UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 24, Page 1
March 18, 1994
New electronic requisitions increase speed, efficiency

     The process for handling the more than 10,000 University purchase
requisitions, which are used to initiate requests for services and
materials from outside vendors, is now on line, making it easier, faster
and paperless.
     According to Tory Windley, director of Purchasing, the purchase
requisition form can be found under the EZ Forms listing on the e-mail's
Bulletin Board.
     On-line assistance is available to help new users, who can also
contact Purchasing and request electronic mail documentation information
and instructions.
     The on-line processing has been available for several months, Windley
said, and about 20 percent of current purchase requisitions now are being
received electronically. She said she hopes to see the figure increase to
more than 50 percent as people learn of the new service, and, in a year,
she would like to see almost 100 percent of purchase requisitions submitted
electronically.
     That is a realistic expectation, she stressed, because of the
advantages electronic form processing offers over paper, both to staff in
the office of origin and to the processors in Purchasing.
     Transmitting purchase requisitions via e-mail, Windley said, reduces
dramatically the amount of time to complete a transaction. In some cases, a
paper trail that could take up to a week may be accomplished in one day,
and paper processing that might currently take one day can be completed in
minutes.
     The reasons for the increase in speed are many, Windley explained. The
on-line system automatically verifies the account code, authenticates the
correct signature, ensures there is money in the account and checks that
the commodity has been approved for purchase.
     "We also don't have to manually retype a second form," said Windley.
"We can electronically transfer the information into the purchasing system
and have the purchase order out of here and on its way to a vendor."
     Because there is no need for a person to re-enter information on
another form, the possibility for error also has been greatly reduced, she
said.
     The system creates a complete electronic "paper trail" of where the
requisition has been and what has been done, said Windley. Offices receive
a copy and are able to save that information in a unit's electronic file.
     Questions by phone about the status of a purchase requisition, she
stressed, are still welcome and will be answered by Purchasing staffers.
     According to Windley, the new on-line form and process was tested for
about a year at two sites-in the Office of Housing and Residence Life and
in the College of Marine Studies.
     Sandy Lewis, records analyst in housing, who was one of the first to
use the new process, said she loves the new system: "The electronic forms
make purchasing quicker. We used to have to get the form typed and then
send it through Campus Mail. And, if we had to get several signatures for
high-dollar requests, it would take days to get the form back from several
offices.
     Now, I can get this done in one day, where it used to take three. At
the other end, it helps Purchasing actually produce the purchase order
faster."
     "The requisition gets to us faster and we get the order out faster,"
said Windley. "This is the best thing  that has happened to Purchasing
since sliced bread."
                                                  -Ed Okonowicz