Purchasing Consortium - Introduction
Purchasing Consortium - Menu
Purchasing Consortium - Introduction
In 1998, CIC formed what has become a remarkably effective Purchasing Consortium for commodities and services. By joining forces, purchasing directors from member universities are able to negotiate better terms and gain significant price advantages on products with relatively high margins. To date, CIC has saved more than $19 million. That amount includes:
- A 45 percent cost reduction on Cisco routers, used in every campus network, with estimated total savings of $1,947,000.
- Single-university savings of as much as $500,000 per quarter on research and laboratory supplies.
- Collaborate spending in fiscal year 2007 of $25 million yielded savings of $2.95 million for office supplies, laboratory supplies, networking equipment, background check services, underwriters insurance, and dormitory mattresses. This represents an average savings of nearly 12 percent.
The Purchasing Consortium is expanding into other non-traditional services, with the newest contracts featured below.
New Contracts
Customs Brokerage
If a university buys a piece of equipment that’s made overseas, the item has to be walked through customs. The contractor handles every aspect of the shipment, from the necessary arrangements for customs to delivery to the institution.
Database Cleansing
Research institutions receive large amounts of funding from government sources. Those grants include stringent regulations on where and how the money may be spent. This contractor takes vendor databases and screens companies with regards to those requirements. In addition, the contractor can identify vendors that are women- and minority-owned businesses, so that universities can continue to make efforts to do business with such entities.