Quartzy

Pros

I like how customizable and user friendly this software is. I don't spend hours trying to figure out how to input something into the system. This aspect also makes its very easy to introduce new lab personnel to it. I don't know how many times I have have been able to readily access our inventory find a specific item and *locate* it in the lab for someone else. And I can look up specific items or a group of items. That is invaluable to lab management.

Cons

This may have changed recently, but there should be a way, when requesting items to be purchased, that the software can tell you if the same item has been requested by someone else (and has yet to be delivered). This can also be done by careful humans so it is not a big deal . . .

Pros

If you're ordering something familiar or defined within there system it gets easier and easier. Essentially its more to get it started then to maintain which is ideal and understandably a good thing. The inventorying and ease of use for finding previously ordered products arguably too convenient.

Cons

So the issue with the inventory and management of items once it arrives is that it requires the end user to document and track the usage to form a digital inventory. Which is reasonable but in academic sciences its a little less then realistic. More over for me the worst part is the combining of invoices which I love makes things appear very streamlined however in the end you will be likely charged for the individual vendors used. Which is understandable, except for the fact it clashes with my universities way of handling fiances at the end of each month.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Quartzy

Pros

I like the automatic quoting and matching when it can save us money. I use the export feature to run statistics on our procurement process and spending. I like that its free and has an easy to use dashboard to see where items are in the process. Having access to punchouts as a small business is a perk!

Cons

I don't like that they quote items that'll cost MORE to get from Quartzy, and to a new user is can look misleading. I don't like that when you purchase items through Quartzy that they don't make the request form editable. Quartzy does not connect to our ERP, so we have to do a lot of manual work. The import template is awful because it doesn't match the request button, so I still get stuck doing manual entry work. Also I wish they had a "viewer" authority level because I have many people that want to check status of orders, but that should not be able to place orders.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Quartzy

Pros

I absolutely love Quartzy. It is the easiest way to keep everything in the lab organized and it would be complete chaos without it.

Just the overall presentation of everything is super helpful. Having a request section and an inventory section that allows a seamless transition of what you ordered to putting it into inventory is amazing.

Cons

There are three things that I do not like about the software.

1. It would be way more convenient to have an app that is just as good as the web portal
2. A little more customization on what I feel is necessary information when others are creating an order.
3. A more developed scanning feature (which may be more applicable with a mobile app)

Pros

Quartzy is very easy to use and quick to integrate into inventory processes. The most efficient part is ability to look up suppliers with auto generating catalog information and reordering by just click of a button. This allows us to keep consistently purchasing the same material to prevent variation or order entry errors.

Cons

The only problem we have faced are duplicate serial number entries that are generated from manual and auto entries but I think the issue has been resolved quickly.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Quartzy

Pros

Integrating was easy with the help of a Quartzy staffmember. They imported info from our excel ordering sheet. I love that the software is accessible to all invited and emails me when an order is placed and received. It's very helpful that receipt info is saved and lists who received it.

Cons

When I add a request, I wish I could turn off the Let's lookup your item feature, instead of having to hit skip lookup every time.

Pros

I like that this software is easy to use and links to websites. Lots of communication and some history.

Cons

I would like to see that an admin has more control over what can be added in the dropdowns. More access to make fields mandatory. Implement kanban or pars for inventory and barcodes. When you receive an email about an order you can click the link and it will take you directly to that order.

Pros

I like how the sourcing of items is very easy and there is a lot of collaboration between different company's. The checkout and requesting of supplies is very straight forward and user-friendly.

Cons

I did not care for the inventory system that was built-in because I think it lacks some key capabilities and function. It does work as a basic inventory system but the layout and features do not seem to focus on efficiency.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Quartzy

Pros

Quartzy creates a streamline process for scientific teams to drop requests and give details about the requests. Instead of a million emails or an extravagant spreadsheet, I have Quartzy! Everything I need in one place. This makes the job of placing, tracking, and organizing orders so easy. I especially like the ability to mark an item as "urgent", which immediately makes the item pop out at you on the screen. That's a little thing that takes minimal effort on the scientists' end but makes a big difference for me.

Cons

I wish there was a way to sort by "date needed"

Pros

A lot of items we order already have their information populated into Quartzy so we don't have enter in all the details of vendor, catalog #, URL, etc. as we had to do when we were using Excel to keep track of our purchases.

Cons

Not all actions can be done in bulk. For example, if you want to say you received 10 items on the order list, you can just select all 10 items and change the status to "Received". You need to update the status for each item individually.

Pros

I like having all requests in once place. Regardless if they're purchased directly through Quartzy or another vendor. Most features are intuitive and easy to use. The chat feature or direct message feature is very useful. Customer service has always been on point for me and I appreciate the time

Cons

When using the export feature, it would be helpful from an accounting standpoint to be able to export only received items by date. As it works right now, I must export all open orders by guessing how far back a request may have been submitted and then filter the excel accordingly. While it does work, it takes more time than should be necessary. Also, sometimes the page doesn't refresh or glitches. Which could be due to office internet. There's been a few instances where I'm in the Approval tab placing orders and all of a sudden the order I just placed wasn't actually approved. Needless to say that can be a bit frustrating. I'm glad it doesn't happen that often and I've gotten into the habit to refresh the page manually.

Pros

It's a good way to keep track of our lab materials, the price we paid, and when we last ordered them. It has a good catalog of items and we can often save money by ordering through Quartzy. The customer service is very helpful.

Cons

It would be nice to rename the locations in a consistent way. For example, our lab space has grown and we have moved many items from our two small refrigerators into one main refrigerator. It would be great if there was an easy way to move all of the items from their original location to the new location without having to do it manually.

