Solicitation & Awards / Supplier Portal (supplier.ps.sc.edu)
Important Information for USC Employees
The Solicitation and Awards Portal (also known as the Supplier Portal) should be accessed from a browser that is not regularly used to log into the Employee Portal.
For example, if the Edge browser is used for “everyday” PeopleSoft work (purchase requisitions, payment requests, expense reports, etc.), then a different browser, such as Chrome or Firefox, should be used to access the supplier portal.
There is a conflict with a browser's stored cookies when attempting to go from the employee portal to the supplier portal. Clearing browser cookies in a specific browser can temporarily resolve this issue and allow the user to access the supplier portal in the same browser that the employee portal was previously accessed. However, cookies would need to be cleared once again in order to return to the employee portal after accessing the supplier portal. To eliminate the constant need to clear browser cookies, it is highly recommended that an employee uses separate browsers to access to these two separate portals simultaneously.
New Online Solicitation System
The Purchasing Department is pleased to announce that our new online solicitation and bidding system is now live. This new web-based software system is used by the Purchasing Department to create online solicitation events, accept electronic bids and proposals, and issue notices of award for procurement contracts resulting from the solicitations. This new system completely replaces the legacy method of posting solicitations directly to our department website.
This new system provides:
- access to a public Supplier Portal (supplier.ps.sc.edu) where USC Solicitation Opportunities and Award Statements are published.
- an electronic registration process for prospective suppliers to become "Offerors" in the USC solicitation system.
- the ability to create and submit electronic responses to Solicitations, by both Offerors and existing USC Suppliers.
There was a 2-phase rollout for this new system:
- Phase 1 began March 1, 2021 - All vendors interested in doing business with the university may register as an Offeror (or request a Supplier User ID for vendors that already exist in the university's supplier database).
- Phase 2 began March 15, 2021 - All registered Offerors or Suppliers have the ability to submit bids and proposals directly online via the Supplier Portal of this new system.
The public access point for all *new* Procurement activity (i.e. Solicitations and Awards) on or after March 15, 2021, will be posted and maintained within the university's Supplier Portal. On the Supplier Home Page, public users will be able to view active solicitation events, as well as view more information about Supplier and Offeror registration, including instruction guides and frequently asked questions and answers.
Training resources to assist new Offerors and current Suppliers with the Supplier
Portal and USC's Solicitation Opportunities will be available in the New Solicitation System section of our Purchasing Toolbox.
Legacy Solicitations and Awards Public Postings
The online public postings for all university solicitations and awards related to supplies, services, information technology and construction procurement activity prior to March 15, 2021 are located on the Legacy Solicitations and Awards page.
Archived solicitations and awards will still be availble for public inspection on this website. Additionally, active Fixed Price Bids will remain posted on this website for new contractors to be added during the effective contract period.