Purchasing (2023-2024)

Summer 24 Addendum

PURCHASING FOR THE SUMMER
(In case any of yall weren’t aware) ESL be open Monday - Friday but remote Thursday and Friday. Amazon packages and some of our composite packages will be all shipped to Jessica's office. That being said Jessica recommends getting Amazon orders in by Friday so they’ll arrive early the following week when they’re in person. Everything else will be shipped to ETC S&R.

Purchasing is going to be slow over the summer so make sure you are keeping up with the status of each of your purchases and allocate at least one week from date of purchase before you expect the package to be in our hands.

How to procure items "the right way"

  • How do you choose the right items?
    • Lots of research. While we are pressed for time right now, I still expect all of yall to do at lest a little research before jumping in and sending links to items. I hate wasting money and time on items that end up breaking almost immediately or spending way too much on something that we don't need to spend
  • Where can we buy things from?
    • Normal Locations are:
      • Amazon
      • McMaster
      • Home Depot
      • Walmart/Sams Club
      • DigiKey
      • Mouzer
      • TIW (Special process for payment)
    • Places you arent allowed to buy from:
      • Ebay
      • Facebook Marketplace
      • Craigslist (etc)
      • Alibaba
      • Any chinese company
    • You are allowed to send items from essentially anywhere but know that we are a government entity so procuring from China is not normally allowed unless through a certified vendor and each place still has to prove some kind of compliance so when submitting requests for places that aren't listed above you need to make sure you are giving ample time for it to be processed
    • Keep shipping costs in mind! These things can get pricey quickly if you forget about it
  • How do we receive items?
    • Depending on the place it can either be an in-person pickup (HomeDepot, Sam's etc) or to shipping and receiving at the ETC
    • In-Person Pickup
      • Jessica (Our ESL Contact) will order it and normally the requestor will get a text or email with the pickup instructions
        • Typically the requestor will be reserved to those who have procard access since they have all our info already
    • Shipping & Receiving
      • Once the order arrives to the ETC Kelly (Head of S&R) will log the package in their system
      • They will then email the team (captain & treasurer currently) telling us we have packages to get
      • Preferably within 24 hours of getting that message someone on the team should go get the packages
      • When getting packages you go to the office and ask for LHRs Packages (she will give you all LHR packages sometimes) and take your EID
        • You are now responsible for all of these packages. If anyone loses anything you're the name on the hook
      • These should be taken to the ETC Garage where you should contact the teams whose packages you got and log them online for our tracking
        • currently, we store our packages near the dynamics cabinet, Electric has a shelf in the back left, combustion idk just @kellen but if we get packages 
  • How to order?
    • The workflow that I expect currently is, you provide me links to each item you want
    • I will go over the items, get location, and reasoning typically, check to make sure there aren't cheaper or easier to get alternatives
    • Then I will either approve the order and tell you to put it in the sheet OR put it in myself as I finish them
  • Please for the love of god don't waste money
  • Oversight, how it works, what to expect etc?
    • Captain (sid currently) will always have final oversight on these items. This means you might have to respond to him about these items