Inside this Issue:

Phil Johnson,

Colleague Friend

1

Purchasing Tips 2-3

Purchasing iPad-

iPod Apps

3-4

Who are you

going to call?

4-5

Choosing the

Right Laminator

6-7

Process and

Vendor

Communication

8-9

Pencil Perfection 9

Warehouse

News

10

Frequently asked

Questions

11

Mailroom Tips 12

P-card Training &

Updates

12-

13

Purchasing

Handbook

13

http://www.graniteschools.org

Buying Power Purchasing/Warehouse Newsletter

Contracts Tips Procedures

A great place to get procurement:

SEPTEMBER 2011

We were extremely saddened to learn of the death of

Phil Johnson, a longstanding and highly respected

part of our purchasing team. Phil was one-of-a-

kind. He was knowledgeable, a graduate of Utah

State University and a man of personal integrity and

family values. Phil was a teacher, mentor, supervisor,

husband, dad … with a heart of gold.

For years, Phil was the “go-to” guy for the district to get furniture and assets

moved from and for schools, departments and teachers, getting donations

picked up, and special requests for mail pick up. He had a broad range of

warehouse and purchasing knowledge along with a determination to provide

quality service that will surely be missed. He did everything in his power to

assist school administrators, teachers and secretaries with their requests and

time frames. Phil touched the lives of everyone in the district through his

dedicated service.

Phil was a wonderful husband, father and grandfather.

He provided loving care for his darling wife, Helen, who

suffers with MS. He had a very tender heart that was

reflected in his compassion for others. He was ex-

tremely hard working and not afraid to roll up his shirt

sleeves and get down in the trenches.

Phil can never be replaced. He will be missed and not a

day will go by without some reflection, a memory of

laughter with this big hearted man.

Remembering Phil Johnson: Paying tribute to a dear colleague, friend

Hopefully everyone

has enjoyed a safe

and restful summer.

Summer hours are

over, tans are fad-

ing and budgets have been replenished. It’s

time for a few purchasing reminders.

Jared, Gardner, Director of Purchasing,

reviews p-card purchases, pay vouchers

and requisitions. When you have not

followed the correct procedures, such as

amount thresholds, he will call or send

them back to you for correction. Memo-

randum Number Nine explains district

purchasing policy, you can review the

memorandum by clicking on this link:

Memorandum Number Nine.

The Purchasing Department is

dedicated to procedures and processes

that are designed to make your pur-

chases easier. When creating requisi-

tions be sure to check our web page, at

this link, Contracts to see if your item(s)

are on a District or State contract. As

we award contracts throughout the year

our web page will be updated with new

contracts, pricing, vendor information

and general purchasing guidelines.

When preparing a requisition that

requires an attachment, please make

sure to indicate “per attachment” in the

“description” field on the first line item of

the requisition. Record your school

name and the requisition number on the

attachment and send it and a copy of

the requisition to the Purchasing Depart-

ment. The attachment will be placed

with the PO and e-mailed to the vendor.

How can you expedite your purchase

orders? Having all the information on

the requisition is a great way to help

expedite your order. Always include as

much detail as possible in your descrip-

tion, such as manufacturer name,

model number and for books the ISBN

numbers. If you need the product by a

certain date, don’t forget to include that

information in the description field.

Please remember to send your receiv-

ing paperwork directly to Accounting. If

you send it to the Purchasing Depart-

ment, it will delay your purchase being

paid and closed.

We want to remind everyone that all

software must be pre-approved before a

purchase order will be issued. Information

Systems has posted on

the web the following

guidelines for district

software purchases:

approved software.

“For some time there has been concern

about the purchasing of appropriate soft-

ware to support instruction and will work in

our computer environment. An effort to

see what software is in use in the district, a

software inventory process has been

completed. From the process, software

titles were then looked at for their support

of the curriculum, their use as a productiv-

ity tool in the classroom and administration

and also how well they can be supported in

our computer environment.

