Nextgen help for vendors

Frequently asked questions & answers and help documents

Common questions & answers

We have a selection of the most frequently asked questions & answers about our NextGen e-Procurement Platform put together. In addition, at the end of this page, you will find an overview with Help documents to download.

Your question is not listed or has not been answered enough?
Register for our webinars to get a live demonstration of our platform or speak to a NextGen expert.

General

How long does it take to register and set up my vendor account on NextGen?

As an existing vendor with simple system, you automatically get access to NextGen as soon as we have migrated your account from the Classic platform.

As a new supplier, You are responsible for setting up your supplier account in NextGen yourself. Registering is very easy. Start here. As soon as you provide your master data, catalogues, logos, terms, and conditions and media data, you can get started selling NextGen via a simple system.

How will I be notified about a customer request on NextGen?

If a customer wishes to buy from you via simple system, you will be informed by e-mail. Under “Company & Settings” — “My Company” — “Contact”, you can enter a contact address for new customer inquiries under “Email address for customer inquiries”. If this field is not filled, the main contact person is addressed.

I've received a customer request about NextGen. How can I edit them?

Inquiries from customers can be found in the “Customers” section under the “Requesting Customers” tab.

Here you can see all the details of a request and process it. You have the option to accept, reject or postpone the request (if, for example, there is still a need for clarification).

The customer is informed of every status change and can view the current status of their request.

How can I get help using the platform or with other questions?

We recommend that every new simple system user and users of our Classic Platform take part in one of our webinars.

If you need urgent help with a concern in advance, you are also welcome to contact our contact technical support.

Do I need to switch to the NextGen platform?

Yes The Classic platform will be shut down soon.

Is moving to NextGen free for vendors?

Yes. There is no cost for moving.

What do I have to do after the sync is complete?

After synchronization is switched off, with the complete switch to NextGen, the following applies:

Catalogues: They are retained and can continue to be used. From now on, updates will be carried out exclusively via NextGen.
Price lists: Must be rebuilt, loaded, and reallocated in the format updated for NextGen.
Customer material numbers: Must be re-created, loaded, and assigned using the new article number list in the format updated for NextGen.
Media: Are retained according to the one-time synchronization (at the time of creating a NextGen account), but are still not shown in the list of available media on NextGen.

NextGen vs. Classic changes

What features are new in NextGen?

With the development of NextGen, we want to provide you with an improved platform version that is intuitive, convenient, and easy to use. As a result, we have made the following improvements, among others:

Merge all accounts into 1 account
static catalogue (BMEcat), dynamic catalogue (OCI), click & order (open marketplace), foreign languages & currencies

Login only with 1 email address and 1 password (even with multiple accounts)

Public catalogue on the open marketplace
Self-service option for any supplier

New catalogue management
Assigning multiple catalogues to a customer & assigning one or more price lists
Assign a catalogue to multiple customers & assign one or more price lists

Pictures and additional documents
Delivery now as a file and Link possible

Users, contact details, master data and order interface
From now on, all data can be maintained and kept up to date in the portal yourself

Default customer number
Possibility to assign a number to all customers without a stored customer number

Instant processing of uploads via portal & FTP
No night run, no latest time for upload, no limit on possible uploads

Where may I need to make an adjustment on my part?

Ordering interface

Only the standard formats opentrans 1.0 and 2.1 are now supported. Plain-text orders will of course be retained. There is also a new, extended S2XML format.
It is no longer possible to configure individual information (prefix, subject) when orders are received by e-mail.
The function of configuring different order recipients per customer is omitted. Only 1 central order recipient can be configured.
When receiving orders via email: Please rate our domain @simplesystem .com or the sender address, noreply@simplesystem.com as trustworthy.
When receiving orders via HTTPS Post/(S-) FTP Push: Please whitelist the following IP addresses of our order servers so that they are accepted by your system:
3.68.161.150
3.69.123.149
18.198.77.236
Please note that the Classic servers will continue to exist until we completely migrate your account to NextGen! Therefore, please only add the addresses above, do not replace them with the existing ones!

Catalogue

.csv format is no longer allowed (not even via technical support)
Stricter testing for compliance with permitted BME Cat standards

Price lists: price file
The format of the price list is changing

The headers of the columns are translated into English
Only the .csv format is now accepted (no .txt or .dat)
In future, the customer article number/material number will be maintained via a separate file (article number list).

FTP upload
There are new login details for uploading via FTP. Classic and NextGen's FTP servers are different.

What is the difference between NextGen and Classic?

The above functions are currently no longer available on NextGen. We're looking at alternative solutions for some of these features. The development of the NextGen platform is not yet complete. We are happy to receive your wishes and suggestions vendormanagement@simplesystem.com countering.

Requests for special items (alternatively possible via e-mail)
Listing of special items (alternatively available via the catalogue)
Shopping cart note text (alternatively via e-mail/contractual agreement possible)
Global customer discount on all items (alternatively possible via a catalogue or a price list with individual prices)

Catalogues

Which catalogue formats are accepted on simple system NextGen?

You can only upload catalogues as BMEcat versions 1.2 and 2005. If you would like to learn more about the BMECat format, please visit the BME website.

After consultation with our Vendor management, It is also possible to set up an OCI Punch Out (version 4.0) to make configurable articles available to your customers, for example.

More information on the above topics can be found in our help documents, Provision of catalogues and Set up an OCI punch out.

Is it possible to set up an OCI punch-out catalog via NextGen?

After consultation with our Vendor management, It is also possible to set up an OCI Punch Out to make configurable articles available to your customers, for example. Since OCI severely limits the functionalities of the platform on the customer side, this step should always be coordinated with the customer and approved by him.

