Procurement - Purchasing

Purchasing

What is Purchasing?

Purchasing is a transactional process which includes placing a Purchase Order (PO) with a supplier for Works, Supplies and Services. Purchasing is not the same as Procurement and are a separate team from Procurement. The purchasing team can be contacted as noted below -

Purchase Orders are generally placed by a member of staff in a Resource with access to i-Proc. Purchase Orders can be catalogue orders or non-catalogue orders. Details can be found on these in the sections below.

The council has a No PO/No Pay policy which means that you can only purchase Works, Supplies and Services for the council through an approved purchase order. All Purchase Orders are raised in iProc.

What is iProc?

iProc is the FMS Oracle system which allows Purchase Orders to be raised and invoices to be processed.

The current Oracle system is expected to be replaced by Oracle Fusion in 2024. This will be the new system for raising Purchase Orders.

How do I order Supplies, Services and Works for Catalogue items?

iProc contains the catalogues of contracted suppliers, at agreed prices. The catalogues are maintained by the Procurement Service.

Log into Oracle Applications to access the catalogues.

Any item which can be located using the search box on the I-procurement shop screen is classed as Catalogue. When searching always use the wildcard (%). For example, if searching for a children’s apron you could also search “coverall”, “tabard”, “smock” or “popover”, as the descriptions are given to SLC by the supplier and may differ from your search parameters.

If you cannot find the item you are looking for but you know the supplier, please check the Contracts Register to confirm that the contract is still live. If this shows the contract is still valid, please complete a non-catalogue order (see section below).

If the C ontracts Register does not list the Supplier, you cannot find an alternative contracted supplier, or this shows the contract as having expired, please contact your Resource buyer in the first instance. They will be able to provide advice on the appropriate supplier. Contact details for the iProc team are noted below:

If the council does not currently have a supplier, you will need to complete the online CRN form. We will work with you to identify a new contract route. Please also refer to 'What is a Contract Reference Number?' on our Procurement page.

How do I order Supplies, Services and Works for non-Catalogue items?

If the Co ntract Register shows the contract is still valid, please complete a non-catalogue order, referencing the Contract Reference Number, Supplier name and details of the Works, Supplies and Services you wish to buy.

If your requirement is for a call-off from the Education Services PSA, please complete the online Education Services CRN form. This can be found on the Education Services PSA content page within the 'How to order from providers' section. Details on the Education Services PSA can be found on our Common type of Procurement process page.

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