SAP Ariba
Drexel's Procure-to-Pay Platform
SAP Ariba is an e-Procurement platform designed to make the purchase of goods and services easier for faculty and professional staff by automating the procure-to-pay process. It is the primary method to purchase goods and services at Drexel University, Drexel University Online and The Academy of Natural Sciences.
The SAP Ariba marketplace allows faculty and professional staff to browse and shop select supplier punchout catalogs, add items to a cart, submit a requisition electronically and route requisitions to the appropriate approver. The system then generates payment upon the shipment of purchased items.
Some of our major catalog suppliers in SAP Ariba include:
- Amazon
- Grainger
- McKesson
- Graybar
- McMaster-Carr
- Dell
- Thomas Scientific
- W.B. Mason
- Life Technologies
Not all suppliers who do business with Drexel through SAP Ariba have a punchout catalog in the system, and not all needed items are found in such a catalog. Users can initiate a non-catalog requisition for these items.
Complex purchases, such as capital equipment and professional services are also processed in SAP Ariba using the non-catalog item form or, if appropriate, sole source justification form or multi-year form.
SAP Ariba is accessible from the Employee Tab in DrexelOne. Users start by initiating a requisition for an item or service that they want to purchase. Depending on the dollar amount for the purchase, a subsequent approval step may be called for and the system will generate that approval routing if needed. Upon the requisitions approval by Accounts Payable & Procurement Services, SAP Ariba generates a purchase order, which is automatically emailed to the supplier. This alerts the supplier to ship the item to the user. When the item or service arrives at Drexel, the user responds in SAP Ariba to confirm receipt, and this triggers the payment process. Supplier payments are processed through a connected system called PaymentWorks. All suppliers are connected to PaymentWorks through their initial onboarding process with Drexel. Standard payment terms are net 30 days.
If you are arranging to make a purchase with a supplier who has never before done business with Drexel, the supplier must complete an onboarding process with support from the Accounts Payable & Procurement Services supplier onboarding team. Remember that to complete purchasing and payment in SAP Ariba, there must be a requisition, purchase order, receiving confirmation and invoice. This workflow can only be completed when the supplier is fully onboarded in the system. If you enter a new requisition in SAP Ariba and your supplier is not found, you will need to manually input the new supplier’s information. They will be sent an invitation to register as a Drexel supplier. Please note that payments cannot be processed for suppliers who have not completed their registration.
Payments to suppliers are processed after Drexel users have confirmed receipt of their item or service in SAP Ariba. Payments are issued Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week. Exceptions are University holidays and winter break.
Once issued, payments and the issue date are viewable to Drexel users in SAP Ariba under Invoice, Buyer Invoice or Web Financial. These payments are identified by a unique Payment Number Type, shown below. Registered suppliers can check the status of invoices in the PaymentWorks system.
More information about SAP Ariba:
SAP Ariba Training Guides
Check Requests in SAP Ariba
Services Agreements
Purchase Order Changes and Cancellations