The Online Purchasing System (OPS) is a web-based tool for managing purchasing and procurement workflow within a department or unit. It enables anyone with a U-M uniqname to log in and enter a purchasing request. The request is then approved or rejected by the project director of the associated shortcode and the unit’s financial staff. Once ordered, the status of the request is updated by the department/unit purchaser and the requester is notified.
The system has the following additional features:
- Each order has many fields to store necessary information.
- The requester can see the status of their requests easily.
- The request queue can be filtered across a wide range of criteria.
- Vendors and their associated information are saved automatically and can be reused.
- Common vendors can be flagged for easy access.
- Delivery locations are saved automatically and can be reused.
- The system updates automatically with shortcode information (project directors and single administrative points of contact (SAPOCs)) from the U-M data warehouse.
- Ability to set dollar thresholds below which approval is waived
- Ability to upload and track packing slips
- Ability to upload and track vendor quotes
- Ability to track delivery of packages
- Ability to enforce sole-source justifications for purchases above $10,000
- Email notifications throughout the purchasing process
- CSV export of purchasing data
- A single button click to duplicate an existing order
- Efficient and streamlined interface
- Role-based access control
- Ability to turn on or off many of these features depending on a unit’s needs