Page 28 - College Planning & Management, March 2019

EDUCATED BUYING
and Harrisburg to reach more of the population and to invite busi- nesses in those areas to do business with PSU on a larger level.
“Since we have 24 Commonwealth campuses across the state,” Bullock says, “these suppliers had an opportunity to work with the University Park campus in State College or work locally in their own backyards where the Commonwealth campuses are located.”
Building a Supplier Diversity Program
But how do you create a program from scratch? Crawford has worked out a comprehensive approach to starting up a program. “You would start by benchmarking against major university pro- grams, surveying other programs, conducting a market analysis, and considering standards that are in place in the market,” she says.
“Our program is based on federal government programs that say you must include small and minority businesses within your procurement when you receive federal dollars,” she says.
Specifically, the USC program adheres to guidelines issues by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Defense Acquisition Regulation Purchasing Agency (DARPA).
In addition to understanding the needs of customers, Crawford also recommends taking a close look at your university. Don’t as- sume that what you knew about your school two or three years ago still applies, she cautions.
Specifically, Crawford recommends reviewing your understanding of your school’s top priorities and goals. Re-think how you can support those goals through the inclusion of diverse suppliers in line with cur- rent goals. Within this environment, develop concrete buying initiatives.
For example, Crawford has established three buying initia- tives: First, understand the government research initiatives in your region that your purchases will be able to service. Second, identify the ZIP codes surrounding your campus that are within a reason- able distance to service. Third and last, make a concrete plan to proactively include minorities and other diverse suppliers in con- tracts and day-to-day business purchases and sourcing contracts.
Cook advises maintaining continuing communications with the buyers from each of your school’s departments. “They are the spend experts on the commodities that they manage,” she says. “They know the landscape, and your offer to learn from them and assist them will prove invaluable.”
Don’t forget separate research entities at work in your institu- tion. Cook recommends meeting annually with the research lead- ers to discuss their projects and needs. “We want to support their initiatives project by project,” she says.
“In addition, take the time to communicate with other small and minority businesses who want to work with your organization in the future,” continues Cook.
Receiving Goods
After making purchases, the work continues, according to Penn State’s Central Distribution Manager Doug Crawford. Crawford’s
team receives and organizes stock items in the university ware- house by part numbers.
“We manage our supplies via a homegrown system put together by our IT team years ago,” he says. “We use that system to order stock items, fax or email orders to suppliers, and receive goods in our homegrown system.
“Our purchasing group receives invoices from suppliers and inputs the information into eBuy, our university order and billing system. We then confirm the invoice for payment in eBuy.”
The University departments—internal customers—place orders with eBuy. Those orders may include both stock items and items provided by Office Depot, the university’s office product supplier.
Crawford goes on to explain the system for filling orders. “For stock items,” he says, “a pick ticket prints out, and we fill the order. For Office Depot products, we receive orders, pass them on to Office Depot. They ship the orders to campus every morning, Monday through Friday. Our campus delivery folks deliver both our stock item orders and Office Depot orders to customers at the University Park Campus.”
The main campus ships stock items from the 23 satellite campuses by way of a contract carrier. Office Depot ships orders it receives directly to the satellite campuses.
Training Procurement Officers
There are formal training programs for campus procurement officers. The National Association of Educational Procurement (NAEP; www.naep.org) offers training opportunities. At annual meetings, for example, procurement officials can take courses that earn procurement credits.
The Institute for Supply Management offers training oppor- tunities. For details, check out the Institute’s website at www. instituteforsupplymanagement.org.
More training opportunities are available through the Next Level Purchasing Association at www.nextlevelpurchasing.com. NLPA boasts 280,000 purchasing-professional members and ranks as the largest professional procurement association. It offers three levels
of certifications for procurement professionals, which have been earned in more than 100 countries across the globe. NLPA courses are also available in classrooms with other students and also online.
In the end, supplier diversity is about opportunities for buyers. Buyers can survey opportunities offered by many suppliers, while searching out the highest quality products and the best prices.
At the same time, the competition hones the quality of suppli- ers’ products and services.
“Competition is good,” says Bullock. “It’s so easy to stay with the same supplier, once you know each other. At times, however, you may get too comfortable, and a single supplier’s pricing can creep up. It’s better to mix it up with a diverse group of suppliers.”
Of course, it’s easier to work with one supplier, but it’s not good business. Dealing with diverse suppliers is very smart business. CPM
28 COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / MARCH 2019
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