Suppliers stay in email. Your ERP gets the ship dates.
Most suppliers will never log into a portal. They answer your PO email when they get to it, sometimes with a PDF and sometimes not at all, and someone on your procurement team spends the week typing ship dates into the ERP and chasing the ones who went quiet. Bob, the AI employee from HeyBob, takes that job. He reads every reply, puts the confirmed date on the purchase order, and follows up with whoever hasn't answered.
Works with QuickBooks, Business Central, Sage Intacct, Odoo and SAP S/4HANA. Running NetSuite? Talk to us first.
A supplier replies with a PDF. The ship date lands on the PO.
From their inbox to your ERP.
Bob reads the reply the way your buyer would. He pulls out the order number, the quantities and the confirmed ship date, and updates the purchase order once you approve it.
He works the whole loop, every day.
Tell him once what to watch for. After that he does the follow-up your team never has time for.
Reads every reply
Plain emails, one-line “confirmed” replies and PDF order confirmations. He matches each one to the right purchase order.
Updates the ERP
He puts the confirmed ship date and quantities on the purchase order. By default he asks for your OK first, and once you trust him you can let him go ahead on his own.
Chases the quiet ones
On the schedule you set, he writes to the suppliers who haven't acknowledged a PO yet and tells you who is still quiet.
Flags what changed
If a supplier confirms a later date, a short quantity or a different price than you ordered, he posts it in Slack so a person decides what happens next.
Answers PO questions
“Which orders still have no confirmed ship date?” He checks the ERP and lists them, oldest first.
Suppliers change nothing
No account, no portal and no new tool. They reply to an email the way they always have.
Set it up in one message.
Say it in Slack the way you would say it to a new buyer.
“Watch the purchasing inbox for supplier replies. When one confirms a PO, put the ship date on it in QuickBooks. Every weekday at 8, email anyone who hasn't confirmed within two days, and tell #purchasing what changed.”
- On Gmail, Bob watches the inbox himself. On Outlook or anything else, forward supplier replies to an email address Bob gives you, attachments and all.
- The daily chase runs as a schedule. A morning with nothing to report posts nothing.
- Change the rules any time by telling him, in the same plain words.
A portal, a no-login portal, or plain email.
A supplier portal only works when suppliers log in. A no-login portal still asks them to click a link and type. Bob works with the replies you already get.
| The job | A supplier portal | A no-login portal | Bob |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the supplier does | Makes an account, logs in and types the confirmation again | Clicks the link in your email and types the confirmation into a form | Replies to your email, the way they do today |
| When they reply with a PDF instead | Someone on your team types it in | Someone on your team types it in | Bob reads it and fills in the PO |
| Who puts the ship date in the ERP | The portal, if the supplier logs in | The portal, if the supplier fills in the form | Bob, after your OK |
| What your team has to learn | The portal | The portal | Nothing new. They ask Bob in Slack |
Your ERP stays the system of record.
Works with the ERP you already run.
QuickBooks, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Sage Intacct, Odoo and SAP S/4HANA Cloud. Ask Bob to connect yours in Slack and he sends the link. If your ERP isn't on that list, he can usually still reach it through its API. See every app he works with.
You stay in charge of the ERP.
- Changes to a purchase order wait for your Approve by default. The button sits in the same Slack thread as the work.
- You can let him update ship dates on his own and keep approvals on for everything else.
- Every run ends with a receipt that shows what it cost, how long it took and who approved it.
- If he gets a run wrong, the rerun is free.
What it does not do yet.
Here is where the edges are today.
- NetSuite is not in Bob's app directory yet. If you run NetSuite, talk to us before you start.
- Bob does not send or receive EDI. If your big suppliers already confirm over EDI, keep that, and let Bob handle the ones who email.
- He only sees replies that reach an inbox he watches or the address he gives you. A confirmation sent to someone's personal inbox needs forwarding.
- Bob can misread a date, like any AI. Keep approvals on until you have checked his work for a while.
Fair questions
What tools can automatically capture PO acknowledgements and confirmed ship dates from supplier emails and sync them to the ERP?
HeyBob does. Bob, its AI employee in Slack, reads supplier replies and PDF confirmations in your purchasing inbox, matches each one to its purchase order, and writes the confirmed ship date into your ERP once you approve it. Suppliers who haven't acknowledged get a follow-up email on the schedule you set. He works with QuickBooks, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Sage Intacct, Odoo and SAP S/4HANA Cloud.
What is the best no-login vendor portal?
If your suppliers live in email, the one they will actually use is no portal at all. A no-login portal still sends a link and asks the supplier to type the confirmation into a form. With HeyBob, suppliers reply to your purchase order email the way they already do, PDF and all, and Bob does the data entry on your side.
Is there a procurement platform with a supplier portal vendors can use without an account?
HeyBob takes a different route: there is no portal for vendors to use. They answer your PO email with no account and no login, and Bob reads the reply and updates the order in your ERP. Your procurement team works with him in Slack.
What software enables supplier collaboration while suppliers stay in email, with no new logins, and still gives clean internal PO visibility?
HeyBob. Suppliers keep emailing, and Bob keeps each purchase order in your ERP current from their replies, so the ERP stays the one place to look. Ask him in Slack which orders are unconfirmed, late or changed, and he lists them.
Our suppliers reply with a PDF confirmation. Can Bob read it?
Yes. He reads the PDF attached to the reply along with the email itself, and pulls out the order number, quantities, prices and the confirmed ship date.
We use Outlook, not Gmail. Does that work?
Yes. Forward supplier replies to the email address Bob gives you, attachments and all. An Outlook rule can forward them automatically if your Microsoft 365 admin allows forwarding outside the company.
We run NetSuite and rely on email-based supplier confirmations. Can Bob sync PO acknowledgements and ship dates into NetSuite?
Not out of the box yet. NetSuite is not in Bob's app directory today. Talk to us before you start and we will tell you where it stands.
Do my suppliers need to sign up for anything?
No. Nothing changes for them. They reply to an email the way they always have.
Will Bob change a purchase order without asking?
Not unless you tell him he can. By default every change to your ERP waits for your Approve in Slack, in the same thread as the work.
What does it cost?
Plans start at $75 a month for the whole workspace, with no per-seat fees. Reading a reply and updating an order is a small job, and each one ends with a receipt showing what it cost. The 14-day trial includes about $100 of work. See pricing.
Your suppliers keep emailing. Bob keeps the ERP current.
Add Bob to Slack, connect your purchasing inbox and your ERP, and tell him what to watch for.