Supplier management

Supplier management in projects
delivery dates across all projects under control

Software for supplier management in projects: Linetrack keeps every subcontract that carries the schedule as a task in the project. The supplier reports progress and dates themselves, and a delay shows up where assembly and the customer date depend on it. Selection, purchasing and evaluation stay with procurement.

Subcontracts as sub-projects in the schedule
Status from the supplier instead of a phone call
Delivery dates of all projects in one view

Linetrack software for supplier management in industrial projects

Summary

Supplier management in projects is the operational part of supplier management: it makes sure that subcontracted work arrives on the date the project schedule needs. Selection, contracts, purchasing and evaluation stay with procurement and the SRM system. Software for supplier management in projects keeps every schedule-relevant subcontract as a task in the plan, lets the supplier report back directly and shows delivery dates and on-time performance across all projects. Linetrack covers exactly this part and is used by companies such as Krüger & Salecker.

59 %

of customers named
manual status requests as the starting problem

100 %

of customers named
lack of transparency as the starting problem

1,512

industrial projects
run in parallel, platform-wide

4,000+

completed
industrial projects, platform-wide

All figures on this page come from a full survey of all productive Linetrack implementations, as of August 2026. Multiple answers were possible for the starting problems.

Definition

What does supplier management include? Six tasks, three systems

Supplier management covers six tasks: selecting and qualifying suppliers, negotiating contracts and terms, processing purchase orders, evaluating suppliers, managing risk and compliance, and coordinating dates and deliverables in the running project. The first five belong to procurement, the SRM and the ERP system. The sixth only arises after the award, inside the project.

That is where Linetrack comes in, and only there. How a subcontract gets into the plan and who does what is shown in the use case integrating suppliers into projects.

Where each task belongs

Selection and qualificationSupplier master, audits, approval Procurement / SRM
Contracts and termsFramework agreements, prices, delivery terms Procurement / SRM
Purchase order processingOrder, goods receipt, invoice ERP
Supplier evaluationQuality, price, on-time delivery across all orders Procurement / SRM
Risk and complianceCertificates, supply chain, second sources Procurement / SRM
Schedule and deliverable coordinationThe subcontract in the project scheduleLinetrack Project plan

Five tasks have established systems. The sixth falls in between: the SRM does not know the schedule, and in the project plan the supplier is often just a bar with a date.

Context

Strategic and operational supplier management: where the project takes over

Strategic supplier management decides who a company works with: supplier base, selection, framework agreements, development. Operational supplier management makes sure a specific award delivers what was promised. The line between them is the award. Before it, procurement leads; after it, a project with assembly, commissioning and a customer date depends on the delivery date.

In many companies, the operational side belongs to no one in particular. Procurement has placed the order and waits for the confirmation. The project manager knows the assembly date but not where the supplier stands. In between, there are emails.

The award as the dividing line

StrategicProcurement, SRMWho do we work with?

Supplier base and selection
Framework agreements and terms
Evaluation across all orders

OperationalProject management, project planWill the date hold for this project?

Subcontract as a task in the plan
Status reported by the supplier
Impact on assembly and customer date

How reliably a supplier delivered in the project is one of the most useful inputs for procurement's next evaluation.

The operational level needs the schedule. That is why it belongs in the project system rather than in the SRM.

Symptoms

Where supplier management
breaks down in project business

Rarely because of a single supplier. Usually because of the gap between procurement and the project, which grows with every parallel project.

Two dates, two systems

The ERP holds the delivery date from the order confirmation, the project plan holds the assembly start. Nobody checks whether they still match until one of them slips.

Status requests eat project managers' time

59 % of Linetrack customers named manual status requests as a starting problem. Across company boundaries every request takes longer, because the supplier cannot see the plan.

One supplier, five projects, five requests

A control cabinet builder delivers into several orders at once. Each project manager asks separately, and nobody sees across all projects where the same bottleneck threatens several dates.

On-time performance remains a gut feeling

Which supplier was reliable in the project appears in no report. At the next award, the project manager's memory decides.

Supplier delay

How a supplier delay moves the customer date

A supplier delay rarely stays with the supplier. If assembly depends on the purchased module, commissioning moves with it, and finally the date the customer was promised. Two weeks at the supplier are two weeks at the customer unless something is rescheduled in between.

But you can only reschedule what you know about in time. What matters is when the delay becomes known: when the assembly team is standing in an empty hall, or weeks earlier because the supplier reported it in the plan.

How Linetrack responds to a deviation and which tools are available is described on the page on project control.

Control cabinet subcontracted, CW 36 to 49

Without status in the plan

The delay surfaces in CW 42, at the planned assembly start. Lead time: 0 weeks.

Example values. The delay is the same in both cases. The difference is the time to reschedule assembly or inform the customer early.

