PROCEDURE FOR COPIER REPLACEMENT
& MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT EVALUATION
This is the procedure to follow when a new copier is needed, or a
maintenance agreement needs to be re-evaluated for cost-savings.
COPIER REPLACEMENT
Because of certain contract guidelines, The Bair Foundation does not
lease copiers, but is required to purchase them outright. Maintenance
agreements for copiers are strongly recommended. Further information on
maintenance agreements is found below.
A copier is a large purchase. The cost of a copier is depreciated over five
(5) years. A new copier cannot be purchased until the existing one is fully
depreciated, so choosing the correct equipment for the office’s needs is
very important. If the paperwork is done correctly and in a timely manner
at the local and state levels, the purchase process of a copier will take
approximately 2 months from the time the steps below are initiated until
the new equipment is installed.
To begin the copier purchase process, follow the steps below.
1. Complete Copier Questionnaire, following the instructions given. You will
need to contact Accounting and request 6 months worth of invoices for
your current copier to use as a reference for completing this form.
a. Use the invoices from Accounting to enter your last 6 months worth
of impressions on the 6-Month Average tab of the Copier Bid
Comparison Worksheet form. Enter the average given on this form
onto your Copier Questionnaire.
2. Submit your completed Copier Questionnaire via email to the Executive
Vice President’s Administrative Assistant (EVPAA). DO NOT collect bids for
copiers yet.
3. EVPAA will share your questionnaire information with a consultant who will
help determine what type of equipment will best fit your office’s needs for
the next five years.
4. Consultant will submit specs and one bid to Bair which will be for a copier
to be placed and serviced by a copier business near the Bair local office.
The EVPAA will forward the specs & bid in an email to the Director and
staff member who completed the questionnaire. Expect to receive this
information in a few days to a week after submitting your questionnaire.
5. Once the local office receives the specs and bid from the EVPAA, they
should use the specs given as a guideline on requesting at least 2
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additional bids. The bids must have a similar page speed (i.e., 45 pages
per minute), color abilities (either all bids are all for color machines or all
for black & white machines), and abilities (stapling, duplexing, scanning to
email, etc.).
a. Bids MUST include confirmation that the vendor will haul away the
old copier and wipe the hard drive when the new one is installed.
Disposing of old copiers properly protects confidential information
that may be on the hard drives. Most copier companies will haul
the old machine away for free when a new one is purchased. If
we have to dispose of one on our own, it is very costly.
b. Bids MUST include maintenance pricing.
i. Pricing should be per impression. Some companies charge
for scanned images and some do not. This should be clearly
stated.
ii. There should be no monthly or quarterly base to the
maintenance agreement. If a base is required, it should be
significantly less than the office’s current average number of
copies per month.
iii. Maintenance pricing should include everything but paper
and staples.
iv. Find out and note on the bid how long the maintenance
pricing is guaranteed for and what is the expected
percentage of increase after that time.
6. Enter the bids onto the Copier Bid Comparison Worksheet form to
compare the financial prospective of the devices. If you have questions
on this form, contact the EVPAA. While expense isn’t the only aspect to
consider, it is an important piece of the decision process. Use the
calculations at the bottom of the form to evaluate which machine is the
best savings overall.
a. The DSS is responsible for evaluating all bid information and
determining through the Accounting Department what funds have
been budgeted for replacing the current equipment.
7. When you have decided which copier is the best choice for the office,
Complete a Purchase Order with all bids (at least 3) attached.
a. The local and state approval signatures must be secured when it’s
completed.
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b. The PO should then be sent to the Accounts Payable Supervisor,
who will then seek approvals at the National level for the purchase.
c. When the Accounts Payable Supervisor has received the needed
approvals at the National level, she will notify the local office via
email that the purchase order is approved. The email will include a
Purchase Order Number which should be referenced on the sales
paperwork later.
8. When the local office has been notified by the Accounts Payable
Supervisor that the copier purchase order has been approved, it is the
responsibility of the local office staff to contact the vendor and notify
them of the approval to proceed with the purchase.
a. The vendor will send paperwork to be completed in order to
complete the sale, set up the equipment, and put the
maintenance agreement in place. If staff have questions while
completing the paperwork, the EVPAA or the Accounts Payable
Supervisor may be contacted for assistance.
b. When all paperwork is completed, send a scanned copy via email
to the EVPAA and Accounts Payable Supervisor for their files.
MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT EVALUATION
The copier maintenance bills are allocated to the Equipment
Maintenance and Supplies line item of Bair’s financials. If this line item is
continuously over budget and no excess copying or printing is being
done, it may be possible to improve financial expenditures here by
renegotiating the copier maintenance agreement.
Maintenance agreements have expiration dates, but usually
automatically renew after the first 1 or 2 years with a rate increase. Your
original maintenance agreement paperwork will identify the dates and
terms of the agreement. If you are unable to find the maintenance
agreement paperwork in your local office, contact the EVPAA and she
will assist you in obtaining a copy.
If the original terms of your agreement have passed and the rate has
increased, follow the steps below to have your maintenance agreement
evaluated.
1. Complete Copier Questionnaire, following the instructions given. Submit
this form via email to the Executive Vice President’s Administrative
Assistant (EVPAA).
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2. EVPAA will share your questionnaire information with a consultant who will
help determine if your current maintenance pricing is reasonable or if less
expensive options should be sought after.
3. The EVPAA will send the information from the consultant via email to the
Director and staff member who completed the questionnaire. Expect to
receive this information in a few days to a week after submitting your
questionnaire.
4. If the email from the EVPAA indicates that better pricing should be sought
after, contact as many service providers in your area as can be located
and ask them to provide you with service pricing bids.
a. Bids MUST be similarly structured.
i. Pricing should be per impression. Some companies charge
for scanned images and some do not. This should be clearly
stated.
ii. There should be no monthly or quarterly base to the
maintenance agreement. If a base is required, it should be
significantly less than the office’s current average number of
copies per month.
iii. Maintenance pricing should include everything but paper
and staples.
5. Enter the bids onto the Copier Bid Comparison Worksheet form to see how
the pricing compares to your current agreement. If you have questions
on this form, contact the EVPAA.
a. The DSS and State Director should evaluate the bid information
together and determine the best agreement to proceed with.
6. When a decision has been reached, send a copy of your Copier Bid
Comparison Worksheet form and the chosen bid to the EVPAA for
national files.
7. Next, contact the chosen vendor to proceed with the new agreement.
Ask how long it will take to have the agreement in place. Because things
sometimes take longer than planned, add an additional 30 days to the
date they give you and plan for coverage to start then.
8. After you have the new coverage date (+30 days), contact your old
maintenance provider (if it’s not the same one) and tell them you want to
end your maintenance agreement, giving them the date you have
determined the new agreement will be in place (new company’s
estimate + 30 days). You will need to provide written notification to them
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as well because this is cancelling a written contract. Ask them who to
address the written notice to and where to send it if you’re not certain.
a. Any toner your office has received as a result of the old
maintenance agreement should be given back to the old provider.
Set it aside until the provider comes to pick it up or until it can be
dropped off. You should NOT be required to pay to ship it back. It
may take repeated calls to the old provider before they pick it up.
i. Bair is financially responsible for the toner remaining from the
old maintenance agreement. If the former provider comes
to collect it and it’s not available, we will be billed for it.
b. Send a scanned copy of your new maintenance agreement via
email to the EVPAA and the Accounts Payable Supervisor for
national files.
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