News release from Ivy Tech Community College:
Ivy Tech signs new agreements for multi-million dollar savings
College embraces strategic sourcing to offset funding shortfall, signs agreement with PDME-Office Depot and others
(Indianapolis, July 6, 2012) – College affordability and burgeoning student loan debt will remain key challenges for higher education institutions for years to come. Taxpayer funding hikes and tuition increases, understandably, are not viable options. As Jamie Merisotis, president of the Indianapolis-based Lumina Foundation for Education, has said “We spend so much time dealing with affordability from the price side (that) the real action to me is on this question of efficiency, on bringing down the unit cost.”
Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana’s strategy comprehends the need to reduce the College’s cost to serve its students. Ensuring Optimal Quality and Efficiencies Statewide is a key element in Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana’s Accelerating Greatness 2013 Strategic Plan. This call to action has resulted in more than $50 million in cumulative annual savings, $7.4 million in one-time savings, and $15.5 million in savings that Ivy Tech will receive in the future based on actions that the College has taken.
“I am pleased to announce the latest in a series of significant statewide cost savings initiatives,” said Thomas J. Snyder, President of Ivy Tech. “Through the use of strong strategic sourcing principles and tools, the College has developed two new multi-year agreements whose annual savings are expected to average at least $800,000 per year. And we have improved productivity, strengthened our diversity spend, and improved our practice of green principles while doing so.”
An office supplies and multi-purpose paper agreement is now in place with P.D. Morrison Enterprises (PDME), a Tier 1 minority business enterprise partner of Office Depot. PDME conducts order administration, customer service and billing activities while Office Depot delivers product from its inventories.
“Ivy Tech is pleased to consolidate its office supplies spend on a long term basis with Office Depot and its MBE partner, PDME. Among a group of strong competitors, they responded to our request for proposal (RFP) with the best program as viewed against several criteria important to the College and its internal customers. And the projected cost savings based on the College’s purchase of core list items developed to meet user needs instead of wants are tremendous,” said Jim Hudson, Chief Procurement Officer for Ivy Tech.
In addition to the office supplies and multi-purpose agreement with PDME, Ivy Tech has, after a highly competitive RFP process, established a multi-year agreement for premium compatible and OEM toner and ink cartridges with Indianapolis-based ICC Business Products, a family-owned small business that has been serving Indiana businesses since 1930.
The College expects to save more than 50 percent on the cost of printer toner and ink cartridges by shifting purchases from OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) toners to high quality premium compatible (remanufactured) printer toners with ICC. And through the robust RFP process, Ivy Tech was able to obtain excellent price levels for printer toners and ink cartridges.
Prior to this award, Ivy Tech had a few years of experience with ICC’s premium compatible products, many of which are remanufactured by a woman-owned business enterprise (or WBE).
“All of us at ICC are very excited about our expanding partnership with Ivy Tech,” said Quinn Ray, ICC’s president.
The messages from many, including the State and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education are clear: State-supported institutions must do more with less. Partnering with strong suppliers, increasing diversity spending, reduce the College’s carbon footprint, improve productivity, and creating strong cost savings that help address affordability and student loan debt challenges are exciting things to see result from the College’s forward-thinking strategic plan.
Ivy Tech Community College is the state’s largest public postsecondary institution and the nation’s largest singly accredited statewide community college system serving nearly 200,000 students annually. Ivy Tech has campuses throughout Indiana. It serves as the state’s engine of workforce development, offering affordable degree programs and training that are aligned with the needs of its community along with courses and programs that transfer to other colleges and universities in Indiana. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association.
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