Requirements

What software for supplier management in projects has to do

Software for supplier management in projects has to handle six things an SRM or procurement system does not cover, because they require the schedule.

Whatever is missing ends up back in the inbox. The list is also a good test for any tool sold under the label of supplier management.

Subcontract in the schedule: The awarded work is a task with dependencies, not a date in a list.
Access for the supplier: The partner sees their requirements and reports back, with no licence cost on their side.
Visible knock-on effects: When the supplier reports a delay, the dependent tasks move with it up to the customer date.
All projects in one view: Delivery dates and open status updates across all parallel projects, not one project at a time.
On-time performance per supplier: The status updates in the project produce a reliable figure for the next award.
ERP connection: Subcontracts come from the ERP into the plan instead of being entered twice.

Solution

Why Linetrack is the right software for supplier management in projects

Linetrack is project software for industrial companies. The supplier sits in the same plan as your own departments.

Suppliers in the same plan

How a subcontract is created, how the supplier is invited and what they see: the process step by step.

Supplier access without licence cost

Their own area, an email invitation, a free collaboration licence for the partner. The features in detail.

Subcontracts from the ERP

With an ERP connected, selected subcontracts are created automatically as sub-projects in the plan.

USP 1

Subcontracts as sub-projects right inside the schedule

In Linetrack a subcontract is a sub-project with its own tasks, dates and deliverables. It hangs in the plan with the same dependencies as design or assembly. A bar with an end date is not enough for that.

With an ERP connected, selected subcontracts are created in the plan automatically. Which systems can be connected is listed under integrations.

Deliverables and files directly on the subcontract

Dependencies on assembly, commissioning and acceptance

Only what carries the date: standard parts stay in the ERP

Subcontract as a sub-project in the schedule, supplier management in projects with Linetrack

USP 2

The supplier reports, instead of being called

The supplier gets their own area and an invitation by email. There they see their requirements and dates and enter progress, dates and files. Linetrack reminds them automatically when an update is due. The project manager no longer has to chase them by phone.

What the supplier sees, what they don't and how quickly they can start is described on the page integrating suppliers into projects.

Question	By email and phone
Who asks for status?	The project manager, one by one	Linetrack, automatically
Where is the status?	In the inbox of whoever asked	On the task in the plan
Who sees the delay?	Whoever read the email	Everyone working on the project
What does access cost?	–	Nothing for the supplier

Supplier onboarding by invitation, supplier management in projects in Linetrack

USP 3

Delivery dates and on-time performance across all projects

The supplier dashboard shows all integrated suppliers with open tasks, time progress, maturity and on-time performance. Anyone running ten projects in parallel sees which delivery dates are at risk without opening ten plans.

The view follows the same logic as multi-project management in Linetrack: one plan per project, one evaluation across all of them.

Open status updates per supplier at a glance

On-time performance from the updates in the project, not from memory

One supplier in several projects: all dates side by side

Dashboard for supplier management in projects with tasks, time progress, maturity and on-time performance of suppliers

Comparison

Supplier coordination by email and ERP or in the project plan

Most companies coordinate subcontracts with what they already have: delivery date in the ERP, project plan in Excel or MS Project, status by email. Where the ERP project module reaches its limits is shown in the comparison with the ERP project module; moving away from spreadsheets is covered in the comparison with Excel.

Requirement	Email, Excel, ERP
Subcontract in the schedule	A date in a list	Sub-project with dependencies
Status from the supplier	On request by email	Update on the task
Impact of a delay	Adjusted by hand	Dependent tasks move with it
Overview across all projects	One file per project	One dashboard for all suppliers
On-time performance per supplier	Not evaluated	From updates in the project
Access for the supplier	None	Own area, free of charge

Industries

Supplier management
by industry

What gets subcontracted depends on the industry. What they share: the delivery date carries part of the project.

Machine and plant engineering

Control cabinets, controls, castings, third-party assembly. Purchased parts often sit on the critical path to commissioning.

Special machine building

Every machine is a one-off, purchased components have long lead times and the schedule leaves little room.

Building and energy technology

Workshop, site and supplier share one project. Other trades and subcontractors sit in the same plan.

Construction and infrastructure

More external than internal parties: subcontractors and trades work one after another at the same site.

Boundaries

What Linetrack deliberately does not do in supplier management

Linetrack is not an SRM or procurement system. Selection, contracts and purchasing stay with vendors such as SupplyOn, JAGGAER or Onventis and in the ERP. Linetrack starts after the award.

No supplier selectionNo supplier master, no audits, no approval.
No purchase order processingOrders, goods receipt and invoices stay in the ERP.
No contracts or termsFramework agreements and prices are managed by procurement.
No portal for every orderOnly what carries the schedule goes into the plan. More under supplier integration in projects.

