Salem-Keizer Public Schools is implementing new software designed to streamline its purchasing and bidding processes. The online sourcing software allows vendors to review and submit bids online, saving the district resources.

“Right now, it is a very manual process that uses many hours, several reams of paper, and thousands of dollars on postage,” said La Von Maskell, purchasing coordinator for the district. “We want to be more responsive to what our customers want and to save the district money.”

They are doing just that. Currently when a vendor requests information for a project, like building a school, a hard copy information packet is shipped to the vendor. By moving the sourcing and bidding process online, they will greatly reduce the time it takes to produce the hard copies and save money on hefty postage fees.

The new software will also provide a greater number of opportunities for vendors from the local community. Vendors will be able to register online and view quote-requests of any projects that pertain to them.

“It’s really a quality issue,” said Maskell. “This change aligns with our district goal of implementing best practices for business services.”

The purchasing department also plans to replace the current Central Stores catalog with a more efficient cataloguing system included with the new software. There will be more price agreements in place to make the purchasing process faster overall.

“We want to make things much easier on the school side,” said Maskell. “We want to make more valuable information available to them.”

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