Purchasing Advice

Department procedures about how to actually submit a requisition order are given elsewhere at Requisitions, Orders and Equipment Purchasing Information pdf ~118kb.

All requests to purchase goods and/or services should follow the purchasing procedures as stated in the financial regulations. Where possible items should be purchased from preferred suppliers. Where items are purchased from preferred suppliers no quote is necessary for purchases between £1000 and £25,000 excluding VAT. Purchases from all other suppliers for goods and services less than £1000 (excluding VAT) require confirmation of the price of the item - ie stated on the requisition. For items priced between £1,000 and £25,000 purchased from a non-preferred supplier, then two or more written quotations must be supplied with the requisition. These must clearly have been sent from the suppliers, and contain sufficient detail to show that they are quotes for the same item(s).

Goods priced between £25,000 and £100,000 excluding VAT are subject to the full tender procedure, which must be carried out in collaboration with the University's Purchasing Department, and include Tim McAree (Financial Administrator) in the process. This is not only a University requirement, but also one stipulated by Research Councils and other funding bodies when awarding money for these purchases.

Below provides advice about choosing a supplier and finding the supplier with best value for money.

Checklist for ordering standard small items.

  • Decide what sort of item you want to buy.
  • Check if there is already departmental advice about purchasing that sort of item and if not consider who could advise you.
  • Choose a supplier (check Departmental Purchasing Advice, check list of university suppliers by product category, last resort find alternative supplier via the web)
  • Consider costs - always compare costs for several different suppliers (total cost including vat and delivery charges). Note that many of the preferred suppliers offer discounts on the public prices, and it is often difficult to know how to access the discounted prices in order to make a comparison between suppliers (hence the need for Departmental Purchasing Advice below).
  • Consider availability - many suppliers will delivery within a couple of days of receiving the purchase order but if the item is out of stock delays can be months.
  • Consider costs of processing orders - one order to one expensive company may be more cost-effective than multiple orders to multiple cheaper companies
  • Prepare requisition according to the Requisitions, Orders and Equipment Purchasing Information

 

University Purchasing Advice

There is a central university purchasing office. They keep a central list of suppliers as listed by product category. The assumption is that it is best practice to order from preferred suppliers since if everyone in the university uses them then the university is a big customer and therefore should get a big discount. The preferred suppliers have been selected on a wide range of criteria affecting value for money (not just price). The suppliers database tries to give access to the special pricing details.

Departmental Purchasing Advice

Summaries of departmental experience of purchasing is available for the following categories of purchases. This advice is based of local experience within this department and due to constant changes in the market may be out-of-date. Please send any comments or corrections to the webmaster.

Computers

Since Department IT staff have to support all the computers within the department, it is beneficial to try to standardize to certain models of computers if possible. Dell is our recommended supplier but there are several other preferred suppliers for computers listed on the University Purchasing website.

Desktop Computers

Department IT staff carry a stock of "Standard" PC's for general usage. We buy in batches when the offers are good. These are medium specification (powerful but basic) desktop computers. These computers are considered adequate for the majority of desktop users. Currently our stock PC is as follows:

  • Dell Optiplex 760
  • E8400 Core2Duo processor (3GHz, 1333MHz, 4MB)
  • 2Gb RAM
  • various disks
  • 100Mbit ethernet
  • 256Mb graphic card
  • 19" TFT height adjustable VGA+DVI monitor 1280x1024
  • software : XP Pro plus Office2003/7, Sophos, Windowsupdate, Altiris management, PDF Creator Pro, SecureShell, Corel suite, Origin, Matlab, Mathematica
  • 3yr next day business warrantee
  • Cost: varies depending on recent Dell promotions. Example cost £550 including VAT.

Laptop Computers

Department IT staff do not carry stock of laptops, however we recommend Dell and we recommend making use of the National Notebook Agreement (NNA) pricing. We also recommend 3year NDB support. Currently recommendation:

  • Dell Latitude E5400
  • various processor options (e.g. T5600 1.83GHz, 667MHz)
  • 15" WSXGA 1680x1050 (prefer high resolution)
  • 256Mb off-board graphics card (e.g. NVIDIA Quadro NVS 110M)
  • 1Gb or 2Gb RAM (upgraded from 512)
  • 60Gb disk (upgraded from 40Gb)
  • software : XP Pro plus Office2003, Sophos, Windowsupdate, Altiris management, Acrobat Reader, SecureShell
  • 3years Next Day Business support (worth paying for laptop support)
  • Cost: varies depending on recent Dell promotions. Example cost £850 including VAT.

Mac users should visit Apple Higher Education Store and browse for institution.

Home Computer Discounts

Some suppliers offer discounts for personal purchases.

All staff and students are entitled to discount (3/6/10% discount) from Dell Dell Education Offer PDF.

All staff and students are entitled to university discount prices (maybe cost price plus 5%) from http://uk.insight.com (login details available from IT staff on request) if paying by credit card online. t. 0870 704 5171 f. 0870 704 6171 david.booth@uk.insight.com

Recommended procedure for ordering computers

Step 1. Talk to department IT staff about what your requirements are and find out what the current status is for "standard" stock PC's.

Step 2. If a standard stock PC or a standard laptop is not suitable, then you need to configure your own, preferably from Dell (use the links above) and preferably with guidance from Department IT staff.

Step 3. Fill in a standard requisition form and get it authorized by the costcentre holder and send it to the finance office (Barry Fellows, Hume-Rothery Building) with attached printout of the full quote for the computer. Requisitions over £1000 require two competitive quotes which can be awkward for higher-spec computer purchases. NOTE THAT ORDERS SHOULD NEVER BE SUBMITTED ONLINE. All computer requisitions are passed from the finance office to the Senior IT officer for authorization so it is best to talk to Department IT staff first!

