Section 10: Project management and autonomous agent workflows with Manus

Scenario 96: Researching a supplier list in parallel

Level: Advanced · Tools: Wide Research, Cloud Browser, CSV/XLSX supplier list, output table [169] [187] [173]

Who and in what situation

Zeynep is on the procurement team at an e-commerce company. She wants to screen packaging suppliers by region, product, certification, contact details and pricing.

How it is done today

Zeynep opens websites one by one, copies fields and adds source links later. As the list grows, it becomes harder to separate the information.

How to do it with AI

  1. Put supplier names and website addresses, if available, in a CSV or XLSX file and write down the research criteria.
  2. Give the list to Manus; the system automatically triggers Wide Research if it deems it appropriate. The feature is available to paid users. [187]
  3. Make company, product, region, certification claim, price date and source URL mandatory fields for each row. Cloud Browser can extract data from public pages. [169] [173]
  4. Request the results as a table and a list of items awaiting verification.
  5. Validate the shortlist through human review; confirm variable prices with the supplier.

Example prompt

Research all suppliers in {file name} using the same template. For each one, extract the product range, service region, certification claim, minimum order information, contact page, price or an indication that no price is available, and source URL. Leave any field not found in the source blank. Add a research date and verification note to each row. Provide the results as a comparison table and a shortlist.

Evidence and real-world example

The Wide Research documentation explains the model of processing similar items in parallel in independent contexts and combining them into a table or dataset; it presents a comparison of 100 products as an official example. The Cloud Browser documentation also documents the workflow for extracting data from the web. [169] [173]

Points to consider

Wide Research is triggered automatically, is available to paid users and, according to the help center, consumption is capped at 50 credits per subtask. Confirm pricing and certification information on the source page. My Browser may be needed for a portal that requires login; the user steps in for verification. [187] [173] [179]

Sources for this scenario

  1. Wide Research documentation (manus.im)
  2. Cloud Browser documentation (manus.im)
  3. Manus credit consumption guidance (help.manus.im)
  4. Wide Research help article (help.manus.im)