Specialty Underwriters has partnered with Boston University to assist the research community in reducing the cost of laboratory equipment maintenance.

Who are Specialty Underwriters?

A leader in their field since 1982, Specialty Underwriters has provided valuable maintenance management services to corporations, governmental bodies, educational institutions, medical facilities, high technology industries and other organizations worldwide. They employ a talented team of specialists that focus on developing innovative solutions in the field of equipment maintenance management. Specialty Underwriters offers a reliable, time-proven approach to managing equipment repairs, reducing operating costs and providing ongoing analysis of measuring equipment reliability and supplier performance through key management reporting.

Agreement Benefits

• 15% to 30% discount from the most recent manufacturers’ prices for maintenance and repair coverage

• All repairs performed by the same original equipment manufacturer service technicians

• Management reports that include equipment schedules, repair history and useful studies

To learn more about Specialty Underwriters, please visit their website at www.su-group-com.

Please contact Bob Simboli 617-353-8753 or rsimboli@bu.edu for additional details.

PCard training sessions are now offered weekly at the Medical Campus beginning Tuesday, November 10 through Tuesday, December 15 from 2:00 – 2:50 p.m. at the School of Medicine in room L804. The training will cover upgraded PCard software (SAM) as well as a review of the currrent policies and procedures.

Our PCard program migration to American Express has resulted in improvements to the SAM reconciliation tool. It is imperative that you attend an upcoming training class to familiarize yourself with these changes. The deadline for attending this training is December 17, 2009.

Please register for a training session by emailing Shirley Hood at smoore@bu.edu

To learn more about our PCard program, please visit our website at www.bu.edu/sourcing/pcard/procedures.

The next time you know exactly what you want to buy but do not know what companies have your product, contact BU Sourcing & Procurement to find the right supplier with the best price.

Sourcing & Procurement utilizes Ariba Network Discovery to solicit bids from suppliers when one has a specific product but does not know where to go for the best price.  The network provides us access to an extensive database of qualified suppliers worldwide.

For more open-ended sourcing projects where you want supplier expertise but do not know who the experts are in their respective fields, BU Sourcing & Procurement can also search Ariba Network Discovery to find new, competitive suppliers to meet your requirements.  Whether you are looking for a certified small, minority-owned business, the market leader, or any company in between, the network helps us to quickly identify qualified suppliers who can meet your requirements.

Save time and money by contacting Sourcing the next time you need assistance finding a supplier.

Sourcing to Host Computer Purchasing Training

BU Sourcing & Procurement is excited to host a new training as part of the Office of Human Resources Get Trained series. The workshop is entitled “Sourcing: Computers, Software, and Peripherals”. Topics will include an introduction to preferred suppliers, accessing the suppliers’ websites to shop and prepare quotes, how to order, and the benefits of selecting a recommended system. We will also present an overview of the services provided by the IT Help Center. If you would like to attend, please register in advance at the Human Resources Training Enrollment website.

When:
Tuesday October 27th from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM or Tuesday October 27th from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM

Where:
BU Sourcing & Procurement
985 Commonwealth Ave
Room 210

Over the summer, BU Sourcing & Procurement, together with BU Financial Assistance, invited lenders to provide information about their student loan products through a formal Request for Information (RFI) process. A committee, led by the Financial Assistance Office and comprised of representatives from the different schools and colleges on both campuses, met to review and discuss the findings. Loans for Undergraduate Degree, Graduate/Professional Degree, and Non-Degree were identified and scored based on competitiveness of rates, customer service and borrower benefits.

Christine W. McGuireExecutive Director of Financial Assistance states, “Boston University Sourcing has given the University committee for student loan policy invaluable support and guidance in identifying private loans for students and parents consideration. Now in our second year of a single University-wide RFI process, with the help of the Sourcing department, we have been able to create a web-based process to collect information and analyze it for the benefit of students across the 16 schools of the University. The Sourcing professionals have been so helpful, and the result has been improved service to students.”

Students were encouraged to visit BU Financial Assistance to compare information concerning credit-based student loans to determine the best fit for their particular circumstance. Students are always welcome to borrow from the lender of their choice without penalty, whether or not that lender is identified on the site or in other University materials.

You may have heard these questions before… How can a supplier do business with BU?… How can I find a BU contracted supplier?… How do I get a new supplier into BU systems?

The new Boston University Supplier Center website connects interested suppliers with BU commodity and sourcing professionals who understand the market and BU needs.   The Supplier Center registration process allows suppliers to submit company, product, tax, payment, diversity, insurance, environmental, ethics and safety information online through a secure BU portal.  Automated workflow distributes the commodity based supplier registration survey to the BU expert who has the expertise to understand and value a supplier’s offerings.

While not every supplier will become a BU “approved” supplier, every supplier registration submission will remain in a central database that sourcing managers can use for future bid events.

Over the next several weeks, BU will begin to send email invitations to current BU suppliers to “re-register” with Boston University in anticipation of new SAP procurement and payables systems.   Only “registered” BU suppliers will be allowed to receive purchase orders or payment.

