For the first time, Pennsylvania’s three large state-related universities — Pitt, Penn State and Temple — have filed a joint request for proposals to try to maximize savings on office supplies.
The winning submission came from a partnership between ODP Business Solutions (previously Office Depot Business Solutions Division) and Supra Office Solutions, a minority-owned business based in Philadelphia. The joint RFP totals more than $5.3 million in estimated annual spending for office supplies.
By combining forces, the universities will save up to 7%, which equates to more than $400,000 annually, in addition to other savings for each school and other contract-related benefits.
For Pitt, the selection of ODP and Supra was familiar. The University has contracted with the two companies for more than 10 years.
“The partnership between ODP and Supra has a proven track record in meeting the specific office supply needs of institutions in higher education at very competitive pricing, including a number of sustainability programs that support university-specific goals,” said Maureen Beal, associate vice chancellor for financial operations at Pitt. “The University of Pittsburgh first contracted with ODP and Supra for office supplies in 2013. We have been fortunate to see their capabilities grow since then, such as implementation of state-of-the-art technologies to address the unique needs of urban or large campuses.”
“Since 2013, with Pitt as our anchor account, we were able to hire locally within the Pittsburgh market, acquire another business in the life sciences industry, survive COVID-19, and build a brand new 70,000-square-foot warehouse and office tower, to mention a few milestones,” said Derrick Suswell, president and chief operating officer of Supra.
The initiative began with a series of meetings to establish unified requirements for customer service, deliveries, products, sustainability and catalog compatibility for online ordering. After months of planning and creating a core list of hundreds of products, the RFP was published, attracting attention from suppliers nationwide.
To help identify the best supplier, a joint committee of representatives from each university created a detailed scoring matrix. Following a series of presentations and negotiations, the committee was impressed by ODP and Supra’s commitment to meeting each university's specific needs.
ODP and Supra scored high after a thorough evaluation. Their proposal also included a tailored approach for each university. Some highlights include dedicated account managers for each school, a focus on sustainability with catalogs that provide sustainable products and programs such as one that reduces the number of cardboard boxes delivered to campus; and benefits for students, including internships and support for student-led initiatives.
“One thing that all of Pennsylvania’s state-related universities have in common is a commitment to working to keep tuition costs as low as possible. We owe that to our students, and we owe that to our legislators who support us each year through the state appropriation,” said Ken Kaiser, senior vice president and chief operating officer at Temple University. “What we have seen in recent years is near unprecedented levels of inflation, so we must be creative and proactive when it comes to identifying any opportunity that might help us cut costs and better support our students. That was part of the impetus behind this collaboration.”
Penn State Chief Procurement Officer Duane Elmore said, “The joint RFP sets a new model for our three universities to work together toward common goals.”
“ODP has been a rock-solid partner, and when ODP informed us about the new bid, which would now include Temple University (local to our headquarters) in Philadelphia and Penn State, we were very excited to win this award, and the chance to expand our relationship with two more Pennsylvania universities means the world to us here at Supra,” Suswell said.
— Susan Jones
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