Agenda 07/22/2008 Item # 9EAgenda Item No. 9E
July 22, 2008
Page 1 of 5
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
THAT THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ACCEPTS THE FINDINGS OF
THE PRODUCTIVITY COMMITTEE REGARDING OFFICE FURNITURE
PROCUREMENT. REQUEST THE PRODUCTIVITY COMMITTEE'S LIAISON,
COMMISSIONER FIALA, TO DELIVER THE COMMITTEE FINDINGS.
OBJECTIVE: That the Board of County Commissioners accepts the findings of the
Productivity Committee regarding office furniture procurement. Request the Productivity
Committee Liaison, Commissioner Fiala, to deliver the committee findings.
CONSIDERATIONS: At the Board of County Con mission meeting of May 27, 2008, Mr.
Dustin Tidwell of Marco Office Supply, under Public Petition, presented a Petition and Report of
Current Furniture Vendor, prepared by himself. The Board members unanimously directed the
Productivity Committee and the Purchasing Department to review this issue and bring it back to
the Board at a future meeting. The Productivity Committee discussed this matter, with the
participation of Steve Carnell, Purchasing Director, as well as input from Mr. Tidwell, at their
meeting of June 18, 2008.
A report of the findings, dated June 23, 2008, of the review at that meeting is attached.
Summarily, the Productivity Committee finds that "...the County has a sound approach to
planning and acquiring office furniture that is consistent with widely established practices of
government and business. "
FISCAL IMPACT: None.
GROWTH MANAGEMENT IMPACT: None.
LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS: None.
RECOMMENDATION: That the Board of County Commissioners accept the findings — as
final - of the Productivity Committee on furniture procurement.
Prepared by: Commissioner Tom Henning
Page 1 of 1
Agenda Item No. 9E
July 22, 2008
Page 2 of 5
COLLIER COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Item Number:
9E
Item Summary:
That the Board of County Commissioners
accepts the findings of the Productivity Committee
regarding office funiture procurement.
Request the Productivity Committee's liaison,
Commissioner Fiala, to deliver the committee
findings.
Meeting Date:
7/22/2008 9.00.00 AM
Prepared By
Sam Tucker
Executive Aide to the BCC
Date
Board of County
BCC Office
7/10200610:52:15 AM
Commissioners
Approved By
Sue Filson
Executive Manager to the BCC
Date
Board of County
BCC Office
7/1112008 10:54 AM
Commissioners
Approved By
John A. Yonkosky
Director of the Office of Management
Date
County Manager's Office
Office of Management & Budget
711412008 8:05 AM
Approved By
James V. Mudd
County Manager
Date
Board of County
County Manager's Office
7/1412008 11:33 AM
Commissioners
file: / /C:\AgendaTest \Export\ 1 1 1- July% 2022,% 202008 \09. %20BOARD %200F %2000UNT... 7/15/2008
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Memorandum
To: Collier County Board of Commissioners
From:
Mike Sheffield, Staff- Liaison to the Productivity Committee
Date:
June 23, 2008
soaro of County : ;omnusmnem
Subject: Furniture Procurement Review conducted by the Productivity Committee
At the request of the Board of County Commissioners, the Productivity Committee
recently conducted a review of the cost effectiveness and efficiencies of the County's
office furniture procurements.
At their meeting held on June 18, 2008, the Productivity Committee heard presentations
from Mr. Tidwell of Marco Office Supply and from Steve Carnell, Director of the
Purchasing Department. In addition, the Productivity Committee reviewed a great deal
of material submitted by Mr. Tidwell and county staff, as well as material submitted by
county vendors.
Attached you will find the letter to the Board of County Commissioners submitted by the
Chairman of the Productivity Committee, Larry Baytos. The letter contains a summary
of their unanimously approved findings and recommendations.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Cc: Jim Mudd, County Manager
Leo Ochs Jr., Deputy County Manager
Len Golden -Price, Administrator - Administrative Services Division
Agenda Item No. 9E
July 22, 2008
Page 4 of 5
June 23, 2008
To: Board of County Commissioners
Collier County
At your request the Productivity Committee undertook a priority review of Mr. Tidwell's recent
criticisms of County office furniture purchasing practices. He maintained that the County paid
excessive prices for office furniture, refused to consider a competitive bid from his employer, wasted
money for outside office layout design services and other issues. Committee members reviewed a great
amount of written materials and at our June 18 meeting spent nearly two hours hearing remarks from
interested parties and discussing the issues. In short, we concluded that the County has a sound
approach to planning and acquiring office furniture that is consistent with widely established practices
of government and business. There is no evidence of malfeasance by staff or suppliers nor is there
evidence of gross waste of County funds. The Productivity Committee sees no purpose to study the
vendor protest further.
