The University of California (UC) has recently picked Labviva, a leading AI procurement platform for life sciences, to enhance procurement efficiency and research-related purchasing across all UC campuses. And the initial Labviva deployment occurred at UC San Diego in 2022, with UC Merced going live in September 2024.
UC needed a solution to plug into procurement technologies at ten campuses, six academic health centers, and three national laboratories. And Labviva’s intuitive platform can operate as a stand-alone solution or integrate directly into leading procurement systems, including Jaggaer, Oracle Procurement Cloud, SAP Ariba, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and Coupa. Plus, Labviva will help UC research operations optimize purchasing, speed fulfillment, maintain compliance, and create visibility into the procurement process.
By next year, UC aims to allocate 25% of its addressable spending for certified small and diverse businesses. And Labviva’s highly configurable platform enables each UC campus to customize search results and specify which suppliers are featured and when. This enables purchasing agents to make the best research choices while keeping them aligned with UC’s values and goals. Labviva’s real-time purchasing analytics dashboard charts spend by category, vendor, user, timeframe, and project for accurate reporting on UC spend.
The agreement between Labviva and UC is set for a 3-year initial term, with two annual renewal options at UC’s discretion. And the award to Labviva, a certified Small Business, underscores UC’s commitment to supporting small and diverse businesses.
KEY QUOTES:
“Labviva streamlines the requisition process by providing 1:1 product comparisons across vendors, price and shipping comparisons, responsive search results, and supplemental information like peer-reviewed papers and molecular structure breakdowns. This intelligent solution empowers faculty, researchers, and staff to make well-informed buying decisions, aligning campus needs with UC’s financial goals and responsibilities.”
-Meagan Torres, Associate Vice-Chancellor and Chief Procurement Officer at UC Merced
“Labviva uses technology to create connections and build partnerships across the entire procurement ecosystem to accelerate the pace of life science research. With real-time analytics and AI-driven product recommendations, we empower the UC system to take control of their spend, improve product selection, and gain greater insights and visibility into trends.”
-Siamak Baharloo, CEO of Labviva
“Since integrating Labviva into our ecommerce platform in 2022, UC San Diego has been able to greatly enhance the shopping experience for campus end users. This tool helps our shoppers find items quickly, compare prices at a glance, and easily make repeat purchases. We’ve implemented several improvements in search results, line of sight to inventory, and influenced shopping behavior to maximize cost savings. Plus, using a small business supplier like Labviva models our goals of supporting small businesses, and its functionality encourages our shoppers to use small, sustainable, and diverse suppliers.”
-Greg Muller, Senior Manager, Strategic Sourcing, UC San Diego
“Labviva helps UC Procurement transform how the University purchases goods and services to maximize benefit to the system while improving quality and service to our campus partners. This e-procurement upgrade is indicative of our commitment to best-in-class sourcing methods, investment in the latest technology, and the cultivation of strategic supplier partnerships to source the highest-quality products and services at the best value.”
-Paul Williams, UC Systemwide Procurement Associate Vice President & Chief Procurement Officer
