At Reunion, Senior Procurement Analyst Tiffany Scarlett announced some upcoming changes with the way JMP manages purchase requests. The next phase of Procurement to be implemented – called Zip – will change how requests for purchases are processed and approved.
Not everyone at JMP will need to know how to Zip it, but many of you will.
“I’ve surveyed department heads to identify individuals who will most likely need to use Zip. If you are on that list, you will get an email from JMP Internal Communications tomorrow," Scarlett explained. "You will also get an invitation to training sessions that are later this month. If you don’t receive an email tomorrow but think you should be on the user list, please check with your manager. If your manager agrees, please provide manager approval so I can add you to the training,” explained Scarlett.
Everyone who receives an invitation to the training is strongly encouraged to attend one of the two sessions. If you can’t make either of them, you may watch the recording, but attending a session is preferred. “I really hope that everyone who needs the training will make every effort to attend a live session,” Scarlett said.
Why did JMP choose Zip? To make life simpler for you and Procurement. Zip has a user-friendly interface and flexible workflow capabilities; it will integrate smoothly with some of the tools JMP already uses. Zip streamlines the purchase request process by shortening cycle times and reducing duplicate steps and information. The workflows are easily configurable to ensure JMP is gathering the necessary information to manage approvals and vendor relationships. But it will also help you, since you will now have visibility into a purchase request, including the ability to see its status and stage in the approval process.
Please note: The purchases that will be processed in Zip do not include travel and entertainment (T&E) expenses. You will still need to use your SAS credit card for those kinds of purchases and continue to process them in Concur. Later in the year, a new process will be introduced for T&E expenses (which will include issuing new credit cards), so be ready to switch when it is announced.
In the meantime, don’t make any changes to the way you process purchase requests now. After the training, Scarlett will let you know when it’s time to Zip it!
It's getting close - excited for the teams to have an efficient way to manage procurement!
