Purchase Request
Purchase Request
Mechanical Engineering Purchasing Portal
This page facilitates purchasing for the Mechanical Engineering Department's academic classes and research faculty. This page provides a high level summary of University procurement practices to facilitate the majority of departmental purchasing. For complete information please visit How to Purchase Goods or Services on the Office of Contracting & Procurement website.
How do I place an order?
Step 1: Asses ITAP Requirements
Determine if the device you are ordering requires IT approval process (ITAP).
Follow the step by step walkthrough to submit an ITAP request for items (complete list of ITAP required items) that have data storage capabilites, an interface with wired or wireless networks, or are a software package.
Only faculty/staff members can submit an ITAP request.
Step 2: Funding Source
Ensure that you have a proper funding source, there are funds in your account, and you know you spending limit.
A proper funding source requires fund, organization, and program numbers usually provided in the format 12345-67891-7010-12 and may be referenced as FOAPAL. In this example, the Fund is 12345, the Organization is 67891, the Account is 7010, and the Program is 12. The final Activity and Location fields are not used at Rowan.
Students: This information can be obtained from the professor overseeing your project.
Faculty: If you do not know your FOAPAL contact your budget coordinator or department secretary.
Step 3: Vendor Selection
Find a vendor that carries your product, conducting your search in the following order: Scientific Vendors, ME Approved Vendors, Non-Listed Vendors.
Scientific Vendors
Rowan University is obligated under State Contract to buy scientific materials from the awarded vendors: Thomas Scientific, VWR, and Worldwide Medical.
For more information about scientific vendor please visit Office of Contracting & Procurement
ME Approved Vendors
The Department of Mechanical Engineering maintains a list of Commonly Used Vendors. This list contains links to the company's website, information about types of products they may sell, as well as contact information and special notes for the company.
Non-Listed Vendors
When selecting a non-approved vendor, our staff will check your requested company against the 10,000+ vendors in the Rowan Banner System to see if Rowan has a working relationship with the company. If yes, the vendor will be added to the list of Mechanical Engineering Commonly Used Vendors and you will be notified. You will then be able to complete your order by obtaining a quote and submitting your purchase request through the ME Purchasing Portal (MEPP).
If your vendor is not found in Rowan Banner System, your order will enter a multi-tier approval process ending at the Dean's Office. If approved by the Dean's Office your purchase will be ordered on a credit card (this process may take as long as two weeks to obtain all approvals). While your order is being processed the company will be contacted and asked to become an Approved Vendor. With any luck, the next time you buy from this vendor you will find them on the Commonly Used Vendor list!
Step 4: Obtain Quote
Obtaining a quote is the most critical step in the procurement process.
Rowan works on a purchase order system with its vendors. This means if you are purchasing from Scientific or ME Approved Vendors, you must obtain a quote which guarantees pricing for a period of 30-90 days from a company for a list of requested items.
A valid quote must match all the criteria below:
- Quotes must be provided on company letterhead
- Quotes must contain a unique quote number (often found in the upper corner)
- Quotes must not include sales tax. Rowan Tax Exemption Certificate
- Quotes should include shipping charges. If shipping estimates are not available (some companies will not provide them even after a phone call) please estimate shipping from their website or yourself. It is better to overestimate shipping than not include it at all!
- Quotes must have the shipping information below - home addresses and student names will not be accepted.
Quote Shipping Address
Karl Dyer (or Faculty Advisor Name)
Rowan Hall - 2nd Fl Mech Eng
70 Sewell St - Suite B
Glassboro, NJ 08028
Requesting a Quote
Several companies offer quote services from their website. However, if you should need to email a company requesting a quote please follow the sample provided below for best results.
Subject: Request For Quote - Rowan University
Dear Sales Team Member,
Can you please generate a quote for:
Quantity of 1 - Part# 1234
Quantity of 4 - Part# 4321Please include shipping charges to:
Karl Dyer (or Faculty Advisor Name)
Rowan Hall - 2nd Fl Mech Eng
70 Sewell St - Suite E
Glassboro, NJ 08028Please note Rowan University is a tax exempt institution.
Thank you,
<Your Name Here>
Step 5: Enter Request
The Mechanical Engineering Department has created a Purchasing Portal that keeps the end user, you, informed throughout the purchasing process.
Enter Request
Click on the MEPP logo to enter the Mechancial Engineering Purchasing Portal. Select "Submit Order Request" from the portal front page and complete all fields as prompted. Please read all field descriptions carefully, there is important information provided.
