Supplier facilities

Introduction

In contrast to managed facilities, the operational responsibility at supplier locations lies entirely outside the network’s control. A supplier may operate multiple physical locations, but these individual sites are typically not known to the fulfillment network. Consequently, supplier facilities do not have registered addresses within the platform. Additionally, information such as working hours, capacity limits, or specific shipping carrier integrations are not maintained for supplier facilities.

Implication on routing decisions

This lack of visibility has important implications for certain standard routing rules. Since key data points about supplier facilities are unavailable, some rules can only consider the supplier part of the supply chain to a limited extent when dealing with supplier facilities. For example:

• The geo distance rating does not factor in transport routes originating from suppliers, as their exact locations are unknown.

• The country fence rule does not take into account the geographical location of supplier facilities.

These constraints should be considered when configuring routing strategies, especially when suppliers play a significant role in the overall fulfillment flow.

Facility data

Supplier facility data is limited to a few key attributes due to the reasons mentioned above. These attributes are interpreted analogously to those of managed facilities:

• facility name

• facility status

• tenant facility ID

In addition, supplier facilities can be enriched with tags and custom attributes to provide further categorization or metadata.

Important information

• Supplier facilities can also have listings assigned to them.

• Facility carrier connections and facility custom service connections are not applicable for supplier facilities.