Preferred Vendor Management
Some districts have special pricing agreements with particular vendors making using those vendors the fiscally responsible choice when entering a requisition; however there are legitimate situations where a user may need to use a non-preferred vendor (i.e. The preferred vendor doesn't have a specific item). Currently there is not systematic way to help users know which vendors to use nor a way to handle requisitions where users needed to use a non-preferred vendor instead of a preferred vendor.
1) There would be a new vendor code under WF\VE\PS\CO called Vendor Types where districts could define vendor types like "Office Supplies" "Textbooks" "T-shirts" etc.
2) Under Vendor General Information there would be a drop-down called "Vendor Type" and a checkbox called "Preferred Vendor"
3) On Requisition Entry there would be a new "Vendor Filter" area immediately above the *Vendor drop-down. This area would have a "Vendor Type" drop-down and a "Preferred Vendor" checkbox. These controls would allow users to identify and use preferred vendors by forcing the Vendor drop-down to adhere to the Vendor Filter controls.
4) Requisition Entry Options (WF\PU\PS\RE\RE) would have a new checkbox called "Warn users when using a non-preferred vendor when a preferred vendor of the same vendor type exists." Checking this box would cause a pop-up to occur when a user is adding a requisition using a non-preferred vendor when they could have used a preferred vendor instead.
5) Requisition Approval Options (WF\PU\PS\CF\RE\RA) would have a new checkbox called "Requisitions using non-preferred vendors when a preferred vendor of the same vendor type is available require additional approval." This check box would be followed by a user selection where districts could set an additional approver who would review and approve these requests.
Thanks for the feedback! After thorough research and team analysis we’ve decided to not pursue this idea in the near future because of the scope.
This idea will remain on the ideas portal for continued voting and comments.
Thank you!