👤 This feature is available for the following applications:
Standalone application ✅
Consortium application ✅
🔐 This feature is available for the following user/s:
Administrator ✅
Application Member ✅
Application User with “Review” ability ❌
Application User ❌
📝 Purpose
This educational resource will provide written information with easy-to-follow screen capture instructions for the following topics:
Creating and naming groups
The different methods available for adding suppliers to groups
Editing suppliers within groups
Maintaining groups for enhanced data analysis
Why create groups?
To report accurately on the data gathered within the Informed 365 platform, it may be important to segment this data by supplier groups. The platform allows you to create an unlimited number of groups to suit your reporting needs. However, before setting up these groups, there are several important considerations to keep in mind to ensure the structure supports meaningful insights and consistent data management.
🛠️ Prerequisites
It is essential that internal discussions are held to determine how to segment data within your application. Please have this information ready before beginning to create groups within the tool, including the name you wish to give each group.
Take into consideration how you will be analysing and presenting your data, both internally and externally. If you are using the application for mandatory annual reporting, it may be beneficial to set up your supplier groups according to your reporting period. This could be based on the financial year (e.g., FY 24–25 Suppliers) or the calendar year (e.g., 2024 Suppliers), depending on your organisation’s reporting requirements. Structuring your groups in this way can help ensure consistency and clarity in your reporting process.
Groups can be created to accommodate internal teams, for example -
Different areas of business; i.e. Information Services - 2024 Suppliers, Building Maintenance - FY 24/25, etc.
Type of assessment e.g. Modern Slavery Assessment 24/25.
📝 Step-by-step Guide
When naming groups, we suggest the following naming convention to ensure uniformity and ease of identifying groups when reporting:
Name of Your Organisation | Name of Group | Specifics of Group
Example: Acme Co. | MSQ Responses | FY24/25
In addition to the above groups, it is recommended that you create a group containing all of your invited suppliers, regardless of any other group(s) they may belong to. This serves as an overarching group for your complete supplier dataset, allowing for easy access and broad-level reporting. A common naming convention for this group is: [Name of Client] | Invited Suppliers | [Specifics of Group, e.g., FY 24–25].
(a) Creating a New Group
Go to the Navigation menu
Choose the Groups module
Click Create to add a new Group
Click the Name field. Type the name of the Group using the suggested naming convention.
Click the Description field and type a brief description of the Group, and the suppliers within it. Then click Save once done.
Click on the group name (example Supplier FY23/24.)
Click the Permission tab.
Click on the green Create button on the right hand side of the screen.
Click the Organisation option from the drop down.
Click the Organisation field. Select your organisation name.
Click Save.
You will now see who has been assigned visibility and edit capabilities in the permission tab.
The Permissions tab determines who can view and edit the group. If permissions are set only to yourself, no other staff members on the platform will be able to access that group.
If you want the group to be visible to all internal team members registered on the platform, select "Organisation" and search for your organisation profile in the Organisation field.
If you prefer the group to be visible only to specific internal staff members, select "User" and add those individual users.
(b) Adding Suppliers to Groups
When adding a single Supplier to your application, you are able to choose to include them in an existing group of suppliers in the application. Please see the below guide for how to complete this step.
Go to the Navigation menu
Choose the Organisations module
Click the Create Button to create a new single supplier
Click the Organisation Name field and type in the Supplier name
Click the Group field drop down list
Select the Group you are adding the Supplier to
Complete as many of the rest of the Organisation details as possible, including Country and Industry
You have the choice to add a Blank Form to the profile and/or Send an Invitation Email, by checking the appropriate boxes. If you are a part of the Organisation you are creating, check the bottom box to add your own email to the Organisation Profile as well.
Click Save and the Organisation will be created in the application and added to the specified Group
To close the dialogue window, click OK
(c) Add multiple new Suppliers to a Group
A bulk upload is an efficient way to add multiple Suppliers to the application in one process. During this process, the suppliers can also be added to a particular existing group. Please see the resource below for the process of how to complete this step.
Go to the Navigation menu
Choose the Organisations module
Click the Create Button to create a new single supplier
Click on the Bulk Upload button
Click the Group field drop down button
Click on the checkbox next to the relevant Group/s in the dropdown list. You can add suppliers into as many Groups as you wish
Click Import to upload supplier list
Suppliers in the bulk upload will be added to the Group/s selected. The upload can be confirmed by checking the contents of the Group in the Groups module
Complete the process for the Bulk Upload using the following resource Bulk Supplier Upload
(d) Add an existing Supplier to a Group
If you wish to add an existing organisation (one that is already in the application) to a particular group, this can be done very simply using the below instructions.
Go to the Navigation menu
Choose the Organisations module to view the suppliers who are already in the application, but who are not added to a Group
Choose to Add Filter and click on Organisation from the list
Type in the Supplier Organisation name and then press Apply Filter
When the list appears, check the box next to the Organisation you wish to add to a specific Group
Click Add to Group
When the Group search window appears, click on the dropdown menu arrow
Choose the Group to which you wish to add the Supplier
Click Add to Group
To check that the Supplier has been successfully added to the Group that was chosen, click on the Navigation menu and go to the Groups Module
Select the Group you wish to check/examine
Go to the Organisations tab when the Edit Group window opens
The uploaded Organisation will appear in this list
Automating Groups is not compulsory, but is an option available to you. This process helps to streamline supplier data management by automatically adding an organisation to a particular group based on their response to a certain question/questions within the questionnaire.
As there is additional assistance required from the Development Team for this feature, please contact your Customer Success Manager who can support in setting this up.
✋ Need Help?
You have reached the end of this article.
For assistance, please contact your Customer Success Manager, email support@informed365.com, or click the chat icon in the bottom-right corner for further support.