It is home to the tallest educational building in the western hemisphere - the Cathedral of Learning. It has produced much of the ground-breaking research that played a central role in developing the first polio vaccine. For more than 200 years, the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) has existed as a bustling city within a city, currently serving a population of more than 34,000students.
The task of keeping a small "city" like Pitt running smoothly often includes the buy-in of a variety of individuals on campus, including everyone from faculty and staff members to procurement and facilities managers. For Kevin Maloney, Pitt Manager of Supplier Management, one goal remains clear: to deliver invaluable cost saving opportunities by working effectively with industry-leading suppliers. Pitt recently turned to E&I’s (Educational & Institutional Cooperative Purchasing) competitively awarded Grainger contract to help them save big. As it turns out, they got a lot more than they bargained for. 

Favorable Pricing Is Just the Beginning

For nearly four years, Pitt has been purchasing off of the E & I contract as a primary source for all of their MRO, janitorial, electrical and plumbing needs. The E&I contract provided us with more favorable pricing than we were receiving on a regular basis from other suppliers," Maloney explained. "And by utilizing the Enhanced Core List feature, we’ve been able to take advantage of even further cost savings."
E&I members can take advantage of pre-negotiated savings on a variety of products available in the Grainger catalog including cleaning and maintenance supplies, electrical products, hand tools, plumbing supplies, power tools, lighting, pumps, motors and much more. As an added bonus, members have the opportunity to purchase items from a customized core list, providing even deeper discounts on popular items.
In the last fiscal year, Pitt spent more than $500K with Grainger – an increase of more than 100% over the last two-and-half years. Maloney projects the University’s potential for spend with Grainger is in the $1.5 - 2.0 million area campus-wide.
The benefits of the Grainger contract, however, far exceed simple cost savings. "We turned to Grainger to help us with a number of important initiatives on campus, including the reduction of our inventory investment," Maloney said. "Once this process is fully implemented we will reduce our inventory by more than $500K campus wide. This reduction will come gradually at first, and then as we collect data on slow moving items, Grainger will supply those items on a just-in-time delivery schedule, eliminating the inventory investment. They are also going to help us sell off our obsolete inventory."

Much More than Savings

Take one glance around the Pitt Housing and Food Services Department stockroom, and the Grainger solution speaks for itself. Everything is meticulously organized, with all items neatly placed in designated storage bins, drawers and boxes- complete with corresponding bar codes and pictures. It’s an amazing transformation from the cluttered chaos that once existed in the small room, made possible through the services of a Grainger On Site Specialist (OSS).

Pitt's Housing and Food Services Department Stockroom -- After.

Pitt's Housing and Food Services Department Stockroom -- Before.

 Interested institutions can enlist the services of a Grainger OSS to help manage their MRO purchasing processes. These Grainger emplyees provide assistance with helping Pitt campus representatives identify Grainger products to meet their needs, sourcing non-Grainger catalog MRO products, facilitating technical support and customer service, and placing all products in their proper place, as designated by the institution. OSS services are provided to eligible member institutions at no additional cost through the E&I contract.
"Our On Site Specialist, Nate Witt, came to us with nearly ten years of experience," Maloney explained. "He is skilled in modern inventory process development, possesses extensive product knowledge, and displays outstanding customer service skills. We’ve also been provided with back up representation for Nate, in terms of our Account Executive, Sales Management and Consulting Service Management representatives. The level of service and attention we’ve been given throughout this entire process really distinguishes Grainger from the rest of its competitors."
After months of planning, preparation, and a complete overhaul, the Pitt Housing and Food Services stockroom is now loaded into Grainger’s Inventory Soultions system. This system will be the tool that identifies how to reduce or eliminate stocking items. This revolutionary project has actually become the standard of success in terms of inventory reduction on campus. "We often discuss our work with Grainger with other departments on campus, who we believe can benefit from implementing a similar process," Maloney explained."

Success Through Leadership

Maloney credits Pitt’s Housing and Food Services Department management team, led by Director Jim Earle, with ensuring that the Grainger program was successful in his area. "This group has truly embraced the Grainger program, and has a real understanding for the value that Grainger delivers in terms of reducing costs and simplifying operations."
In the end, Maloney can summarize the benefits of the E&I/Grainger relationship in just a few salient points: reduced product and process costs, a completely updated stockroom, and reduced inventory investment – likely to be in the $500K range in 2 1/2 years. "For those institutions interested in implementing a vendor consolidation program featuring great value, competitive pricing, and the opportunity to significantly reduce inventory, E&I’s Grainger contract is absolutely the way to go," Maloney said.

Grainger's Inventory Solutions service provides a variety of inventory management platforms to help reduce procurement and inventory costs. For more information, contact your Grainger representative or call your local Grainger branch.

 

Article Courtesy of Educational & Institutional Cooperative Purchasing (E&I)

 

Related Links:

www.grainger.com/inventory

www.eandi.org