Agenda - 12-10-94 - Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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shipped to the school requesting the material, a copy of the purchase order is returned to purchasing and then to finance to pay the bill. This entire process may take as much as six months to complete. There are far too many steps in the process and the information is scattered throughout the system. This causes the system to have poor effectiveness and efficiency and is far too costly in terms of time and other resources. One obvious result of the inefficiencies of the system is the numerous credit holds and other restrictions that are placed on the school system as a result of non-timely payment. These, at times, have crippled the purchasing process. The specific reasons for this problem are many and varied but are all tied to the cumbersome process and/or the actions of specific • personnel. Delays are common in the system. The warehouse is consistently late in delivery and does not routinely fill backorders when the order is incomplete. It is not clear that the warehouse stock status accuracy is very high at all. We could not determine the actual accuracy since no one could provide us with a timely system on-hand balance. Information from the state as to contracts currently in force with designated suppliers along with contract prices is an unwieldy form (microfiche) which prevents easy access to contract information. One result of the current lengthy manual system is that secretaries are sometimes forced to work outside the system to fill their needs and often deal with local suppliers who respond rapidly and accurately to these needs. When they are under pressure to provide for the school, most secretaries are innovative and resourceful. They are to be commended in many cases for continuing their operations in the face of manual systems and lengthy and unwieldy processes. 10