Procurement Services provides purchasing guidance for campus community

University departments need to be fiscally mindful and frugal as the progression of the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to affect the campus community. Until further notice, purchasing should be limited to items and activities for essential functions that support instruction and research endeavors. Departments should not stock up on nonessential orders. 

Procurement Services is monitoring the supply chains of Purdue’s strategic vendors and has created a COVID-19 Procurement Resources webpage to provide the most current purchasing information. This page also links to Purdue’s Things you need to know about COVID-19 webpage for campuswide coronavirus communications and resources.

As new questions arise, the COVID-19 Procurement Resources webpage will be updated to provide answers. Other key items to know are listed below.

• If you are ordering a product from a catalog and it is available, continue to order through Ariba. If an item is needed urgently and is not available or has an unsatisfactory backlog notification date, email the information to purchasingrequest@purdue.edu. The procurement team is ready to assist with any needs.
• Temporarily, Procurement Services has opened the “Ship to” field in Ariba. This allows individuals to enter an alternate shipping address. While the system will allow off-campus addresses to be entered, it is highly suggested that the requester receive business office approval before shipping something off campus. Reference the Alternate Ship To Address Quick Reference Guide for more information.

If an item needs to be shipped to an on-campus location, the building address must be selected from the drop-down menu. Not using the drop-down for on-campus shipments could affect electronic invoicing.

Business offices have access to weekly audit reports to assist in monitoring the items that are being sent to personal addresses. It is the expectation that business offices track and monitor these transactions to know where University supplies are located. The Ad-Hoc Ship To Orders Report is located on the Procure-to-Pay SharePoint site.

Researchers should reference https://coronavirus.purdue.edu/research/ for current guidance. Please note that removing University chemicals, materials, equipment or animals in an attempt to recreate experimental labs at off-site locations is not permitted.

Supply order and delivery updates

• At this time, gases are available as needed through Indiana Oxygen.
• Due to a decrease in demand, office supply deliveries from Office Depot have temporarily changed from daily to twice a week.
• There is a delay in purchases for cleaning supplies, such as hand sanitizers and sanitizing wipes. There is also a delay for personal protection equipment, including disposable scrubs, shoe covers, coveralls, etc. If you need assistance locating a product, please submit a request to purchasingrequest@purdue.edu. If it is an essential order, note that in the subject line.

Purchasing card reminders and updates

Through April, if a Purdue purchasing card (P card) has your name on it, it can be taken off campus and the following guidelines must be adhered to:

• Be responsible with the P card and keep it in a safe place.
• P card guidelines must still be followed, as well as the temporary guidance limiting purchases to items and activities for essential functions that support instruction and research endeavors. 
• The P card cannot be used to avoid or bypass appropriate procurement or payment procedures, as a travel card or for personal use.
• All purchases must first be attempted through Ariba. If you cannot find your item in Ariba, contact Procurement Services at purchasingrequest@purdue.edu. Procurement Services will advise of an alternative purchase method or approval to use your P card. 
• If the use of a P card is allowed and an alternate address is selected, it is highly suggested that individuals obtain approval from their business office, then include a comment on the transaction entry indicating the item was “shipped to home address” during reconciliation. A report has been created that will include the transaction comments. View the quick reference guide on how to run this report.
• Concur fiscal approvers now have the ability to look at any P card statement report in Concur. More information is available in a quick reference guide. If you have questions, contact Procurement Services at pcard@purdue.edu.