The roll-out of this new portal will also allow Boston University to actively engage local area, diverse and other disadvantaged businesses who wish to work with BU through the Boston University Diverse Suppliers Program.

PerkinElmer adds offerings for detection and screening of potential new drugs, expands radiolabeling and bead-based assay technologies

PerkinElmer, Inc. recently announced that it has purchased the asset of GE Healthcare’s ³H and ¹⁴C Catalog Radiochemicals, Scintillation Proximity Assay (SPA) reagents and Cytostar-T plate product lines.

The Catalog Radiochemical products are used for a variety of research applications, including screening of potential drug candidates through binding assays. The SPA bead-based light-emitting assay and Cytostar-T plate technologies are offerings that enable the automation of High Throughput Screening (HTS) processes, to help drug discovery researchers quickly and accurately determine if potential new drug compounds are effective against their intended disease targets.

As a result of this asset purchase, PerkinElmer will now provide the world’s largest selection of high-quality radiolabeled compounds to the global scientific community.

GE Healthcare will be working closely with PerkinElmer to ensure a smooth transition of its manufacturing and technical support activities and to minimize disruption for customers during the transition period. BU sourcing will also monitor the transition and aggressively manage cost, quality and delivery concerns with PerkinElmer.

Beginning October 15th, as a result of our membership with MASCO, BU travelers will notice deeper discounts in the US Airways shuttle markets, Boston – Washington, DC – NYC, when booking with an agent at BCD Travel or online using Cliqbook. Future discounts will be announced as agreements are established with various hotel chains, train, and airlines.

MASCO, a non-profit organization, was founded in 1972 by area institutions to bring together and enhance the Longwood Medical and Academic Area in hopes of benefiting patients, students and employees.

BU will be working closely with other MASCO members including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, and Partners Healthcare to negotiate further travel savings.

To learn more about MASCO, please visit their website at www.masco.org.

BU Sourcing & Procurement, together with Apple, are excited to extend our offer to all faculty and staff the very special opportunity to switch their BU computer from a PC to a Mac. If you are considering updating your business computer with one that is capable of running both Windows and Mac operating systems, Apple will give you a one-time discount of 15% off BU’s already discounted educational price.

*** Additionally, if you have a large order (5+ systems) to be placed by September 25th, 2009, please contact Guy Tunnicliffe for special pricing. Guy’s email address is appleguy@apple.com His phone number is 781-875-1234. ***

HURRY NOW as this “Switcher” offer has only been extended until September 25^th, 2009.

To place your “Switcher” order, please go to the Apple page on BU Sourcing & Procurement’s website.

Please reference sales exception number 158913 on your order.

The four models to choose from in the program are as follows:

 

13” MacBook Pro

2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

160GB Hard Drive / 2GB RAM

SuperDrive

Part Number: MB990LL/A

Education Price: $1099

BU Switcher Price: $934.15

 

20” iMac

2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

320GB Hard Drive / 2GB RAM

SuperDrive

Part Number: MB417LL/A

Education Price: $1,149

BU Switcher Price: $976.65

 

15” MacBook Pro

2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

250GB Hard Drive / 4GB RAM

SuperDrive

Part Number: MC118LL/A

Education Price: $1,599

BU Switcher Price: $1,359.15

 

15” MacBook Pro

2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

320GB Hard Drive / 4GB RAM

SuperDrive

Part Number: MB985LL/A

Education Price: $1,849

BU Switcher Price: $1,571.65

BU Sourcing & Procurement, together with Apple, are excited to offer all faculty and staff a very special opportunity to refresh their BU Mac. If you are considering upgrading your Mac, Apple will give you a one-time discount of 10% off BU’s already discounted educational price.

*** Additionally, if you have a large order (5+ systems) to be placed by September 25th, 2009, please contact Guy Tunnicliffe for special pricing. Guy’s email address is appleguy@apple.com His phone number is 781-875-1234. ***

HURRY NOW as this “Refresher” offer is only good until September 25^th, 2009.

To place your “Refresher” order, please go to the Apple page on BU Sourcing & Procurement’s website.

Please reference sales exception number 171487 on your order.

The four models to choose from in the program are as follows:

 

13” MacBook Pro

2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

160GB Hard Drive / 2GB RAM

SuperDrive

Part Number: MB990LL/A

Education Price: $1099

BU Switcher Price: $989.10

 

20” iMac

2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

160GB Hard Drive / 2GB RAM

SuperDrive

Part Number: Z0GN

Education Price: $944.00

BU Switcher Price: $849.60

 

24” iMac

2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

640GB Hard Drive / 4GB RAM

SuperDrive

Part Number: Z0FP

Education Price: $1,399.00

BU Switcher Price: $1,259.10

15” MacBook Pro

2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

250GB Hard Drive / 4GB RAM

SuperDrive

Part Number: MC118LL/A

Education Price: $1,599.00

BU Switcher Price: $1,439.10