As a result of these efforts, there are now

approved software lists maintained on this

web site. Also, as part of this effort, a

process for future purchases of software

for a school or department has been

created. If the software is already on a

Purchasing Tips

Page 2 Purchasing/Warehouse

With the rapid growth in the use of iPads

and iPods within the district it has become

necessary to provide procedures regarding

how applications (apps) for these devices

are procured. The following verbiage is

from Memo 11.2 from the Educational

Technology Department. App purchases

may not be made with district p-cards.

You must adhere to one of the two

approved routes.

The following will reflect the Educational

Technology Department’s procedure

regarding the purchas-

ing of apps for Apple

Operating System

(iOS) devices. Gift

Cards for iTunes are

not an option for app

purchases.

There are two routes that can be taken

when seeking reimbursement for the

purchase of apps.

1. Save your receipt from the purchase

and submit for reimbursement.

This is for small scale

individual purchases.

A receipt is emailed to

the email address your

iTunes account is reg-

istered to. It can take 1-2 days for the

receipt to arrive. Submit for reimburse-

ment to whoever controls the budget

that is paying for your apps.

2. Use the App Store Volume Purchas-

ing Program (ASVPP).

This is for large scale purchases of apps

such as for iPod or iPad carts. Below

describes the process used for these

purchases.

The STS/LMETS will be serving as Program

Facilitators in your building. When you are

ready to buy apps for your iOS devices, you

contact your STS/LMETS and let them

know what apps you want to purchase.

They will work with the financial secretary in

your school who will create a requisition for

an ASVPP voucher in the amount

requested (vouchers can be purchased

iPad-iPod Apps

Page 3 Purchasing/Warehouse

Purchasing Tips (continued)

district approved software list, purchasing

will issue the purchase order for the

software. If the software is not on the list,

the software must go through the software

evaluation process provided on this web

site. This process includes review for its

instructional support of the curricula,

productivity and ability to fit the computer

environment.

Some software currently in use in schools is

not on the approved software list. These

software titles will continue to be supported

but new purchases will not be allowed.

Schools and departments are encouraged

to upgrade software to District supported

titles.

We feel this process will better support the

teaching and software support process.”

If you have purchasing questions, please

call our office, 385-646-4518.

from $100.00 to $10,000.00). The requisi-

tion needs to go to the Purchasing Depart-

ment.

Once purchased, vouchers will go to the

STS/LMETS. Josh Whiting in Educational

Technology (jwhiting@graniteschools.org)

will be acting as the ASVPP Program

Manager. Josh will work with the STS/

LMETS to navigate the ASVPP site and

redeem the voucher. Only the STS/LMETS

will be able to redeem the voucher for apps.

They will determine the apps in the ASVPP

site, the cost will be deducted from their

account, and they will be sent a spread-

sheet with codes to be used in iTunes.

The STS/LMETS will download the apps

with a designated iTunes account using the

codes. As many devices as you have

purchased that app for may then be

synced to that account.

*An iTunes account will need to be created

and managed by the STS/LMETS.

* Apple Education Store – Volume App Voucher Pur-

chase Page: http://store.apple.com/us/browse/

home/education_routing

This is where you would create a quote to go with a

requisition for purchasing volume vouchers.

* iTunes Volume Purchasing Site:

volume.itunes.apple.com/us/store

This is where STS/LMETS log in to redeem

volume vouchers and purchase app

licenses for their school.

*A p-card can be used in place of a requisi-

tion if the amount is under $500.00.

iPad-iPod Apps (continued)

Page 4 Purchasing/Warehouse

Caryn has worked for the Granite School District for

21 years. Her career with Granite began as a part time

secretary in the Plumbing shop then she was hired as a

full time secretary in Purchasing. She is very pleasant

and always has a kind word or compliment for everyone who comes in our

office. Her responsibilities include answering the phone, adding vendors in

Reflections, bulk mailings, filing, emailing copies of purchase orders and

assisting the buyers with requisitions, purchase orders, quotes and bids.

When she is not at work, she loves spending time with her children and

grandchildren. She has one daughter, Lisa and three sons, Tim, Brad

and Kevin. She also adores her six grandchildren. Caryn enjoys hiking and

Staff Profile . . . Who are you going to call?

