All Suppliers – Customer Types
Overview
There is an important consideration regarding displaying all customer types in the All Suppliers list.
From a user perspective, the main issue is that different types of customers are not simply different categories of the same kind of record. They represent different business entities and have different workflows, data structures, and rules for updating information.
Different Entity Types
For example, Contractors, Employees, FAS, Crew, and Companies each have their own specific information and processes.
They are therefore managed through their respective sections of the system, with the appropriate fields, validations, and actions available for that particular type of record.
Why Not Display All Types in All Suppliers?
If we display all of these types together in All Suppliers, a user could open a record from the wrong context and try to update it there.
The system may then not apply all of the specific rules and updates required for that particular type of entity. This could potentially result in incomplete or inconsistent data.
Recommended Approach
For this reason, our recommendation is to keep All Suppliers focused on the types that belong to the Contractors section on the Home page.
Other entities, such as Employees, FAS, Crew, Companies, etc., should continue to be managed through their dedicated sections, lists, and reports.
Business Requirement
If it is important to have absolutely all types displayed in one list, it is important to understand how the All Suppliers list is currently being used and what should be achieved by seeing all types there.
Understanding this business requirement will help determine whether there is a safe way to provide this functionality without creating a risk of incorrect data updates.
Real Client's Example
