1. 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

2. Topics for today’s discussion:
Why are We Here?
UG Update
Strategic Procurement: Lab Supplies & Equipment RFP
eProcurement Updates
Campus Collaboration
Questions, Comments, Feedback

3. Why Are We Here?

4. Uniform Guidance Update
Communication:
Procurement updated its website 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.

5. 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.

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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 women-owned businesses that would assist UConn in fulfilling spend requirements under some federally funded projects.

10. 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).

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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.

14. eProcurement Updates
Assessment underway reviewing current state/experience of UConn eProcurement comparing against alternative models
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
Spend Analytics – presented by several vendors on 3/1/16, 3/4/2016, and 3/16/16. No final selection has been made to date.
Sourcing Director – presentations were made by several different vendors on 1/18/16, 1/19/16, 1/21/16 and 1/27/16. No final selection has been made to date.
Inventory Management – presented by SciQuest on 3/22/2016

15. 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

16. 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
Spend Analytics – presented by several vendors on 3/1/16, 3/4/2016, and 3/16/16. No final selection has been made to date.
Sourcing Director – presentations were made by several different vendors on 1/18/16, 1/19/16, 1/21/16 and 1/27/16. No final selection has been made to date.
Inventory Management – presented by SciQuest on 3/22/2016

17. Questions, comments and feedback…