Caryn Martin

Secretary

Page 5 Purchasing/Warehouse

Staff Profile . . . Who are you going to call? (continued)

or checking orders, or taking care of

whatever tasks need to be done. He

will not ask anything of you he is not

willing to do himself.

Joe is an AVID gardener and loves to

"work the land". He has also been

known to "work" other peoples land as

well. He is an excellent cook and often

cooks elaborate meals for his

co-workers and family. During the

summer months you will either find

him in his extremely LARGE garden or

at a car show showing his '32 Ford.

Joe is the Floor Manager for the

Granite School District Central

Warehouse. He started his career at

the Central Warehouse in the summer

of 1995 as hourly summer help. In

August of 1995, he was hired at the

Bates Kitchen Warehouse and worked

there until he obtained a contract

position back with the Central Ware-

house in December 1995. He started

as a Warehouseman and worked his

way up to Receiving Clerk and then

Floor Manager. These positions have

helped him to be very knowledgeable

about warehouse policy, procedure

and stock.

Joe is responsible for making sure the

distribution area of the warehouse is

running smoothly and efficiently. He is

there to answer questions and to solve

any problems that may arise with your

order. Joe is very committed to pro-

viding excellent customer service and

takes great pride in making sure you

receive your order correctly and in a

timely manner. He may hold the title

of Floor Manager but you will seldom

find him in his office as he is always

out in the warehouse working along-

side the other warehousemen, pulling

traveling with her two younger sisters. Some of the places she has traveled to are Hawaii,

Japan and last year she went on an Alaskan cruise. She loves working in her

garden and has a gorgeous yard where she enjoys hosting barbeques. Her

favorite past-time is dancing. She has taken ballroom dance classes and

attends dances all over the Salt Lake area. She can also make any plant grow

and stay alive.

Joe Mortensen

Floor Manager

Choosing the Right Laminator

Purchasing/Warehouse

Before you purchase a new

laminator, ask yourself these

questions?

1. What size laminator will you need, 12”,

18”, 25” or 27”?

First look at what you are laminating. Are

you laminating bookmarks or are you plan-

ning on laminating posters? It's important

to make sure you choose a laminator that

will accommodate the largest item you will

be laminating. The industry standard has

moved towards the 27” laminator with the

capability to adjust the width lower. If you

don’t mind adjusting the laminator for differ-

ent widths, the 25” or 27” laminator is the

way to go. The 27” works well for posters.

2. Do you care how long the warranty is?

3. Do you need to keep track of laminating

film usage?

4. Do you want to have the option to adjust

the temperature and/or the speed?

Some laminators have adjustable tempera-

ture/speed controls, so you can choose

how hot the rollers get and how fast your

documents move through the laminator,

preventing curling and bubbling. If you will

be laminating documents of many different

sizes, a laminator with adjustable speed is

your best option.

Fixed speed means that the laminating rollers turn at a constant (fixed) speed that cannot be changed. A laminator with fixed speed is normally less expensive than a laminator with variable speed. Fixed speed laminators are simple to operate; however, the speed of the laminating rollers cannot be slowed down to laminate thicker laminating films (such as 5 or 10 mil films)

or heavier items such as construction paper or several pieces of paper glued together.

Variable speed means that the speed of the laminating rollers can be adjusted faster or slower. A laminator with variable speed can be more complex to operate than a fixed speed laminator; however, because the speed can be slowed down, it allows the use of thicker laminating films. A variable speed laminator also makes it easier to laminate heavy paper such as construction paper or items with heavy ink coverage. The laminator can be slowed down, allowing the item being laminated to remain in contact with the heated film longer and resulting in better adhesion. Some lamina-tors have a 5 mil switch, which lowers the fixed speed of the laminating rollers to allow thicker 5 mil film to be laminated. Essentially this is a fixed speed laminator that has one fast speed and one slower speed.

5. Will you have to move the laminator?

The GBC Ultima 65 weighs 127 pounds so

you'll want to exercise caution if you ever need

to move it.

