Integrations explained
What an Integration is, what it's made of, how it exchanges data, and the five stages of setting one up.
An Integration is a connection between Supply Lens and another application, such as an e-commerce platform, an ERP or accounting system, a 3PL provider, or an EDI or PEPPOL relationship. Once connected, Supply Lens can automatically send and receive data between your systems according to your configuration.
Supply Lens as the hub
You can have as many Integrations active at the same time as you need. Supply Lens acts as the central hub: each Integration handles one system, and Mappings decide how data flows between them.
Each Integration is one connection to one account. Two Shopify stores, or an Unleashed sandbox alongside your live Unleashed account, are separate Integrations, each with its own credentials.
Supply Lens supports hundreds of Integrations. See Available Integrations.
What an Integration is made of
| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| The connection | The credentials (API key, token or sign-in) that let Supply Lens reach the other system. Managed on the Credentials card. |
| Configurations | One per document type the Integration handles, each set to Send, Receive or both, with settings for that type. |
| Settings on the tile | Activation, State, Schedule, Default Unit of Measure and the rest. See Integration settings. |
| Mappings that use it | Not part of the Integration itself, but nothing flows until a Mapping routes Documents from or to it. |
Send and Receive
Directions are always from Supply Lens's point of view:
| Direction | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Receive | Supply Lens collects data from this system | Orders received from Shopify |
| Send | Supply Lens pushes data to this system | Orders sent into Unleashed |
How an Integration exchanges data
| Method | How it works |
|---|---|
| Schedule | The Integration runs at a regular interval (30 minutes to 12 hours). Integrations can also have several jobs, each with schedules on an interval or a cron expression. |
| Webhooks | Some systems, such as Shopify and WooCommerce, notify Supply Lens the moment something happens, so you don't wait for the next scheduled run. |
| Manual run | The Manual Operation buttons run send and receive, send only or receive only, right now. |
The Integrations list shows whether each Integration runs on a schedule, when it next runs, and whether it has webhooks set up.
The five stages of setup
A typical Integration setup has five stages:
- Create the Integration and connect it.
- Choose its settings on the tile.
- Add Configurations to activate the document types it handles.
- Reference it in Mappings, which decide which document types move between which Integrations.
- Run it, on a schedule or by hand.
| Stage | Guide |
|---|---|
| Create and settings | Add an Integration |
| Configurations | Add a Configuration |
| Mappings | Add a Mapping |
| Run | Set an integration schedule, Run an integration manually |
Watch out
Creating an Integration only makes the connection. It won't send or receive anything useful until it has Configurations, is enabled, and has Mappings that use it.