How the subcontract gets into the plan

Procurement, SRM, ERPAward and orderSupplier chosen, order placed
LinetrackSubcontract in the planSub-project with dates and deliverables
ProjectAssembly and customer dateDelay visible before it hits

On-time performance from the project is available to procurement for the next supplier evaluation.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Any questions?

Book an appointment with our team.

What does supplier management include?

Supplier management covers six tasks: supplier selection and qualification, contracts and terms, purchase order processing, supplier evaluation, risk and compliance management, and coordinating dates and deliverables in the running project. The first five are handled in procurement, the SRM and the ERP system. The sixth only arises after the award and therefore belongs in project planning.

What is the difference between strategic and operational supplier management?

Strategic supplier management decides which suppliers a company works with: selection, framework agreements, evaluation and development across all orders. Operational supplier management makes sure a specific award arrives on time and as agreed. In project business the award is the dividing line: before it, procurement leads; after it, the delivery date depends on the project schedule.

What is the difference between supplier management and supplier relationship management?

Supplier relationship management (SRM) is the strategic part of supplier management and usually also the name of the systems for it: selection, qualification, evaluation, risk and supplier development across all orders. Supplier management in projects means the operational part, i.e. the dates and deliverables of a specific subcontract. The SRM knows the supplier master, the project software knows the schedule. That is why you need both.

Which software is suitable for supplier management in projects?

Supplier management in projects needs project software in which the subcontract is a task in the schedule and the supplier can report back directly. An SRM system is not enough because it does not know the schedule. A separate supplier tool next to the plan creates yet another data silo. Linetrack keeps subcontracts as sub-projects, gives the supplier a free area via supplier access and shows delivery dates across all projects.

Does Linetrack replace SupplyOn, JAGGAER or Onventis?

No. Linetrack covers neither the supplier master, audits and approvals nor framework agreements, purchase order processing or procurement's supplier evaluation. It is not a replacement for an SRM or procurement system. Linetrack starts after the award decision: the subcontract is kept as a sub-project with dates and deliverables in the project plan and reported back by the supplier. In practice both systems run side by side.

How do you keep track of delivery dates across several projects?

By keeping all schedule-relevant subcontracts in the same database as the project plans. Then a single view shows which delivery dates are open or at risk in which projects, even when the same supplier is involved in several orders. In Linetrack the supplier dashboard shows open status updates, time progress and on-time performance of all integrated suppliers.

How can you measure suppliers' on-time performance in a project?

On-time performance can only be measured when the promised and the actual date are in the same place. If the supplier reports progress and dates directly on the task in the project plan, the figure comes for free. If dates are agreed by email, it stays a memory. Linetrack shows the on-time performance of integrated suppliers in the dashboard. Procurement can use it for the next evaluation; there is no automatic transfer to an SRM system.

Are Excel or the ERP enough for supplier management in projects?

For the purchase order, yes; for coordination in the project, usually not. The ERP holds the delivery date from the order confirmation but not what assembly and the customer date depend on. Excel holds the plan, but the supplier cannot report back there. Bringing both together remains manual work for the project manager. As the number of parallel projects grows, that is exactly where it gets stuck, as the comparison with Excel shows.

What does software for supplier management in projects cost?

It depends on the number of users in your own company and the interfaces you need. Linetrack only licenses your own users. The supplier works with a free collaboration licence so the hurdle on their side stays low. You get a quote after a short conversation about the number of projects and your system landscape.

How are supplier management and multi-project management connected?

In project business the same supplier often delivers into several projects at once. Their delay then hits several dates, and their capacity is a shared resource just like your own assembly team. Multi-project management makes exactly these cross-dependencies visible. Supplier management in projects therefore works best in the same database in which all projects are planned.

How does Linetrack support supplier management in mechanical engineering?

In machine and plant engineering, purchased modules such as control cabinets, controls or castings often sit on the critical path to commissioning. Linetrack keeps these subcontracts as sub-projects in the schedule, links them to assembly and commissioning and lets the supplier report back directly. If they report a delay, the project manager immediately sees which follow-on dates are affected. More on the page project management software for mechanical engineering.

Case study

When two of three units come from other manufacturers

Krüger & Salecker builds forming machines for the food, pharma and pet food industries. A Compact Line places three units on just under eight metres, two of them from other manufacturers. Design, manufacturing, assembly and commissioning interlock, and part of the line sits with suppliers. In Linetrack each responsible department maintains its element of the work breakdown structure and reports its status there.

How this is set up is described in the Krüger & Salecker case study.

„With Linetrack, we've not only brought transparency to our projects but also significantly increased our productivity.“

Tammo Bettex

Managing Director

Krüger & Salecker Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG