---
title: Manufacturers
order: 10
updated: 2026-07-12
---

# Manufacturers

Manufacturers — called *makes* throughout the app — are the brands behind the products you sell or source (`Siemens`, `ABB`, `Schneider`, and so on). A make is stored once, as its own master record, and every other record that needs a brand — a supplier, a product head, a product code, an enquiry line, a purchase order line, a stock movement — points at that one record by reference. That single-source design is what makes renaming safe (change it in one place and it updates everywhere) and deletion careful (the app will not let you remove a make that is still pointed at). You can also attach documents — brand catalogues, authorisation letters, price lists — to each make.

This page covers the *Manufacturers* tab under *Utilities*: adding, searching, renaming, attaching documents, and deleting makes, plus every server-side rule the app enforces behind the buttons.

## Open the Manufacturers screen

1. Open *Data Entry* in the sidebar and click *Utilities*.
2. Open the *Manufacturers* tab (the factory icon — it is the first tab).

The *Manufacturers* tab only appears if you are a firm administrator or hold the *Edit Product Head* (`database.editProductHead`) permission. If you have access to none of the *Utilities* tabs, the page says so instead. See [Utilities](/docs/records/utilities) for the other tabs (*Product Units*, *Warehouses*).

> Manufacturers used to live behind a *Manage Manufacturers* pop-up on the *Suppliers* page. Nothing about how they work changed — only where you find them. The same list still feeds the supplier *Makes & Categories* picker; see [Suppliers](/docs/records/suppliers).

The screen shows a heading with a live count of how many makes are loaded (a `+` after the number, e.g. `120+`, means more exist below the current page), a *+ Add Manufacturer* button, a search box, and the manufacturers table. Each row has *Edit*, *Documents*, and *Delete* buttons.

## Add a manufacturer

1. Click *+ Add Manufacturer*.
2. The *Add Manufacturer* form opens in a small modal.
3. Type the *Manufacturer Name* — for example `Siemens`, `ABB`, or `Schneider`.
4. Click *Add* (or press `Enter`).

The manufacturer is saved and the list refreshes so it appears in place. It can then be picked when tagging a supplier, listing a product head's allowed makes, or choosing a make on an enquiry, order, purchase order, or stock movement.

### Manufacturer Name

- **What it is** — the brand label shown everywhere this make is referenced.
- **Allowed values** — any text. The name is trimmed of leading/trailing spaces before saving. It must contain at least one non-space character; an empty or whitespace-only name is rejected (the *Add* button stays disabled while the field is blank, and the server also returns an error if a blank name is forced through).
- **Default** — empty; you must type a name.
- **Gotchas**
  - There is **no maximum length** enforced, but keep names short and recognisable — they show in tables, pickers, and on printed documents.
  - Use the brand's **official spelling**. The list does **not** enforce uniqueness, so `ABB Ltd.` and `ABB` will happily coexist as two separate makes and split your supplier shortlists. One person should keep the list tidy.
  - The *Add Manufacturer* modal has no *Cancel* button — press `Escape` to abandon it (clicking the backdrop does not close it).

## Find a manufacturer

Type into the *Search manufacturers…* box. Search is **fuzzy** and forgiving: it matches on exact name, prefix, the name with punctuation and spacing ignored, out-of-order words, character subsequences, and character overlap, then ranks the closest matches first. So `schnieder` still finds `Schneider`, and `abb ltd` finds `ABB Ltd.`.

- Searching starts about a third of a second after you stop typing (it waits so it is not firing on every keystroke), and returns up to `30` matches.
- While a search term is present, the table shows the matches instead of the full list, and the "load more" scroll is paused. Clear the box to return to the full, alphabetical list.
- An empty search box is ignored — the full list is shown.

The full list itself is sorted **alphabetically, case-insensitively** (so `abb` and `ABB` sort together) and loads `20` rows at a time as you scroll.

## Edit (rename) a manufacturer

1. Click *Edit* on the row. The *Edit Manufacturer* form opens with the current name filled in.
2. Change the name and click *Update* (or press `Enter`). *Cancel* or `Escape` backs out with no change.
3. A *Confirm Update* prompt appears, warning that renaming *"old name"* to *"new name"* will update the make name across all associated enquiries and suppliers and cannot be undone.
4. Click *Confirm Update* to apply, or *Go Back* to return to the edit form without saving.

### Why renaming asks for confirmation

Because the make is stored once and referenced by ID everywhere else, changing the name on the master record changes the label seen on **every** supplier, product head, product code, enquiry, order, purchase order, and stock movement that uses it — instantly, with no per-record edit. That is powerful and usually what you want (fixing a typo fixes it everywhere), but it means an accidental rename is firm-wide, so the *Confirm Update* step is there to slow you down. Old documents that were **already sent or printed** keep whatever text they went out with — only live records reflect the new name.

