Identifying Supplier Contact Persons
As an Inventory Manager, I frequently need to contact suppliers regarding stock levels, new orders, or delivery issues. I have a list of suppliers with their unique IDs, but often need to quickly find the specific contact person for a given supplier (e.g., from cell E2). Manually searching through a large supplier list is inefficient and can delay critical communications.
=VLOOKUP(E2,A2:C5,3,FALSE) How it works: This formula searches for the Supplier ID from cell E2 within the first column of your supplier database (A2:C5). Once a match is found, it returns the value from the third column of that row, which is the 'Contact Person'. Using 'FALSE' ensures that only an exact match for the Supplier ID is considered, preventing errors.
Data Setup
| Supplier ID | Supplier Name | Contact Person |
|---|---|---|
| SUP001 | Global Parts Inc. | John Doe |
| SUP002 | Tech Solutions Ltd. | Jane Smith |
| SUP003 | Office Supplies Co. | Peter Jones |
| SUP004 | Logistics Hub | Sarah Lee |
Step-by-Step Guide
Input the Supplier ID you need to look up into a cell (e.g., E2).
In the cell where you want the contact person's name to appear, enter the VLOOKUP formula.
Provide the lookup value (E2), the table array containing supplier data (A2:C5, assuming your supplier list is in columns A to C starting from row 2), the column index of the contact person (3, as Contact Person is the 3rd column in A:C), and 'FALSE' for an exact match.
Press Enter to retrieve the supplier's contact person.
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