Smart Purchasing Saves Money
Posted 07-15-1996
A function of county government that has been of great interest to me from the time I
became a candidate for this office and continues to be of interest is the way we purchase
goods, materials and supplies. The reason it is important is, I believe we can work to
save money in this area without reducing services.
With so much uncertainty about future
funding for county governments we must look at creative ways of trying to save money in
areas that have traditionally been ignored. There are certain regulations for acquisitions
above $10,000 that must be bid out and acquisitions in the $4,000 to $10,000 range using
the process of three written quotes. We have had a history of very publicized problems
with the acquisition of cleaning products and while it hasn't been a budget breaker, it is
an area that money can be saved without sacrificing quality.
We recently decided that Westmoreland
Manor, our county nursing home will buy cleaning products through the Hospital Council of
Western Pennsylvania. This organization has a recommended products list that offers
various choices of products approved for specific use in hospitals. Not only are prices
good because the vendors deal in large volumes with a large number of hospitals, but the
products are definitely appropriate for hospital use. A variety of products are available.
So if our housekeeping staff feels one product isn't working, they can request the
Purchasing Department to acquire another product.
Acquiring through the Hospital Council
eliminates the Manor from the process of writing specifications for cleaning products.
However, the remaining county facilities will still utilize such a process. There are
positives and negatives to this means of acquiring cleaning products. A positive is that
we will specify what we want and then receive written bids from interested vendors. The
chosen vendor will supply the product at an agreed upon price for a certain time frame.
The negative side historically was that specifications were written that made the
requirements so narrow that only one vendor met the specifications. Concern arose in our
Solicitor's Office before I even took office. Now we are going to attempt this activity
again with the Solicitor's Office having final oversight before the products are bid.
A problem with specifications is that very
few public entities write specs so we have very limited examples to follow. Also, if we
write the specs too broadly, we can acquire products that aren't appropriate. The opposite
scenario is that if we make the specs too narrow we end up with very limited qualified
bidders.
It seems like a lot of work and occasional
controversy to acquire cleaning supplies. However, too often we have gone off course from
what I believe must be our goal: to have reasonably clean buildings and purchase products
at a reasonable price. If we were a private employer we would be free to buy products from
whoever we want at whatever price. But as a public entity, spending our precious tax
dollars I believe it is imperative that we work to meet that goal. It may take a while to
develop a system that ensures the process is open to all vendors and we receive quality
products at good prices. In the long run I believe county government will be better off
and in the long run the citizens of the county stand to gain from stronger oversight of
the purchasing function. We will also benefit from implementing a procedure that
eliminates favoritism and allows competition to ensure better prices without sacrificing
quality. |
