June-July, 2019

First Wisconsin Procurement Innovation Awards Open!

State purchasing professionals do great work every day. By the nature of what we do, we must find innovative and customer-focused ways to do our work more effectively while generating best value. The State Bureau of Procurement is starting a new, annual awards program intended to showcase the good work of Wisconsin state procurement professionals and share best practices across the enterprise (e.g., business process or work product improvements, a solicitation that was particularly successful). If you are a State agency or UW campus purchasing professional and are interested in receiving more information about this award program, contact SBOP staff Annika Anderson or Mary Juarez. Applications close Thursday, August 8, 2019.

 

Federal Surplus Property Program

Purchase Equipment for a Fraction of the Cost of Buying New. The Federal Surplus Property Program helps organizations obtain property the federal government no longer needs at greatly discounted rates. Eligible recipients include state and public agencies; nonprofit educational and public health entities, including programs for homeless, impoverished and elderly persons; nonprofit and public programs for elderly persons; public airports; and educational organizations of special interest to the armed services.

Through the Federal Surplus Property Program, eligible organizations have acquired CPR training supplies, evacuation sleds, salt spreaders, snow removal equipment, vehicles and decontamination equipment for local police and fire departments, office furniture, construction equipment and vehicles for county governments, equipment, off-road vehicles (ATV), electronics and musical instruments for schools and universities and non-flyable aircraft to be used in a museum display, all within the last two years.

To learn more about the program or to download an Eligibility Application, visit the Federal Surplus Property Program website at http://www.WIFederal.com. Contact Nadine Malm at (608) 266-5462 with questions related to the Federal Surplus Property Program, or email the program directly at WIFederal@wisconsin.gov.

 

Contract Spotlight

Computer Contracts and Tariffs. In September of 2018, the federal government placed a 10% tariff on computer hardware electronics and telecommunications equipment from China. On May 10, 2019, the tariffs were increased from 10% to 25%. For questions regarding the affected contracts (505ENT-M17-WICOMPUTER-00 and 505ENT-O16-NASPOCOMPUT-00), please contact Susanne Matschull at (608) 266-9796.

Statewide Moving and Storage Services. The Moving and Storage Services-Statewide contract (505ENT-M18-MOVSTRGSVC-00) will enter the first renewal period beginning July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020. Please contact Jeannie McCarville at (608) 264-9590 with any contract questions.

Debt Collection Services and Skip Tracing Services. SBOP recently finalized a solicitation to award a mandatory contract for Debt Collection Services and Skip Tracing Service (505ENT-M19-DEBTCLLCTN-00) to fifteen suppliers. The initial term of the contract will be in effect July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2022, with a single two-year renewal option for a final expiration of June 30, 2024. Please contact Bruce Derge at (608) 264-7658 with any contract questions.

Tires, Tubes and Services. The State of Wisconsin has signed a participating addendum with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and Bridgestone/Firestone through the NASPO ValuePoint’s Tires, Tubes and Services contract (505ENT-M19-TIRES&TUBES-00). A participating addendum with Continental is currently in review and has not been finalized. This mandatory contract is effective April 1, 2019 through March 31, 2024. The scope of this contract includes tires and tubes for the following applications/vehicles: pursuit/performance, passenger, light duty truck, medium/heavy duty truck and bus, off-the-road, agricultural/farm and industrial, along with the associated services for mounting, rotating, stem repair, flat repair, wheel balancing and alignment. Please contact Leann McGowan at (608) 266-8024 with any contract questions.

Universal Sized Cafeteria and Washroom Paper Products. The Universal Sized Cafeteria and Washroom Paper Products contract (505ENT-M17-DSPSBLPPRP-00) will enter the first renewal period beginning July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020. Please reference the contract page on VendorNet as a price increase to some of the product offering will take effect July 1, 2019. Contact Jim Oleson at (608) 266-1625 with any contract questions.

Security Guard Services. The Security Guard Services contract (505ENT-M15-SECGRDSVS-00) will enter the final renewal period beginning July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020. Per Mar was approved for a price increase to Security Guard I & II for Region 1 to enhance the quality and stability of security guard services. Andrew Shuck may be contacted at (608) 266-1558 with any contract questions.

