Spring 2025 P2P Enhancements Edition | | Share your feedback to help Procurement Services | | |
Procurement Services is committed to better serving your needs, and we need your help to do so. We're conducting an anonymous survey to gather your valuable feedback. Please take a moment to complete this brief survey. Your insights will directly contribute to enhancing our services. Thank you for your participation!
| | Buying Blue CoP hosts its largest audience to date | | |
The Buying Blue Community of Practice (CoP) recently hosted a successful webinar with participation from over 750 attendees—the largest audience to date—from across U-M. During the event, participants submitted 245 questions and comments related to the ongoing initiatives in Procurement Services.
If you missed the webinar, you can visit the Buying Blue CoP webpage for a comprehensive summary of the topics discussed, along with links to the webinar recording, the presentation slides, and the Q&A repository.
This Spring 2025 P2P Enhancements Edition issue also includes articles on most of the topics presented in the recent CoP webinar.
| | P2P enhancements enable Guided Buying experience | | |
The latest enhancements to our procure-to-pay (P2P) systems are now live! The layout and visual elements of both the Marketsite+ landing pages and the Purchasing webpage have been reimagined to deliver a streamlined Guided Buying experience. These updates are part of Procurement Services’ continued efforts to make purchasing easier, more efficient, and more user-friendly.
Click the image below for a quick walkthrough of the enhancements!
| | Strategic Supplier Showcase: Amazon Business | | |
On May 5, U-M launched a new centralized Amazon Business account for university purchasing activity. This new account is a university-wide approved method to purchase items not currently available in U-M’s Marketsite+ catalogs, and enables the university to leverage Amazon’s wide product selection and competitive prices while improving procurement efficiency and accountability across the university.
Helpful Ordering Information:
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To shop, log in to Marketsite+ and navigate to the Amazon Business tile, which will automatically connect you to the central account when you pass through Single Sign-On.
- If you received an invitation via email to join the account and the link in the message has expired, please proceed directly to Marketsite+ and log in through the Amazon Business tile.
- You must be an authorized UM PCard holder to check out in Amazon Business.
- Non-PCard holders are able to create lists to share for purchase by an authorized PCard holder.
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To learn more about how to request a PCard, visit the PCard program website.
Click here for support resources and training webinar registration details.
| | Meet NIC, your AI-powered virtual procurement assistant | | |
NIC, the AI-powered virtual assistant, is the latest innovation from Procurement Services designed to deliver NEXT in Class support. NIC leverages advanced technology to provide consistent, 24/7 support to the campus community. Whether someone is looking for guidance on how to buy, policies and procedures, contract information, supplier options, or how to use our procurement systems, NIC delivers clear and thorough answers in real time. It also helps users navigate training resources, locate forms, and understand process steps—reducing time spent searching and increasing confidence in taking action. By offering accurate and up-to-date guidance, NIC plays a key role in helping faculty and staff stay compliant with university purchasing policies.
Click the image below for a tour of what you can do with NIC!
| | Strategic Supplier Showcase: eShipGlobal | | CTP airfare booking requirement for UM-related travel goes into effect July 1 | | |
Starting July 1, 2025, all employees traveling on university business will be required to book airfare through Collegiate Travel Planners (CTP), U-M’s designated travel partner.
The new requirement was announced in an April 14 email from U-M's executive vice presidents to all deans, directors, and department managers. The University Record featured an article explaining the reason for the policy change and detailing savings that individual units can expect.
Click here for additional resources and the benefits of using CTP.
| | Expect delivery delays during Ann Arbor Art Fair | | |
With the Ann Arbor Art Fair set to take place from July 17-19, the U-M community is encouraged to anticipate delivery delays during this period. The event significantly increases local traffic and city visitor volumes, which can impact the receipt of goods on Central Campus.
Click here for key dates and suggestions to minimize disruptions.
| | Buyer's Corner: Understanding Xerox Device Message Alerts | | |
Understanding Xerox device alerts is crucial for efficient operation and supply management. Here are some tips to help you interpret your Xerox device alerts, understand ASR, and manage your order options.
What does a Xerox device low supply warning message mean? A low supply warning on your Xerox device means that a supply item, like toner, is running low but doesn't yet need replacing. It's just a reminder that you might need to replace it soon. The toner has reached a specific level, and an auto replenishment alert will be sent based on your usage rate.
💡Do not replace the toner until it's completely empty and the machine shuts down. Replacing supplies too early can affect alerts and disrupt auto-replenishment.
What is ASR, and how does it work? Read more here.
| | DYK? Track approved and pending expense reports | | |
Expense report approvers can quickly access full PDF versions of reports they have approved, complete with receipts, using the Inquiry Tool in Emburse Enterprise. Follow these simple steps to access your approved reports:
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Navigate to Emburse Enterprise
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Click the Menu icon in the upper left corner (three horizontal lines)
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From the menu, select Inquiry
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Choose the Expense option
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Select My Expense Approval Items
Click here for display options, as well as how to track pending reports.
| | Office hours, demos, and training in May and June | | |
Procurement Services offers a variety of office hours, demos, and training sessions for the university community. Department team members are available at each of the sessions to help answer your questions. These sessions appear on the Buying Blue Events calendar, which can be added to your calendar by clicking the "Add to Google Calendar" link on the bottom left corner of this page.
Procurement sessions
Travel booking sessions
Emburse Enterprise sessions
| | Want to stay up-to-date on Procurement Services? | | |
Don’t forget to join the #Procurement-Services channel on Slack! This channel shares a variety of content including new contracts, highlights of existing contracts, tips and tricks, employee spotlights, and upcoming Procurement Services events. If you haven’t heard of Slack, we encourage you to check it out! Creating an account is easy and we hope to see you on Slack soon!
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We enjoy hearing from you! For feedback, comments, questions, or concerns, please contact us at (734) 764-8212, option 2, or procurement.services@umich.edu.
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