## Attach documents to a manufacturer

Click *Documents* on a row to open the *Documents* modal for that make. Use it to keep brand material — catalogues, dealer/authorisation letters, price lists, datasheets — alongside the make.

- **Upload** — drag files onto the drop zone or click it to browse. You can upload several files at once.
- **Per-file limit** — `50 MB` per file. Larger files are skipped with a message; the rest still upload. **Any file type** is accepted (PDF, images, spreadsheets, Word, etc.).
- **The table** shows each file's name, size, upload date (formatted `dd MMM yyyy`, e.g. `05 Jul 2026`), and who uploaded it, with *View* and *Remove* actions.
- **View** opens the file in the in-app previewer.
- **Remove** asks *"Remove this file?"* in a small popover. Confirming unlinks the file from this make. If that file was **not** attached to any other record (enquiry, product code, product head, or another make), it is also physically deleted and your document-storage usage is reduced; a file shared with other records is only unlinked here and stays intact elsewhere.

### Permissions on documents

- **Viewing/downloading** attachments needs *View Product Heads* (`database.viewProductHeadList`), re-checked on the server.
- **Uploading and removing** attachments needs *Edit Product Head* (`database.editProductHead`), re-checked on the server. (This is the same permission that unlocks the whole *Manufacturers* tab.)

Only files that finished uploading successfully are listed — a failed upload will not appear.

## Delete a manufacturer

1. Click *Delete* on the row.
2. A *Delete Manufacturer* confirmation appears. Click *Delete* to proceed or *Cancel* to back out.

The server then checks whether the make is still used anywhere before removing it.

### The in-use check (why a delete can be blocked)

Deleting a make requires the *Edit Product Head* (`database.editProductHead`) permission — the server returns a permission error otherwise, even if the button is visible.

Before deleting, the server runs the shared *Where Is This Used?* check in **block** mode. If the make is referenced **anywhere**, the delete is refused and the *Where Is This Used?* window opens listing every place that still depends on it. This is a hard block — there is **no "Proceed anyway"** for makes. You must repoint or remove those records first, then try the delete again.

The check covers every reference to a make, including:

- **Suppliers** — the make listed under a supplier's *Makes & Categories*.
- **Product heads** — a head's *allowed makes*.
- **Product codes** — the makes attached to a code.
- **Enquiries and enquiry drafts** — makes chosen on product lines.
- **Quotations / sales orders** and **purchase orders** — line-item makes.
- **Sourcing events, vendor invitations, and supplier quotation drafts** — the make offered against an RFQ line.
- **Stock movements** — arrivals, adjustments, transfers, deliveries, and conversions (both the *from* and *to* side), and assembly-cost components.

This breadth is deliberate: it prevents the old failure where deleting a make silently left years-old stock movements pointing at a make that no longer existed. See [Deleting records safely](/docs/records/deleting-records) for how the *Where Is This Used?* window works and how to clear references.

## Common questions

### Where did the *Manage Manufacturers* button go?

It moved. Manufacturers used to open as a pop-up from inside the *Suppliers* page; they now have their own tab under *Data Entry → Utilities → Manufacturers*. The list is the same. See [Utilities](/docs/records/utilities).

### Can two manufacturers share the same name?

Yes — the list does **not** block duplicate names. That is a housekeeping risk, not a feature: `ABB` and `ABB Ltd.` become two independent makes and fragment your supplier shortlists and reporting. Agree on one spelling per brand and stick to it.

### Why is renaming a manufacturer treated as a big deal?

Because the name lives in exactly one record and everything else references it by ID, a rename re-labels the make across every supplier, product, enquiry, order, and stock record at once. The *Confirm Update* step exists so you do not change a brand label firm-wide by accident. Documents already sent keep their original wording.

### I renamed a make but an old quotation still shows the old name — why?

Anything already sent or printed keeps the text it went out with. The rename only updates live records that look the make up by reference.

### Why can't I delete this manufacturer?

It is still used somewhere. The *Where Is This Used?* window lists exactly where — a supplier, a product head's allowed makes, an old enquiry or purchase order, a stock movement, and so on. Remove or repoint those references, then delete. Makes are a hard block with no override. See [Deleting records safely](/docs/records/deleting-records).

### Who can see and use this screen?

Firm administrators and users with *Edit Product Head* (`database.editProductHead`). The same permission is re-checked on the server when you delete a make or upload/remove its documents; viewing a make's documents needs *View Product Heads* (`database.viewProductHeadList`).

### How do makes relate to suppliers and products?

A make is a brand. You tag each supplier with the brands they carry (their *Makes & Categories*) so you can shortlist vendors quickly during sourcing, and you list a product head's *allowed makes* so only sensible brands can be picked on that product. See [Suppliers](/docs/records/suppliers), [Products](/docs/records/products), and [Product codes](/docs/records/product-codes).