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Issue 8
February 1999
Table of Contents
- SAPweb /NECX To Be Available February 23
- How to Do a Change Order Requisition
- How to Delete Items from your Workflow Inbox
- Purchasing Statistics, 9/1998 - 1/1999
- Attention SAPgui Users: "Print Requisition" Report Enhanced
- New Chart of Accounts Display Screen
- Reminder: Most Personal Web Certificates Expire Soon
- How to Request Copies of "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Your Department's Financial Structure"
- New On-line Summary Statement Documentation
1. |
SAPweb /NECX To Be Available February 23 |
We are pleased to announce that NECX/SAPweb, an integration of the NECX catalog with SAPweb requisitioning, will be available to the community starting February 23, 1999.
Other Catalogs to Follow: The NECX catalog is the first of four vendor partner catalogs that will be integrated with SAPweb by the "ECAT2" project team. Work is continuing on Office Depot, VWR, and BOC Gases, with availability slated for late spring.
Advantages of NECX/SAPweb: More of the order process is now automated, reducing manual data entry and rekeying of orders. Requisitioners will be able to create an Order List from NECX's web catalog, which will be turned into an SAPweb requisition. Most of the requisition will already be filled in. All the requisitioner needs to enter are account assignments, material groups, and (optionally) a contact phone number.
In addition, NECX/SAPweb requisitions will be routed for approval like any other SAP requisition, according to your department's SAP release strategy. Approved orders will be sent electronically to NECX. There is no need to phone orders to NECX.
A justification is not required for orders over $2500, because Procurement has already negotiated competitive prices with NECX for hardware, software, computer supplies, and accessories.
Billing is also automated. You will not receive a paper invoice. Instead, NECX will bill MIT electronically after your order is shipped, and the charges will appear on your DTR as soon as the electronic invoice is processed.
Before You Buy: It's important to be sure you're ordering exactly what you need, because returning unwanted items is difficult, and return policies vary by manufacturer. We recommend that you read NECX's policies regarding returns before you order. See "The Three Rs: returns, restrictions, requirements" in the NECX catalog
It's not always easy to determine which hardware or software to buy. To make it easier to buy standard computing equipment, MIT has developed a recommended products list of pre-configured systems. These systems and peripherals have been tested by Information Systems for use at MIT. The MIT Computer Connection (MCC), located in W20-021, maintains a showroom of representative recommended products. See the "Recommended Products" page in the NECX catalog for more information.
Where to Get Help: The MCC's consulting staff provides pre-sales consulting on desktop hardware, software, and peripherals, focusing primarily on the recommended products. You can reach them via email mcc@mit.edu, phone x3-7686, or in the W20-021 showroom. If you have configuration questions about an item you want to order from NECX, contact the MCC. For questions about products not on the recommended products list, you may also contact NECX customer service at 1-800-961-9246 or talktous@necx.com.
If you have technical problems using NECX/SAPweb, contact the Business Liaison Team, business-help@mit.edu or (617) 252-1177.
Training: One-hour training sessions, covering both MIT's purchasing policies and how to use NECX/SAPweb have been scheduled as follows. Registration is not required. Additional March sessions will be published on the SAP training web pages by the end of February.
- Tuesday, February 23 11:30 am - 12:30 pm E51, Wong Auditorium
- Thursday, March 11 10:00 am - 11:00 am E51, Wong Auditorium
Documentation: On-line documentation is available at the NECX web site and in the "Quick Guide to Purchasing Computers at MIT," which will be available on the MIT gateway page to NECX http://web.mit.edu/ecat/necx/ by February 23.
2. |
How to Do a Change Order Requisition |
Change orders to existing purchase orders are initiated via a change order requisition. A change order requisition is essentially a message to the Procurement Department explaining the specific changes that need to be made to a previously issued purchase order. Procurement will edit the existing purchase order according to your instructions.
Because SAP purchase orders are line-item oriented, you need to tell Procurement what changes to make to each line item. It is not sufficient to say "Add $1000 to PO #xxxxxxxxxx" without specifying the line item(s) to be changed, and whether the change is in unit price or quantity.
If Procurement has questions about a change order requisition, they will call the requisitioner (or approver).
If your department is using SAP approvals, you should also be aware that if the change order requisition is below the dollar limit for approval, it will not be routed for approval, even if the original requisition required approval.
The procedure for entering a change order requisition is somewhat different from entering a regular requisition, because some of the entry fields are used for special purposes.
SAPweb documentation on change orders has been updated.
The procedure for entering a change order requisition using the SAPgui is essentially the same as for SAPweb. Step-by-step SAPgui instructions will be available in the next revision of the Quick Guide for Requisitioning in SAP.
If you have questions on change order requisitions, contact the Business Liaison Team, business-help@mit.edu or (617) 252-1177 or the Procurement Office 253-7241.
3. |
How to Delete Items from your Workflow Inbox |
Below is a brief summary of how to delete requisition line items from your workflow inbox. This procedure is described more fully on page 7 of the "Quick Guide for Approving SAP Requisitions."
- From the inbox, double click the Execute
icon to open the line item you wish to delete. - Follow the menu path: Goto >> Item Overview
- Then, the menu path: Requisition >>
Change. This displays the Change Purchase Requisition
screen, with the req number already filled in. Press
Enter
to display the requisition. - Check the selection box(es) of the items you want to delete.
- Follow menu path: Edit >> Delete, and click "Yes" to the caution message to confirm you want to delete.
