RPI’s finances, like that of any large organization, depend on requisitions and purchase orders. These documents allow researchers, professors, departments, and the Institute itself to spend the money they have been allocated by budgets in a systematic, well-supervised fashion. With the purchase of a new electronic system, the purchasing process will soon be seeing several changes.
In the current course of normal business, the person wishing to make an expenditure has to obtain a form, have it signed by a department approver, and bring it to the Purchasing Office in the Rice Building, located in downtown Troy. Then, the Purchasing Office in turn verifies the funds and validates the transaction with a special approver. Once all of that has been completed, a buyer is assigned to the order to complete the transaction.
After leaving their requisition form at the Purchasing Office, the purchaser—whether a faculty member or a Union organization—is very much in the dark as to where their transaction is in the process and what steps, if any, will have to be taken to consummate the purchase. To find out the status of a single requisition may take several phone calls and a good deal of footwork for all involved.
This process will probably remain much the same for the foreseeable future, but the acquisition of the Higher Markets system will change the implementation of the process. Earlier this month, the software platform was set to go online. This system will essentially replace the requisition and purchase order with a few entries in a database. The system has already been in use for about four years, but only in a mode called “punch-out mode.” This mode is essentially an interface bridge between purchasers at RPI and various suppliers that RPI has purchasing agreements with. For instance, a faculty member can access the Higher Markets web interface—which loads their department’s information and other data from RPI’s in-house Oracle-driven information application, Banner. This is done to easily interact with vendors using a compatible web interface, considerably simplifying ordering.
Though the system in its entirety has now been rescheduled to roll out early this summer to four trial departments, about 168 people from all levels of faculty and staff have been trained in the system’s use. For Union clubs, the effect of this system’s introduction is anticipated by Director Rick Hartt to be “paperless and incredibly efficient.” One of Hartt’s current duties includes approving club requisitions before they go to purchasing. In the past, this has required a significant investment of time for practically every request. Using the e-mail interface of the Higher Markets System, Hartt anticipates that he will be able to significantly expedite club spending requests and keep clubs and their members fully apprised of their requisition’s status with minimal effort.
Faculty members will be one of the first beneficiaries of the new system’s benefits, as it allows them to either order from an established vendor or a new vendor quickly and through a consistent interface. As their requisition travels to their supervisor, department head, and several other levels, they can watch as the approvals happen and offer additional input along the way if needed.
The job of the purchasing staff will also be simplified by the new system. Once most or all requisitions are inputted into the Higher Markets system, purchasers, supervisors, approvers, buyers, and other relevant parties can observe and interact in the approval of the requisition from beginning to end. Since all requisitions will be stored electronically, the purchase order sent to the vendor in question can be faxed automatically or printed for mailing. Additionally, electronic storage gives administrators and department heads a powerful overview of their department or the entire Institute, utilizing all the flexibility a database-driven system such as this can afford.
Kevin Smith, manager of purchasing systems, has been the person in the purchasing office working directly with the system since his arrival at RPI. He explained that the Higher Markets system, developed by Sciquest, “is primarily a higher-education tool for purchasing management and is being used by many other institutions including MIT, Yale, and Notre Dame.” Notre Dame in particular has had staff in touch with purchasing staff at RPI because, of the aforementioned schools, only Notre Dame has completely moved all of their purchasing infrastructure over to Higher Markets.
The delay earlier this month, according to Hartt, was required by the Union, primarily due to GM week and the huge influx of activities and requisitions needed by various organizations on short notice. By next fall, the system will have been tested all summer, and if successful, may be opened up to all departments.
