This bulletin is to advise the community of a change to the current Toner Cartridge vendor list and to ensure everyone affected takes the actions required in support of this new University Toner Cartridge Program.
Background
Toners are currently being purchased across the University in a de-centralized fashion with no standardized pricing or approved Vendors of Records in place. A comprehensive analysis of the current procurement process was conducted which revealed the following:
- Departments/units contact various vendors directly to set-up an account
- Department/units place orders and are responsible for coordinating delivery and payment arrangements with vendor
- Vendors are paid in a variety of ways, including Payment Requisition, PCard and Sm@rtBuy
Rationale
To reduce administrative costs associated with procurement cycle, Public Sector institutions are being encouraged by the Provincial Government to participate in collaborative agreements to pool spending and benefit from economies of scale. In support of these priorities, York reviewed a number of pre-existing collaborative contracts; the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services (“MGCS”), Ontario Education Collaborative Marketplace (“OECM”) and the City of Toronto.
| Collaborative Association | VOR Number | Awarded Vendors |
| MGCS | OSS-00329510 | 1. Staples Canada 2. ASCA Office Solutions |
| OECM | RFP 2015-238 | 1. Staples Canada 2. PrintersPlus |
| City of Toronto | RFQ 3305-13-3168 | 1. PrintersPlus 2. Emirolaser Ltd. 3. Lyreco Canada 4. ASCA Office Solutions 5. QRX Technology |
Considerations for the analysis included:
- University spend data was consolidated and pricing was compared against the three (3) collaborative partner contracts
- Current Toner Cartridge models used University wide were compared against the three (3) collaborative partner contracts
New Toner Cartridge Services Program
| Vendor | Collaborative Association | Purchasing Method |
| PrintersPlus | OECM | Sm@rtbuy |
| Staples | MGCS | Sm@rtbuy |
| ASCA Office Solutions | MGCS | Sm@rtbuy |
To capitalize on competitive pricing, while ensuring that a wide assortment of Toner Cartridges are made available to the University, the following vendors were selected and contracts have been established:
Implementation Details
The awarded vendors have been on-boarded to Sm@rtBuy, the University’s on-line purchasing system. Effective immediately all purchases of Toner Cartridges must be done through Sm@rtBuy from the above approved vendor list.
Benefits for ordering your toner cartridges through Sm@rtBuy include:
- Consistent pricing across the University
- Broad-range of products available at competitive price and provide savings
- Seamless order/pay process, eliminating invoices, credit card payments, etc.
- Enables Procurement Services to monitor and analyze spending to look for opportunities for better pricing
- Allows us the ability to work with toner vendors to achieve service consistency and customer satisfaction
If the required toner cartridge is not available on Sm@rtBuy, please contact the customer service department of the above listed vendor(s) to inquire about the toner cartridge. Additional toner cartridges may be available and can be added to Sm@rtBuy. Contact details are available at: https://www.yorku.ca/procure/internal/preferredvendors/index.html.
Please contact Maaz Khan, Senior Buyer, at ext. 22417 or via e-mail at maazk@yorku.ca should you have any questions.