Navigating the Procurement System

Navigation through the Procurement System is a “point-and-click” process. Upon entering the system, the user is taken to a search function that will allow searches on any document within the system. See “How to Search” for details.

At the top of every screen in the system there are purple tabs or links that are used to move within the system (arrow A below). The sample below shows the tabs available from the search screen as Procurement, Vendor, Search, Help and Admin. Hovering with your mouse over a tab option will display actions available as shown in the view below (arrow B).

There are several different document types within the Procurement system. Every purchase or contract MUST BEGIN WITH A REQUISITION, so the first step is always to create a requisition. Once you are in a specific document (requisition, solicitation, bid, etc.) a green row will appear below the procurement system purple links that will identify the type of document being viewed or created as shown below by arrow A. See view below for requisition document.

Directly below the green document identification line are the tab folders for the document type being displayed (arrow B above). These tab folders represent each piece of the document and the presence of a check mark indicates that the related piece has been completed and information is available to view.

When creating a document, the default will always be the header as the starting point. For all documents, a red asterisk will identify those fields that are required before the transaction can be completed. Any errors will be displayed in red next to the item in error with the total number of errors displayed at the top left as shown on the example below:

After entering data or making changes, the bottom of the screen will always have the action buttons that are available. See arrow A in the sample below. These buttons will vary based on the status of the transaction at the time of the action and based on the level of security of the user. When adding or changing information, IT IS IMPORTANT TO CLICK THE ADD OR CHANGE KEY BEFORE CLICKING ON THE PURPLE CONTINUE BUTTON. If the continue button is clicked prior to adding or changing, any information keyed on that screen will be lost and will have to be re-keyed.

When initiating a new transaction (or document) it is recommended that the user use the purple continue button to work through the entire process since the sections are presented in their logical sequence. It is possible, however, to use the purple links at the top to move from section to section, or to skip sections. Remember that the check marks will indicate those sections that have been completed.