---
alias: user-guide-business-partner-index
description: "This documentation outlines the use of a Business Partner object within a manufacturing system"
---

# Business Partner

:lock: BusinessPartner.**Show**

## Overview

A **Business Partner** is a simple object that can be referenced by a **Production Order**. The **Business Partner** object in Critical Manufacturing is not intended to replace the full-blown customer management system present in enterprise CRM or ERP systems.

A Business Partner can be assigned one or more roles:

* Contractor
* Customer
* Supplier
* Manufacturer

!!! note
    These roles are not mutually exclusive, meaning a Business Partner may assume multiple roles simultaneously.

## Tying Everything Together

```mermaid
graph TD
    Main[Business Partner] --- A1[Production Order]

classDef mermaid_title color:#000, fill:#fafafa, stroke:#fafafa, stroke-width:0x, font-size:100%, font-weight:200;
classDef mermaid_start color:#000, fill:#fafafa, stroke:#fafafa, color:#fafafa, stroke-width:0x, font-size:100%, visibility: hidden;
classDef mermaid_businessdata color:#000, fill:#65CDE8, stroke:#65CDE8, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_nonbusinessdata color:#000, fill:#B7DEE8, stroke:#B7DEE8, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_entity color:#000, fill:#FB9F53, stroke:#FB9F53, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_entitylinked color:#000, fill:#FCD5B5, stroke:#FCD5B5, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_context color:#000, fill:#B9CDE5, stroke:#B9CDE5, stroke-width:0px, font-size:100%;
classDef mermaid_optional color:#000, fill:#B7DEE8, stroke:#65CDE8, stroke-width:1px, font-size:100%, stroke-dasharray: 5 5;
class Main mermaid_entity
class A1,A2,A3,A4,A5,A6,A7,A8,A9,A10,A11,A12 mermaid_businessdata
class L1,L2,L3,L4,L5,L6 mermaid_entitylinked
class C1,C2,C3,C4,C5,C6 mermaid_context
class N1,N2,N3,N4,N5,N6 mermaid_nonbusinessdata

click Main "../../business-data/business-partner"
click A1 "../../business-data/production-order"
```

## Sequence Of Steps

The necessary steps for correctly using a *Business Partner* are the following:

1. Create the Business Partner.

{{ generate_index() }}