Also, when my lab members upload a request for an item, they generally request the item through Quartzy. However, sometimes I can get the item cheaper if I order through my university. But then, I have to cancel the Quartzy request and re-upload the request at the cheaper price. This is is somewhat cumbersome and can cause confusion when having to explain why their orders were canceled.

Pros

First, let me say that the customer service has been at least as good as anywhere else I have ever ordered from, if not better. I generally find that I can often get items that my lab needs at the same price (or cheaper) and Quartzy is more transparent about the shipping costs and the status of shipment/estimated delivery dates. Sometimes I order from Quartzy instead of the direct company for things that I need just for these features.

Cons

I feel like some of the organizational features, like search filters, aren't always available or aren't always given to me as helpful options. And I feel like when I put a search into the search bar, my results aren't always as appropriate to my search as I would like. Sometimes it feels like you must make certain searches in a very specific way to have the best return on your search results. And sometimes I get filter options that filter out ALL of my results if I apply them, and I don't think that should be how the filter options populate for a search.

Pros

We like that it created and builds an inventory for our lab by just ordering. It is a great way for requests to be located in one place. All lab members have access to what we have on-hand and where it is located.

Cons

My least favorite thing about this is not knowing if suggested companies are reputable as far as replacement products. We chose to try a suggested product and it was faulty...it didn't work for the application it was for. So, now my lab mates won't allow us to try suggested products because it ruined some valuable samples. However, I will say that we got our money back and the customer service was great in replacing the product with the trusted brand and refunding our money for the product that didnt work for us.

Pros

With the current pandemic, we needed to shut down for the last two weeks of March. With a simple email, I was able to get all of our orders put on hold (not canceled). When we re-opened slowly (we are deemed essential in MA), Quartzy delivered everything that had been held.

Cons

I'd like them to add a feature to provide a consolidated invoice (even if it is merely a listing of everything purchase over a given period of time, the vendor, the names of products, etc.). This would help significantly as all of our employees can order required chemicals and supplies and while we get billed by the individual vendors, it isn't always clear from our credit card statement what was purchase and by whom. It would save our bookkeeping team a lot of time. Not a flaw in the product as much as an enhancement.

Pros

Their platform is so easy to use and makes tracking lab staff's order requests, approvals, funding allocations and shipment tracking so easy and organized in one place. It has great features for members to track and inquire about their own requests. Administrators can also filter the requests to create PO's and requisitions and even export excel files which has been very helpful when updating inventory. Another great feature is being able to order through their shop that offer competitive prices and other deals on general lab supplies.

Cons

I didn't like how all users can choose to accept an alternative quote from Quartzy. I'm happy that they've made it simple to change the vendor on an order before the order is placed without having to cancel it.

Pros

The broad range of suppliers that can be easily accessed is really useful.

Cons

I'm not sure if it's possible to have a default mode that removes some suppliers from the results. It would be great to have a 'trusted' and 'not trusted' supplier list to filter out results. For many chemicals, especially common ones I have to scroll through the same 'cheap and unreliable' vendors every time. Also, integration of shipping tracking information is spotty.

Pros

Simplicity of training and use is superb. Access to orders over time, access to products and prices, all excellent. Superior inventory management and updating, simplified by containing orders and inventories all in one place.

Cons

There are glitches with updated availability and tracking. Frustrating to get a message of delay or backorder, order somewhere else and then find the information was wrong and we end up unable to cancel the erroneous order or the extra panic order.

Pros

Quartzy is easy to use and keeps our ordering process organized. Lots of functions are great, like being able to attach quotes and POs, documenting expiry dates, etc. Also, the customer service has also been great with very rapid responses.

Cons

I don’t like how shipping fees can be very large without it being clear which product in our Quartzy cart is incurring these fees and why. Also, if there are associated fees for Quartzy items, this should be transparent in our New/Approved tabs, so we can be proactive about finding cheaper alternatives, instead of not being able to see it until we go to check out.

Pros

I am responsible for the inventory in my lab and it makes my life easier but Quartzy include the inventory (easy to add new items), we can place orders with a large choice of suppliers. I can access from my phone and my laptop. The request feature makes it really convenient for me to know what to order.

Cons

The only downside about Quartzy is the search option which cannot search for "words fragments" (i.e. if I am looking for chemicals with phenyl in their name, it will only show me the chemicals beginning with phenyl but not the chemicals with phenyl elsewhere in their name).

Pros

The ease it provides in reviewing and approving POs. Moreover, eliminating all the paper and wet signatures I would have to execute daily, as all POs have to be approved by me.

Cons

I really don't have anything negative to say. Quartzy has streamlined things for us in so many ways.

Pros

Quartzy makes it easier to track purchases, create a chemical inventory, and control spending on different projects. It's easy to sort and export results with the various filters.

Cons

Unsure if this is possible, but would like the capability for admins to be able to merge inventories, order histories, etc.

Pros

Abilities for specific inventories are nice, user friendly, customer service is great for all inquiries. Search for cheaper options for the exact same item or an equivalent is very helpful and the products are good.

Cons

There are "ok" or "cancel" pop up boxes for a lot of functions that are not necessary since revising and cancelling orders is so easy.

Pros

We are a state funded facility and this application system offers the opportunity to save lots of money and enables our company to put more funds into offering more services to our community instead of purchasing pricey lab supplies! We love saving money!!

Cons

We would love if we could find more comparable items in the Quartzy Shop that we regularly purchase for cheaper!

Pros

My favorite feature is the Quartzy Shop. When I am looking for chemicals or lab supplies I search what I am looking for in the Quartzy Shop. I usually find great deals with fast shipping for whatever I'm looking for. The customer service is also excellent, they were very helpful in helping me find replacement products for backordered materials.

Cons

Sometimes supplies are back ordered but are not listed as back ordered until after I purchase the supplies.