Dear Campus Community,

Supply Chain Management (SCM) has important updates and upcoming events to share with you.

This month's features:  

• BearBUY 25.1 Upgrade Release
• New: Parking & Transportation Tile
• Coming Soon! Fisher Scientific & Possible Missions Team Up
• Building Name Changes
• Reminder: Tango Punchout Catalog
• Reminder: Guide Me: Guided Intake
• Reminder: No Special Characters in Shipping Information & PO Line Description
• Bears that Buy Open Office Hours: Here to Make Purchasing BEARable



If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact the BearBUY Help Desk at 510-664-9000 (options 1, 2) or bearbuyhelp@berkeley.edu for immediate assistance.

Go Bears!!

Thank you for your continued support, 

Supply Chain Management

BearBUY 25.1 Upgrade Release

The Jaggaer 25.1 Upgrade is released in BearBUY today, Monday, March 17, 2025.

Documentation of new features and changes will be available on the Friday before the release and can be found on the BearBUY New Features webpage.

Parking & Transportation Tile

(Departmental Parking Passes)

The new Parking & Transportation tile is in the Catering, Meetings & Events Guided Dashboard, making it easier to purchase departmental parking passes.

Fisher Scientific & Possible Missions Team Up to Enhance Service and Compliance

UC Berkeley and Fisher Scientific are excited to announce a new economic impact partnership with Possible Missions, a small, woman- and minority-owned life sciences business supporting higher education and health services. This partnership leverages Possible Missions operations and sales teams to provide better service to UC's research operations and will help you more easily fulfill federal grant obligations.

Possible Missions will begin fulfilling orders for LifeTech and Thermo Fisher Asheville products starting in April 2025. Stay tuned for more details and resources in next month’s newsletter and the April Office Hours. Possible Missions electronic order fulfillment will work seamlessly with no slowdown or additional layers to the current order process. The only difference you’ll see will be in the shopping cart and invoice appearance. Pricing, product availability, shipping and delivery will remain consistent with current expectations from Fisher, and both Fisher and Possible Missions support teams will be available to assist you.

This partnership is truly a win-win. Purchasers will have additional support and reduced work in meeting grant requirements, and costs to the UC system will remain the same, with no product, price, or process changes.

This collaboration marks a significant step forward in the University's commitment to developing a more resilient research supply chain and meeting its economic impact goals.

Name Change for the Following Buildings: Dwinelle Annex and Bechtel Engineering Center

Since the University’s announcements to change the name of the Dwinelle Annex and Bechtel Engineering Center, the address descriptions in BearBUY have been changed accordingly:

Dwinelle Annex → Dwinelle Annex

Bechtel Engineering Center → Grimes Engineering Center

Note: When searching for an address in BearBUY, you MUST search by building name, NOT by Ship-To address code.

Tango (Gift Card) Punchout Catalog

Last month, SCM was pleased to launch a new way to order digital gift cards for employees, students, and community members. We are partnering with Tango, a BHN company, to allow you to provide a digital reward link to gift recipients, allowing them to select which type of gift card they would like to receive. Digital reward links may be used for either allowable gift and recognition programs or research participation incentives (must be able to provide participant names and email addresses). Tango does not support physical gift cards at this time. No existing card programs (such as the Human Subject Card Program) are being discontinued and may continue to be used to support program needs.

Please see the Tango Gift Cards Job Aid to learn how to navigate the Tango site and how to add custom messaging to the Tango Rewards links.

Guide Me: Guided Intake

The "Guide Me" Wizard offers step-by-step assistance for new and occasional BearBUY shoppers, helping them make compliant purchasing decisions.

This feature employs a rule-based Q&A format to direct shoppers toward the optimal procurement outcome. The Enhanced platform intuitiveness utilizes role-based questionnaires to assess the shopper’s needs and provides guidance and recommendations for the quickest purchasing path. This feature will undergo frequent updates for the next few months as we add new suggested suppliers based on user feedback.

Please help us improve the "Guide Me" Wizard by completing the Assessment Form.

No Special Characters in Contact Information in Shipping Information and PO Line Description

POs with special characters (i.e., #, /, &, *) in the Contact Line in the Shipping Information will NOT be dispatched from BearBUY to BFS. 

ONLY alphanumeric characters (i.e., a, b, c, A, B, C, 1, 2, 3) are allowed in the Contact Line in the Shipping Information and PO Line Description.

Prohibiting special characters enables supplier computers to read the contact information correctly.

For more information, please see the New Shoppers - Quick Reference Guide.

Bears that Buy Open Office Hours:

Here to Make Purchasing BEARable

Please join us for our next remote office hour tomorrow, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.

We encourage you to submit topics of discussion and/or questions in advance in this Google form.

Just so you know – individuals from the Procurement, BearBUY Solutions, Account Payable, and BRS teams will attend to listen to your questions and provide information about purchasing at Berkeley. The Open Office Hours will be held every third Tuesday of the month from 10:00 to 10:50 a.m.

Instructions and Zoom URL:

• To attend office hours, you MUST first be signed in to your Berkeley Zoom account. Please see How to sign in to your UC Berkeley Zoom account.
• You don't need to register. Join the Bears that Buy Open Office Hours or enter the Meeting ID 99363039857 in the Zoom desktop client.