Supplier Connectors
Trading decides across all suppliers — but how far an order then runs on its own depends on the individual connector.
How Trading asks a connector
Trading asks every connector about its capabilities. A connector that does not answer counts as one that can do nothing — that is the safe reading, and the reason older connectors keep working unchanged.
If nobody answers, Trading falls back to the older path: the purchase order is created and the connector picks it up itself, if it can.
Transmission modes
| Mode | What happens | Does anyone have to act? |
|---|---|---|
| Supplier API | Trading hands over the order, the connector places it | No |
| Portal cart | The connector creates a cart | Yes — confirm in the portal |
| Document sending goes to the supplier | No | |
| Manual | Trading only tracks the state | Yes — entirely by hand |
| None | The order stays in Business Central | Yes |
The mode actually used is on every run in the Transmission Mode field.
Connector status
| Connector | Transmission | Order confirmation | Tracking | Invoice | Serial no. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jarltech | API | ||||
| Ingram Micro | API ¹ | (webhook) | — | — | — |
| ITscope | Portal cart ¹ | planned | ² | — | — |
| BlueStar, Systeam, Toshiba | — ³ | — | ³ | ³ | partly |
| VEDES, Wave, Papyrus, SATO and others | — | — | — | — | — |
¹ The connector has the technology but does not yet answer the capability request. Until then it runs on the older path and Trading cannot display its capabilities. ² The hub side is finished; the connector side is waiting for the confirmed shipping-document format. ³ Currently handled by email parsing outside merchantCENTRAL, not yet as a connector.
What this means in practice
Full automation is currently end-to-end only with Jarltech. There the chain runs from sales order to invoice check with no intervention.
ITscope ends at the cart. ITscope has no API checkout — that is not a gap in the connector but in the vendor's platform. Trading therefore shows such orders on its own Carts to Confirm cue: they look finished and are not.
A supplier without a transmission path is not a problem. Trading still finds the source of supply, creates the purchase order and leaves it. All that is missing is the last step — and that is the same one as before Trading.
Selection is unaffected by this
A vendor is not preferred because its connector is better integrated. The comparison is purely on landed cost. The integration only decides whether the last step happens automatically.
Supplier feedback
If the connector supports it, it reports back after transmission:
| Feedback | Where it appears |
|---|---|
| Order confirmation | Supplier Status field on the run, in the supplier's own words |
| Tracking | Package tracking in the hub, linked to the sales order |
| Invoice | Invoice check — matched against the ordered value |
| Serial numbers | On the goods receipt |
The Supplier Status Updated field shows when something last arrived. If it stays empty for days although the connector should support it, check the connector's activity log.