Sahuayo Launches Michoacán's First Fully Digital Public Procurement System

The Municipality of Sahuayo has launched a Digital Public Procurement One-Stop Shop, making it the first municipality in Michoacán and one of the first in Latin America to implement a fully paperless procurement system. This initiative positions Sahuayo at the forefront of using cutting-edge technology to streamline procurement processes, increase public spending efficiency, and strengthen local micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. The platform was developed in partnership with Glass, a Silicon Valley-based technology company specializing in digitalizing public procurement processes through its G-Commerce platform.

Following Mexico City's collaboration with Glass to modernize its procurement systems, Sahuayo becomes the first municipality in Mexico to adopt G-Commerce and only the second nationwide to launch this type of platform. With an annual budget of nearly $340 million Mexican pesos (approximately USD $17-18 million), Sahuayo manages strategic resources that previously relied heavily on manual, paper-based processes. The digital transformation has already shown significant results, with more than 700 purchase requests digitalized in just two months of adoption.

The platform serves more than 45 active municipal departments including Public Spaces and Mobility, Public Safety, Water Services, Public Works, Education, Economic Development, Street Vending, Health, and Energy. The system transforms traditional practices requiring in-person paperwork and signatures into a fully digital, streamlined, and traceable process. Municipal staff can log in to their purchasing dashboard, create requests with product or service details, submit them with a single click, and track progress in real time through review and approval.

Beyond internal efficiency gains, the Digital Public Procurement One-Stop Shop is designed to empower the local business community through an intelligent supplier directory. Sahuayo's businesses, including small shops and women-led enterprises, can register and connect directly with government procurement opportunities. The municipality aims to progressively onboard more than 60 local suppliers into the platform, creating an inclusive and competitive ecosystem where local MSMEs can participate transparently in government procurement. Glass has supported more than 120 public agencies across the U.S. and Latin America in their transition to intelligent public procurement platforms, processing over $7.4 million in public transactions efficiently and lawfully.

Alexander Morillo, Government Projects Lead at Glass, emphasized that moving from manual to digital processes maximizes public resources and allows municipal leaders to focus on serving citizens rather than physical paperwork. The platform's expansion plans include covering petty cash, emergency purchases, direct acquisitions, and larger-scale transactions within a digital, auditable environment. This positions Sahuayo as a regional benchmark for how technological innovation can drive local development and modern governance, particularly following Glass's selection by the U.S. General Services Administration for its federal commercial platforms program and recent launch with the Government of Puerto Rico.