Additional Capabilities > Windchill Supplier Management > Windchill Supplier Management Overview > Representing Manufacturers and Vendors Within Your Organization
  
Representing Manufacturers and Vendors Within Your Organization
In Windchill Supplier Management, you can add manufacturers and vendors to your supplier list. Each of these manufacturers and vendors reference an organization that contains basic information about that supplier. Adding a manufacturer or vendor establishes a relationship between your organization and the supplier company. For more information on the relationship between your manufacturers, vendors, and their organizations, see Organizations Representing Manufacturers and Vendors.
Each manufacturer or vendor added to the supplier list for your organization can be characterized by:
Contacts — For each manufacturer or vendor you can specify one or several contacts.
Related documents — You can add various documents to each manufacturer or vendor. For example, sourcing agreements, reports, or catalogs.
Attributes — Your organization can create attributes that capture relevant information about the supplier.
Life cycle state — A manufacturer or vendor is a lifecycle-controlled object. You track the status of the supplier relationship with the OEM organization using the lifecycle states.