Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

New Purchasing Policies and Procedures effective June 1, 2012

In preparation for the University of Oklahoma’s transition to Crimson Corner (CC), the following policies and procedures have been developed and become effective June 1, 2012. After careful consideration and discussion, the Chemistry Stockroom has been delegated the responsibility of developing and implementing a centralized purchasing system for the Department to navigate orders through the Crimson Corner (CC) system. These new policies and procedures are a work in process and will be modified as required to address issues that arise over time.

Effective June 1, 2012, all requests for supplies, services and equipment will be processed through the Chemistry Stockroom. This will allow Departmental Units to become familiarized with the new centralized purchasing system prior to the CC implementation date and to ensure that all required documentation is available in the Stockroom for processing all outstanding invoices through CC upon its implementation. The new Departmental Order Form has been developed to provide the information necessary to Stockroom personnel to efficiently process and acquire items requested by all Departmental units. All required information must be filled out prior to submission to the Stockroom. Please bookmark this link to download or fill out the form and for instructions on how to fill out the form. http://chem.ou.edu/new-department-order-form

General Purchasing and Billing Policies

(For most supplies, services and equipment)

Purchasing Policies: Departmental Units requiring supplies, services or equipment will fill out a Departmental Order Form with all required fields filled and submit the form to the Chemistry Stockroom for processing. Upon receipt of the form, the request will be prioritized and if possible, consolidated with other orders to reduce individual shipping costs for each item on the order. Pricing and availability information will be obtained and forwarded by email to the customer, if desired, for final approval prior to purchasing. After final approval is obtained, requested items will be requisitioned through CC catalog vendors or alternate vendors as required, as some items will not be available from CC sponsored vendors. Once the requisition is entered into the CC system, approvals are obtained and the purchase orders are electronically submitted to vendors, filled and shipped. When the items are delivered to the Stockroom, the order will be opened, inspected for damage and matched for accuracy against the purchase order. Stockroom personnel will then notify customers of the order’s arrival. Stockroom personnel will report any damages or discrepancies to the vendor and arrange for return or replacement. If there are no further concerns from the customer, Stockroom staff will receive the order in the CC system and the order will be considered complete. Important note: Stockroom staff will provide and request feedback from customers throughout the ordering process to ensure order accuracy before the customer’s final approval. The customer will be responsible for return shipping and any restocking fees for any item they ordered incorrectly and approved. The Stockroom will be responsible for any charges for any error on their part.

Billing Policies: Most of the items requested will be considered a candidate to be stocked in the Stockroom. They will be assigned a Stock Number and input into the inventory control database system. This will enable the Stockroom to compile usage data and consolidate orders within the system. These orders will be purchased on the Stockroom’s account and received into the Stockroom’s system upon receipt from the vendor. The item will then be issued to the customer as a normal stock item would and will be included on the Stockroom Billing Statement at the end of the month. The Stockroom Billing procedures will remain the same. Most one time purchases, service contracts and equipment purchases will be requisitioned through the CC system using the customers grant or departmental account number. These orders will be invoiced through CC and you will receive an electronic copy via email.

Purchasing for non-standard items

Non-standard items may include things such as food and drink, credit card reimbursements, etc. There a several different categories of these types of purchases which will also have to be process through the CC system. There are different forms in the system to address most non-standard purchases. These forms, along with all receipts, will need to be filled out by the customer and submitted to the Stockroom for input into the CC system. Further policies and procedures will be developed for these types of purchase upon completion of training.

Ordering Procedures for Supplies, Services and Equipment

  1. Obtain ordering information for the item(s) you need from your files, vendor catalog or vendor website. Required ordering information includes: description of the item, CAS number (if it is a chemical), vendor or manufacturer name, part or catalog number, size/purchase unit for all items to be purchased.
  2. Fill out the Departmental Form found on the Chemistry Stockroom web page. This form is available in both Word and PDF versions. A direct link to this page is http://chem.ou.edu/new-department-order-form. Click on this link and a page will open with the link to the form and instructions on how to fill out the form.
  3. Please enter the ordering information, along with contact information, account information, priority, shipping choice and required delivery date. Additional information about the type of purchase and shipping choices is available in the instructions. Please note: Supervisor’s approval for any order over $200 is required, unless prior arrangements are made with the Stockroom. Also, any incomplete forms will need to be corrected by the customer and cause a delay in processing your order.
  4. Submit your form to the Stockroom. You may either save your completed form (word document) and attach it to an email and send to or you can print the online PDF form and bring it to the Chemistry Stockroom, (room 1600) and give it to one of the Stockroom Staff. (We hope to streamline this part of the process to include automatic electronic submission in the near future.)
  5. The time and date your order is received will be noted by the staff member. Your order will then be evaluated for the priority status. The contact person and the account PI will receive an estimated cost of their order by email (if requested). If no estimate is requested or required, the order will be place in the appropriate priority queue. The Priority Levels for orders are as follows:
  6. Routine: All orders will be consolidated with other items and held no longer than 5 business days. All routine orders will be priced, processed in the order they are received. Routine orders from the following vendors will be placed on the following days:

Airgas: orders are made on Monday afternoon.

Staples and Office Max: orders are made on Thursday afternoon

Life Technologies, New England Biolabs, and Promega: orders are made on Wednesday afternoon.

Sigma/ Aldrich: orders are made on Tuesday afternoon.

Fisher and VWR orders: routine orders will be consolidated to save shipping / hazmat costs to the department with the Stockroom orders and will be ordered through out the week as needed.

Other vendors not listed will be processed in the order they are received but within 5 business days.

  1. Priority: These types of orders will be priced and processed with in 3 business days. These types of orders will move ahead of the routine orders in the queue. Additional shipping costs may apply.
  2. Urgent: These types of orders will receive immediate attention. They will be priced and processed within 24 hours. Additional shipping costs will apply. Approval from the supervisor/ account PI will be required before the order can be placed.

6.  After the order has been placed in Crimson Corner by the Stockroom Staff, the contact person and the account PI will receive an email. This email will contain an order confirmation, cost of the items ordered and an estimated delivery time along with any other information about your order. If the Stockroom Staff receives any additional information concerning your order prior to the expected delivery date, the contact person will be notified and updated on the order status. Anyone can opt out of this notification process if desired.

7.  When your order is delivered to the Chemistry Stockroom, your order will be inspected for damages and checked against the purchase order. If the item received matches the information on the order form, the contact person will be notified that the order is ready to be picked up. Please report any hidden damages or discrepancies to the Stockroom Staff immediately. Once accepted by the customer, the order will be considered complete. The Stockroom Staff will report any damages or discrepancies to the vendor and arrange for replacement.