6. Do you want a key lock?

Weigh all the features that you need and then you can make the right choice. Please see the following specifications for laminators that have been approved by our Granite Techni-cians.

Condemnation procedure for your laminator:

1. A remote requisition is initiated by the

school or department. The budget number

you will use if the condemned laminator is

on the district asset list and over $1,000 is:

30-LOC-12-0991-1000-0730-000.

2. The district technician will fill out and sign

Page 6

Tips

Page 7 Purchasing/Warehouse

Choosing the Right Laminator- (continued)

an “Equipment Transfer Form.”

3. The Equipment Transfer form is used as the condemnation document and is available

from the warehouse, stock #192061.

4. The original (white) copy of the GSD Condemnation/Equipment Transfer form must be

attached to a copy of the remote requisition and sent to Kathy Arishita in Support

Services.

5. Purchasing will send the pink requisition for approval to the Capital Outlay Committee

that meets on Wednesdays.

6. If approved, purchasing will issue a Purchase Order.

Specs Minikote G2 Ledco

Educator GBC

Ultima 65

Width of Lamination 27" 25" 27"

Usage Counter x

Safety shield x x

Keyswitch x

Reverse Button x x x

Digital Display x

Temperature Controls, adjustable x x

Speed Control, adjustable x

Factory set speed and temperature x x x

Footage counter x x

Stand by feature x

Auto shut off x

Warm up time 30 min. 20 min. 15 min.

Weight 66 lbs. 76 lbs. 127 lbs.

Speed 9.5 ft per min 5 ft per min 9 ft per min

Film Gauge up to 3 mil up to 5 mil up to 3 mil

Warranty 1 year 2 years 90 days

Procurement Processes and Vendor Communications

Purchasing/Warehouse

Have you ever been assigned to

make a purchase that will require a

competitive process and had questions

regarding if and when you should approach

vendors for information? Do you generally

know what types of questions you should

or should not ask? Have you ever been

approached with a question by a vendor

during a competitive solicitation process

and wondered what you should or should

not say? Here are some simple guidelines:

Discovery or Request for Information Stage

It is generally necessary to research

information as a future purchase is antici-

pated. This process assists in gathering

broad market information and availability

on the desired goods or service as well as

discovering sources of detailed information

that could be useful in the development of

the solicitation. Effective tools can be

Internet searches, phone calls or even

discussions with vendors but please

remember to research multiple sources.

Proprietary specifications often result when

only one vendor is researched.

Estimated Price

Estimated price(s) may also be

requested during the discovery or

request for information stage for

budgetary and planning purposes

but it is critical that vendors know the

pricing request is merely for a budgetary

estimate. Please do not ask for a Price

Quote as that could create future problems

for either you or the vendor or both.

Specification or Proposal Writing Stage

To maintain a fair and level approach with

vendors, it is generally recommended to

discontinue the discovery or request for

information stage and corresponding

communications with vendors while bid

specifications or Request for Proposal

(RFP) documents are being written. This

minimizes the chance that a vendor may

have undue influence on the solicitation.

Please contact the buyer you are working

with in the Purchasing Department if you

find you need more information from ven-

dors while the solicitation is being written.

Consultants under contract with your

organization that assist in specification or

proposal writing will not be considered as

an eligible bidder due to the obvious conflict

of interest.

Solicitation Stage

Once a bid, quote or RFP solicitation has

been released by the Purchasing Depart-

ment, all communication with vendors

interested in responding should be directed

as instructed in the solicitation. Questions

are generally directed to the buyer In the

Purchasing Department. If vendors ap-

proach personnel in your department with

questions, please ask that the inquiry be

redirected per instructions in the solicitation.

This is critical to ensure that some vendors

are not given an advantage (or disadvan-

tage) by information that is given to one

potential bidder but not all. Additionally, as

you know, only the written text in a bid or

RFP document is binding so non-binding

verbal statements only have a potential to

create problems. Generally there is a

cut-off date and time for submittal of ques-

tions, after which no further questions are

considered.

