Procurement Conference a Success
The State Bureau of
Procurement concluded its second annual conference on November 16 at the
Alliant Energy Center. Attended by over 160 public procurement professionals,
the conference offered education and networking opportunities. The event
featured six breakout sessions on topics of interest to the procurement community
and its customers including market research and data-driven contracting, an
advanced workshop on the new STAR Sourcing system, and a roadmap for the One
Procurement initiative. Three panels of experts also spoke to using agility in
IT procurement, public vs. private procurement elements, and overall sourcing
best practices. In addition, attendees took part in two keynote sessions – “The
Art of the Question” from Richard Pennington from the purchasing
cooperative of the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO
ValuePoint) and “Five Sources of Untapped Power” from UW-Madison professor Lyn
Van Swol. Conference materials are available online: DOA.wi.gov
> State Bureau of Procurement > SBOP Conference. For more information,
please contact Jessica Vieira at (608) 266-5452.
Vendor Resources: Updated Vendors' Guide
The Vendors’ Guide
has been updated to reflect recent changes to the solicitation process,
including introduction of the eSupplier Portal for Bidders. This document is
intended to help companies learn about the procurement process and answer
questions regarding how to do business with the State. This guide is available
on the VendorNet
homepage. Questions or comments about the Vendors’ Guide can be directed to Jessica Vieira at (608) 266-5452.
Agencies Making Strides with Electronic
Bidding
State agencies using STAR have posted 25 sourcing events – with
more than 35 additional events currently in development – using the new
Strategic Sourcing electronic bidding system! We have also seen an increase in
bidders registering in the eSupplier Portal to receive bid notices and respond
online with the registration list growing on a daily basis. The State Bureau of
Procurement, along with STAR, will continue to provide tools and guidance on
the best ways for agencies to use this new system. Those using STAR and those
using VendorNet to post bids should continue to encourage prospective bidders
to register using the simple three-step process. For more information, see the eSupplier Job Aid.
Ho Ho NO! Gifts from Suppliers
It’s the time of year when suppliers may want to show their
appreciation by offering gifts to you or your agency. As State procurement
professionals, we may not accept any gifts from suppliers. It is our duty to
avoid the perception of impropriety and adhere to the personnel section on
ethics for employees (Chapter ER-MRS 24
and s. 19.45(2), Wis.Stats.). If a supplier attempts to offer you a gift, simply refuse
it and explain the need for procurement professionals to remain independent. If
a supplier mails or brings a gift to your agency and leaves it without talking
to anyone, best practices are:
Notify the supplier to
retrieve the gift immediately.
Redirect the gift anonymously
as appropriate to a local food pantry, homeless shelter or other
charitable organization. Flowers may be donated anonymously to assisted
living centers, hospitals or other charitable organizations.
Discard the gift.
Agencies should then follow-up with communication to the supplier
and request that the supplier refrain from sending any gifts in the future. If
you have questions, please contact doawispro@wisconsin.gov.
Strategic Sourcing: Tips & Tricks
Introducing a new forum to share tips and tricks for creating
solicitations within the Strategic Sourcing module!
Accessing Reports. To gain access to the reports
available for your solicitation (including bidders’ list, NIGP codes used and a
list of bid factors), users with the SS Manager role may use the following
navigation within the Strategic Sourcing module: Main Menu > State of
Wisconsin (STAR) > Strategic Sourcing > Enterprise Administration >
Download Event Documents. Select your search criteria from the “Search by”
dropdown menu, enter your search terms and click the “Search” button to
generate a list of available reports.
Tracking Your Progress While Using Templates. When
using the Enterprise RFB, RFP or Simplified Bid templates, the titles of each
section on the Document Management page will all begin with “RFx_”. Instead of
deleting this text from the titles immediately, only delete the text once
you’ve fully completed each section. This will allow you to easily track which
sections you’ve already edited and which ones you still need to do.
Page Formatting. When editing the sections of
your document, you have the option of selecting different “Styles” (e.g.,
“Normal” or “Heading 1”) from the dropdown menu at the top of the window. By
default, the page will be set to “Normal” which includes double-spacing. To
reduce the amount of white space on each page, we suggest choosing “Normal
DIV”, the single-spaced style at the very bottom of the dropdown menu. Keep in
mind that if you use this style, you will also want to include a blank line at
the end of your section or the next section will begin on the line immediately
following your current section.
Looking for additional resources for Strategic Sourcing? STAR agencies
can access a variety of job aids, tools, and resources on STAR Connection
(STAR Connection > Resources > Finance and Procurement > Job Aids >
Search for “Strategic Sourcing”). If you would like to share a Strategic
Sourcing tip or trick you’ve learned, please email your ideas to Jessica Vieira.
