Thanks to JAGGAER, it’s one-stop shopping. Whether it’s an internal or external supplier, it’s the same seamless process.
Nadia Orsini, Systems Manager, Training & Client Support, McGill University
Executive Summary
Founded in 1821, McGill University is one of Canada’s best-known institutions of higher learning and one of the leading universities in the world. At a time when higher education was struggling with falling enrollment and contracting budgets, McGill needed a way to bring its culture of innovation to the way the university manages procurement. With suppliers like Campus Safety, the Campus Store, and Animal Care Services struggling to bill sufficiently, the institution turned to JAGGAER to build an integrated internal marketplace. JAGGAER’s solution brings internal and external stakeholders into the same easy-to-use workflow and ensures transparency between orders and cost.
Results
$300K
in soft cost savings
$15.5M
supplier revenues processed in a year
75%
reduced builling time
30,000+
internal invoices processed annually
The Challenge: Fragment Procurement with Zero Visibility
Historically, McGill relied on after-the-fact interdepartmental charges (IDCs) for transactions between departments. This practice created frequent issues, including fund closures and insufficient funds, lack of upfront financial control and fragmented, manual tracking of internal orders.
“We had no order visibility at all. The system was very fragmented, very manual, with Excel sheets to track orders,” said Nadia Orsini, Systems Manager, Training & Client Support, McGill University. “It was difficult for suppliers to even collect their revenue.”
Lack of visibility also meant that administration could not track cost, nor budget accurately, based on the most real-time data. According to Susan Boyd, Associate Director, Procurement Systems and Programs, McGill University, “When it came to pivoting quickly, to address unanticipated expenditures, we knew the institution was falling short of its strategic priority to provide leadership and support in planning and evaluating initiatives.”
The Solution: Integrated eProcurement and Invoicing
Faced with inefficiencies in internal purchasing, Boyd and Orsini embarked on a bold journey to reimagine procurement by integrating internal suppliers into a converged, intelligent platform.
JAGGAER was selected to create the solution based on its long track record of excellence in Higher Education, along with the configurability of its solution. With the JAGGAER One platform, enhanced by eProcurement and Invoicing, McGill not only gained an easy-to-use marketplace, it also gave internal service units the same workflow as external suppliers. Internal units could now see every step of the process, from purchase requisition and approval to purchase orders, receipts and invoices.
And for added cost control and agility, integration with McGill’s ERP has automated conversion of invoices into tax-exempt IDCs, ensuring compliance and seamless fund transfers.
Results: Reduced Billing Time, $300K in Soft Cost Savings
The transformation delivered results that extended beyond simple ROI. With JAGGAER eProcurement and Invoicing, McGill University achieved:
- Financial Visibility & Control: $15.5M in internal supplier revenues processed in one year, representing 9,400 purchase orders—about 10% of McGill’s total PO volume.
- Efficiency Gains: Campus Safety reduced billing time from 8 hours per month to just 30 minutes per week. The team has also brought new internal suppliers onto the platform, going from 53 to 56 in just a few short months.
- Cost Savings: Estimated $300K in soft cost savings annually (based on $10 per invoice and ~30,000 internal invoices processed).
- Crisis Response: During COVID-19, McGill launched a PPE stockroom in under one week, supplying 10,000 staff and researchers with critical equipment, with next-day fulfillment.
Looking ahead, McGill plans to expand its internal marketplace to more units, including IT Services and additional research cores. The team is also exploring automation to reduce manual effort and strengthen risk management.
