Supplier: How do I create and manage supplier sustainability attributes?

AD team Updated by AD team

This guide covers how to firstly create and then manage a supplier sustainability attribute:

  • How do I create a supplier attribute?
  • How do I edit, move or delete a supplier created attribute?
  • How do I temporarily hide a supplier attribute?

In addition to the globally available attributes managed by OneAdvanced, you can create your own attribute definitions (i.e. ones that would only ever be used by your supplier organisation). These would be used, for example, if you have an overall 'green choice' sustainability label for your products.

If you are looking to mark your company as being part of a Global Attribute please follow the guide here: How do I tag my organisation against a global sustainability attribute?

If you have already created a supplier attribute and now need to tag your products to it, please follow the guide here: How do I tag my products with sustainability attributes (Global and Supplier)?

How do I create a supplier attribute?

Note that this step must be completed prior to uploading any product level mappings.
  1. From the supplier portal, go to the Attribute Editor tab:
  2. Locate the folder you wish to create either an attribute or a sub-folder for and click into it. This might be your company's named folder (always found directly under the 'Suppliers' folder), or a sub-folder that has already been created.
  3. In the top right hand corner, click the blue Create new dropdown button, and select from Attribute or Folder:
    1. Attribute - to create the new attribute
    2. Folder - this allows you to create a sub-folder under your Supplier main folder. This isn't a mandatory option but is there if you would prefer to order or group your Attributes. If you need to do this first please see below guidance before moving to step 4.
How to create a sub-folder
1) From the Attribute Editor, click the folder you wish to make the 'Parent' folder. This might be your main Supplier folder, or a sub-folder that has already been created. This is vital in order to provide you with the correct Parent Folder to assign when creating a sub-folder.

2) Click the blue Create new button

3) Click Folder

4) Add a Folder Name

5) Choose a parent folder from the dropdown of available folders (these will only be your own folders)

6) Add a description

7) Click Create Folder


8) The folder will instantly be created and will appear in the main hierarchy (in the position chosen).
  1. Complete the New Attribute pop-up:
    1. Attribute name: the full name of the attribute
    We would recommend including your supplier name as part of the Attribute name each time so that buyers can easily locate your mappings within their Attribute Editor e.g. OneAdvanced Recyclable Packaging
    1. Attribute short name: A short version of the name. This is used as the header name in your catalogue product data files to identify a column for items to be tagged with this attribute so something simple but clear is ideal.
    Ensure the short name contains no spaces, and only alphanumeric characters (i.e. not / _ # - etc.). For example 'Recyclable Packaging' wouldn't be accepted due to the space between the words, but 'RecyclablePackaging' would.
    1. Parent folder: Select a folder from the dropdown that you wish for the attribute to sit under. If you cannot see the folder you are looking for, it may be that you haven't completed step 2 (clicking into the folder you wish to assign the attribute under before clicking 'create new')
    2. Upload image: An associate icon or logo for this attribute (optional)
    3. Attribute description: A description of what the attribute is
    4. Attribute URL: A link to an external website that provides more information about this attribute (optional)
    5. Ensure you tick the 'For use with products' box as this will allow you to begin to tag items with this attribute straight away.
    If you don't wish for the attribute to be 'live' straight away, you can leave this box blank, but you will need to return to add it in before tagging any items. As soon as this box is ticked buyers can see the attribute in their module and add it to their mappings (even if no products have been assigned yet).
  2. Click the Create Attribute button. You will see the attribute straight away in the module, like the 'Recycling Packaging' attribute example here:
  3. The attribute will also immediately become visible for your buyer organisations in their Attribute Manager. However, it will only become visible against products (i.e. visible to end-users) once items have been tagged against it. Next Step: Go to How do I tag my products with sustainability attributes (Global and Supplier)?

How do I edit, move or delete a supplier created attribute?

To amend an existing supplier attribute, locate the attribute in question within the module, and click the three dot menu option on the right hand side:

  • Click Edit to amend any of the core information about the attribute (such as the description, URL etc.). As well as amending all of the existing information you provided, the edit functionality also offers you the ability to 'Archive' a supplier attribute. Please see the 'How do I temporarily hide a Supplier Attribute' section below for more information.
  • Click Move to relocate the attribute to a different sub-folder under your Supplier folder. Pick from the relevant file in the pop-up before clicking Move to confirm:
  • Click Delete to permanently remove the supplier attribute from the system, and any product tags associated with it.
Please note it is not possible to reinstate a tag once deleted (you would need to start from scratch). If you wish to temporarily remove the tag (i.e. you might want to bring it back in the future), then please follow the Archive option outlined below.
  • Click View Details to see information about the attribute as it would be seen by end-users / procurement officials.

How do I temporarily hide a Supplier Attribute?

The system allows you to hide a supplier attribute from view of your buyers as well as preventing any further tags being assigned to products. This option is perfect if you wish to potentially bring the attribute back at a future date as any existing tags to products can be brought back instantly as soon as you remove the attribute from Archive status. To achieve this:

  1. Locate the Supplier Attribute in question within the Attribute Editor
  2. Click the three dot menu option on the right hand side and select Edit
  3. Tick the Archived button
  4. Click Update attribute. This will instantly hide the Attribute and any tags associated with it from the Purchasing system (i.e. procurement and end-users will no longer have visibility). You can check the 'Status' of an attribute by clicking the View Details button in the three dot menu dropdown:
  5. To reactivate a Supplier Attribute, follow the same steps outlined above and simply untick the Archived box.

How did we do?

Supplier: How do I tag my organisation against a global sustainability attribute?

Supplier: How can I see which of my products have sustainability attributes already assigned?

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