Frequently Asked Questions

Only SupplyNet Requesters can place orders in SupplyNet and view Preferred Supplier Catalogues with university pricing.

If you anticipate placing 5+ SupplyNet orders per year, contact your Supervisor or Academic Department Manager to request SupplyNet access.

If you order less frequently, work with your Supervisor, Academic Department Manager, Finance Partner or Faculty General Manager to determine the process to purchase goods and services. 

Proper planning is very important, however, scenarios exist where a Preferred Supplier may not be able to meet the Requester’s lead time.  In this case, it is acceptable to purchase from another Supplier - use the SupplyNet Justification field on the Requisition to explain your rationale.

Contracts with Preferred Suppliers have been competitively bid and offer the best overall value to the university.

By combining the spend of the entire university, we are able to secure increased savings. 

Established contracts are reviewed annually and Procurement conducts surveys with departments to explore opportunities for improvement.

Not all savings originate from the cost or sticker price for a product or service, but also come in the form of administrative savings and other benefits.

Our Preferred Supplier pricing is very competitive and we generally  discourage outside price shopping for items that are available from a Preferred Supplier. A lower priced item purchased from another Supplier often results in a higher overall cost when you consider the extra time and effort spent from an end-to-end processing perspective. 

In many instances it is also not an apples-to-apples comparison (warranty, return policy, product configuration, delivery cost etc.).

For example, in the case of IT equipment, the university has a list of preferred hardware standards that need to be met to ensure continuity throughout the organization. When IT equipment is purchased that does not meet these standards, the cost to the institution increases due to software issues and/or additional support.

In the rare instance where there is a material price difference for an identical product from another Supplier, please notify the Procurement team at procure@ualberta.ca prior to placing the order, so we can investigate and provide guidance.

Complete and submit the Invitation to Quote for Goods & Services Between $20,000-$75,000 form via email to the vendor. Some vendors will have their own Quotation form and respond with that, this is acceptable and should be attached.

The expense reimbursement process is costly and does not allow the University to maximize savings by combining all spend into one bucket. Processing cost are high and the combined spend of all purchases allows the UofA a competitive advantage when procuring goods and services. Compliance with UAPPOL Policy and Procedure is a requirement.