- Click the Save
button.
Now return to you workflow inbox to confirm the deleted line item(s) are gone.
4. |
Purchasing Statistics, 9/1998 - 1/1999 |
The Procurement Department tracks purchasing transactions by purchasing method. They felt that members of the community may also be interested in this information. The table below shows the growing use of new purchasing methods, particularly the VIP card and web requisitioning over the past five months.
Percent of Purchasing Transactions by Purchasing Method*
* Excludes Requests for Payment and Vendor Partner paper requisitions.
Sep-98
Oct-98
Nov-98
Dec-98
Jan-99**
SAP reqs
4%
4%
3%
4%
6%
SAPweb reqs
2%
5%
9%
13%
19%
VIP card
18%
22%
24%
25%
28%
ECAT
6%
6%
6%
9%
9%
SUBTOTAL
30%
37%
42%
51%
62%
DAPO EREQ
35%
30%
27%
21%
14%
Other EREQ
3%
3%
3%
2%
2%
Paper reqs
32%***
30%
28%
26%
22%
SUBTOTAL
70%
63%
58%
49%
38%
TOTAL
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
- ** Through January 25, 1999.
- *** September paper requisitions are estimated.
5. |
Attention SAPgui Users: "Print Requisition" Report Enhanced |
On February 12, 1999, an enhanced version of the zmit report "Print Pur. Req," went into SAP production. This report prints out an SAP requisition in a format that looks like a paper requisition.
Because of the extensive enhancements, the report has been renamed and moved to a different menu location, as shown in this table:
|
.. |
Old |
New |
|
Name on Menu |
Print Pur. Req |
Review/Print Req |
|
Fastpath |
/nzbp0 |
/nzbp0 (no change) |
|
Menu
Path |
Reports >>Print Pur. Req |
Purchasing >> Requisition >> Review/Print Req |
Enhancements:
- Additional search criteria fields have been added to
make it easier to find requisitions. You can now search
by:
- Userid of the creator
- The date (or range of dates) when the requisition was created
- A range of requisition numbers as well as a single requisition number
- The recipient of the requisition: either the Procurement Department (GPLT) or a specific Internal Provider
- The release date (or range of dates) of the requisition, i.e., the date when all approvals were completed
- You can now view an entire requisition on-screen. A new detail display option permits you to view all pertinent information about a requisition, including dollar total and approval status, in one screen display. For approvers, this is an alternative to paging through individual requisition screens or printing out a hard copy.
- The enhanced version also includes some bug fixes and minor improvements on the printed requisition. For example, the name of the internal provider and delivery text now print on the requisition.
Documentation has been updated and is available on the SAP documentation web pages at: http://web.mit.edu/sapr3/docs/req_reports/
6. |
New Chart of Accounts Display Screen |
This month a new display screen for SAP cost object information was put into production. This enhancement will be of interest to people who look up cost object master data in SAP similar to the chart of accounts information in the legacy systems.
The new "Display Cost Object" screen provides an easier way to find master data about SAP cost objects. Several screens have been combined into one, so that most master data is displayed on a single screen.
The new screen contains the account supervisor and addressee name and address, the fund and profit center that the cost object belongs to, and other useful information not displayed in the previous "Display Cost Collector" screens.
The new menu path from the MIT Financial System menu
is:
Accounting >> Controlling >> Display Cost
Object
If you have questions on the new screen, please send email to Veronica Dulong (dulong@mit.edu) or John Cunningham (johnc@mit.edu).
7. |
Reminder: Most Personal Web Certificates Expire Soon |
Personal certificates obtained prior to November 23, 1998 will expire on either February 28, or March 1, 1999. Certificates are your key to secure web services at MIT. If your certificate expires, you will not be able to use SAPweb, Roles web, or other secure web services at MIT.
When your certificate has expired, you may see one of the following error messages:
"Network Error: I/O error"
"Secure library has experienced a database error"
"SAPweb refuses connection to the database"
To determine when your personal certificate expires, go to: http://web.mit.edu/is/help/cert/certsexp.html
If you need to obtain a new personal certificate, go to: http://web.mit.edu/is/help/cert/quicksum.html
We recommend you obtain your new certificate as soon as possible. Your new certificate will be valid until December 31, 1999.
If you need assistance with certificates, contact the Computing Help Desk. Send email to computing-help@mit.edu or call x3-1101
8. |
How to Request Copies of "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Your Department's Financial Structure" |
In January, Management Reporting did three presentations of "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Your Department's Financial Structure" for administrative officers and financial officers. A valuable companion document to this presentation, which covers the following topics, is available upon request to your School or Area Coordinator:
- How to use the Roles Database Web interface to look up information about a cost object
- How to view a person's SAP authorizations
- How to look up the fund centers and spending groups for a department
- How to review your fund centers to make sure that all of your cost objects are in the correct fund centers, and why this is important
- What to do when you get a new faculty member or PI
- What to do when someone in your department gets new funds
9. |
New On-line Summary Statement Documentation |
MIT-specific documentation on Summary Statement selection criteria is now available in a new button on the Summary Statement entry screen. The new About this Report button is located below the Toolbar (see below). Click on this button to view information on each field on the Summary Statement screen. To return to the entry screen, click on the green Back arrow.
To go to the Summary Statement from the MIT Financial
System menu, use the menu path:
Reports >> Financial Management >> Summary
Statement
or type in the fastpath: /nzstm.
A similar button for the Detail Transaction Report will be available in the near future.
