Tether to Grid

This article explains how a buyer can check if a vendors Cost Submission will automatically update costs as a function of component cost changes agreed with your Sourcing team.

This feature enables an Enterprise retailer and their vendor to agree to certain parts of the Bill of Materials being automatically driven by pre-agreed costs in the Sourcing grids. Where this feature is enabled, cost can change as a function of Sourcing grid component cost changes, and the vendor's Total Cost will be adjusted automatically, without the Cost Submission being withdrawn or needing to be re-approved by Buying or Sourcing teams.

Should we normally expect Tether to Grid to be on when viewing a vendor Cost Submission?

Yes, however, there are some circumstances when you might want it not to be tethered to grid, explained in the next question.

The reason you would always expect Tether to Grid to be ON is so that both you and your vendor can avoid manual updates of the Cost Submission, for example consider the difference in administrative burden when vendor and retailer want to update diamond prices used in 250 products:

✔️ if tethered, all Cost Submissions will be updated automatically, without any need for buyers or sourcing to reapprove.

❌ Whereas if not tethered, each individual stone (could be many in each product) and then every Cost Submission will need the vendor to update manually, and then also resubmit. This will then require both Buying team and Sourcing team to reapprove 250 Cost Submissions.

What are the types of reasons where we might want Tether to Grid to be off?

In certain circumstances, you might want Tether to Grid turned off when:

• Your vendor gives you one-time price agreements for special buy items
• Your vendor is willing to give you better diamond prices for a special parcel
• Your vendor has close-out inventory at a one off price
• Your vendor has a limited run product and you both want to agree lower prices for a single higher volume production

What happens if the Cost Submission is not tethered to grid?

When your vendor submits Cost Submission with Tether to Grid OFF, Loupe will not automatically update the SKU when component costs are renegotiated. For example:

• Your vendor Submits Cost Submission with Tether to Grid > OFF
• Your Sourcing Team reviews and approves quotes in Cost Submission
• Subsequent changes to Sourcing Grids will not be reflected in submitted cost submissions and SKU is designated as ‘off-grid’

What happens if only some parts of the Cost Submission are tethered to grid?

When your vendor submits Cost Submission with Tether to Grid > ON, Loupe will automatically update the SKU when component costs are renegotiated. For example:

• Your Sourcing Team reviews and approves quotes in Cost Submission
• Subsequent changes to Sourcing Grids will now automatically update costs in all submitted cost submissions
• The vendor receives the notification of changes in the sourcing grid & affected Cost Submissions Activity log will capture what has changed