AACII Meeting Notes 1/21/2016, Room 1-214

Attending:

• Richard Brewer (Chair), Lisa St Croix (Vice Chair), Peter Brenton, Su Chung, Chris Durham, Robin Elices, Pia Handsom, Lynn Hinds, Steve Lanou, Christine Malnati, Kimberly Mann, Doreen Morris, Sue Shansky, Amberly Steward, Lisa Thoma
• Guests: Gerry O'Toole, Director of Financial Operations

                   Sara Malconian, Assistant Director, Strategic Sourcing and Procurement

                   Cindy Vye, Business Analyst

                   Janet Sparks, Community Relations Officer, VPF

                   Jessica Fujimori, VPF

                   Jospeh Gudema, Deloitte Consulting

Buy-to-Pay Process Redesign:

Vision

Currently the user has to go to different places for approval versus purchasing, encountering many tasks and links along the way. It's not always clear how to buy - via RFP, requisition, or Procard. The new system will bring it all together into one portal:

• To deliver a more intuitive buying experience.
• Simple integrated all-in-one system for buying and paying.
• Easier to find items.
• More transparency about status of transactions.
• Policies readily accessible for ease of compliance.
• Real time visibility and control.
• Dashboards for reporting.

Drivers

• Customer service on demand.
• Training and support available 24 x7 via appropriate tools - quick cards, videos, etc.
• Community input.
• Operational excellence - using technology to add value.
• This is a broad redesign, not just covering technology and tools but also processes and policies.

Accomplishments to Date

• Gathered community input.
• Gathered requirements.
• Selected solution (Coupa), a cloud-based software solution. While it doesn't provide a totally blank slate to work with, it's the best system that can be customized to the MIT experience.
• Created a User Advisory Group, and their input has been critical thus far. They have seen and commented on 3 rounds of design.

Key Feedback from the User Advisory Group:

• The shopping experience needs to be open to all.
• It needs to be specific to the MIT experience.
• A lot of DLCs like to consolidate orders, with one user reviewing and submitting the order. They created an optional tool for this.
• Setting up new vendors - VPF will be chasing the documentation using minimum information provided by the customer.
• Invoicing will be mostly electronic, and routed from VPF to approvers. No envelope, no A/P ink stamp!
• Requests for reimbursements and Procard process will have delegate functionality. Taxability to be reviewed and decided by VPF, not the customer.

Timeline

• Selection of Coupa and implementation in August 2016.
• High level planning and design since then.
• Currently prototyping and showing to some groups like AACII.
• Testing in March - April.
• Pilot in May with VPF, IS&T, and a few DLCs.
• August - full rollout.
• They recognize that change management and training is huge. Communication and training materials will be available early on to help the community make the transition.

Demo

Atlas landing page:

• Search bar
• MIT Buying guidelines
• Training links
• Individualized To Do's (i.e., Atlas inboxes)
• List of recent orders regardless of type (requisition, credit card, etc.) with indication of status and link to approvers

My Account:

• My Spend History with tabs for type (requisition, invoice, etc.).
• Address Book
• Profile

Search bar:

• Search for an item and it brings up choices.
• It walks you through the necessary screens for cost object and other information.
• The item drives the search unlike now in eCAT, where you have to go in through specific vendor that you think sells a particular product.

Receipts:

• User Advisory Group clearly said that paper receipts are a nightmare.

• Receipts will be scanned and available to see online.
• Electronic acknowledgement of received goods - optional. Check the date received (item by item) and upload the packing slip. Invoice approver can see that - prevents approval before goods are received.

Roles:

• Current roles will be mirrored in new system.
• Additional default "watchers" or approvers can be set up manually on a DLC by DLC basis.

Vendors and Invoicing:

• Vendors will need to be set up so they can see the vendor side of the same system.
• They will get notifications of new orders and be able to create an electronic invoice.
• Invoices begin centrally at A/P. For vendors set up in system, the invoice will go right to A/P and they will route to approver.
• If user gets an invoice directly (either in hardcopy or email), we should send it to A/P and they will scan and set it up properly and route it out for approval.
• Status will be visible on line rather than paper invoices going through campus mail and no one knowing where it is.
• Payments will be quicker which will allow Procurement to negotiate better terms with vendors.

Other Features:

• Can attach internal attachments for only MIT people to read, such as emails indicating that a PI has approved a purchase. However, attachments won't be available to view in SAPgui.
• Reimbursement tool from inside this system will replace eRFP. Everything except Concur/Travel expenses will be in this system.
• Analytics capability will be more readily available through VPF and info can be shared on demand with DLCs.

AACII Q&A and Feedback

• What about receipts for expenses covered by FAR?

• Receipts to be scanned and kept for a year.
• If not covered by FAR, don't have to keep receipts that have been scanned in.
• They are working on a solution for scanned receipts to be fed into SAP (which is the system of record) so FRC can be done.

• For users such as A/Os who have approver privilege but neither initiated nor approved a transaction - will they be able to see transactions that fall within their approval area?

• This was an important piece of feedback, as the B2P group did not realize that A/Os use the capability now in Atlas to view purchasing activity across a department. They will look at at a new role that will enable a super user like an A/O to see all transactions and their attachments across a DLC, even that user neither created nor approved it.

• What about paper requisitions?

• The community has asked to keep them but they will eventually be eliminated.
• They are now trying to work out a system with the VWR stockroom that meets everyone's needs.

• What about Independent contractor info?
  • The required forms will be noted in alerts and banners.

QUESTIONS can be directed to B2P@MIT.EDU.

A/O Breakfast Planning, March 17, 2016

Sub-committee chairs had a good phone meeting to check in on status.

Working title: "Global MIT: Strategy and Operations." Marketing subcommittee may come up with a better title.

Agenda:

• Broad view of Global MIT (big picture strategy) provided by Richard Lester, Associate Provost for International Activities.
• More detailed view (operational successes and challenges) provided by Bernd Widdig, Director for International Activities.
• Break out into tables to talk about the various areas of the Global MIT website: global.mit.edu.
• Tables will be arranged by the 5 Global MIT categories - Education, Research, Service, Collaboration, Community.
• If any AACII members have a preference for which table they want to moderate, email Amberly Steward (asteward@mit.edu) and Sherene Aram (smaram@mit.edu).

Marketing:

• Initial save the date email to go out first week February.
• Formal invite mid February.
• Reminder late February with RSVP's due March 3.
• Reminder to those who rsvp-ed around March 11.
• The invites will ask which table attendees wish to sit at.
• Each of us will be assigned to a table and responsible for moderating the discussion.
• We will also need to assign notetakers and reporting out roles from the table attendees.

Logistics

• Met with Media Lab event contacts. Planning going well.
• We're at the Gold Standard for Sustainability and that should go on the invites and save-the-date.
• Email Lisa Thoma (lthoma@mit.edu), Lisa St Croix (lstcroix@mit.edu), Tara Henrichon (tyh@mit.edu) or Sue Shansky (shansky@mit.edu) for any suggestions or reminders of things that didn't work well last year.
• Chris Malnati reminded us that we needed more tables last year. Many attendees showed up who didn't register.
• Make sure we have Table signage.