Supply Chain Management News
January 2019
Dear Campus,
  
We would like to inform you of a few updates and important events coming soon. 
Please review the topics below and follow the links or scroll down for more information on each topic.  
 
This month's SCM News:
  • Federal Shutdown Impact on Sponsored Projects and Procurement 
  • Amazon Business Coming Soon
  • Give Something Back Becomes Blaisdell’s Business Products 
  • New Year, New BearBuy Look
  • BearBuy Down February 15
  • Procurement Tips
  • SCM Website Survey
  • New Shopper Information

If you have any questions, please contact the BearBuy Help Desk at 
510-664-9000 (options 1,2) or  BearBuyHelp@berkeley.edu   for immediate assistance.

Thank you for your continued support, 
Supply Chain Management
Federal Shutdown Impact On Sponsored Projects and Procurement
In most cases, work on existing federal projects may continue if funding is already obligated and is occurring within approved period of performance. However, federal sponsors can also issue "Stop Work" orders or guidance that requires the project to shut-down. If you receive a specific “Stop Work” notice directly from a federal sponsor or similar federal agency guidance, please notify your CGO (Contracts-Grants Officer) in Sponsored Projects Office (SPO) directly. Similarly, do not request purchase orders against federal funds after receipt of a stop notice and notify your buyer if you need to change or cancel on-going purchase contracts. For more information, please visit  SPO's website on the Shutdown .
Amazon Business Coming Soon
UC Berkeley is excited to announce a campus wide Amazon Business account coming in late January. This new program simplifies the purchasing process and allows you to take advantage of Amazon’s wide product selection for business purchases.

Shopping on Amazon Business is as user friendly as Amazon.com. Additional benefits include:

  • Free 2-Day shipping on Prime-eligible items (learn more)
  • Access to millions of additional products and business-specific pricing
  • Access to a specialized Amazon Business Customer Service team at 888-281-3847 or via online Chat.
  • Department level account management

On January 16 th , current Procurement Card holders will receive an email on how to set up your Amazon Business account (sent from  no-reply@Amazon.com ). Please review the instructions as well as Amazon Business Use Policy and FAQ Guide which will be provided in that email.

If you don’t have a UC Berkeley Procurement Card and are interesting in obtaining one for access to Amazon business or other purchases, please visit the  Card Program website  for instructions.  
Give Something Back Becomes Blaisdell’s Business Products  
Two wonderful local companies are becoming one.  Give Something Back and Blaisdell's Business Products merged in December, 2018. Both companies hold deep roots in the Bay Area, strongly supporting their local community through volunteer service, collection drives, and financial support. The merger is definitely great news for UC Berkeley since Blaisdell's is maintaining a strong commitment toward local philanthropic support while bringing improvements toward sustainability as a Certified member of the California Green Business Network of Alameda County. We are pleased to see Blaisdell's, a Certified Woman Owned Business, become the largest independently owned Office Products dealer on the West Coast with this merger. Please click on this announcement to read and learn more about the merger and Blaisdell's commitment toward local giving.
New Year New BearBuy Look
You may notice that the BearBuy landing page looks a little different this year. We rearranged the catalogs and showcases to make it easier to find favorites, grouping similar suppliers together. There will be more new catalogs and supplier links coming soon.  
BearBuy Down February 15
BFS will undergo Critical Patch Updates and will be unavailable Friday, February 15. BearBuy will be one of the systems impacted by the downtime. BearBuy will also be unavailable due to dependence on BFS for user roles, permissions, chartstring validation, and supplier data.   
Procurement Tips
Who is my department's assigned Buyer?
If you are unsure of where to start with your purchasing transaction, Contact your Buyer for assistance by using your Org Node and department name to find your assigned Buyer in this matrix .
 
Order Status
If you need help finding out the status of your order in Bear Buy, you can reference the SCM website for guidance on how to look up the status of your orde r .  Your SCM assigned Buyer will not receive the requisition until it has been approved by the department Org Node approver.
 
Expediting an order
If an order warrants expedited handling, please change the priority on the requisition to "urgent". If you have already submitted the requisition, please provide the requisition number in your email and contact your assigned Buyer .
 
SCM service level turn around times
Urgent requests will be handled on a first in, first out basis. Standard turnaround time (Service Level Agreements) for purchase and contract types are available on our  Service Level web page . Please be aware that contract negotiations with suppliers can cause delays.
 
SCM Website Survey
We would love to hear your feedback on our website. Please take some time to take the following survey
New Shopper Information
Below are links to the BearBuy website, instructional aids, training courses and how to create Service Now tickets for BearBuy related issues. You can also find information on the left side bar of the BearBuy home page.

This link will direct you to the BearBuy Homepage. Take note of the main image because this is a high level view of a BearBuy transaction workflow. Additionally, the BearBuy Website is a hub for numerous links such as the   Roles & Responsibilities   tab that defines the various types BearBuy Users.

This link contains numerous BearBuy training materials. Feel free to click on the various videos and guides as you explore the intricacies of BearBuy.

Whether you are an experienced BearBuy shopper or new shopper, it is always great to have a face-to-face training with a designated BearBuy trainer. Review the list of dates for the "Basics for Shoppers training" and choose a date that fits your schedule. We look forward to meeting you and answering your questions.

If you have any problems or issues related to BearBuy you can contact the help desk and submit a Service Now ticket.

Links:
https://supplychain.berkeley.edu/campus/bearbuy
https://supplychain.berkeley.edu/campus/bearbuy/roles-responsibilities
https://supplychain.berkeley.edu/campus/bearbuy/instructional-resources
https://supplychain.berkeley.edu/campus/bearbuy/training-courses
https://supplychain.berkeley.edu/campus/bearbuy/bearbuy-help-desk