Award Stage

After bids have been submitted to the

Purchasing Department and an award

Page 8

Procedures

Page 9 Purchasing/Warehouse

Procurement Processes and Vendor Communications (continued)

recommendation has been made and publicized, agencies may give the name and date of

the awarded vendor to other vendors when requested. Any other requests such as copies of

written documentation, debriefings, etc., should be directed to the buyer in the Purchasing

Department. As some documents are public information and others are not, please have the

buyer handle the request.

Post Award Stage

Please contact the buyer in the Purchasing Department for assistance when requests for

information are made after a purchase has been finalized which would include requests

for copies of the PO or contract.

Have you ever rummaged through a drawer or container of pencils, trying to find the right

one? What are you looking for? You're looking for the sharpest, the one

that will write the best.

Whether you have a classroom full of kids or an office of employees, you

may have a lot of pencils to sharpen each day. What is the best way to

sharpen graphite pencils to prevent breakage?

1. If your pencil sharpener will not sharpen the pencil well, check that the space where the

pencil tip should go is not blocked by broken graphite (the black part) from the tip of the

pencil.

2. If it will not sharpen well, the blade in the sharpener may be blunt.

3. Twist the pencil the opposite way the sharpener is turning. This creates a balanced,

even, cleaner cut with no rigged crevices in the pencil, which may cause it to break later.

4. Do not jam the pencil in too hard. Apply slight pressure until you hear and

feel the motor running. You may be jamming the pencil in like a limb in a

garden shredder.

5. Stop when you don’t feel grinding anymore.

6. Do not try to sharpen crayons, sticks or anything that is not a pencil. It will not sharpen.

7. Some teachers report that their electric pencil sharpeners get ruined from students using

them to sharpen colored pencils. This is most likely due to the fact that the wax from the

colored pencils will inevitably build up and clog the sharpener.

8. Your sharpener’s canister will be blocked if you do not empty it regularly.

9. If your pencil breaks regularly, the graphite in your pencil may have been broken from a

hard knock.

10. Old school: for some applications an old fashioned manual sharpener will provide the

best results.

Ten Steps to Pencil Perfection

Page 10 Purchasing/Warehouse

Warehouse Items

New Warehouse Stock

Stock # Description Unit Cost

151305 Primary Journal, K-2nd Grade, Mead Each $ 1.19

155550 Student Dry Erase Board, 9” x 12”, Expo Each $ 2.25

155676 1 ½” White, D ring presentation binder Each $ 2.15

155677 1 ½” Black, D ring presentation binder Each $ 2.15

311123 Floor Finish (for wood floors) 5 gal/Can $ 105.29

Oil Modified, Urethane, 50% solids

(only requires one coat not two)

Betco “one coat”

541082 Carpet Adhesive Taylor 2056-Wet Set Pail $ 30.80

881123 1P Camera Cable, Black Roll $ 243.00

Page 10

Do you have an Item

that you would like to

have stocked at the

Warehouse?

Request to stock

new item form

Deleted Warehouse Stock

Stock # Description

131110 Crepe Paper, Gray

131117 Crepe Paper, Baby Pink

131124 Crepe Paper, Lite-Yellow

151440 Telephone Number Index, #ROL67457

232800 Bloodborne Pathogen Kit

260080 Purchase Order Forms

301090 Lamp, Fluorescent F72T12/CW, 72”

460035 Brass Fittings, 45 D Flare Male Run Tee

760030 Brass Fittings, 45 D Flare Union T

891201 Jack Plate

891202 Wall Jack, Single, Data

Page 11 Purchasing/Warehouse

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Mr. Gardner, We can’t find the vendor we want in Reflec-

tions, what do we enter in the Vendor box?

Leave the default number of 999999 “Best Vendor.” In the

description field on the first line item, type the complete desired vendor

name, address, and phone number. The vendor will be added to the

system after we obtain their federal identification number.

Mr. Gardner, I did not write down my requisition number, how can I

find it now?

Go to Remote Secretary Requisition in Reflections. Under options put a

“Y” for Find a Requisition. On the next screen, enter your site number

and the date(s) you entered the requisition. Press F7 and it will search

and find any requisitions entered for that location between those dates.

