# Supplier collaboration portal

The Supplier collaboration portal — also known as the Network module — extends Flowlity beyond your internal planning team. It is a dedicated interface where your suppliers can log in and see the forecasts and orders that are relevant to them, in real time. Instead of exchanging spreadsheets or emails, both you and your suppliers work from the same data, reducing miscommunication and improving responsiveness across the supply chain.

### What suppliers see

When a supplier logs into the portal, they see a simplified dashboard scoped to their own products. They will never see data belonging to other suppliers. Depending on what you choose to share, a supplier can access:

* **Demand forecasts** — Projected demand for the components or products they supply, giving them visibility into what is coming over the next weeks or months. This helps suppliers plan their own production and inventory in advance.
* **Planned orders** — Your purchase requisitions (not yet confirmed), so the supplier sees what you are likely to order before it becomes official. This early signal lets them start preparing.
* **Confirmed orders** — Firm purchase orders that the supplier can act on immediately.

### What suppliers can do

The portal is not read-only. Suppliers can respond with information that feeds back into your planning process:

* **Acknowledge orders** — Confirm that they can fulfill an order as requested.
* **Propose adjustments** — If a supplier cannot meet the exact date or quantity, they can update the portal with a feasible promise (e.g. "I can deliver 800 units by that date, 200 a week later"). This information surfaces in your plan so you can react — seek an alternate supplier, adjust schedules, or accept the delay.
* **Add comments** — Leave notes on orders or forecasts for direct communication with your planning team.

### How it connects to your workflow

The portal is tightly integrated with the rest of Flowlity:

* Changes you make in [Planning](/modules/planning.md) or [Supply Orders](/modules/supply-orders.md) — such as updating a forecast or confirming an order — are immediately visible to the supplier.
* Supplier responses (acceptances, date changes, comments) are immediately visible to you, and may trigger alerts if they affect your plan.
* The result is a **single source of truth**: both sides operate with shared, up-to-date data instead of reconciling disconnected documents.

### When to use it

Use the Supplier collaboration portal when you want to give key suppliers visibility into your demand and order plans. It is especially valuable for strategic suppliers where lead times are long, demand is variable, or coordination is critical. Sharing forecasts early helps suppliers align their production, reducing last-minute surprises and building a more resilient supply chain.

{% hint style="info" %}
To onboard suppliers to the portal, coordinate with your Flowlity project manager. Access is granted per supplier and scoped to the products they supply.
{% endhint %}

### Learn more

* [Supplier constraints and order management](/concepts/supplier-constraints.md) — How supplier constraints shape order generation.
* [Supply Orders](/modules/supply-orders.md) — Where you validate and release orders before they reach the supplier.
* [Planning](/modules/planning.md) — Where planned orders and forecasts are managed.
* [Comments](/concepts/comments.md) — Collaborate via the comment panel.


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