M-marketsite, U-M’s online catalog ordering system, will be integrated with the M-Pathways Financials system.
“This integration is another step in the ongoing effort to improve and streamline the procurement experience and provide consistency across the University,” says Debbie Mero, director of the Financial Systems Division in Michigan Administrative Information Services (MAIS). “It builds on the 2003 introduction of M-marketsite and the 2005 implementation of eProcurement (ePro) in the M-Pathways Financial system.” The changes enabled University staff and faculty to place catalog orders and complete other procurement processes on the Web.
Last year staff and faculty placed nearly 84,000 orders using the online catalogs. Following this integration Oct. 30, departments will use the ePro module in the M-Pathways Financials system to place M-marketsite catalog orders. Employees can continue to browse the catalogs as they do today on the Wolverine Access Web site. The link will be renamed M-marketsite Browse Only to show that it has view-only capability.
“Since the implementation of M-marketsite in 2003, we’ve been looking forward to integrating our catalog order application into M-Pathways to unite our purchasing applications into one entry point,” says Judy Smith, director of procurement, logistics and business services.
A common entry point through eProcurement for both special requests and catalog orders also provides a consistent tracking method for the orders and payments within M-Pathways. The integration offers the University the opportunity to further streamline the procurement process while expanding the range of products in M-marketsite and providing vendors with additional billing options. It also gives departments better control over the ordering process.
Staff members who use ePro and M-marketsite are encouraged to attend interchanges to learn more about the ePro/M-marketsite integration and to see a demonstration of how the system functions. The sessions, to be offered along with labs during the first two weeks of November, offer the opportunity to try the integrated ePro/M-marketsite and get help from procurement experts.
M-marketsite and ePro users also should obtain ePro/M-marketsite documentation and training materials that will help them prepare for the changes and the opportunities created by the integration. Links to these resources and to the schedules for interchange and lab sessions are on the MAIS Web site, www.mais.umich.edu/fin/epro_marketsite.html.
