Earlier this year, it was announced that Marshall University would be adopting a “Save to Serve” culture to eliminate waste and inefficiencies through a shared governance accountability model and by investing in e-procurement capabilities. As part of this process, the Office of Purchasing is implementing a new e-procurement solution by Unimarket that will streamline and standardize the procure-to-pay processes on campus. This new system, called the Marshall Marketplace, will be implemented throughout the next year.
The Marshall Marketplace will modernize our spend management, including creating and approving requisitions and purchase orders, receiving goods and services, and processing invoices — all electronically. By moving to a “paperless” environment, we will not only save on costs, but also obtain a higher level of transparency, more easily monitor compliance, and achieve more efficiency, for the University and for the suppliers that we work with.
Some of the goals of the e-procurement initiative are to:
- Eliminate manual paper processes,
- Expedite the purchasing process through the use of supplier catalogs,
- Establish a campus-wide contract repository,
- Implement an electronic invoicing platform,
- Increase data collection and reporting ability, and
- Utilize campus-wide reporting to negotiate better prices.
Over the next several months, the Office of Purchasing will partner with individual departments to setup and implement the use of the Marshall Marketplace with a goal of all university purchases being made through the Marshall Marketplace by July 2024.
June Update
Marshall Marketplace training announced
The next phase of the project includes training for Pilot Groups and Superusers leading into the launch of the Marshall Marketplace. Training sessions will take place the week of July 15. Members of these groups will be contacted by the Office of Purchasing with a registration link in the coming weeks. Additionally, please watch for important training and fiscal year transition notifications from the Office of Purchasing, which will be sent via their purchasing announcements emails.
Marshall Marketplace progress to date:
- Purchasing staff hosted information sessions about the Marshall Marketplace.
- Purchasing staff met with departmental budget managers across the university to discuss the marketplace implementation and how it will change their reporting and approval procedures.
- Purchasing staff began testing and adjusting the Marshall Marketplace platform in collaboration with Accounts Payable and the rest of the finance team.
- To date, more than 381 suppliers are connected to the marketplace.
For more information about the Marshall Marketplace, please visit www.marshall.edu/purchasing/marketplace.
For questions regarding the Marshall Marketplace implementation or the upcoming training sessions please contact gallahe1@marshall.edu.
May Update
Marshall Marketplace in testing phase; training coming soon
Over the past year, the Office of Purchasing has been working to implement Marshall’s new e-procurement solution, the Marshall Marketplace. This initiative will streamline and standardize procure-to-pay processes on campus.
The Marshall Marketplace team is currently in the process of testing the platform in preparation for training and implementation. The next phase of the project will include campus-wide training leading into the launch of the Marshall Marketplace during the new fiscal year. Training sessions and go-live dates will be announced in the coming weeks.
Marshall Marketplace progress to date:
- Purchasing staff hosted information sessions about the Marshall Marketplace.
- Purchasing staff met with departmental budget managers across the university to discuss the marketplace implementation and how it will change their reporting and approval procedures.
- Purchasing staff began testing and adjusting the Marshall Marketplace platform in collaboration with Accounts Payable and the rest of the finance team.
- To date, 318 suppliers are connected to the marketplace.
For more information about the Marshall Marketplace, please visit www.marshall.edu/purchasing/marketplace. For questions regarding the Marshall Marketplace implementation, please contact gallahe1@marshall.edu.
Marshall Marketplace Information Session Documents
Thank you to everyone who attended the Marshall Marketplace Information Sessions on January 25. If you were unable to attend the sessions, or would like to review the materials at your convenience, you can find recordings of the information sessions, the PowerPoint presentation, and a Unimarket product demonstration at the links below:
Marshall Marketplace Information Session Recordings
Marshall Marketplace Listening Session #1
Marshall Marketplace Listening Session #2
Procurement at Marshall University: Transforming the Culture of Purchasing with Unimarket
PowerPoint Presentation
Marshall Marketplace Product Tour
Unimarket Demonstration Video
Should you have any questions or require further clarification on any of the topics covered during the information sessions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at gallahe1@marshall.edu.
January Update
Marshall Marketplace Information Session Rescheduled for January 25
The Office of Purchasing has rescheduled the Marshall Marketplace information sessions originally scheduled to take place in December. Please join us at 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 25 to go over the project goals, status and timeline and to address any questions or concerns. These sessions will be available both in-person in Drinko Library 349 and virtually via Microsoft Teams. Please contact gallahe1@marshall.edu to request a calendar invitation or meeting link to join one of the information sessions.
October/November Project Update
The Office of Purchasing has been busy this fall working through the pre-implementation process to ensure the Marshall Marketplace is properly developed for a successful launch in the spring of 2024. An overview of their progress is included below.
• Completed pre-planning with Huron Consulting
• Preparing Banner for Marketplace integration by scrubbing current vendors, codes, users, assigned ORGS, etc.
• Reviewing and updating existing purchasing policies and procedures to algin with the new e-procurement implementation
• Creating a communication plan to update the campus community of changes and implementation status via the We Are Marshall Newsletter, campus email, information sessions, focus groups and this website.
• Beginning the process of identifying existing contracts for the vendor catalog.
• Scheduled the first Marshall Marketplace Information Sessions for Tuesday, Dec. 12 – event has been postponed and will be reschedule in January
• Attend in-person in Drinko 349 or join virtually via Microsoft Teams
• Began planning for the creation of focus teams in early 2024. Let us know if you’d like to be on a focus team by contacting gallahe1@marshall.edu.
Additional updates will be provided throughout the implementation process via the We Are Marshall newsletter, campus email and this webpage. For additional information please contact Michelle Wheeler.