SU establishes preferred supplier agreement with Corporate Express, reducing costs, improving ease in purchasing office products

SU establishes preferred supplier agreement with Corporate Express, reducing costs, improving ease in purchasing office productsNovember 14, 2007Kevin Morrowkdmorrow@syr.edu

Syracuse University and Corporate Express have formed a new strategic partnership to streamline the procurement process and minimize costs for departmental office supplies, ink and toner cartridges. Through this agreement, the University anticipates realizing a $600,000 savings over the next three years.

SU’s Purchasing Department has negotiated a competitive discount with Corporate Express in which the list prices of most products are reduced by 70 percent or better. And with the new program, products may be ordered at the discounted prices quickly and conveniently online via the eProcurement module of PeopleSoft Financials, eliminating the need for paper purchase orders and requisitions.

University departments spend about $1.2 million annually on miscellaneous office supplies, with more than 50 percent of this sum incurred through procurement card purchases rather than via SU’s previously existing reduced price agreements or the Materials Distribution process. In these instances, departments have purchased office supplies from suppliers at a range of uncontracted — and frequently higher — prices.

Under the terms of the new program, SU will buy supplies from Corporate Express on a non-exclusive basis and the University will not dictate that departments must use this vendor exclusively, however, the Purchasing Department will partner with Corporate Express to inform departments about the many benefits derived from this arrangement, such as easy ordering, next day desktop delivery and competitive reduced pricing.

Following are examples of Corporate Express available pricing for print cartridges through the new program (with an average savings of 28 percent):

• HEWQ 6001 Cyan, typically selling for $82.99 will now be $62.93
• HEWC 8543X Black, typically selling for $269.99 will now be $209.57
• HEWC 4096A Black, typically selling for $98.99 will now be $68.64
• HEWC 4182X Black, typically selling for $199.99, will now be $128.96
• HEWC 9701A Cyan, typically selling for $103.80 will now be $75.80

Corporate Express was selected as the University’s preferred supplier following a thorough review process conducted by the Purchasing Department in which competing suppliers were evaluated based on overall value, quality of service, product offering and customer service, among other criteria. The analysis determined that Corporate Express represented the best fit for the University’s overall requirements.

Corporate Express is one of the world’s largest business-to-business suppliers of essential office and computer products, with 2006 sales of $4.9 billion in North America. Corporate Express is the preferred supplier to many higher education institutions, including Bucknell University, Columbia University, Seton Hall University, Tulane University and Yale University.

For more information on the Corporate Express Office Supplies eProcurement process, view the Purchasing website at http://purchasing.syr.edu, select the eProcurement link, or call the Purchasing Department at 443-4074.