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LAWRENCE -- The University of Kansas expects to save as much as $230,000 annually by adopting a new direct order and delivery system for office supplies, Diane Goddard, assistant vice provost and comptroller, announced today. The change will begin Aug. 19 and will be fully implemented by the end of September.
Under the new arrangement, which was approved by the state Division of Purchases, KU can negotiate special pricing with vendors, who then will deliver supplies directly to any department on campus. Orders will be prepared and submitted online.
The plan will eliminate the existing self-funded Office Supply Store and two classified positions in Strong Hall, and it will free up warehouse space and two vehicles. One staff person will be reassigned to a vacancy in the KU Purchasing Office and one person will be laid off.
"The staff in the Office Supply Store have done a good job," said Goddard, "but we now have better, faster and more efficient ways of ordering and delivering supplies on campus." Goddard said every effort would be made to help the laid-off staff person find a new position elsewhere.
The university has been studying its office supply distribution procedures for more than six months, said Goddard. "The prices we receive for the most heavily used core items will cost approximately 35 percent less than purchases made through the Office Supply Store today." She noted that university departments typically spent about $700,000 per year on office supplies, exclusive of postage, so the savings will be significant and ongoing.
"This will directly benefit every department on campus," said Goddard. "It will help make their limited office supply budgets go farther."
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