Key Guidelines¶

• Expenses must first be approved before purchased.
• The University does not have an Amazon Prime account.
• We've been having issues getting POs for Home Depot, please send a request for a reimbursement prior to making a purchase.

Resources¶

Purchasing Lead¶

Select one purchasing lead. The lead's responsibility includes:

• place orders
• submit packing slips to MAE Office
• serve as primary liaison with MAE and Shared Services offices

OPS User Registration¶

On-line Purchase System (OPS) Link: http://ops.engineering.ucdavis.edu

See above OPS link. Team or Purchasing Lead: Contact one of the MAE staff to register as OPS user and obtain a brief OPS user training. Provide your Kerberos ID and phone number (cell phone preferably) for OPS user registration to MAE staff.

Note that the required "unit" column in the web form is to specify the unit of the quantity number. For example if could be "kilograms", "each", "bundles", etc.

Order for Supplies and Consumables using a Department Purchase Order (DPO)¶

BME funded projects must have their TA place the orders!

Applicable to Store Pickup, FAX/Internet Order, Credit Card Order

• Obtain approval and correct account # for the order from the instructor. Your requested purchases must match your pre-approved bill of materials.
• Submit a complete OPS order via http://ops.engineering.ucdavis.edu. Order will e-route to the instructor and the MAE staff for approvals.
• Include in the OPS order: # of items, unit price, item/catalog #. Attach a price quotation or screen shot of product information if needed.
• If you have a large list of items from an online vendor, save the order in CART with your exact items in it and provide a copy to OPS as an attachment.
• Include shipping/handling charges when you calculate the total order for budgeting purposes. Charges may vary depending on delivery method (regular ground vs. overnight). RUSH order will incur extra shipping costs. For RUSH shipment, obtain approval from your instructor.
• Verify with the vendor that item is in stock and available for shipment within the timeframe needed.
• Submit packing slips as soon as possible to process payment of invoices.
• Plan ahead to avoid unnecessary high shipping charges.

You can ship items to the department and they will notify you via email when they arrive:

Local Purchases¶

To place an order at a local store for pickup, these are the procedures to follow:

1. Go to local store and record quantity and part number of items or make a conservative guess at the prices.
2. Place OPS order listing the normal quantity, unit, parts number, description. Use the "Not to exceed amount" column to give a conservative dollar amount needed for the purchase.
3. Check box in OPS for "order for pick up"
4. OPS will give a purchase order in the amount needed to pick up the items at the local store
5. Return the receipt as the "packing slip"

Reimbursement for Out-of-Pocket Expenses¶

UCD policy strongly discourages out-of-pocket expenses. However, emergency expenses may be unavoidable due to extenuating circumstances (e.g., no access to a Purchase Order after MAE office hours; emergency purchase; Department Purchase Order not accepted by a store/vendor).

Out-of-pocket expenses must be PRE-APPROVED by one of the instructors and must be deemed necessary for the capstone design project.

Total out-of-pocket purchases (including tax and shipping cost) must not exceed $500 per receipt.

• Complete an Engineering Reimbursement Request form (http://mae.ucdavis.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/ExpenseReimbursement.pdf) and obtain instructor’s approval.
• Save and sign the original receipts if signature specimen is not already on the receipt.
• Submit the completed form, along with original receipts, to one of the MAE staff, 2132 Bainer Office.

Tips¶

• Plan your purchases well in advance to avoid rush orders and unnecessary high shipping charges.
• When in doubt about our policy & procedures, please contact the main office.
• Your cooperation is much appreciated!