 

DocuSign: Tips & Tricks

Copying and Pasting Tags: When adding tags to a document, you can copy tags that have already been placed and paste them to a new location. There are three ways to copy and paste tags in DocuSign: keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl + C to copy and Ctrl + V to paste on PCs), right-clicking the mouse to access the menu or using the copy and paste icons at the top of the document. In addition, if you select multiple tags at once with your mouse, you can copy and paste groups of tags, such as Name, Date and Signature, which can save time when creating documents like routing slips.

 

Strategic Sourcing: Tips and Tricks

Announce Event Online: By marking the “Announce Event Online” checkbox, a sourcing manager can share information with bidders about an upcoming solicitation before the solicitation is open for responses. This action will only cause an announcement to be posted on the eSupplier Bidder homepage and will not trigger any automatic email notifications or VendorNet postings.

In order for the announcement to display, an “Available to Bidders” date and time must be entered. When posted on eSupplier, this date will be identified as the “Available (Target)” date. Once the designated date and time have passed, the announcement will no longer be visible, though a new date and time may be selected at any point.

In addition, the presence of NIGP codes will have a role in the visibility of the announcement. If the solicitation already has NIGP codes associated with it, the announcement will only be displayed to those individuals who are logged into eSupplier and have a matching NIGP code entered in their profile. If no NIGP code is associated with the solicitation, the announcement will be shown to users who are not logged into eSupplier or those who are logged in but who have not added any NIGP codes to their profile. Keep this in mind if you are attempting to view your own announcement but are not logged into eSupplier.

Looking for additional resources for Strategic Sourcing? STAR agencies can access a variety of job aids, tools and resources on STARConnection (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.

 

Staffing Updates

James (Jim) Oleson joined SBOP on May 28 as a Procurement Specialist in the Enterprise Sourcing section. Jim comes to DOA from DHS where he worked as a financial specialist. Prior to that, Jim worked as an operations supervisor at companies Guardian IG, YRC Freight and UPS. In his role at DHS, he worked extensively with state contracts and trained internal staff on purchasing processes. Jim also has a degree in management from Northern Illinois University. We are excited to have Jim bring his experience and expertise to Enterprise Sourcing and the Bureau.

SBOP welcomed two interns to Madison beginning May 28. Annika Anderson joins us through a grant program sponsored by the National Association of State Procurement Officials and is currently a student at Penn State majoring in Finance and Energy Business, minoring in Supply Chain and Information Science Technology. Mary Juarez, currently a student at UW-Madison majoring in International Studies and Economics, joins us through the DOA SAAIP program. Between market research, policy projects, process automation and website redesign projects, this will be a busy summer in SBOP and we look forward to the great work ahead.

Paulina Bernal joined SBOP on June 10 as a Procurement Specialist in CAPS. Paulina comes to DOA most recently from UW Health where she worked as a project manager and sourcing agent at companies Lands’ End, L Brands, Inc. and Health Partners. In her role at UW Health, she did market research, direct negotiation and purchasing for professional services and medical supplies, working closely with category managers and technical teams on RFPs and managing supplier relationships. Paulina has a degree in international relations with a certificate in project management from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. We are excited to have Paulina bring her experience and expertise to CAPS and the Bureau.

Brooke Gullick’s last day with SBOP was Friday, June 28 as she leaves State service to pursue other opportunities. Brooke joined the State Bureau of Procurement in 2014 and grew in her role as a Procurement Specialist, expertly managing the State’s various maintenance, repair and operations contracts. Brooke had not only provided fantastic service to the agency and campus customers of her contracts, but had also become well respected by the suppliers on her contracts, helping them understand how the State does business. In addition to her work on contract management, Brooke had trained State agency staff on the procurement process and was a regular contributor to the Bureau’s special projects. Over the years, Brooke had brought a positive energy and professionalism to each day in the office. We will miss her a great deal and wish her all the best.

Jessica Vieira of SBOP was recently featured in an article by the National Association of State Purchasing Officers (NASPO), in the “A Day in The Life” series for their Procurement Pulse blog. Procurement Pulse focuses on research and best practices for emerging issues in state procurement. We want to congratulate Jessica on having her hard work featured by a national partner! Her commitment and dedication have helped SBOP achieve and sustain many successes.