November 18, 2022

Supply Chain Management News

November 2022

Dear Campus Community,

  

Supply Chain Management (SCM) would like to inform you of important updates and events. 


This month's features:  

  • REMINDER: New BearBUY eCourses!
  • Delivery Disruptions Due to UAW Strike
  • Supply Constraint: Mill Fire
  • Winter Break and Curtailment
  • A Message from Accounts Payable: Improvement in the Delay in Processing Time for New Suppliers
  • NEW! Anixter Supplier Enablement on 11/28/2022! 
  • Taxable Purchase Orders and Tangible Items



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

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REMINDER: New BearBUY eCourses!

As a friendly reminder, Supply Chain launched two (2) NEW eCourses in UC Learning on November 7, 2022:


1. BearBUY 2.0 Intermediate for Shoppers

UC Learning Course Code: BEESS960-Online


2. BearBUY Purchase Order Changes

UC Learning Course Code: BEESS980-Online

 

Browser Compatibility:

  • Google Chrome & Microsoft Edge (preferred)
  • FireFox & Safari (unsupported)
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer (incompatible)

 

Please note that BearBUY 1.0 Basics for Shoppers (UC Learning Course Code: BEESS950-Online) AND BearBUY 2.0 Intermediate for Shoppers are essential learning for shoppers and department approvers to get the most out of your BearBUY experience.  They are also required prerequisites to BearBUY Purchase Order Changes. These essential BearBUY training eCourses should take about 3 hours total to complete at your own convenience.

 

If you successfully complete these new trainings between November 7, 2022 to January 7, 2023, you will be automatically entered for a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card.

 

Disclaimer: You must complete the eCourses AND pass the fun quizzes within the promotional period to qualify. No need to be present to win since the drawing will be recorded and posted on the SCM website. Winners will be notified via email.

Delivery Disruptions Due to United Auto Workers (UAW) Strike

UPS has announced they will decline to cross the picket line and will NOT pick up from drop boxes on campus during the UAW strike that started on Monday, November 14, 2022. 

 

IMPORTANT: For time-sensitive and cold chain deliveries, the UC community recommends temporarily using FedEx or another non-union courier service for deliveries. If deliveries are in progress, please contact your supplier to determine if a package can safely be rerouted.

Supply Constraint: Mill Fire

ODP (formerly Office Depot) notified us of a large fire at a major paper mill supplying their recycled content copy paper. This will result in shortages or outages of all recycled content paper in the ODP catalog beginning in December. We have reached out to Blaisdell's, our Office Supply Small Business Partner and they have indicated that they should be able to continue to supply the campus with recycled content copy paper while the other mill is down, so please shop the Blaisdell's catalog if you are unable to find paper in the ODP catalog for the foreseeable future.

Winter Break and Curtailment

Business Services (BearBUY, Procurement, Business Contracts & Brand Protection, Property Management, and Library Bindery) will observe the Thanksgiving closure period from 11/24/2022 through 11/25/2022 and winter curtailment/holiday break beginning at noon, 12/22/2022 and returning to the office on 01/03/2023.

 

The campus community is encouraged to submit requests for services and high-value orders (over $10,000) by 12/01/2022 for any goods or services required for research and operational continuity in December. Business Services will make every effort to complete work in the order submitted. During the curtailment period, self-service tools such as BearBUY, BETS, and BCMS will be available for use although approvals will be impacted by staff availability.

 

Catalog orders that meet auto-approval thresholds will continue to dispatch normally in BearBUY. Orders requiring additional approval levels may be delayed based on departmental staffing levels across campus.

 

Emergency Life-Safety acquisitions and automatic approvals (such as catalog orders under $1,000.00) will continue to be processed over the curtailment periods.

 

If you have an emergency during this time, please email your assigned buyer and copy supplychain@berkeley.edu with the subject line "Emergency Acquisition" and be sure to include a description of the business need as well as a PO or Requisition Number. A buyer will contact you as soon as possible during regular business hours.

 

As a reminder: Only those emergencies necessary to protect the life-safety of the campus community will be processed. Departments must plan to obtain sufficient safety stock to maintain research continuity.

 

Please report any service issues or unscheduled downtime to bearbuyhelp@berkeley.edu. When checking Service Levels, please note a delay in turnaround time due to limited staffing.

 

For emergencies related to Moving Services and Property Management, please contact Eric Anglim, Director, 510-409-0044, eanglim@berkeley.edu ; include a description of the emergency and return contact information.

 

Source: https://supplychain.berkeley.edu/news/scm-winter-curtailment-2022

A Message from Accounts Payable:

Improvement in the Delay in Processing Time for New Suppliers

The Vendoring Team is happy to announce that as a result of internal process efficiencies and the recent addition to the full-time vendoring staff, the backlog of new supplier registration requests, since October 27 has been maintained at five business days or less, which is our stated goal for new supplier requests. It is our hope that it should no longer be necessary to expedite new supplier requests as we transition to a focus on maintaining a backlog of no more than five business days. Once again, we apologize for any impact the backlog may have had on your ability to conduct business and appreciate your patience.

NEW! Anixter Supplier Enablement on 11/28/2022!

Anixter is planned to "Go Live' in production on 11/28 and their punchout tile will show up under the Electronics tab.

 

Anixter is a global distributor of Network & Security Solutions, Electrical & Electronic Solutions and Utility Power Solutions.

Taxable Purchase Orders and Tangible Items

Please be advised that purchase orders for tangible items should be marked as taxable to avoid payment rejections and errors. Catalog and punchout orders will be automatically marked as taxable.

Helpful Hints
Order Status

If you need assistance with determining the status of your order in BearBUY, visit the How to Find the Status of Your Order page on the SCM website

Please note that 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 contact your assigned Buyer via email and be sure to include the requisition number.
Who is My Department's Assigned Buyer?

If you are unsure of how to start your purchasing transaction, contact your Buyer for assistance by using your Org Node and Department Name to find your assigned Buyer located in this matrix.
Splitting Chart of Accounts (COA) At Header Level Vs. Line Level

Splitting COA at the Header Level will apply the split to all lines on the PO. 

Splitting COA by Line Level allows you to customize COA percentage allocated to that specific line.

BEST PRACTICE for Subawards
  • Line 2 should always be set at the Header Level Chartstring using Account Code 57810.
  • Line 1 should be overridden at the Line Level Chartstring using Account Code 57811.

For any questions on how to split a COA, please contact your regional purchasing team: https://regionalservices.berkeley.edu/home.
SCM Service Level Turnaround 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 may cause delays.
Ship To Address vs Final Destination

A Ship To Address is the address that is sent to the supplier. When the supplier is delivering items, they will deliver to the ship to address (which is also visible on the PO they receive).

A Final Destination code is an address only associated to UC Berkeley. Final destination code are used when departments have a central receiving location. The ship to address is the central receiving facility. When the packages are received, the department central receiver looks the PO up in BearBUY and looks for the final destination code. The final destination code is then the office/room number of where shopper needs the items. Final destination codes are never sent to the supplier and are NOT reflected anywhere on the PO.  
BearBUY Resources
Below are links to the BearBUY homepage, instructional aids, training courses, and information on how to create Service Now tickets for BearBUY related issues. 
Whether you are an experienced or a new BearBUY shopper, it is always best practice to take the BearBUY: Basics for Shoppers training if you haven't already.

To take this ESSENTIAL training, please click on this course #: BEESS950-Online