SAP Ariba^® Platform Supplier Enablement FAQs

Grace has transitioned to SAP Ariba® Platform and will be conducting all business transactions through that platform. Orders received in SAP Ariba® must be invoiced in the SAP Ariba® platform.

For most suppliers, the first new purchase order sent through SAP Ariba® platform will initiate the process and contain a link with directions to create a new account or log in using an existing account to establish a trading relationship with Grace on the SAP Ariba® Network. See Establish a Relationship with Grace - Interactive Email.  This process is also demonstrated in SAP Ariba® Tutorial Videos under Getting Started > Establishing a Relationship. 

There are two types of accounts: Standard and Enterprise. There is no charge for a Standard Account, whereas there may be fees with an Enterprise Account depending on the volume and number of transactions. For more details about accounts and fees, visit SAP Ariba® Subscriptions and Pricing.

We can only remove the relationship to one account and establish a relationship with another after all open orders have been invoiced to close out the current account.

If you have multiple accounts, you also have the option to link them together by creating an account hierarchy.  The account hierarchy feature is available for both Enterprise and Standard Account suppliers.  You can create an account hierarchy between an Enterprise Account (parent) and a Standard Account (child) and vice-versa; however, the parent account is dominant when the account profiles are linked. For that reason, be aware of an automatic account upgrade when you try to create a hierarchy between an Enterprise Account (parent) and a Standard Account (child) or an automatic account downgrade when you try to create a hierarchy between a Standard Account (parent) and an Enterprise Account (child) while choosing to synchronize, i.e. linking the company profiles.

For more information, refer to Account Hierarchy versus Link User ID's.  The linking process starts on slide 32.

Only if you’re an indirect supplier. Log into your account and click on the “Account Settings” menu in the top right corner and then select “Convert to Standard Account” in the dropdown menu and follow the prompts to downgrade your account.

You will be taken to a screen that summarizes the process and has a link to “check eligibility”. When you click on this, it will show all the requirements and if there are any outstanding issues that need to be addressed.

Your account administrator is responsible for setting up new users on the account and defining their roles/permissions. Each account can have up to 250 users but only one administrator. Click on video playlist and select User Creation for additional assistance.

1. Go to the SAP Ariba® Supplier Login page and click on either “Forgot Username” or “Password.” 

2. Enter your e-mail address and click Submit.

Please refer to How do I access and change the former administrator's account? (ariba.com) for the options available depending whether the administrator is still with or no longer with your company.

Select Edit filter under Orders tile on your Ariba Workbench.  Click the double squares icon in the Customers field to verify Grace exists.  If not, then a relationship has not been established yet.

If Grace is a customer and you still do not see an order, change Creation date to Last 365 days and click Apply. Save filter if you want to keep the change.

If you are not receiving e-mails from SAP Ariba, first verify that your user's e-mail address is correct and that your notification settings are configured properly. If so, contact your local IT department to determine if there are any filters on your e-mail server that are blocking e-mails from SAP Ariba.  If needed, your IT department can also add SAP Ariba's IP addresses and the e-mail domains:

• @smtp.mn1.ariba.com
• @smtp.mn2.ariba.com
• @ansmtp.ariba.com
• @eusmtp.ariba.com

Make sure the TLS (Transport Layer Security) version is 1.2 and above.  If all settings are configured properly in both your SAP Ariba account and internal e-mail server, the attachments included in the notification may be too large which is preventing the e-mail from being received.

The purchase order has been updated. The supplier must confirm the change order and use that most recent version to submit any invoice(s).

See the Ship Notice section of Ariba Training video (under Training Sessions on grace.com/ariba).

Refer to Setting Up Notifications section of Ariba Training video (under Training Sessions on grace.com/ariba) for a demonstration of how to set up several types of notifications, including payment remittance, goods receipt and invoice failure.

You can list up to three separate e-mail addresses in your Electronic Order Routing preferences.  Separate e-mail addresses with a comma and no space. If more than three contacts in your company need to receive new purchase order notifications, you'll need to set up an internal distribution list at your company and configure the distribution list as one of the three e-mail addresses.

The account administrator will need to follow the steps below. 

• Log into the administrator’s account
• Click on button with your initials in the upper righthand corner  for dropdown menu
• Select Settings, then choose Electronic Order Routing
• Change the e-mail address under New Orders
• Click Save

You will need to make sure there are no active customers you’re transacting with on the account and contact Ariba Customer Support to deprecate/delete the account.

Effective 5/21/21, all Enterprise and Standard Account suppliers will see a new supplier portal and workbench.  The updated portal will introduce new capabilities that help suppliers find,  filter and get to their important documents more efficiently.  Suppliers will also have the ability to customize their homepage specifically for the way they work.  It will not impact your supplier account ANID, transaction documents, or notification, routing, linked user or other account configurations.  Please review the workbench guide and videos to learn what’s new:

• What's new for Enterprise Accounts 
• What's new for Standard Accounts

This is an alert to notify you of an already existing account to avoid creating a duplicate one.  You should “Review Accounts” first to check list of matching accounts for your company.   After reviewing, you have the option to log in using an existing account to establish a  trading relationship with Grace (this will need to be done by the account administrator) or create a new account.

