UNAMstore has just opened its doors to the Bilkent community. A new project of the Institute of Materials Science and Nanotechnology and the National Nanotechnology Research Center (UNAM) in collaboration with the university’s Procurement and Finance Offices, the store stocks “consumables” – commonly used, disposable items such as pipettes, petri dishes, tubing and gloves, and soon even common chemicals – for use in the laboratory. The store, the first of its kind in Turkey, is available to all Bilkent principal investigators and their research groups as well as all Bilkent academic and administrative departments/offices, centers and units that need common consumables for service, teaching and research.
Acquiring these basic laboratory supplies can sometimes be time consuming. The main issue is the lack of a direct, fast-track channel that can be used to order consumables in an efficient way. Another problem is the fact that distributors frequently experience delays in obtaining and shipping certain items, which in the case of research projects potentially slows down ongoing experiments. Moreover, the required paperwork can be an issue, especially for many principal investigators, as this typically involves the preparation of multiple documents and their delivery to offices that oversee procurement.
To overcome these problems and turn the process of purchasing laboratory consumables into a one-stop shopping experience for Bilkent users, UNAM has introduced the concept of a “consumables store” designed to carry most types of commonly used consumable items in its warehouse. The idea is to make the process of purchasing these items considerably easier, and to make the items themselves both less expensive and always available on campus. Accordingly, starting with a pilot program, UNAMstore will stock many common consumables from various manufacturers in its warehouse in the UNAM building. Researchers and staffers will be able to procure them through an efficient purchasing system with minimal paperwork, designed by UNAM together with the Finance Office and the Procurement Office.
The intent is that UNAMstore will offer an expanding list of consumables, providing a continuous supply for researchers running active research projects with budgets managed through Bilkent University’s Finance Office or PIs with UNAM-Integrated System (UNAM-IS) accounts, and also for units with university budget accounts.
For those who wish to use UNAMstore, it’s very easy: first visit http://unam.bilkent.edu.tr/store/, then prepare your order list, including your project/budget identifier number, and contact Olcay Undal (finance@unam.bilkent.edu.tr or ext. 2492). After you file your order (through the ERP system), it will be filled and ready for you to pick up from UNAM! Orders will be charged directly to the consumables budget of your research project or the university budget account specified on your order list.
UNAMstore always welcomes feedback from users; in particular, suggestions as to new items that should be added to the inventory of common consumables will be very useful. For more information, please visit http://unam.bilkent.edu.tr/store/.