Sahuayo Municipality Launches Michoacán's First Fully Digital Public Procurement System
The Municipality of Sahuayo has implemented Mexico's first municipal-level digital procurement platform through a partnership with Silicon Valley's Glass, transforming traditional paper-based processes into an efficient digital system that enhances transparency and supports local businesses.
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. The system is powered by Glass's G-Commerce platform, which is already used by local governments in the United States, federal agencies, and other Latin American governments. Following Mexico City's collaboration with Glass, 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. In just two months of adoption, the Digital Public Procurement One-Stop Shop has digitalized more than 700 purchase requests, transforming practices that traditionally required in-person paperwork and signatures into a fully digital, streamlined, and traceable process. More than 45 active municipal departments have integrated the platform into their daily operations, demonstrating rapid adoption across the municipality.
Beyond internal efficiency gains, the platform 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. The platform simplifies the entire procurement process: municipal staff can log in to their purchasing dashboard at https://glasscommerce.com, create requests with product or service details, submit them with a single click, and track progress in real-time through review and approval.
Alexander Morillo, Government Projects Lead at Glass, emphasized the significance of this partnership, noting that moving from manual to digital processes maximizes public resources and allows municipal leaders to focus on serving citizens rather than administrative paperwork. The platform's implementation represents more than just technological advancement—it establishes a new standard for transparent, efficient public resource management that could serve as a model for other municipalities throughout Mexico and Latin America.
Sahuayo plans to progressively expand the platform to cover petty cash, emergency purchases, direct acquisitions, and larger-scale transactions within a digital, auditable environment. Glass has supported more than 120 public agencies across the U.S. and Latin America in their transition to intelligent public procurement platforms, having processed over $7.4 million in public transactions efficiently and lawfully. The company's recognition by organizations including https://www.forbes.com and https://www.bloomberg.com, along with backing from Google, underscores the growing importance of digital procurement solutions in public sector modernization.