Every Location in OriginsNext is owned by one Organisation, and the system also records which Organisation created it. Because supply chains cross company boundaries, you often need to use Locations you do not own. Whether you can see another organisation's Location, and whether you can see its drawn boundary, depends on how the Location relates to you. This article explains why a Location may not be visible to you and why you may see a Location but not its map boundary.
The five categories of Location
From your organisation's point of view, every Location falls into one of five categories:
Category | What it means for you |
Owned | Your organisation owns the Location. You can see and edit it in full. |
Created | Your organisation created the Location, usually on behalf of its owner. You can see and edit it in full. |
Related | You have an explicit link to a Location another organisation owns, so you can see and use it. |
Public | You do not own it and have no link, but the Location is flagged public, so you can see it. |
Private | Owned by another organisation, not public, and you have no link, so you cannot see it. |
Why you cannot see a Location, and how linking fixes it
A Location you cannot see is a private third-party Location: someone else owns it, it is not flagged public, and you have no link to it. Linking is what makes a private third-party Location visible and selectable to you, for example so you can record an Event there or pick it on an Order.
Note: there is no accept or decline step for a link. It is a single one-sided action, made either by the Participant themselves or by an onboarding administrator who links a named Participant.
Important: linking a Location automatically creates a participant relationship with that Location's owner. See What is a participant relationship?
Why you can see a Location but not its boundaries
Even when you can see a Location, the map data (the drawn boundary or polygon) is only shown to the Location's owner, location creator or a when shared via an Order. If the Location is Related or Public to you, you see the Location and its address, but not its polygons. This protects each organisation's sensitive site geometry while still letting trading partners use the Location.
Who can edit a Location
Editing a Location is restricted to its owner or creator. If a Location is Related or Public to you, you can see and use it but cannot change its details.
Unlinking a Location
You can unlink a Location you no longer need to see. Note that the link to a Location is tied to your relationship with its owner: if you remove your participant relationship with an organisation, the related Locations they own are removed from your view as well.
To remove a relationship, see How do I set or remove a participant relationship?
Related articles
For what a Location is, see What is a Location? To find Locations and see the Our locations and Our ecosystem tabs, see How do I view and find Locations?