Welcome
Welcome to the first edition of State Bureau of Procurement News. Through this newsletter, we will regularly communicate news of interest including newly delivered contracts, policy revisions, new initiatives, staffing announcements and other information that may be useful to state agency, University of Wisconsin, municipal and Tribal procurement professionals. We also invite you to suggest topics that should be addressed in upcoming editions.
In procurement, we play a vital role in delivering government services to the citizens of Wisconsin. As a community of professionals, we can best serve our customers and each other through communication to share best practices and collaboration to find opportunities to work together. Enjoy this first edition and please share with others that may be interested in our news.
Rick Hughes, Director, State Bureau of Procurement (SBOP)
SBOP Conference Recap
SBOP held a conference, Solving the Procurement Puzzle, on October 11 at the Monona Terrace Conference Center in Madison.Nearly 160 procurement professionals from state agencies, campuses, municipalitiesand technical colleges attended to learn more about state procurement as well as receive updates on the evolving and changing world of procurement.Topics included writing benchmarks and evaluation criteria, request for proposal scoring tools, contract use tools, reference checks and information technology playbook tips. Thank you to all attendees, speakers, and volunteers for making the conference a success! You can find a complete listing of all conference topics and materials here. Stay tuned to upcoming newsletters for information on future SBOP conferences. Questions can be directed to Terri Lenz, SBOP Procurement Specialist, at (608) 266-0167.
SBOP Receives National Recognition for Procurement Excellence
SBOP received national recognition for two initiatives nominated for the George Cronin Award for Procurement Excellence presented by the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO). The two Wisconsin initiatives were among the five finalists that emerged from nominations submitted by state procurement programs across the nation.
Wisconsin’s Information Technology (IT) Playbook took the Silver Cronin Award for educating procurement and technology professionals on best practices in contracting for IT services and products. The Playbook offers an innovative approach to professional development in the state procurement field because it is an easy-to-reference booklet that includes insights into a number of seemingly disparate concepts from various perspectives regarding the management of IT procurement.
The SBOP Negotiations Class, a seminar for procurement practitioners, was also a Cronin national finalist. The IT Playbook and Negotiations Class nominations were presented recently at the NASPO national conference in Minneapolis by Sara Redford and Andrea Welch of the State Bureau of Procurement.
Questions can be directed to Sara Redford, Enterprise IT SourcingSection Chief, at (608) 267-2706.
Contract Spotlight: Vehicles
Passenger, Law Enforcement Vehicles and Light Duty Trucks. In September 2016, SBOP awarded a contract for Model Year 2017 or newer passenger, law enforcement vehicles and light duty trucks to four vendors: Ewald Motors of Oconomowoc, Ewald Hartford Ford, Ewald Chevrolet Buick and Madison Mack Sales, Inc. The contract is effective through September 15, 2017 and is available to all state agencies, campuses, Tribes and municipalities. The pricing on this contract is very competitive with bid prices nearly 25% less than the Manufacturer‘s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) for the same vehicles.
SBOP and agency fleet directors began working on this procurement in the spring to ensure the resulting contract was available at the beginning of the manufacturers’ production cycles. As a result, agencies and municipal buyers will be able to order earlier and with confidence that vehicles will be delivered during the current manufacturing cycle. In addition, Governor Walker approved the state agency replacement case letter in September to help agencies obtain best pricing available during the current contract.
For more information on contract 505ENT-M17-2017VEHICS-00, please contact Rick House, SBOP Vehicle Contract Manager, at (608) 266-8024.
Updated Forms
SBOP maintains an archive of procurement and contract forms for use by agencies. The following forms have been updated since July 1, 2016:
DOA-3046A – Request for Purchasing Approval/Authority Checklist (7/16)
DOA-3720 – Procurement Plan (7/16)
DOA-3044 – Collective Purchasing Data (10/16)
DOA-3831 – STAR Piggybacking Request (7/16)
DOA-3049 – Contract (10/16)
DOA-3054 – Standard Terms and Conditions (RFB/RFP) (8/16)
DOA-3054A – Standard Terms and Conditions (Purchase Order) (8/16)
Questions can be directed to Terri Hagstrom, Enterprise Sourcing Purchasing Associate, at (608) 266-5669.
Business Intelligence - Tracking Spend
On September 9, 2016, the first procurement business intelligence (BI) dashboard, Spend Analyzer, was released to STAR agencies. The primary goal of the dashboard is to track key operational metrics and other business-critical reports on agency PO spending by supplier, commodity grouping, business unit or department and others. Another goal of the BI application is to provide a snapshot of key performance drivers, such as average procurement processing time, to help illustrate where improvements can be made by users of the STAR system.
One of the key metrics being tracked with this tool is on and off-contract spend. We are pleased to report that the enterprise has experienced an increased average on-contract spend percentage over time, going from 45.7% on-contract spend in FY 2016 to 81.9% in FY 2017 (to date). Questions can be directed to Sara Redford, Enterprise IT Sourcing Section Chief, at (608) 267-2706.
WISBuy Enablements
NASPO computer suppliers Dell, HP, Microsoft and Transource have joined the line-up of vendors on WISBuy. This is an optional contract for all state agencies to purchase computer equipment and supplies. Please remember that new account holders need to contact Microsoft and Transource to setup their account before placing their first order. Questions regarding this process should be directed to contact your agency designated administrator or Brenda Derge, IT Acquisitions Analyst,at (608) 266-8613.
Staffing News
Shannon Ladwig recently joined the Enterprise IT Sourcing Team as an IT Acquisitions Analyst, specializing primarily in telecommunications contracts. Shannon joins us from the Department of Military Affairs where she managed the Homeland Security grant program. She has experience with the collaboration and support of the Statewide Communications Implementation Plan (SCIP) and assisting local governments in managing interoperability grants on WISCOM, which is a shared public safety radio communication system for first responders in the state. You may contact Shannon at (608) 266-9796.
SBOP is looking for a Training Officer to join the KIT Section. If you are organized, creative and passionate about teaching others, this might be the right fit for you! The complete job announcement is available here.