Please send any comments or corrections to the webmaster.

IT bits

Several companies are University Purchasing preferred retailers for IT bits.

Insight - our recommended IT bits supplier
http://uk.insight.com (Username: paul.warren@materials.ox.ac.uk Password: available on request)

BT Business Direct - an IT supplier
http://www.businessdirect.bt.com/ ( Username: paul.warren@materials.ox.ac.uk Password: available on request)

Equanet - an IT supplier - good for cables
http://www.equanet.co.uk/ ( Username: paul.warren@materials.ox.ac.uk Password: available on request)

Recommended procedure for ordering IT bits

Step 1. Check with IT staff about whether the item you need is in stock.

Step 2. Compare prices and availability for the items you need at a variety of preferred suppliers.

Step 3. Fill in a standard requisition form and get it authorized by the costcentre holder and send it to the finance office (Barry Fellows, Hume-Rothery Building) with attached printout of the full quote for the computer. Requisitions over £1000 require two competitive quotes. NOTE THAT ORDERS SHOULD NEVER BE SUBMITTED ONLINE. All computer requisitions are passed from the finance office to the Senior IT officer for authorization so it is best to talk to Department IT staff first!

Please send any comments or corrections to the webmaster.

Printer purchasing advice

Several companies are University Purchasing preferred retailers for printers.

XMA - our recommended printer supplier
http://www.xma4education.co.uk/ (Username: paul.warren Password: available on request)
XMA are cheap for printers but not for toners

Item (Prices 30/3/2010)

XMA

Insight

BTDirect

QC supplies
HP Laserjet P2055dn £203.44 £259.99 £274.22 £331.35
HP ColorLaser CP3525n £384.27 £389.99 £419.89 £624.87

Recommended procedure for ordering printers

Step 1. Talk to department IT staff about what your requirements are. We recommend networked printers for easy of installation and management (network tends to add £100). We recommend shared use of larger workgroup printers (rather than personal desktop printers). We recommend HP. We recommend laserprinters (inkjets have high consumable costs).

Step 2.XMA are cheapest, deliver swiftly, have good customer service and a good quick website. Login to http://www.xma4education.co.uk/ (Username: paul.warren Password: available on request) Browse or search for printers. We recommend ordering a spare set of toners with the initial order for the printer so that there is initially a spare toner in stock.

Step 3. Fill in a standard requisition form" and get it authorized by the costcentre holder and send it to the finance office (Barry Fellows, Hume-Rothery Building). NOTE THAT ORDERS SHOULD NEVER BE SUBMITTED ONLINE!!

Please send any comments or corrections to the webmaster.

Printer Supplies purchasing advice

There are many possible suppliers for printer supplies. Below is a list of websites and logins to give the discount prices that have been compared.

QC Supplies - our recommended toner supplier
http://www.qcsupplies.co.uk/ (Username: paul.warren@materials.ox.ac.uk Password: available on request)

Item QC Supplies XMA Insight BT Direct
Q5950A £93.22 £126.53 £125.99 £124.97
C9730A £117.26 £125.28 £162.99 £156.94
Q5949X £ 61.90 £70.13 £94.99 £95.86

Recommended procedure for ordering printer supplies

Step1. Find the product code for the item you want. Try searching for your printer model on google (e.g. "HP 1320n toner") or search the HP website.

Step2. Search the QC Supplies website for the product code to get the correct pricing (zero delivery cost).

Step3. Fill in a standard requisition form and get it authorized by the costcentre holder and send it to the finance office (Barry Fellows, Hume-Rothery Building). NOTE THAT ORDERS SHOULD NEVER BE SUBMITTED ONLINE!!

Please send any comments or corrections to the webmaster.

Stationery purchasing advice

Creations - catalogue supplier prior to 2006

OfficeDepot - a new supplier (March2006)- web searchengine
http://online.officedepot.co.uk (Username: uni proc 2 Password: available on request)

OfficeDepot FilingTray- the PRICES spreadsheet
http://www.filingtray.com (Username: OXFORD Password: available on request)

Overall OfficeDepot using the discounted prices spreadsheet available at FilingTray is considered cheapest for stationery.

Recommended procedure for ordering stationery

Step1. Find the product code for the item you want. Either search any of the above websites to find out the product code of what you want (Dabs was the fastest search website) or just search for the item on google.

Step2. Search the OfficeDepot price spreadsheet available from FilingTray for the product code to find the cost (or if not on the spreadsheet search the OfficeDepot website directly). [ Remember that the OfficeDepot website prices are not the "Oxford" prices - you need to use the spreadsheet]

Step3. Fill in a standard requisition form and get it authorized by the costcentre holder and send it to the finance office (Barry Fellows, Hume-Rothery Building). NOTE THAT ORDERS SHOULD NEVER BE SUBMITTED ONLINE!!

Overview of discounts

  • BT Business Direct: Discounts will differ across product range - from around 5% - 7%.
  • Fisher Scientific Ltd: Discounts according to Product up to 35%.
  • JBL Ltd: Stationery 40% - 50%. See product colour codes in catalogue.
  • Keithley Instruments Ltd: Up to 20% discount - min 10%.
  • Kemet International Ltd: Discount according to product - up to 20%.
  • Machine Mart Ltd: Note that catalogue prices include VAT.
  • Met Prep Ltd: 10% discount off list price usually available. Be sure to ad carriage charges.
  • One Call: Usually 14% off catalogue prices but can differ between Farnell and CPC.
  • RS Components Ltd: Usually 15%.
  • Screwfix Direct: Discounts stated at front of catalogue. Prices include packaging and posting.
  • Struers Ltd: See catalogue.
  • Toolmaster Oxford Ltd: Up to 25% on some items.
  • Viking Direct Ltd: Discounts available.