NEW: Watch the April 3rd Webinar – Procurement Basics on the Cloud
Webinar: Procurement Basics on the Cloud March 6, 2020
Procurement/Purchasing Blog Post May 22, 2019
As we move forward with the Oracle Cloud Project we are continuing to discover more and more ways in which the new Procurement system will benefit the College and campus users.
A major improvement is that Cloud provides notification alerts when certain events occur. For example, budget managers will be automatically notified when a requisition has been submitted and is awaiting their approval and users will receive notifications once their requisitions are approved. In addition tasks such as approvals can be performed right from within the notification, ultimately increasing efficiency by reducing requisition processing time and making approval turn around more timely.
User access is another area that will be managed more effectively in Cloud. Currently, a limited number of users have access to purchasing information in MAPS and there is a manual process if a new user needs to be added or an existing user must update their profile. This causes delays in system access and productivity while waiting for these updates to be manually entered. In Oracle Cloud, user data resides in the Human Capital Management (HCM) system and is maintained in one central location. The Cloud system is fully integrated, meaning all of the modules “talk to each other”. So once a user’s profile is updated in HCM it will automatically be updated in the Procurement system.
Procurement/Purchasing Blog Post April 17, 2019
Through the implementation of the Oracle Cloud Procurement module the College is gaining an efficient and effective purchasing process that will help keep costs under control by allowing users to select the best suppliers, managing supplier risk, and enforcing TCNJ procurement policies.
Currently, only purchases over $5,000 require a purchase order to be entered into the financial system, while manual check requests are prepared for all purchases below $5,000. Going forward, requisitions (which process into PO’s) will be required for all transactions unless a p-card is used for the purchase or it is a reimbursement, award, stipend, payroll benefits, etc.
Some of the benefits of this new process include:
Accountability: Funds are reserved and budget is impacted once the requisition is approved.
Efficiency: Once approved, the requisition will be automatically dispatched and emailed to the supplier.
Visibility: The user will have visibility into the requisition from approval to payment status, including the ability to view all invoices applied to the requisition.
Compliance: Built in workflow will ensure that all purchases follow established procurement policies and procedures.
Customer Focus: Users will no longer need to prepare paper check requests for most purchases.