End-to-End Procurement Project Information

Overview

Procurement, the process of obtaining goods and services, is integral to UC Irvine's operations, facilitated via submission and processing of requisitions and purchase orders in the KFS system, UCIBuy catalog, or PALCard (UCI issued purchasing card) purchases.

UC Irvine Procurement Services is undertaking a major process improvement initiative to streamline UCI’s purchasing operations, improve efficiency, and increase customer satisfaction.

Project Goals and Desired Outcomes

Goal 1
Improve Customer Experience

Goal 2
Increase Process Efficiency

Goal 3
Maximize Procurement Savings
dark blue circle 1 icon Simplify forms and reduce need for specialized knowledge to submit requests blue circle 1 icon Reduce PO processing time light blue circle 1 icon Redirect spend from non-contracted to contracted suppliers
dark blue circle 2 icon Clearly communicate compliance requirements and streamline user guidance blue circle 2 icon Reduce non-value-added work and errors by automating workflow and standardizing processes light blue circle 2 icon Realize cost savings with lower negotiated prices
dark blue circle 3 icon Improve visibility into transaction and workflow status blue circle 3 icon Reduce dollar per PO cost light blue circle 3 icon Leverage free shipping for most contracted suppliers

 

Target and actual measures to be determined.

Deliverables

training documents
Procurement Weekly Office Hours
barcode
Commodity Code Resources
roadmap
Implementation Roadmap
queue
Queue Management

Status

Project Started:
January 24, 2023

Project Phase:
Discovery (April 1–Aug. 31, 2023)
Analysis (Sept. 5–Nov. 30, 2023)
Design (Dec. 1, 2023-June 30, 2024)
Implementation (July 1, 2024-Present)

Last Updated:
09/17/2024

Communities Affected:
Campus schools, divisions, and medical center (equipment/asset purchases)

Key Stakeholders:
Client: Campus faculty & staff
Sponsor: Mary Lou D. Ortiz, CFO & Vice Chancellor, Division of Finance and Administration
Steering Committee Chair: Rick Coulon, Sr. Associate Vice Chancellor, Division of Finance and Administration
Business Process Owner: Snehal Bhatt
Project Manager: Beatrix Regasz
Project Team: More info

Resources

E2E Project Team Resources

Access SharePoint Site

SharePoint site is only accessible
to the project team.

 Discovery (April 1-August 31, 2023)

The purpose of the discovery phase is to define the project scope; capture current state processes; collect stakeholder feedback; identify pain points and issues; identify policy and external constraints; and assess management processes and measures.

Current State

Stakeholder Feedback, Pain Points, & Issues

Comments generated by customer concerns. A survey was conducted post discovery phase which validated the findings below.

"Rules and procedures are not well documented and require tribal knowledge."
"Risk reviews being required even for renewing existing contracts."
"Requesters forced to follow-up multiple times and chase seemingly arbitrary or inconsistent compliance rules."
"Hard to find valid commodity codes and objects codes and not clear who to ask for help."
"Urgent requests delayed because of lengthy review and compliance requirements."
"PO sat in pending status for weeks without follow-up or communication from Purchasing."
"Software review process is too lengthy and overly burdensome."
"Too many steps and duplicate forms even for small dollar purchases."
"UCIBuy orders below $500 should be pre-approved and not require Fiscal Officer approval."

Key Themes

Key themes resurfaced throughout Discovery process, indicating possible root causes and emerging solution areas.

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Lack of Integration Across Systems
Numerous systems are used to facilitate the end-to-end purchasing processes and most of these systems are not integrated, meaning critical information is not passed along to the right users at the right time.

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Unstructured and Fragmented Workflows
Purchasing processes are highly fragmented among different teams and technologies, requiring manual and redundant coordination to link the various steps.

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Inadequate Monitoring and Support
Intake and sourcing is mostly done offline from central systems, and no specific role is responsible for actively monitoring transactions and resolving exceptions.

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Insufficient Roll Clarity
Multiple steps in the process can be undertaken by various roles, leading to uncertainty for the requester about whom to involve, or involving individuals without the necessary training or information to fulfill expected tasks.

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Poor End User Experience
End users stuck between local and central processes, have no visibility to track status of their requests, lack clarity on required action items, and have no clear expectation on time to completion for their requests.

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Impractical Knowledge Management
Essential process and policy details are mainly housed on the Procurement website, yet they lack organization based on user roles or clear links to specific processing steps or systems, making them less accessible during transactional processing.

 Analysis (September 5-November 30, 2023)

The purpose of the analysis phase is to clarify roles, authorities, and org structures; establish object view of process strengths and weaknesses relative to ideal state; and identify root causes and solution options.

Steps

  1. Finish collecting current process data.
  2. Define ideal state models for each tiger team domain.
  3. Inventory requirements by looking at gaps relatives to ideal state.
  4. Prioritize requirements based on impact on customer service and performance.
  5. Understand and validate root cause for high priority requirements.

 Design (Dec. 1, 2023-June 30, 2024)

The purpose of the design phase is to define an optimal and practical future state.

Steps

  1. Selected Jaggaer as the vendor to develop workflow to assist with high impact challenges.​

  2. Developed ideal future state map for technical team to use for integration.

  3. Document required changes for selected solutions​.

  4. Plan implementation of changes.

 Implementation (July 1, 2024 to present)

Implementation is underway with a go-live anticipated for November 2025.

Steps

  1. UC Irvine’s technical team is collaborating with Jaggaer’s project team to define configuration and integration requirements.
  2. The change management team is developing training and communication materials for various stakeholders.
  3. Post-launch performance will be monitored, with support and adjustments provided as necessary.