Jared, how do we get additional items added to the warehouse?

There is an ongoing need to update and evaluate the items available at

the warehouse. Because of limited space and resources, it is necessary

to establish procedures and criteria for selecting warehouse items.

Please complete this form “request new warehouse item” . It is important

to provide all of the information requested. When the form is received at

the Warehouse or Purchasing Department, a survey will be emailed to

see if the item meets the criteria for stocking.

Mr. Gardner, what if we don’t like the choice available at the ware-

house?

Please contact us. If we don’t hear that items are not meeting your needs,

we’ll just keep buying the same items. We will investigate your concern

and if this is a district wide issue, we can find an alternative product.

Do you

have a

purchasing question

you would like

addressed in our

newsletter?

Email them to:

dlsmith@graniteschools

.org

Page 11

Page 12 Purchasing/Warehouse

Mail Room Tips

P-Card Training

Our next P-Card Training is scheduled for Wednesday, October 5, 2011

at 9:00 a.m. in the Purchasing Conference Room C-105. Please

R.S.V.P. to Rose Elkins at 385-646-4562 if you would like to attend this

session or one of the other sessions listed below:

October 5, 2011

November 2, 2011

December 7, 2011

January 4, 2012

Every month, P-Cardholders submit receipts and card statements for

auditing. To ensure an accurate audit trail, card statements must be

submitted in the proper format.

Attach original receipts and invoices to the US Bank statement along with

the Cardholder Activity Report (replaces the old Purchasing Card Log)

and your supervisor signature.

Please submit the completed forms to the Accounts Payable Depart-

ment by the 25th of each month.

Bulk mailing can save a lot of money - 11.5 cents vs. 44 cents on each

piece of mail. Your mail qualifies for bulk prices if you have at least 200

pieces and all the information is exactly the same and not personalized in

any way. If you are going to do a bulk mailing, you may want to review

any or all of the information contained on our web page under Mailing

Questions. This can save you time and frustration. Below are a couple

of bulk mailing reminders:

All envelopes must be printed with either “Return Service Requested”

under the return address, or “or Current Resident” within the first two

lines on the address label. The post office will not accept the mailing if

one of these is not printed on the envelopes. This applies to the registra-

tion packets as well. The ability to add “or Current Resident” to the

address labels is available on the Discovery System.

On the registration packets only, the address label should be placed to

the right of center.

If you have questions, feel free to call Caryn in Purchasing, 4518, or the

post office, (801) 974-2555.

P-card training

is available

once a month

This can save

you time and

frustration

Page 12

P-Card Update

Page 13

U.S. Bank has updated their reporting software on

Online Access. This new update is being blocked by the

security settings in Internet Explorer. You will need to follow the follow-

ing steps to successfully complete your next Cardholder Activity

Report. (These instructions are also given on the home page of Online

Access when you first log in.)

Message(s) from Access Online

Please add the url, https://report.access-online.com/, to your Trusted

Sites list to access your reporting, statements and your account activity

report going forward.

For Internet Explorer:

Step 1 – Open Internet Explorer

Step 2 – Choose Tools - Internet Options and click the Security tab

Step 3 – Click the Trusted Sites icon and then click the Sites button

Step 4 – Enter https://report.access-online.com/ in the Add this website

to the zone text box

Step 5 – Check the Require Server Verification (https:) check box

Step 6 – Click Add and then Close

Step 7 – Click OK

Should you have difficulties performing this function, please contact the

district help desk at 385-646-4524.

Page 13 Purchasing/Warehouse

Finally, the outdated (2000) version of the purchasing handbook has

been revised and updated with current procedures and policy. The

handbook can be found by going to the purchasing web site:

www.graniteschools.org

The purchasing policies, code and rules have been adopted and

approved by the Granite School District Board of Education and the

State of Utah.

If the directions given in the handbook are followed, the acquisition of

supplies and equipment will be expedited, many problems avoided and

money saved for the district.

Updated Purchasing Handbook

Contact the district

help desk at

385-646-4524.