You can find more information on this topic in our help document Set up an OCI punch out.

Is product data classification required on NextGen? If so, which?

Just like on the previous “Classic” platform, “NextGen” also requires an ECLASS. You can supply either version 5.1 or 7.1 of ECLASS via the catalogue.

If you would like to learn more about ECLASS, please visit the ECLASS e.V. website.

Can I also set up a public catalogue on NextGen from which all customers can buy?

Yes, you can offer individual catalogues for your connected customers on the partner marketplace as well as public catalogues on the open marketplace, from which all simple system customers can shop. Please note that there is a different commission rate for selling products on the open marketplace, which you can view under “Company & Settings” — “My Company” — “Contract Details”.

By the way: For NextGen, catalogue management was completely restructured, and the option was created to store both customer-specific individual catalogues and public catalogues (formerly “Click & Order” catalogues) in one to administer supplier access.

Can my product portfolio be expanded on NextGen at any time?

You can expand your product portfolio yourself at any time using catalogue upload (as BMEcat). There are no limits to this.

After consultation with our Vendor management, It is also possible to set up an OCI Punch Out to make configurable articles available to your customers, for example. You can find more information on this topic in our help document Set up an OCI punch out.

Is there a quantity limit for the delivered items in the catalogue or a maximum file size?

There is no quantity limit for items or a maximum file size for catalogue files. Please note, however: The larger the catalogue file, the longer the upload and subsequent processing take.

Only price lists and customer article number lists are limited to 1 GB per file; for media, there is a maximum file size of 5 GB per .zip file.

You can find more information on this topic in our help documents Provision of catalogues.

Can I also upload & update catalogues automatically via FTP?

Yes, you can easily set up automation via FTP in self-service and use it for regular updates. This is currently possible for catalogues as well as for price lists. The information required to set up, including your personal login details, can be found in the NextGen Portal in the “Catalogues” areas and under “Price Lists” after clicking on the “Automatic Upload” button.

More information on the above topics can be found in our help documents, Provision of catalogues and automated delivery of catalogues & price lists via FTP server.

Is it also possible to provide a catalogue in .csv format?

No, the *.csv format can no longer be processed on NextGen.

Are you unable to generate a BME Cat catalogue using your systems? In our help document Help for creating a BME Cat catalogue via Sepia converter, We will explain to you how you can do this using a free Excel tool.

In the document Service-Partner for catalogue creation, you can find contacts who can help you to create a BMEcat catalogue.

‍

Rates

How can I store customer-specific prices in NextGen?

Customer-specific prices can either be stored via a catalogue that only one is assigned to customers, or by creating one or more price lists (in addition to the catalogue) that one Customers are assigned.

You can assign a standard price as well as customer-specific prices to a customer. If an item is found in several associated price lists in addition to the catalogue, the best price is determined and the customer is shown the lowest price.

You can find more information on this topic in our help document Provision of prices on NextGen.

If I deliver prices via a price list, do I still need prices in the catalog?

A price must always be submitted in the catalogue. Items that are delivered in the catalogue without a price are declared as faults and are not made available to the customer.

You can find more information on this topic in our help document Provision of prices on NextGen.

Which price is shown to the customer — catalogue or price list?

If you only use a catalogue to provide prices, your customer will see the prices it contains.

Using a price list, in addition to the catalogue, has its priority over the catalogue (even though the catalogue prices should be lowed).

If there are no prices in the price list for some items in the catalogue, the price from the catalogue is used for these items.

If there are different prices in several price lists for an item, the best price logic is used. The customer receives the lowest price from all price lists assigned to him.

You can find more information on this topic in our help document Deploying prices on NextGen.

Is the price list format the same in NextGen and Classic?

No. The format of the price list in NextGen has changed compared to Classic. The headers (headers) are now in English instead of German. In addition, customer article numbers are no longer maintained via the price list, but via a separate upload process.

More information on this topic and a template (template) for the price file can be found in our help document Deploying prices on NextGen.

Is it possible with NextGen to retrieve prices from my system in real time and display them to the customer?

If your systems meet the requirements for such a retrieval, a price web service can be set up in consultation with our vendor management. Please note that setup and use are chargeable.

You can find more information on this topic in our help document Provision of prices on NextGen.

Can I also upload and update prices automatically via FTP via catalogue or price list?

More information on the above topics can be found in our help documents Deploying prices on NextGen and Automated delivery of catalogues & price lists via FTP server.

Media & further information

How does uploading images to NextGen work?

In NextGen, you can not only upload images via the portal via a file (as is known from Classic), but alternatively also enter them in the catalogue. You can do that as a link, from which the respective image is then retrieved live when a customer calls up the item.

You can find more information on this topic in our help document Provision of media.

How can I provide customer item numbers?

Customer article numbers (also known as material or item numbers) can be provided either via the catalogue or by uploading a customer article number list in *.csv format.

Only one customer item number list can be assigned to a customer at a time. In the case of a corporate customer, for example, you can assign the list to several customers who all use the same customer item numbers.

You can find more information on this topic in our help document Provision of customer article numbers.

What additional information can I upload to NextGen?

In addition to images, you can deliver all data formats defined in accordance with BME Cat Standard 1.2 or 2005. For example, you can provide your customers with documents as a PDF file (technical data, safety data sheets, etc.) or additional information as a deep link (e.g. availability, stocks, delivery times).

You can find more information on this topic in our help document Provision of stocks & delivery times.

Synchronization

How does syncing from Classic to NextGen work?

All information about synchronizing the two platforms up to the complete transition to NextGen can be found on this page: Moving your data to NextGen.

Please note: Synchronization is unfortunately not technically possible for suppliers who currently use the vendor portal.