code for this supplier, for cross-referencing with your ERP or procurement system.
  4. Click Send Invitation.

An invitation email is sent to the primary contact. The email contains a link to register for a Traceable Supplier Portal account (if they do not already have one) and to accept the relationship with your operator account.

The supplier appears in your directory immediately with status Pending, regardless of whether they have accepted the invitation yet.

Supplier Status​

StatusMeaning
PendingInvitation has been sent but the supplier has not yet accepted it and created their Supplier Portal account. You can view the supplier record but cannot send data requests until the supplier activates.
ActiveThe supplier has accepted the invitation and their Supplier Portal account is set up. You can send data requests and they can respond.
InactiveThe supplier relationship has been deactivated. See below for the effects of deactivation.

If a supplier has not accepted an invitation within 7 days, Traceable sends a reminder email automatically. You can also trigger a manual reminder by opening the supplier record and clicking Resend Invitation.

If an invitation has been pending for more than 30 days with no response, consider checking the email address is correct. If the supplier is unwilling or unable to register, you can enter their data manually as a non-portal supplier — contact Traceable support for guidance on this workflow.

Editing Supplier Details​

You can update the following supplier details at any time from the supplier record, regardless of their status:

  • Company name
  • Primary contact name and email
  • Supplier type
  • Internal reference
  • Billing address and registration number (informational fields)

To edit:

  1. Go to Suppliers and click the supplier name.
  2. Click Edit Details in the supplier record header.
  3. Make your changes and click Save.

If you update the primary contact email, an email is sent to the new address asking the new contact to verify their access. The previous contact's access to the Supplier Portal account is not automatically revoked — you may want to contact the supplier directly to manage their own user accounts.

Deactivating a Supplier​

Deactivating a supplier marks the relationship as inactive. You may need to do this when:

  • You no longer source from this supplier and want to stop receiving their responses.
  • The supplier has been acquired, merged, or gone out of business.
  • A contractual relationship has ended.

To deactivate:

  1. Open the supplier record.
  2. Click the supplier options menu (three-dot icon in the top-right corner).
  3. Click Deactivate Supplier.
  4. Enter a reason (for internal audit purposes, not shared with the supplier).
  5. Click Confirm Deactivate.

Effects of Deactivation​

  • Open data requests that have not yet been submitted by the supplier are automatically cancelled with a status of "Cancelled (Supplier Inactive)". The supplier is notified.
  • Submitted but unreviewed responses remain accessible for you to review. Deactivation does not affect responses that have already been submitted.
  • Accepted field values that came from this supplier's previous responses remain in your DPP fields. Deactivating a supplier does not remove data from your DPPs.
  • The supplier's Supplier Portal account remains technically active (they may have relationships with other operators), but their data requests from your account are no longer visible to them.

A deactivated supplier can be reactivated at any time by opening their record and clicking Reactivate Supplier.

Searching and Filtering the Supplier List​

The supplier list supports:

  • Search by name or reference — partial matches supported.
  • Filter by status — show only Pending, Active, or Inactive suppliers.
  • Filter by supplier type — useful for finding all cell manufacturers or all raw material suppliers.
  • Sort by — company name (alphabetical), date added, or supplier score (see below).

Supplier Scoreboard Overview​

Each supplier in your directory has a Supplier Score displayed in the list view and on the supplier record. The score is a composite measure of the supplier's historical performance across three dimensions:

  • Response rate — how reliably they respond to data requests
  • Data completeness — how fully they fill in the requested fields
  • Certificate validity — the proportion of their uploaded certificates that are currently valid

Scores are displayed as a colour-coded badge:

  • Green (80–100) — healthy supplier performance
  • Amber (60–79) — some attention needed
  • Red (0–59) — performance requires discussion with the supplier

Click View Full Scoreboard on any supplier record, or navigate to Suppliers > Scoreboard from the sidebar, to see the detailed breakdown. See Supplier Scoreboard for a full explanation of how scores are calculated.