Buy Ed CCSESA Service A new from

Buy Ed the Overview EdBuy is a voluntary program that achieves savings and the lowest cost-of-ownership for goods and services purchased by COEs and school districts. This is accomplished by using cooperative purchasing contracts and buying procedures that reflect the best industry practices and standards.

Buy Ed for COE’s Internally EdBuy allows COEs who are voluntarily participating to: Avoid going to bid Aggregate buying power Obtain better prices and best-value prices on COE purchases Save 2 to 40 percent, depending upon commodity Get better management information for decision making Reap the positive benefits of providing a value-added service to constituent school districts

Buy Ed CCSESA’s by way of Service EdBuy allows participating COEs to: Meet obligations to provide a standard school supply list Promote new services to constituent districts without new costs Wrap their own web site around EdBuy prices & contracts Help promote district compliance with bid laws Encourage best purchasing practices by districts Open opportunities for district personnel to be trained

Buy Ed the Methodology EdBuy uses its best efforts to follow proven industry practices in the development of purchasing contracts and price agreements. This pipeline shows the workflow leading to best prices: Data Analysis Commodity Profiling Industry Analysis Buy & Manage Contract Strategy Bid & Quote

Buy Ed in Practice EdBuy requires no new purchasing work by county offices of education or school districts. Purchasing proceeds as normal, except that management encourages use of EdBuy contracts. EdBuy posts discounts and prices on master CCSESA server COEs may frame their website around EdBuy pages without mentioning CCSESA EdBuy distributes literature to participating counties for their end users EdBuy users shop for needed items, choosing, desired vendors and contracts P.O. is faxed to EdBuy’s PO clearinghouse for submission to vendor

Buy Ed behind the Scenes EdBuy puts a local COE face on contracts and pricing. Behind the scenes, when a district or COE faxes a purchase order to the EdBuy clearinghouse, the EdBuy program: Checks the PO for errors and pricing (1 in 3 will contain mistakes) Captures line-item data into a database Archives the PO for audit Electronically forwards the PO to contracted vendor Uses the database for development of future contracts Uses the database to send reports back to users

Buy Ed why the Need EdBuy makes a difference because: Fewer and fewer districts and COEs are going to bid The bid limit is high and bidding is expensive Some agencies are paying retail and full catalog prices Some existing piggybackable contracts can be improved Few agencies do any data analysis on their spending Few agencies follow best practices for obtaining prices POs are laden with mistakes Most districts & COEs do not employ professional purchasing staff

Buy Ed why we’re Timely EdBuy is positioned to make a timely impact because: The governor says purchasing needs to be modernized Districts and COEs are still making budget cuts We pay attention to a spending area that many CBOs don’t have time to address COEs need to show a broad array of beneficial services to districts to withstand reorganizational efforts Expertise exists to run the program

Buy Ed why we’re Unique EdBuy gets results because: Its methodology delivers more competition among vendors Its commodity profiling is based on real spending data Its contract terms are based on interviews with buyers & sellers It does not insist on one-size-fits-all contracts It looks to the future by collecting line-item data from each PO submitted to vendors It wants both buyers and sellers to save money It studies existing contracts and pricing to establish benchmarks

Buy Ed data Findings EdBuy ’s study of more than 100,000 invoices and accounts payable entries found: Considerable fragmentation in the use of vendors Spending that could be consolidated and leveraged for greater savings Inconsistent use of contracts Off-contract, maverick spending Low prices in a small number of commodities, but higher than necessary prices in the majority of commodities Minimum potential savings of up to $100,000 in each of county studied

Buy Ed proof in Pricing EdBuy ’s research shows that, for example: Most early childhood products are priced 5% too high Shipping fees are seldom factored as a cost of ownership Popular office supplies contracts can be beaten by 3 to 5 percent School supply contracts can be beaten by 3 to 5 percent Maintenance supply costs can be reduced by 5 to 10 percent The cost of trade books can be reduced between 15 and 30 percent Some food and grocery costs can be curbed by 5 percent The replacement costs for textbooks can be frozen

Buy Ed COE Tasks EdBuy will be most beneficial when superintendents and COE management: Allow distribution of EdBuy materials to buyers and end users Encourage use of EdBuy contracts, if contracts provide the best value Discourage maverick (off-contract) spending, which wastes money Periodically review EdBuy reports about COE spending Ask EdBuy for help with unique and unusual purchasing needs Occasionally send memos to staff and school districts Promote free training on best practices in purchasing

Buy Ed likely Results EdBuy will quickly generate some contracts. The EdBuy program will use its study of AP data in the weeks ahead to provide new contracts that: Have some geographic splits to maximize distribution channels Leverage some existing piggybackable contracts Beat some existing popular contracts in California Provide a basic school supply list Assist growing district and districts with building programs Confront the quickly changing area of telecommunications