> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.glpi-project.org/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.glpi-project.org/glpi-12/management/suppliers.md).
# Suppliers
GLPI supports suppliers management, in order to identity the supplier of an asset in asset management but also to attribute tickets to the supplier, either a person or a company.
When buying an equipment of make X from supplier Y, two distinct information must be managed in GLPI: the vendor (X) and the supplier (Y).
A supplier is characterized by a name, a third party type, a location (address, postal code, town, country) and a contact (web site, phone, fax...).
Supplier management allows to:
* reference all suppliers of organization assets
* ease contact in case of incident
* include suppliers in GLPI assistance
***
## Contacts
The Contacts tab allows you to view or add associated contacts.
There is a clear distinction between a supplier (which can be linked to equipment) and a contact (the individuals used to contact the supplier). Consequently, a supplier must be associated with contacts.
Example: Mr. Dupont is a sales assistant at the company Foo. Create a supplier named Foo. Create a contact for Mr. Dupont. Assign the "Sales" type to this contact. Link the contact to the supplier Foo.
Go to Contacts
***
## Contracts
The *Contracts* tab is used to show or add linked contracts.
For each associated contract, the name, number, contract type, supplier, start date and initial duration of the contract are listed. In the last field, the end date of the contract is also shown with a red display if the date is earlier than the current date.
Go to Contracts
***
## Items
This tab displays the GLPI items linked to this budget, as well as their value.
Go to Items
***
## Documents
The document tab lets you link different types of file to a material (PDF, txt, png, etc.) You can attach a document already uploaded to GLPI or add a new one directly from this tab.
Go to Documents
***
## Tickets
View all tickets linked to the item.
Go to Tickets
***
## Problems
This tab refers to all hardware-related problems. Problems can also be linked to tickets, projects, etc. This allows you to have a complete scenario when necessary.
Go to Problems
***
## Changes
Changes lists all changes related to a material. From this tab, you can't link a change directly, you can do it from **`Assistance`** > **`Changes`** > **`Items`**. You can create a new change from this page, which will be linked to the material you have selected.
Go to Changes
***
## Links
Links offer several possibilities. Send the GLPI object file to another URL of your choice, or generate an RDP file, for example.
Go to Links
***
## Notes
Note lets you add enriched text and attach a document.
Go to Notes
***
## Knowledge Base
Lists all the articles in the knowledge base relating to the material.
Go to Knowledge Base
***
## History
The *History* tab is used to show any changes made to an item. The following information about the changes is available:
* ID of the change.
* Date and time the change was made.
* User who made the change. If this field is not filled, it means that the action was done automatically (For example: automatic inventory update).
* Field that was changed.
* Description of the change that was made.
The description of the change represents either the difference between the old and the new value (For example with location field: Change HQ to Remote Office A), or the explanation of the action which was carried out (For example: Uninstallation of a software: "Gimp 2.0").
{% hint style="info" %}
For dropdowns or objects with a parent/child relationship, the modification of a child will appear in the history of the parent element.
{% endhint %}
***
## All Information
For an item, all information is displayed on one page from the *All* tab. This shows all of the tabs of an object's form in one view, one below the other.
***
---
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