Procurement Update
Presented to RAWG
Presented by Procurement Services:
Matthew A. Larson, Director
Janel Wright, Associate Director
Cathleen Paquette, Purchasing Agent II
BJ Pivonka, Procurement Analyst
4/26/2016
Topics for today’s
discussion:
Why are We Here?
 UG Update
 Strategic Procurement: Lab Supplies & Equipment RFP
 eProcurement Updates
 Campus Collaboration
Questions, Comments, Feedback
Why Are We Here?
EVP for Administration & CFO
Scott Jordan
Matthew A. Larson
Director
Associate
Director
Capital Projects &
Contract
Administration
Lynn Lesniak
Procurement Analyst
BJ Pivonka
Procurement Analyst
Vacant
Strategic Initiatives
Associate Director
Procurement
Services
Janel Wright
Purchasing Agent II
Research
Cathleen Paquette
Administrative
Services Specialist
Susan Tash
Executive Program
Manager
Melanie Savino
Associate Director &
Procurement
Contracts and
Compliance
Eli Strassfeld
PCARD/KFS
Administrator
Nancy Patrylak
Financial Assistant II
Elise Fiorentino
Computer Technical
Support Consultant
Jeremiah Macht
www.procurement.uconn.edu
Uniform Guidance Update
•
Communication:
– Procurement updated its website http://purchasing.uconn.edu/uniformguidance/ to acknowledge that its current procurement policies and
procedures will stay in effect until 7/1/17.
– Over the next few weeks, Procurement will be sharing draft policies and
procedures with the University community for comments.
Uniform Guidance: Update (cont.)
• Peer Engagement & Education:
– Procurement attended numerous conferences over the past year
including:
 FDP
 NAEP NE - UConn (OVPR & PS) presented at the NAEP
New England conference
 NAEP Forum: Federal Procurement
– Procurement continues to research and engage with peer
institutions regarding open items and approaches to UG
compliance.
Uniform Guidance:
What’s Next & Upcoming Areas of Focus
•
•
•
•
Consulting Agreements for Sponsored Research
Conflicts of Interest Policy to be drafted and deployed
Bid Thresholds:
– $3,000 micro-purchase threshold (over $3,000 will now require at least 2
quotes)
P-Card:
– $3,000 single transaction threshold (will most likely require UConn to
decrease from current $5,000 limit)
Impact on the University:
– Decreased threshold (from $5K to $3K) will result in an increased amount of
requests that will require at least 3 quotes and change PCARD single
transaction limit
Uniform Guidance:
What’s Next & Upcoming Areas of Focus
•
Sole Source Applicability/Appropriateness Clarification
(review of the only 4 types of justification):
1. Product/Service only available from a single source
2. Public Emergency (no time to go through procurement process)
– Poor planning is NOT an emergency
3. Federal Awarding Agency Authorization
– The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity expressly authorizes
noncompetitive proposals in response to a written request from the non-Federal
entity
4. Inadequate competition after multiple attempted solicitations
Impact on the University:
– Increased scrutiny of sole sources, require price/cost justification for each sole source.
Lab Supplies & Equipment
RFP Background
•
•
An RFP was released on January 20, 2016 to establish a multi-vendor
contract for laboratory supplies and equipment for the research and
academic communities at the Storrs, Regional and UConn Health
campuses, and BOR.
Based on the campus survey conducted in 2015, the format of the RFP was
designed to address the desire to provide a comprehensive selection of
vendors, thereby expanding the range of product choice available to the
research community. This desire is a shift from previous relationships.
Goals of RFP
•
The goals of this RFP are to develop options for the University’s research and
academic communities in each of the following three categories:
Category 1: Full-line distributors:
• Offer the widest possible range of supply categories and manufacturers
that could potentially meet the highest percentage of requests.
Category 2: Limited or regional distributors:
• Offer a more limited portfolio and/or support service area. The vendors
in this category will provide additional product selection in support of the
community’s desire for choice.
• We have also made an effort to identify small, minority and/or womenowned businesses that would assist UConn in fulfilling spend
requirements under some federally funded projects.
RFP Goals
Category 3: Manufacturers offering direct sales:
• Will provide access to products not available through the distributors.
Some manufacturers may offer certain product lines or consumables
through the distributors, but direct agreements will provide access to the
full line of equipment. Typically referred to as Original Equipment
Manufacturers (OEMs).
RFP Participants:
Full-line and Limited Distributed
•
Responses were received from the following 27 vendors:
Category 1: Full-line Distributors
Fisher Scientific
VWR
Category 2: Limited or Regional Distributors
Airgas
Colonial Medical Supply
DOT Scientific
Grainger
Labrepco
NETA Scientific
WestNet
RFP Participants:
Direct Sellers and OEMs
Category 3: Manufacturers Offering Direct Sales
Affymetrix/eBioscience
Animal Care Systems
BD Biosciences
Beckman Coulter
Bio-Rad: Clinical
Bio-Rad: Research
Brand-Nu Labs
Clontech
Eppendorf
GE Healthcare
Hydro Service & Supply
Illumina
Life Technologies
Medline
New England Biolabs
Qiagen
Rainin
Sigma
USA
RFP Next Steps
• Presentations for full-line distributors were held on March 24, 2016.
• Evaluations to be completed within the next few weeks with the goal
of having contracts in place for Category 1 (full-line distributors) and
Category 2 (limited or regional distributors) by September, 2016.
• Evaluations for Category 3 (manufacturers offering direct sales) to be
completed the end of May/early June.
• Category 3 contracts anticipated to be awarded by Fall, 2016.
• All awarded contracts may be available through HuskyBuy and will
potentially be implemented beginning late summer/early fall.
eProcurement Updates
Assessment underway reviewing current state/experience of UConn eProcurement
comparing against alternative models
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SciQuest visited on April 21, 2016 to provide value assessments in the following areas:
current ordering and payable processes, inventory management solutions, supplier
management, and spend analytics
Expansion of number of HuskyBuy vendors
Review of APO threshold (currently at $250)
Definition of one-time transaction
Additional strategic needs currently under review:
 Spend Analytics tool
 Integrated Warehouse solution
 Sourcing tool for eBidding
Vendors Currently Available through HuskyBuy
• There are currently 21 vendors available through HuskyBuy:
Airgas
Bio-Rad
Fisher Scientific
Life Technologies
Qiagen
Sigma-Aldrich
Alert Scientific
Chemglass
Dot Scientific
Dell
GovConnection
Grainger
MSC
Hampden
Zimmerman
Home Depot
NorthEast
Electrical
F.W. Webb
OFI
Red Thread
OfficeMax/DEPOT
Alphagraphics
Improving the Researcher Experience
Effort underway includes:
• Exploring ways within which to enhance/improve more effective
collaboration between UConn and UCH
• Improving communication between Procurement and researchers
including creation of a venue for open discussions and additional training
• Development of a research support team - “concierge” approach
• Completion of a comparative analysis of major research university peers
• Greater consistency of practices: e.g. policies and procedures,
compliance, and communication
• Development of the “best in class” in University Procurement Services to
assist with improving the researcher/end user experience
Questions, comments and feedback…