Purchasing and Contracts

• Streamline the ordering process
• Buy directly from discount wholesalers (e.g., Office Depot, Staples, Sam’s Club, Price/Costco)
• Consolidate ordering of lab supplies
• Control purchases of supplies so there is never more than a one-year stock
• Develop cost-effective methods to process supply requests
• Formally standardize software used for personal computers throughout the college
• Implement vendor sourcing internally
• Purchase more furniture from auctions, used office furniture stores, state surplus warehouses, etc.
• Research vendors more thoroughly for cheaper supplies
• Track discounts obtained by purchasing to monitor the effectiveness of the function
• Explore the development of an on-line purchasing system
• Limit access to central supply and establish controls to stop theft
• Eliminate or reduce warehousing functions and rely on “just-in-time” deliveries
• Limit access to central supply and establish controls to stop theft
• Eliminate purchase order requirements for all items under $100 because processing a purchase order is costly
• Use purchase prices and contracts already negotiated by the U.S. General Accounting Office or by a college’s state of local government’s purchasing department

We are continually buying something that we never get from a man that never had it.
- Will Rogers