Supply Management Services (SMS) has initiated a variety of communications to the campus community aimed at increasing awareness of available services, savings opportunities, and current policies and initiatives. In addition, SMS has expanded its outreach efforts to enable faculty and staff members to provide input on Cornell’s procurement strategies.
Formed in June 2010, the council consists of twelve representatives from across campus and the e-Business team. The campus representatives provide high-level strategic direction for the technology tools used to streamline procurement processes. More information
SMS utilizes customer focus and advisory groups to provide a forum for faculty and staff to exchange ideas, discuss purchasing-related issues, and offer feedback on upcoming purchasing initiatives and projects.
Focus group members for commodity initiatives have an opportunity to meet with representatives from key "preferred suppliers," discuss service and support requirements, and review new products and services. The customer focus groups consist of a diverse group of faculty and staff members with whom we will be able to identify opportunities for improving the purchasing experience, address commodity-specific issues, and share our plans for future purchasing initiatives. Feedback from the customer focus groups will also enable SMS to prioritize future process improvements, service enhancements, and purchasing initiatives.
Advisory groups are usually commissioned by SMS and purchasing technology project teams to assist with "test driving" new or enhanced technologies, to identify any problems, and to participate in user acceptance testing.
Members of the SMS staff are available to meet with units to conduct Spend Business Reviews:
To schedule a Spend Business Review, e-mail Supply Management Services.
As certain commodity groups are identified for review, SMS strategic sourcing managers invite users of those commodities to participate in the process of analyzing spend and pursuing savings opportunities.