A regular Internet connection and a web browser are the only requirements.

If you are a supplier, go to https://supplier.ariba.com and click Supported browsers and plugins at the bottom of the page to access a list of currently supported browsers.

Your company can have multiple Ariba accounts, depending on your business needs.  For example, if your company has several locations around the world, you might want a separate account for each region.  Please note if you have multiple accounts you’re using, Grace can only accommodate requests for different ANID’s if each entity has a different Tax ID.

You are receiving this message because the username you are entering is already associated with an Ariba Network, Ariba Discovery, or Ariba Sourcing supplier account.  You will still be able to register a new user account, but the new username will need to be unique to satisfy Ariba's system requirements.

SAP Ariba requires that all usernames be formatted like an e-mail address, but they do not have to be a valid e-mail address.  For example, if your username of example@ariba.com was not accepted, you can try using example1@ariba.com.

The language you see on your Ariba account is based on your language settings in your Internet browser.

Using Internet Explorer:

1. Click Tools > Internet Options > Languages.

2. In the Language Preference window, click Add to add the desired language.

3. Select the language to add and click OK.

4. This language will need to be placed at the top of the list using the Move up button.

5. Click OK and click OK again from the Internet Options window.

Using Mozilla Firefox:

1. Click Tools > Options > Content > Languages > Choose.

2. Select the language you want and click Add.

3. This language will need to be placed at the top of the list using the Move up button.

4. Click OK and click OK again from the Options window.

Using Google Chrome:

1. Click the options menu in the upper right corner and choose Settings.

2. Click Show advanced settings.

3. In the Languages section, click Language and input settings.

4. Click Add.

5. Choose the language you want and click OK.

6. Drag this language to the top of the list and click Done.

7. Close the options tab.

Next, close your browser and reopen it for the changes to take effect.  If the language you select is not supported by Ariba, it defaults to English.

If you're leaving your company or moving to a new position, you need to transfer ownership of the SAP Ariba account by choosing a new administrator.  This ensures that your company doesn't experience interruptions in access to the account or in transactions with your customers.

1. At the top of the home dashboard, choose Account Settings icon > Settings > Users.

2. Click Manage Users tab and check the box for the user who will be the new administrator.

3. Click Make Administrator under Actions.

4. Ariba displays the Assign a Role page.  Choose a new role for your account and click Assign.

5. Ariba displays a warning message that indicates the name of the new account administrator.  Click OK to transfer the account administrator role.

Ariba logs you out of your account and sends an e-mail notification to the new account administrator, alerting them that they now have the administrator role.

You might receive an e-mail notification about pending enablement tasks that require your action. This means that your customer has assigned certain tasks to you to make sure your account is fully configured and ready to transact.  It's important to complete the task before the due date to ensure that it doesn't escalate to your customer.  To view a pending enablement task:

1. Access the Enablement Tasks tab.  The tab lists the actions you need to complete before transacting with your customer.

2. Click Complete Task next to a pending task and follow the instructions on the page.

Note: Some tasks require you to configure your account or to send a particular type of document, while others act as a simple confirmation that you're ready to transact.

To update the e-mail address, username, contact information, preferred language, timezone, or currency on your account:

1. Click Account Settings icon > My Account in the top right.

2. Edit any fields as needed.

3. Click Save.

If you update your e-mail address, be sure to click the link in the confirmation e-mail sent to the new e-mail address.  Usernames are unique and cannot be used multiple times.  They also need to be formatted like an e-mail, but do not need to be a valid address.  For example, if your username of test@ariba.com was not accepted, try test1@ariba.com.

To view your trading relationships, follow these instructions:

1. Click Account Settings icon > Settings > Customer Relationships

2. View your Pending, Current, and Rejected relationships under each corresponding heading.

If you don't see Customer Relationships under Account Settings icon > Settings, it may be related to one of the following causes: 1) Your account is not yet linked to a customer; or 2) You are a sub user on your company's Ariba account.  If this is the case, then the administrator will need to provide you Customer Administration and Customer Relationships permissions.  This will give you the ability to view and manage customer relationships.

The Ariba Network uses Secure Hypertex Transfer Protocol (HTTPS) for all communication between procurement applications, suppliers, and the Ariba Network.  HTTPS is the standard for secure Internet communication and uses Secure Socket Layer (SSL) with RSA Labs encryption.  Additionally, accounts on the Ariba Network are password protected.

Your account was suspended due to outstanding invoice(s).  Enterprise Accounts may be subject to fees depending on volume and number of transactions.  You will need to make payment to SAP Ariba so account can be reinstated.  Click on Ariba Network Supplier Suspension for additional details. 

Refer to the steps in NP-36683: Self-Service Account Deletion | SAP Help Portal. This process is only available to Standard Accounts. The account administrator should inform all users and customers (buyers) of the deletion to ensure they are aware of this action and there are no open orders or invoices in the account.

Please note when you submit an account deletion request, all your ANIDs associated accounts also get deleted. Once you submit your account deletion request, there is a grace period of 90 days to restore your account. If you want to restore your account within 90 days of submitting the deletion request, you must create a service request or contact customer support. Once the grace period is over, your account gets permanently deleted and cannot be retrieved.