# Working with Supplier Change Notifications (QMS)
Supplier change notifications are a way for a supplier to notify their customer (your organization) about a modification to an existing ingredient, packaging changes, or other changes for which they are required to as per their supplier agreements. The supplier typically sends this notification as an email. QMS has built-in tools for processing supplier change notification emails. This makes it easier to get supplier change notifications into the system, triage the record, and allow you to determine if a _Change Control_ or other _Quality Event_ is required.
## Supplier Change Notification Automation
When configured, QMS uses an Email Processor and an Inbound Email Address to automate the intake of supplier change notifications. Using organization data derived from _Person_ records, Vault populates the _Supplier_ and _Supplier Contact_ values on the resulting _Supplier Change Notification_ records.
After intaking a notification, the system automatically matches follow-up emails and joins those _Email_ records to the _Supplier Change Notification_ record as _Supplier Change Notification Emails_. Vault adds any attachments to the _Supplier Change Notification_ record and if configured, parses the attachment to automatically create related object records associated with the _Supplier Change Notification_. In this way, the _Supplier Change Notification_ becomes a complete repository for emails related to a single notification event, making it easier for you to review its impact.
## Email Processor Execution
When the _Create Supplier Change Notification_ email processor executes, the email processor determines whether there is already an applicable _Supplier Change Notification_ record by checking the `Message-ID` and `References`, in the email's header information.
If there is no existing applicable _Supplier Change Notification_ record, Vault attempts to create one and auto-populates the _Supplier Contact_ information in one of the following ways based on your organization's email forwarding or redirecting configuration:
* **Auto-Forwarding**: This occurs when the email system forwards the email from a user's inbox to Vault. Vault evaluates such emails as coming from the user's inbox, for example, `correspondence@vernbio.com`. To find the _Supplier Contact_, Vault attempts to parse the first `From` email address in the body of the email and determine if that matches to a _Person_ record in the Vault. The system will not attempt to look at other `Forwarded` message blocks in the email. It will only process the first one it finds.
* **Auto-Redirecting**: This occurs when the email system redirects the email from a user's inbox to Vault. In this case, Vault evaluates such emails as coming from the original sender, for example, `theresaibanez@vernsupplier.com`. This type of processing requires that the list of known senders is represented by _Person_ records in Vault. Vault looks up the email address of the sender against _Person_ records and, if found, intakes the email. If the sender is not in the system as a _Person_ record, the email will not be processed.
If the email is processed, Vault populates the resulting _Supplier Change Notification_ record with relevant information.
## Viewing Supplier Change Notifications
_Supplier Change Notification_ records are available to view from a custom object tab or **Business Admin > Objects > Supplier Change Notifications**. These records contain information about the email activity which initiated them:
|Field|Description|
|---|---|
|Email Sent Date|A DateTime value.|
|Sender Email Address|Plain text of the sender's email address.|
|Supplier Contact|Links to the Person Record with the email address of the sender. If the email processor finds more than one applicable Person record, it leaves this field value blank.|
|Supplier|Links to the Organization record of the Person in the Supplier Contact field. The email processor only populates this value if the Organization record is Active.|
|Title|Plain text of the email's subject line.|
|Attachments|Includes files attached to the original email as well as any followup emails, up to a limit of 50 files.|
|Vault Email Inbox Address|The Vault email inbox from which the original email was sent to.|
|Message ID|The `Message-ID` value from the latest email's header.|
|Root Message ID|The `Message-ID` value from the original email's header.|
### Email Body & HTML
In the _Email Body_ section or _Email Body_ field of the _Supplier Change Notification_ record details page, Vault renders the email for viewing in its original language. In some situations, special characters may not render as they might in an email viewer. Click on the HTML icon to view the HTML text of the original email body. If the email content exceeds 32,000 characters, the _Email Body_ section displays a warning message in Vault and on downloaded PDFs, while the _Email Body_ field displays a truncated version of the email text. You can view and download the full email in the record's _Attachments_ section.
### Attachments
The _Attachments_ section contains the original email file, and any files attached to the original email or any follow-up emails, up to a limit of 50 files.
## Extracting Related Objects from Attachments {#extract}
An Admin can configure the _Extract and Relate Entity from Attachment_ action to parse attachments and automatically create related object records associated with the _Supplier Change Notification_. For example, if a document sent from a supplier references a material that exists in your Vault, Vault matches the text from the attachment to the existing _Material_ record, creates an _Impacted Qualification_ record, and relates it to the _Supplier Change Notification_.
This action may have a different name based on your Vault's configuration but you can access it from a _Supplier Change Notification_ record's **Actions** menu. Select an existing attachment and click **OK** to initiate the action. Vault notifies you when the extraction is complete and you can access the new join record from the appropriate related object section on the _Supplier Change Notification_.
## Processing Supplier Change Notifications
While processes for supplier change notifications differ across organizations, the example below takes advantage of the automation described in this article.
1. **Initial Setup**: Your organization creates _Organization_ and _Person_ records in QMS for each potential supplier contact that may initiate a notification, and an Admin configures QMS to automate notification intake.
2. **Notification Initiation**: A known supplier sends a supplier change notification email to the designated contact at your organization. Your organization's email server automatically forwards or redirects the email to QMS's email processor. Vault automatically creates a _Supplier Change Notification_ record and begins tracking emails related to this event.
3. **Attachment Extraction**: Your supplier change notification email contains an attachment referencing a material or qualification and an Admin configures a user action for Vault to extract and relate entities parsed from the attachment.
4. **Notification Follow-up**: Your organization communicates back and forth with the supplier and all related emails and attachments that are part of the same email thread are collected in the _Supplier Change Notification_ record.
5. **Impact Assessment**: You evaluate the impact of the notification via your organization's processes, potentially by creating _Impacted Sites_ or _Impact Assessment_ records. You send them through their assessment workflow and determine whether a _Quality Event_, such as a _Change Control_, is necessary.
## Related Permissions
To view _Supplier Change Notifications_ and perform impact assessments on them, you require a security profile which grants you the following permissions:
* _Read_, _Create_, and _Edit_ permissions on the _Supplier Change Notification_ object.
* _Read_ permission on the _Email_, _Person_, and _Organization_ objects.
[1]: #extract