ManufactureLink’s system provides many tools and features to facilitate the custom manufacturing sourcing process. These include the following:

• Non Disclosure Agreement Handling. Choose to have suppliers digitally sign agreements before drawings and specifications can be accessed. Choose to review agreements or force conventional hard copy agreements before allowing access, giving you complete control over who views your valuable information.
• Supplier Showrooms. Each supplier account comes with our innovative supplier showrooms. These showrooms are a pre-formatted website designed to present the information buyers need to fully assess a manufacturers capability, expertise and reputation. A suppliers previously defined capability is displayed along with promotional statements about who the company is and what they do best, plus downloadable company brochures, links to the manufacturer's main website, contact details, past projects with photos, and a display of a supplier's detailed ratings and feedback gained from supplying work to ManufactureLink buyers.
• Online reputation assessment. Carry out reviews of suppliers’ and buyers’ past performance through our online ratings system. Review their expertise with our supplier showrooms. Review their company websites and contact them directly for even more detailed checking. Read customer comments and find out how others rate a supplier or buyer's performance to give you confidence to make informed decisions on using a new supplier. We often refer to this as our ‘due diligence’ process.
• Buyer and Supplier Communications. Buyers and suppliers can send RFQ-specific messages to query drawings and specifications, highlight errors, seek further information or to collaborate on finding solutions to your manufacturing problems. Buyers can also contact suppliers directly with an enquiry through the supplier showrooms.
• Change History. Whenever specifications, drawings, quantities or any details are changed or edited, the system tracks the changes and provides a change history. Change history tracking provides evidence of changes for quality assurance systems and to eliminate disputes over alterations to specifications provided.
• Save Standard Parts. You can create complete RFQs containing all specifications, drawings and details and save them in your standard parts list for fast, easy submission to the system anytime.
• Regular Supplier List. You can create a list of Australian manufacturers you commonly use within the system, to be able to quickly raise a RFQ by special invite or to use as a distribution list.
• Create Purchasing Projects. Buyers can create project headings to group all of their component sourcing together for quick reference and easier management.
• Automatic Purchase Order Requests. After awarding a quote, buyers can quickly and easily generate a purchase order request with a unique number directly from the system. Makes raising purchase orders for your purchasing department fast and easy.
• Automatic Job Cards. When suppliers have been awarded a quote, they can quickly and easily generate a job card with a unique number for their workshop scheduling.
• Quoting Templates. Suppliers can create and save standard quotes for quick submission to RFQs. Save your standard charges and rates as a template allowing you to quickly edit the details and submit your quote, saving you time.
• Quote Feedback. In addition to providing a buyer and supplier ratings system, ManufactureLink gives buyers the tools to provide more detailed comments and feedback to suppliers on their unsuccessful quotes. So not only does ManufactureLink’s system automatically notify suppliers if their bid is unsuccessful, but it also generates automated information on how your bid fared, and gives buyers the opportunity to include additional comments. No more being kept in the dark as to why your quote was not accepted or how you fared in comparison to the other quotes.
• Customisable Opportunities. Suppliers can customise their ‘Sales Reps’ (RFQ filters) to locate opportunities to suit a particular expertise or to fill their excess capacity. Sales Reps are customisable to locate work for a whole factory, a particular section, an individual machine or even to locate new process opportunities to justify an investment.
• Collaboration Projects. Create a file containing project information and invite others to collaborate with you. Use the online forum tools for project discussions. Split a large project into smaller pieces to increase capacity and achieve tight deadlines.
• Request For Innovation (RFI). When you don’t know how to manufacture your product, or there just isn’t a suitable process available that you know of, you can flag your RFQ as requiring an innovative solution by using our Request For Innovation option. Collaborate with suppliers using the message function to work out a solution.
• Support For Common File Formats. ManufactureLink’s system is web browser-based, enabling plug-ins or viewers to be downloaded for viewing of the most common file formats. File formats supported include AutoCAD’s dwf format, eDrawings for Solidworks, ProEngineer and other popular CAD packages, pdf, Word documents, most graphics file formats. Even if you don’t have a CAD package, you can create a hand sketch for scanning and uploading. If desired, drawings can also be uploaded in their native file formats for suppliers who have the required CAD packages.
• Maintain Existing Supplier Relationships. If you regular suppliers are registered with ManufactureLink, you need not submit your RFQ to all manufacturers in our system. You can use our RFQ by special invite function to specify who you would like to quote on your job and only invited suppliers can review your RFQ.