How to connect a distributor that has no prebuilt Tire Base integration?

TB Sync · vendors · Last updated October 13, 2026 · Version 1

This process works in apps: TB Sync

This article will teach you how to bring a distributor into Sync using a file feed when there is no native API yet.

Tire Base has prebuilt live APIs for a short list of distributors today. Every other supplier — regional warehouses, buying groups, and national distributors we have not integrated yet — still works, just through a file feed instead of a live API. If the distributor can produce an inventory file with part numbers, quantities, and cost, Sync can read it and show it alongside your other vendors.

Steps

• Ask the distributor for an inventory or price file, and how they can deliver it: SFTP file drop, or a spreadsheet your team uploads.
• If they can publish over SFTP, create an FTP / SFTP Vendor in Sync and click Provision SFTP. Tire Base generates the host, username, password, and port — copy them and send them to the distributor. See How to generate SFTP credentials for a vendor in Sync.
• If they can only hand over a spreadsheet, create a Manual Upload Vendor in Sync → Vendors instead.
• Load the first file, then open Field Mapping. Under Preview & Header Selection, click the row that contains the column names (marked HEADERS) so the dropdowns list those names, then map columns to Tire Base fields. If inventory and price arrive as two files, set Feed files to Separate inventory and pricing files first — see How to map separate inventory and pricing files in Sync. For a file that only has part number, quantity, and cost, import your catalog first, then turn on Match by part number only.
• Search a known size in Inventory Catalog and confirm the new vendor tab returns the same quantities as the distributor file.
• Tell Tire Base support which distributor you want as a native API integration so we can log the request against future roadmap work.

Conclusion & best practices

A file feed is not a downgrade for most shops — it covers pricing, availability, and purchasing decisions on whatever schedule the distributor publishes. Keep the mapping stable: if the distributor changes their column headers, re-run the mapping step before trusting the numbers. If the dropdowns show part numbers or prices, click the header row again — see How to change the column header row on a vendor file or catalog import?. Ask for the freshest publish schedule they support, since stale files are the main cause of surprise backorders.