Improving our ordering system

This April we’re making improvements to the way you procure standards and controls from NIBSC. To allow us to make the transition, there will be a period of seven working days when NIBSC will not process orders.

What will happen when

• From 17.00 (GMT) on 27 March to 09.00 (GMT) 9 April we will not process any orders received for biological reference materials. Online ordering on our website will be unavailable. We will still be able to receive orders placed by email but they will not be fulfilled until after 9 April.
• After 9 April you will be able to use online ordering as before. Additionally, if you are registered to use the PEPPOL European-wide procurement network, you will be able to use this interface to place orders.

Ultimately, we would like to move away from receiving orders by email. However, we recognise this is the currently the preferred channel for some of our customers, so will not be enforcing this change immediately.

What are we changing

We are changing the system we use to manage your procurement at NIBSC, and introducing globally recognised barcodes on our products – changes that will ultimately improve the service we can provide.

This means:

• NIBSC will be PEPPOL compliant – From 9 April 2018, NIBSC will be connected to the PEPPOL European-wide procurement network.  If you are also connected to the network, we will be able to share information such as purchase orders and invoices through a common system.
• NIBSC products will be more traceable – We will start to apply an internationally recognised GS1 barcode to all NIBSC products. These will provide a wealth of information about your product, and should improve traceability and make stock management easier and more efficient.
• Our labelling might change – You may notice changes to our labelling, as we start to introduce the GS1 barcode across our catalogue.

Why are we doing this

Making these improvements will mean smoother operations for our back office, and enable us to provide a better service for you.