Purchasing Strategy and Policy
To put Mr. Tidwell's criticisms in context it is necessary to understand the current County policy for
purchasing office furniture. The BCC established the standards for office furniture through a deliberate
and competitive process. Herman Miller and Steelcase subsequently were selected as primary
suppliers. Advantages of focusing on a limited number of suppliers include:
• Provides for consistent office furnishing throughout county government, facilitating
interchange of furniture between departments and divisions due to reorganizations or new and
reconfigured buildings. Examples of savings in recent projects were cited.
• A systems approach reduces the staffing required to purchase office furniture.
• Due to an umbrella purchasing agreement negotiated by State, prices paid by Collier County
for the selected furniture are the lowest available nationally and within the state.
The Collier County policy of focusing on two brands is a mainstream management practice used by
Florida government agencies. For example, Lee, Charlotte, Sarasota, Broward counties use the same
furniture brands and often similar price level products as Collier does.
It is always possible to buy cheaper office furniture, but price is only one factor. Furniture should be
ergonomically sound as it may affect employee health and productivity. An estimated 85% of the
population will experience low back pain in their lifetimes. Higher quality furniture often comes with
longer term and/or broader warranties than brands sold primarily on price.
The downsides of a focus on a few brands is that it may generate resentment among local merchants
who are not franchised to sell the equipment specified, vigilance is required to assure that the County
obtains all the discounts and services that it should, and the potential for using newer and/or less
expensive brands may be undervalued. However, these risks are manageable and are outweighed by
the benefits of the policy.
Design Services
Mr. Tidwell stated that he could provide office layout design services to the County for little or no fee.
He retracted his offer of design services after learning that neither he, nor his employer, meets the
professional licensing requirements for that activity under Florida law. In any event, prudent use of
outside office layout design services is a reasonable and customary procedure that provides access to
skills that are impractical to retain on county staff due to the specialized and periodic nature of the
work. Also, an independent professional viewpoint can be helpful to avoid pressure from departments
for more or better furniture than the County standard.
Jun 23 08 01:24p
Agenda Item No. 9E
July 22. 2008
Page 5 of 5
Tie Glass Reception Desk
Much attention has focused on a 510,000 glass desk sitting in a warehouse. We now know that the unit
was purchased last year for installation in a public area of the new Emergency Operations Center.
Perhaps a modest premium was paid to achieve aesthetic goals, but economic pressures will
undoubtedly result in a more utilitarian approach going forward Evidence that a frugal mindset is now
in place are efforts reported by staff to redeploy substantial amounts of existing furniture to new
facilities and a variety of expense reduction initiatives incorporated in the budgets now under
development
Options for Policy & Procedures
Any policy in effect for many years should be challenged periodically even if it is a normative
government practice; the office furniture policy is no exception. The current fiscal squeeze lends
urgency to critical review. In a quest for continuous improvement, the following initiatives should be
carefully evaluated.
1. Conduct a market review to identify if there are credible alternatives to Herman Miller and
Steelcase. Consider the delivered price of the product line, but also evaluate product
quality/warranties, compatibility with the furniture currently installed, existence of a Collier
location and service and design capability of supplier.
2. Verify that all services provided under existing purchase agreements are being provided at the
lowest price available. Determine if there ate other Steelcase and Herman Miller dealers in the
region who can provide better or less expensive service.
3. To control future office funiture investments, evaluate the potential savings for "hoteling"
office employees and controlled expansion of the work at home programs.
4. The review of the office furniture policy might benefit by formation of a Committee
representing various functional groups within the BCC departments as well as representatives
from the constitutional officers.
Staff indicated that they welcome the opportunity to address these challenges.
Thank you for the opportunity to address this vendor protest Please advise if you have any questions
regarding these findings and recommendations that have received the unanimous support of the
Productivity Committee.
Sincerely,
►a