Online Vendor Registration

During June and July 2011, the State of Minnesota is implementing a new financial and procurement system that will affect how vendors interact with the State. The Statewide Integrated Financial Tools (SWIFT) system provides new options for vendors and requires current vendors to create a new user ID and password. The previous vendor registration system has been decommissioned. Beginning June 6, vendors will be able to register and update their information through the Supplier portal.

The new vendor portal (Supplier portal) consolidates the vendor registration function previously available through the Materials Management Division (MMD) website and Minnesota Management & Budget (MMB) Payments on the Web (POTW).

Benefits

Vendors will be able to view certain solicitation announcements through the Supplier portal. An added benefit is the ability to respond to certain solicitations in an online bidding process. Those solicitations will generally be "one-time buy" type solicitations. Term contract solicitations for goods and services (including professional services) will continue to be conducted outside the new system and advertised on the MMD website (http://www.mmd.admin.state.mn.us/solicitations.htm).

Additional self-service functions will enable vendors to request changes to their addresses and contact information as well as to view purchase orders and payments. Vendors can also navigate to other State of Minnesota websites from the Supplier portal.

Electronic Funds Transfer

Beginning July 1, 2011, new vendors can sign up for direct deposit when they self-register through the Supplier portal. Vendors requesting changes to bank information or wishing to sign up for Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) will do so through the MMB website (http://www.mmb.state.mn.us).

Vendors receiving electronic payments will be able to view them through the Supplier portal after July 1. The old system (MAPS) will continue to process payments for July and August and some vendors may receive payments from both MAPS and SWIFT during the transition. All payments for open FY 2011 orders will continue to be made in MAPS through August 17, 2011; these payments will be viewable on POTW until November 2011. Payments for FY 2012 orders will be made in SWIFT and viewable through the Supplier portal. During this transition period, vendors may need to look in both POTW and the Supplier portal for their payment details.

Online Training

SWIFT has developed an online training course to assist vendors in navigating the Supplier portal. This is a two-hour online course designed specifically for State of Minnesota vendors who will be accessing the SWIFT Supplier portal. This course will begin with an explanation of the functionality used for portal navigation. The main focus for this course will be on training vendors how to respond to events; access and view PO’s, Invoices and Payments; and how to create and maintain their user account.

The course is produced using the User Productivity Kit (UPK) software.

Instructions for UPK

Begin the course

Additional weblinks for vendors:

• Supplier portal
• Materials Management Division (MMD) website - http://www.mmd.admin.state.mn.us
• Minnesota Management & Budget (MMB) website - http://www.mmb.state.mn.us
• SWIFT website – http://www.swift.state.mn.us