Sahuayo Municipality Launches Michoacán's First Fully Digital Public Procurement System

The Municipality of Sahuayo has launched a Digital Public Procurement One-Stop Shop, establishing Michoacán's first fully paperless procurement system and positioning the municipality as a regional leader in government digital transformation. This initiative makes Sahuayo one of the first municipalities in Latin America to implement such a comprehensive digital procurement platform, representing a significant advancement in modernizing municipal management practices.

Developed in partnership with Silicon Valley technology company Glass, the platform utilizes the G-Commerce system already deployed by various U.S. local governments and federal agencies. Following Mexico City's collaboration with Glass, Sahuayo becomes the first Mexican municipality to adopt G-Commerce technology, marking only the second such implementation nationwide. The platform's deployment demonstrates the municipality's commitment to transparency, inclusion, and efficiency in managing public resources totaling approximately $340 million Mexican pesos annually.

The digital transformation has yielded immediate results, with more than 700 purchase requests processed through the system within just two months of implementation. The platform has replaced traditional manual, paper-based processes that required in-person paperwork and signatures with a fully digital, streamlined approach. More than 45 active municipal departments have integrated the platform into daily operations, including Public Spaces and Mobility, Public Safety, Water Services, Public Works, Education, and Economic Development departments.

Beyond administrative efficiency, the platform features an intelligent supplier directory designed specifically to empower local businesses. Small shops, women-led enterprises, and other micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises can register and connect directly with government procurement opportunities. The municipality aims to onboard more than 60 local suppliers into the platform, creating an inclusive ecosystem where local businesses can participate transparently in government procurement processes.

The system simplifies procurement through a user-friendly interface where municipal staff can access purchasing dashboards, create detailed requests, submit them with single-click functionality, and track progress in real-time through review and approval stages. Once suppliers are selected, purchase orders generate automatically within the system, ensuring complete traceability and compliance. Glass provides comprehensive support through live chat, email, and phone assistance to ensure smooth adoption across municipal departments.

Alexander Morillo, Government Projects Lead at Glass, emphasized the partnership's significance, noting how digital processes maximize public resources and allow municipal leaders to focus on citizen service rather than administrative paperwork. The platform represents just the beginning of Sahuayo's digital transformation journey, with plans to expand coverage to include petty cash management, emergency purchases, direct acquisitions, and larger-scale transactions within the same digital, auditable environment.

Glass brings substantial experience to the partnership, having supported more than 120 public agencies across the United States and Latin America in transitioning to intelligent procurement platforms. The company has processed over $7.4 million in public transactions and received recognition from major publications including Forbes and Bloomberg. In 2024, Glass was selected by the U.S. General Services Administration for its federal commercial platforms program and recently launched the first G-Commerce platform in Latin America with the Government of Puerto Rico at https://www.glasscommerce.com.

The Sahuayo implementation establishes a new benchmark for municipal governance in Mexico and throughout Latin America, demonstrating how technological innovation can simultaneously drive administrative efficiency, local economic development, and transparency in public resource management. This model integration of digital procurement systems with local business empowerment creates a replicable framework for other municipalities seeking to modernize their operations while strengthening community economic ecosystems.