Ordering system e.biss

Innovative purchasing for cutting-edge research: Procurement at the German Cancer Research Center and in a purchasing cooperation with the electronic ordering, information and service system e.biss

The ordering system developed at the DKFZ and available since 2001 "e.biss", which has been available at the DKFZ since 2001, is specially tailored to the particular requirements of science and research and maps all procurement processes. Connected to the central SAP merchandise management system of the DKFZ administration, it enables users to order the majority of products and services for laboratory operations and administrative requirements themselves and directly. For this purpose, more than seven million catalog data from the DKFZ's most important suppliers are available and external web stores for configurable scientific products are connected to e.biss. Information on current discount campaigns, search functions, FAQ database, personal favorites for frequently required items and the option to compare items from different suppliers also make it easy for users to maintain an overview. Goods from the in-house central warehouse and the chemicals warehouse are also available via e.biss can also be ordered via e.biss. Around 80 percent of all DKFZ orders are decentralized and are sent directly to the supplier electronically. This simplifies the procurement process considerably and saves time and costs. At the same time, posting by product group and G/L account is fully automated. The convenience of e.biss also includes personalized user maintenance with regard to account assignments and delivery points.

Users can create so-called free text items for everything that is not available in a supplier catalog. For this purpose e.biss provides ready-made free text articles depending on the product group, in which individual information is requested that is required for subsequent processing and procurement. These, and basically all investments or services, are then processed by employees in the specialist purchasing department. The more precisely and meaningfully the requirements are described, the faster the shopping carts can be converted into orders. The specialist purchasing department also provides advice and support when it comes to formulating service descriptions or invitations to tender, searches for the best offer on behalf of the ordering party and negotiates with suppliers. Especially in the case of larger procurement projects, it is worth involving the purchasing department as early as possible.

Another great strength of e.biss lies in the transparency of the procurement process. Even when creating a shopping cart in e.biss users receive a preview of the subsequent procurement process. This makes it possible to estimate the further processing time. It is also possible to monitor your own shopping carts during the ongoing process and to interact directly with all processing departments in an integrated manner.

The e.biss-ordering system has also found its way into other research institutions of the Helmholtz Association in addition to the DKFZ and has established itself as a best-practice model. At a strategic level, a license and cooperation model has developed in which 12 other institutions are currently participating. Operationally, the participants form a purchasing cooperation, which is responsible for the content and framework conditions of e.biss jointly negotiates or puts out to tender. This is a great benefit for the participants, who benefit in particular from more favorable prices and conditions that can only be realized jointly. Last but not least, cross-institutional cooperation and exchange of experience are also valuable success factors for the administrative area of research institutions.