e-Procurement Tools to Identify Sustainable Products & Suppliers

By Heather Perry, Sustainable Procurement Analyst, Purchasing, UC Santa Barbara

Over the past 5 to 10 years, campuses have shifted to electronic procurement (e-procurement) systems which allow for more effective management of suppliers and their products and services. Two useful tools within UC’s e-procurement systems are “product or item flags” and “supplier class flags,” both of which can be leveraged to encourage and track sustainable spend (expenditures).

Most UC campuses use the Jaggaer e-procurement platform which contains both “hosted” catalogs and “punch-out” catalogs. Each type of catalog is an online version of a supplier’s printed catalog containing product data, details, and pricing information, and each carries pros and cons.The key distinction between these two types of online catalogs is that hosted catalogs are managed by UC. Punch-out catalogs are managed by the supplier.  

With the recent approval of the updated UC Sustainable Procurement Policy and associated Guidelines, there is a great opportunity for campuses to synchronize how they manage suppliers and products in both hosted and punch-out catalogs.

For example, within Jaggaer, each campus has the ability to create a customized product or item flag. With clear guidelines identifying what the UC considers “green” in a given product category, campuses can create a standardized “UC Green” custom flag to denote products in hosted catalogs that meet our preferred level green criteria. The same flag can also be used in product searches to highlight items that meet UC Green standards, as well as to track green spend by exporting purchase order history and filtering items using the UC Green flag.

Jaggaer also offers “supplier class” flags so campuses can manage their suppliers similarly to using item flags. For example, supplier class flags can identify suppliers who are Economically and Socially Responsible (EaSR) – i.e. Small Business Enterprises, Disadvantaged Business Enterprises, Women-owned Business Enterprises, etc. Flagging suppliers that meet EaSR criteria (as detailed in the updated Sustainable Procurement Policy) will help us prioritize and track our spend with these small and diverse suppliers.

E-procurement product/item and supplier flags offer an excellent opportunity to increase our ability to direct and track spend towards green products and EaSR suppliers system-wide. Campuses using hosted catalogs can simply align their custom item flags and supplier classes with the criteria in the updated Sustainable Procurement Policy. Campuses relying on punch-out catalogs are encouraged to engage with their suppliers and inquire about opportunities to align their supplier flags with the UC criteria for Green and EaSR Spend.