• Chartered Transportation
  • If your department is in need of chartered transportation services, we strongly encourage you to work with the Office of Transportation and Parking to make arrangements. Visit the Transportation and Parking webpage for full information, including how to make a reservation.  Procurement recently worked with the Office of Transportation and Parking to establish new contracts with several providers that they can get quotes from for individual events.
• The Certification and Testing of Containment and Safety Equipment – CEPro Inc.
  • Over the past six months, Procurement and Payment Services has been engaged in an ITB with The Office of Research Safety, Center for Comparative Medicine, Facilities Management and Risk Management in an effort to streamline the management of certifying and testing laboratory safety equipment on both Chicago and Evanston campuses. The result of this cross-departmental effort combines the services of two separate contractors under a single service provider – CEPro Inc. CEPro not only offered all the services required in the ITB, but demonstrated an advanced ability to record and analyze data, increase service levels, demonstrated innovation, and adhere to regulatory commitment that Northwestern requires. Pricing was also very competitive. Northwestern University is in the beginning stages of transitioning the services to CEPro and expects the transition to be fully implemented on September 1, 2021.
•  Inspection & Maintenance of Overhead Cranes, Hoists and Rigging Equipment.
  • In conjunction with Facilities and the Office of Risk Management, Purchasing underwent a bid process and awarded a Preferred Vendor Contract to Sievert Crane & Hoist. Sievert will conduct the annual inspections (and repairs, if necessary) of the overhead cranes, hoists and related equipment at various locations on campus, to ensure Northwestern is in compliance with OSHA safety requirements.

• Northwestern IT Switchboard RFQ (SAI Advanced Power Solutions)
• Northwestern IT STS & PDU RFQ (LayerZero)
• Northwestern IT Busway RFP (E+I Engineering Group)
• Awarded contract for Paid Media for Kellogg to Arcalea
• Participated in ITB with E&I to establish a new contract with Complete Books

Digi-Key Shipping & Pricing Update

Northwestern end users should make sure to place all Digi-Key orders through iBuyNU whenever possible. Northwestern’s contract with Digi-Key offers a 10 percent discount for most items and free shipping on most orders, when orders are placed through iBuyNU. Non-catalog or Corporate Card orders placed outside of iBuyNU do not qualify for free shipping, and may not be discounted as heavily, therefore it is important to place Digi-Key orders through iBuyNU when possible.

REACH Media Network Contract Extension

The existing agreement between Northwestern and REACH Media Network has been extended for another year. As a reminder, REACH Media Network is Northwestern’s Preferred Vendor for digital signage software, which can display customized marketing information and content to television monitors throughout both NU campuses. In addition, customizable widgets allow for integration with things such as time/weather, maps (including the CTA Bus Tracker), sports scores, social media accounts, websites and emergency notifications. See the REACH Media Network Preferred Vendor page for additional information.

LinkedIn Learning Contract Extension

The existing agreement between Northwestern and LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) has been extended for an additional three years. The courses on LinkedIn Learning will continue to be offered to the entire Northwestern community free of change, thanks to a funding partnership between the Office of Human Resources, Northwestern IT and the Northwestern School of Professional Studies. Please see the Office of Human Resources LinkedIn Learning page for additional information.

PPS Staffing Updates

Congratulations to the following PPS staff who were recently promoted:

•  Reggie Lee has been promoted to Manager of Logistics. Reggie was previously the manager of the PPS Tech/Hogan dock operation in Evanston. He will oversee all dock operations, mail services and the lab gas program on both campuses.
• Keith Paddy has been promoted to the newly created Director of Service Delivery and Special Projects in PPS. Keith was previously our eProcurement Manager. He will now oversee e-Procurement, the PPS business office, which handles all central bill programs for several of our preferred vendors, and our newly created customer service team (currently still in development).
• Gary Ernsteen has been named the Manager of Accounts Payable. Gary was previously serving in this role on an interim basis after Guy Wilson retired.
• We will be highlighting other PPS staff in future newsletters.

Egencia Group Reservations

Egencia is now offering Northwestern Group and Meeting coordination services. Group lodging, group travel, meetings and other add-ons, such as project management or registration pages, can be ordered through Egencia. To learn more about these new services, please review the Egenica brochure.

Subscribe to New PPS Listserv

Procurement and Payment Services now communicates important information via a new Listserv. The Listserv will be used to email subscribers information in-between our quarterly Dollars & Sense Newsletter. Visit our webpage for more information, including how to subscribe.  

Open Lab Sessions

Join us for a monthly virtual Procurement and Payment Services Open Lab Session! Visit our website for more information, including access to the meeting link.