It was a full house for the latest MacBuy town hall on August 1.

Dee Henne, AVP-CFO, welcomed the group and stressed how easy she was finding the new system for approvals – so easy, in fact, she couldn’t quite believe it and called her team in a panic, thinking she was missing something, or the tool was broken.

The humorous story was well-received by the crowd, who participated by asking questions specific to their area regarding adding suppliers and staff training.

Terri Wetton, Senior Manager, Accounts Payable, updated the group on the onboarding process and provided details on the training efforts to date.

Angelo DiLettera, Purchasing Director, shared an example of adding a vendor where the average purchase dollar-value was quite small, but the number of purchases was very high. The purchasing team has been busy negotiating contracts for equipment, cleaning supplies and lab animal feed, among others, so they can be added as showcase suppliers to the MacBuy system.

Kari Wright, E-procurement Specialist, shared infographics showing action maps for shopper, requester and approver roles, emphasizing how easy the system is to use and the steps for each role to take in order to complete a purchase. Wright also demonstrated approving purchases using the email notification. The user receives detailed information on the purchase and can approve directly in the email without having to log into Mosaic.

Onboarding continues across the university and the next MacBuy Town Hall is expected in January 2020. Questions?  Please contact MacBuyHelp@mcmaster.ca