Contract Spotlight
Copiers and Related Devices. This is a friendly
reminder to be wary when giving out information over the phone. We have
recently been alerted to scammers attempting to gain identifying information
about the office copiers in use, including serial numbers. The callers may
identify themselves as a company providing maintenance or selling toner at a
reduced rate. The goal of the scam is to gain enough information to be able to
submit an invoice for an order that appears legitimate.
When receiving calls
from contractors on the Copiers and Related Devices contract (505ENT-M15-MFDCOPIER-00),
the caller should identify themselves by name and company. If you have
questions or concerns regarding a caller, take down their name and phone number
and let them know you will get back to them, then contact the company directly
using the contact information found on the contract page on VendorNet. For
questions about this contract, please contact Dan Raudonis at (608) 266-9796.
WISBuy
Continuing to Grow! WISBuy has had a year of growth.
With more than 3,100 active users in WISBuy we have seen a 57% increase in
daily spend and a 44% increase in the number of daily transactions in WISBuy
over the previous year. In addition, we have added more than 1,100 new users
this year and begun to offer weekly phone trainings (contact doawispro@wisconsin.gov for more information).
The data we gather
from purchases made in WISBuy is used to help our procurement managers
negotiate the best deals possible when it’s time to renew contracts. With that
in mind, we would like to thank our users for helping to capture 92% of State
agency office supply spend through WISBuy in October. We plan to continue to
work with agencies on ways to increase our transactions in other commodity
areas, such as computer IT and MRO supply purchases made through WISBuy.
Wisconsin State Bureau of Procurement Leadership Engaged
Nationally
In the last month, SBOP Director Rick Hughes attended the Joint
Roundtable on Procurement Leadership conference between the National
Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) and State Chief Administrators
(NASCA) in Atlanta. This event featured an opportunity for Wisconsin to have a
voice in discussions on IT procurement reform, contract administration and
procurement governance. More than thirty other states also participated.
State Bureau of Procurement Reels in Summer
Intern Funding
As part of our active engagement with the national
association, SBOP received word from NASPO that Wisconsin was one of eight
states selected for its fully-funded 2018 Public Procurement Summer Internship
program. More details to come in the future about the internship project and
the work of the selected candidate.
Staffing News
Rick House Retired. Rick House has retired from
State service after 25 years. Rick began his career with the State in 1993 in a
position at Darwin Road with the Department of Natural Resources. He took his
first procurement position at DNR around 2006 and in 2014 he transferred to his
current position at DOA as the State’s Vehicle Procurement Manager. Thank you,
Rick, for your service to DOA and the people of Wisconsin!
Welcome, Leann McGowan! The State Bureau of Procurement
is pleased to welcome Leann McGowan to the Enterprise Sourcing Section. Leann
will be responsible for vehicle procurement including the annual vehicle buys
as well as managing the vehicle-related contracts such as managed fleet
maintenance, tires, vehicle lifts and car rentals. Leann spent the last year
and a half as a Purchasing Agent Senior at DNR. During that time, she procured
contracts for a variety of goods and services and worked closely with the fleet
managers to create purchase requisitions for vehicles. Prior to her time at
DNR, Leann worked at a trucking company where she wrote production
specifications and created service manuals. Leann brings a wealth of vehicle
knowledge and experience to this position and we are excited to have her as
part of our team. Welcome, Leann!
Jim Witecha Named SBOP IT Section Chief. Jim
Witecha is the new Section Chief for Enterprise IT Sourcing. Jim is a US
Navy veteran and has a bachelor’s degree from UW Stevens Point. He also went on
to earn an MBA from UW Milwaukee and a law degree from Marquette University. He
worked as a contracts professional for GE Healthcare and in-house legal counsel
at a software company prior to beginning his state service at DPI as a
Contracts Specialist-Advanced. In 2015, he joined the State Bureau of
Procurement, Enterprise IT Sourcing Team, where he focused primarily on IT
service contracts. Congratulations, Jim!
Welcome Dan Raudonis to the State Bureau of Procurement! Dan
Raudonis joins SBOP as a Procurement Specialist-Objective. Before joining us,
Dan was a Contract Specialist in the DOA Division of Facilities and Development
Management. He has also served as a Contract Administrator for the EBT program
at DHS, a Contract Specialist with purchasing responsibilities for the United
States Air Force, and has five years of experience as an IT specialist. He
joins the team managing contracts for desktop computers, MFD/copiers and other
hardware. Welcome to SBOP, Dan!
Congratulations, Penny Lawler! Penny Lawler has been
promoted to a Procurement Specialist-Objective in the SBOP Consolidated Agency
Purchasing Services (CAPS) Section. Penny has been with CAPS since 2015 as a
Purchasing Associate and Procurement Specialist-Entry. Penny came to us from
STAR where she provided administrative support during the project’s critical
implementation phase. We appreciate Penny’s great customer service and
dedication to the public procurement profession. Congratulations, Penny!