Unmanaged and By-Pass Spend

Make it easier for departments to obtain vendor discounts and negotiate vendor agreements in unmanaged spend categories

The university has current strategic sourcing agreements with vendors, which provide lower prices to UC Davis than those available to the general public.  In order for the university to secure these discounts, purchasing departments must identify themselves as “from UC Davis.” This initiative seeks to establish common procedures to make it easier to ensure all purchases made by the university are capturing pre-negotiated discounts. In addition, this initiative seeks to develop purchasing standards in the four biggest spend categories to ensure the campus benefits from negotiated discounts and greater incentives. Furthermore, in regards to construction projects, the initiative aims to leverage further discounts by ensuring that contractors make purchases on our behalf.

A recent internal audit identified $9 million of purchases from our top 10 strategic sourcing partners had bypassed existing agreements. Furthermore, it was identified that there were $65 million spent with competitors of vendors already under contract with UC Davis – overlooking an opportunity for greater savings available through these pre-negotiated contracts. By developing procurement standards in the top four categories including (1) IT and Telecommunications, (2) Life Sciences, (3) Maintenance, Repair and Operation (MRO), and (4) Office supplies, Express Package and Environmental Services, the university could save up to $5 million, while generating $2.6 million in incentives simply by better utilizing existing agreements, creating a total of $7.6 million in value.

Project Team:

  • Executive Sponsor: Tim Maguire, Chief Procurement Officer, Accounting & Financial Services
  • Project Champion: Mike Morgan, Associate Director, Procurement
  • Project Manager: Christopher Caudle, Strategic Sourcing Manager, Commercial Services
  • Contact Email: cjcaudle@ucdavis.edu

Steering Committee:

  • Tim Maguire, Chief Procurement Officer, Accounting & Financial Services
  • Hampton Sublett, Director, Office of Strategic Solutions, FOA
  • Anissa Nachman, Director, Administrative Budget and Operations, BIA
  • Allen Tollefson, AVC - Facilities
  • Mike Morgan, Associate Director, Procurement
  • Additional members added as necessary