Product Types

As a community owner, you can determine the information you would like a supplier to provide when they share their products with you. You set up attributes when defining your Product Types to collect the information. Navigate to the Admin area by clicking the cog wheel in the top right corner or the cog wheel next to Products in the left-hand navigation. Then, select Product Setup and click the plus button to create a new type. 

Note: A product type will need to be associated with a business requirement in order for it to be available. See this article, Assigning Requirement, for more information.

First, you will need to name your product type and choose an approval flow (visit the Configuring Product Flows article for more details). Think of your product type name as a category of items that you source, such as “Produce” or “Protein - Chicken" For each of these types, your suppliers may add several products with unique GTINs but they all relate back together. If the list becomes very large, it may make sense to save views so you can quickly access the Product Types you want to work with. Steps for setting up saved views can be found here.

Default Attributes

We offer a set of default product attributes within FoodLogiQ as a starting point. Click "Add/Edit Attributes" to customize. You can configure these default attributes based on three states: required, optional, or not visible to suppliers. This allows you to build the product type based solely on the attributes you deem necessary. Note that "Name" is the only fixed required attribute within a product type.

In the below example, we have Name, Description, and Country of Origin as required - the supplier will see these attributes and will be required to enter information. We've chosen Brand Name and Item UPC as visible - the supplier will see them but won't be required to enter information. The remainder of the items under All Product Attributes with a green (+) have not been added - the supplier will not see them.

Note: When adding products in the UI or via .CSV import, users will only see the attributes that are visible, as defined here in the product type (i.e. the 5 we've added on the right).

Custom Attributes

Custom Attributes are completely user defined and may be specific to your own business.  

“Attribute Name” vs. “Key”

• Attribute Name is the user-friendly value that will be displayed to the supplier who is entering the information.
• Key is intended for the database name if you are importing using our .csv template or using an API to share the information. 

Within a custom attribute, there are 10 field types you can choose from. Once you select a field type, if a supplier tries to enter a value that is inconsistent with this selection, they will see an error message. Listed below are the 10 possible field types:

• Combination: You can associate two list fields together. For instance, perhaps you want suppliers to identify a distributor (select "Businesses List") they ship the product to, then the distributor location (select "Locations List").
• Date: Display a calendar within the online submission form for your users to select a date. If importing products using our .csv template, the required format is “mm/dd/yyyy”.
• Decimal Number: Use when requesting a numeric value for an attribute that needs to have the option of recording decimals, such as price per case or case weight.
• Images: Use when requesting only images - the user will not be able to type.
• Selection list types: Display a dropdown menu of options. Single selection is by default, but you can allow for multiple selections if needed.
  • Business List: This will pull from the Connections list if you have enabled your suppliers to connect to other members of your community.
  • Custom Selection List: You can define your own list of choices. Just add as a comma-delimited list.
  • Locations List: Display a list of locations that suppliers have connected with using the Connections feature (if enabled in your Community Information page), or a list of the supplier's own locations.
• Text: Choose this option if you want a free-form text field.
• Whole Number: Use when requesting a numeric value for an attribute that does not require decimals.
• Yes/No: Use when asking a question where the supplier has only these two options.

Finish completing the form, adding Help Text if you'd like, and click "Add Attribute."

Editing Custom Attributes

• Once you create your attributes you have a few options to edit them. 
  • Modify the order: if you want to adjust the ordering of your attributes, click on the row and drag and drop the attribute to the desired placement. This might come in handy if your suppliers are bulk uploading this data in a spreadsheet and want to be consistent with the ordering of the data in that template. 
  • Required v. Optional: To change an attribute from required to option or vice-versa, simply uncheck the Required checkbox. 
  • Remove Attributes: If you no longer need the attribute, click the trash can to delete it completely. 
  • In-attribute editing: Click into any attribute to edit its Name, Key, Field Type, Help Text, or Required Status. 

Document and Assessment Requirements 

After you've defined the default and custom attributes, you can assign document and assessment requirements that will be tied to this product type. To-dos will be automatically generated on the supplier dashboard for each requirement once a supplier adds a product of this type. For details and instructions on these requirements, see the article Defining Document and Assessment Requirements on a Product and Location Level.