VWR Q&A
2.7 Online Ordering
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Does VWR have the ability to show manufacture list price and discount price?
VWR.com can show VWR list price and discount price.
2.7(n) Please confirm that a 1% technology fee is offered to any IBA member utilizing an
online procurement system (e.g. SciQuest)
VWR will pay the 1% technology for all members that have a B2B interface with a primary
agreement and restriction of our major competitor.
2.13 – Customer Service
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Is VWR willing to provide on-site representative?
Yes, VWR is willing to provide one on-site representative at no cost to the IBA. This person
can be located on a member’s site or at VWR. If additional on-site resources are necessary
charges could apply based on member requirements.
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If so, is there a cost for this?
2.17 – 3rd Party Items
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What suppliers are in this program?
See attached spreadsheet “IBA Overall Product Offering”.
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Which of the 3rd party supplier’s whole catalogs are available?
When we bring a MarketSource supplier on-line as a MSL1 or MSL2 supplier we typically load
their entire consumables & apparatus catalog. We don't normally load capital
instrumentation. The rational for loading the entire catalog is that is relatively the same effort
to load and manage 50 items vs 5000 items. The mix with a supplier’s portfolio is often a
moving target so determining the products with the highest volume is not an exact science.
Once we decide to add part numbers we maintain pricing in the same way we would for a
core supplier.
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How is pricing determined for these third party items, are the contracts negotiated with VWR or
is an entity has a contract with supplier can those contracted prices be inputed?
Typically, we'll support and maintain pricing for any agreement that the customer had
previously negotiated with the supplier. We'll ensure that the customer's pricing is
transitioned. The pricing is dependent on the supplier and customer’s price; the final price
may include a processing fee/mark up from VWR. In certain supplier situations where VWR
has negotiated pricing the final price will be based on discounts so no additional fee would be
incurred by the member.
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Does the supplier have the ability to upload a third party supplier’s full catalog?
Yes, it usually includes; a VWR #, supplier part #, 30 Character descriptions and a 300
character extended web description. We also have the ability to enrich a supplier’s catalog
content (high res images, spec's, attached lit/white papers, etc.).
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What percentage of VWR third party suppliers have a full catalog uploaded?
It's not the number of suppliers; rather it is how many of the top items 200 supplier’s does
VWR have part numbers assigned. The entire MarketSource supplier base is over 10,000
vendors. In a given year we will buy from ~ 3700 of them. The top 200 suppliers represent
approx 65-70% of the total transaction volume. Today we have approximately 160 suppliers
of these top 200. Not all 160 of these are we able to make available to IBA immediately.
Some key suppliers would require that we work with the IBA & the suppliers to be able to
"turn-on" this content".
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Are there third party suppliers that the supplier has an “exclusive” partnership?
Typically our “exclusive” partnerships are include in our core product offering.
•
Provide a detailed explanation on how the process works, when an entity has an already
established discount structure in place with a supplier (ex: Perkin Elmer) and wants have access to the
contract through the supplier.
If it's a supplier where we already have their catalog content loaded as MSL1 then these are
on-line and available to all VWR customers. If it's an existing MSL2 suppliers and we have
catalog content load for specific customer(s) we would ask that the IBA provide us a letter and
work with us in contacting the supplier to request that they make their products available
through VWR's MarketSource program to their IBA constituents. If it's a new supplier, we
would contact that supplier and engage them in the VWR product add process.
It is important to note that we maintain pricing for ALL on line part numbers, we do not
create temp VWR part numbers. We would use enhancements to the VWR "Open Req"
systems to provide the capability to easily request non-catalog items where the volume
doesn't warrant brining them on-line.
2.27 – Return Policy
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Provide vendor stocking fee charges that will apply.
All returns must be authorized by VWR in order to insure proper credit and must be requested
within 60 days of purchase. VWR will not charge a re-stocking fee on items returnable to VWR
stock; special orders or direct factory ships may potentially incur re-stocking fees. The special
order or direct factory shid products are subject to a minimum 15% restocking charge. For
returns not due to VWR error, customer is responsible for all transportation fees related to
the returned product.
3.1 – Pricing
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Not acceptable to use VWR published list pricing, will only use manufacturers published list
price. Please address this issue.
We understand that a goal of the IBA is to be able to audit pricing on a routine basis. VWR is
not able offer discounts from manufacturers published list price due to systems capabilities
and many supplier partners do not provide an MSRP.
VWR proposes to provide the IBA with a quarterly electronic Price File for all items sold by
VWR including; catalog number, description, list price, contract price, and discount code.
VWR will also create a Price Legend consisting of an English language discount schedule
with the corresponding discount code. This Price File coupled with the static Price Legend
will provide the IBA with a tool to audit VWR pricing at any time. VWR is committed to ensure
pricing integrity and will develop and implement processes to support the audit requirements
of the IBA.
If the IBA would prefer to have pricing set annually VWR would provide one auditable price
file and pricing for all products would be firm for the entire calendar year. VWR reserves the
right to adjust the sell price of these items to ensure 3% profitability; all exceptions will be
reported to the IBA on a monthly basis.
See attached “Pricing Legend” spreadsheet as an example what VWR will be able to provide
quarterly or annually as a primary supplier to the IBA.
3.2 Core Pricing Spreadsheet clarification: Please update your original Core Pricing List to include the
following columns. Note: Do not change any of the pricing that was initially submitted. These
additional columns should be added to the right of the original information submitted, do not
reorganize the spreadsheet.
Manufacturer
Supplier
Manufacturer Part Number
Vendor Part number
Item description
Quantity per Standard Unit
Current IBA Pricing (if applicable)
See “IBA Update Core List” file that contains additional information.
3.4 Category Pricing for items inadvertently omitted in RFP: Please send Category Pricing discounts as
per Section 3.4 for the following categories, note that each of the items are preceded by an asterisk and
will therefore be weighted more heavily than non-marked categories:
*164. Chemicals—Acids (all grades unless otherwise exempted)
B&J 71%
*165. Chemicals—Biotech Grade
Angus 65% & Hi Media 41.5%
*166. Chemicals—Bulk ( 20L container or larger 20 KG or more in weight)
BDH, Avantor, EMD 45%
*167. Chemicals - Specialty Grades (HPLC, Mass Spec, Electronic and Technical)
BDH, B&J, Avantor 50%
*168. Chemicals - Organic Solvents
BDH 60%
3.4 – Category Pricing cont.
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Provide listing of all items within catalog to show category by item number.
See attached “Pricing Legend” spreadsheet as an example what VWR will be able to provide quarterly
or annually as a primary supplier to the IBA.