Purchasing and Business Services Manual (PUR)

Effective: 3/1/1965

Revised: 6/1/1999

PUR 502–01: Purchasing Responsibility and Authority for Selection

Purpose

To establish the authority for selecting vendors

Source

University policy

Applicability

All formal solicitations

Policy

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Soliciting Vendors

Purchasing and Business Services is responsible for contracting with the best sources of supply for the university. However, user departments are encouraged to provide ASU buyers with the names of vendors to broaden the supplier base. These vendors need to be set up in the VNAS table for ASU to do business with them. If a vendor is not in the VNAS table, the user department establishes a Vendor Entry (VE) document in Advantage. See PUR 502–07, “Vendor Entry.” ASU buyers will send solicitation letters to both suggested and already known vendors.

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Selecting Vendors

As Purchasing and Business Services is a customer-focused organization, the vendor selection process is made in association with user departments. In any formal solicitation process using evaluation factors other than cost, a buyer will work with the department in establishing the selection criteria. The criteria may include: time of delivery after receipt of an order, packaging and addressing, direct delivery to the work site, return policy, length of time a price will be guaranteed, electronic order capability, adequacy of invoicing, and many other factors. The user department agrees to these criteria when it approves the draft solicitation documents.

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Awarding Vendors

The buyer will review the vendor responses in context of the evaluation criteria and recommend the award structure to the user department. The user department may justify an award different from the buyer’s recommendation. If this justification warrants reconsideration, the buyer will agree. As buyers are experts in the purchasing process, and users are experts in their particular disciplines, users often identify something in the bid responses that is not apparent to a buyer.

In those rare cases in which the buyer cannot agree with the justification submitted by the user, the final authority for selection of the supplier rests with the director of Purchasing and Business Services.

Note:

Throughout the evaluation process, both the buyer and the user should strive to document the rationale for decisions, as all such documentation is subject to outside review.

Cross-Reference

For additional information on vendor selection, see PUR 502–03, “Award of Contract for Goods and Services.”

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