Author: hmcqueen

Smith College is officially closed for Winter Break Friday 12/22/23, reopening Wednesday 01/03/24.

The Stockrooms will be closed as of 3 pm Thursday 12/21/23 reopening Wednesday 01/03/24.  There will be limited open hours 01/03-01/05/24, 10-11am and 2-3pm to facilitate receiving of backlogged shipments, mandatory inventory, and general clean up. Packages will be delivered as usual throughout the day and orders placed.

During the break (12/22/23-01/02/24):

• • There will be no deliveries from UPS/FedEx/DHL/USPS. 
  • Any packages sent to the College during that time will at best be held by the delivery service or at Mail Services until the college reopens.  
  • Worst case scenarios include packages being returned to sender as “undeliverable”, dumped at some random spot on campus to be snowed/rained on, or left in an unsecured location and stolen. 
  • This applies to any packages, not just those ordered via the stockroom.

Ordering/outgoing shipments before the break:

• If you want to pay standard shipping rates(not expedited in any way, delivery in 7-10 business days) for lab supplies that are in stock by the vendor to arrive before the break, place your order to the stockroom via stockroom@smith.edu by Wednesday, 12/06/23 by 1:00 pm. 
• If you want to make an end of calendar year purchase that requires a purchase order with a vendor that is active in Workday (usually these are requests for service or equipment purchases more than $5,000), place your order via stockroom@smith.edu by Wednesday 12/06/23. We have no way to guarantee that a purchase order will be issued and that your order will be placed in calendar year 2023 after this date.
• Orders shipped on dry ice or shipped via next day should be placed via stockroom@smith.edu no later than 1:00 pm Wednesday, 12/13/23. Remember, vendors may not be willing or able to ship cold packed/dry ice items to arrive on Wednesday 1/03/24. If they are closed Monday 1/2, items will not arrive earlier than Thursday 1/4.
• Gas cylindersshould be ordered via stockroom@smith.edu by 1:00 pm Wednesday 12/13/23, to be received before the break.
• New requests foroutgoing shipment (UPS/FedEx) received after Wednesday 12/13/23 will not be processed until after Winter break.

Deadlines for making purchases against Fiscal Year ’23 funds.

This applies to departmental operating budgets, endowed funds, or any funds that must be spent within the current fiscal year  (07/01/22-06/30/23).  Most grants (internal and external) span fiscal years.  

• Last day to submit reimbursements against FY 23–June 2nd  
• Last day to place orders against FY 23 via the stockroom–June 9th
• Last day for purchases on your own procard against FY 23–June 16th  
• Last day to place stockroom purchases from inventory against FY 23–June 23rd

If you are making a purchase via requisition from departmental funds, please remember to route it through your administrative assistant.

Please use our updated requisition form which captures all of the information your admin and the stockroom needs to process your order, including the coding for Workday.

Remember that the college is closed Monday 5/29 for the Memorial Day Holiday and again on Monday 6/19 in observance of Juneteenth. The week of 6/19 is designated as a week of minimal operations at the college.

NOTE: 2023 still has many of the same supply chain challenges we had hoped to leave behind in 2022

In case you forgot what those challenges were:

• Long lead times, inaccurate lead times
• Materials shortages
• Logistics costs and logistical personnel shortages
• Limited production and/or inventory for some materials and products (including cookies)
• Despite a vendor’s claims, certified ETAs, and all categories of promises at the time of purchase,  “sliding” estimated delivery dates continue to be a thing.

It is essential that the “NEED-BY DATE:” be noted on ALL requisitions (ASAP is not a need-by date). The stockroom staff will do their best to provide updates to expected lead times, potential delays, and any additional fees. 

Holiday Ordering Reminder:
Smith College is officially closed for Winter Break Friday 12/23/22, reopening Tuesday 01/03/23.

The Stockrooms will be closed as of 4pm Thursday 12/22/22 reopening Tuesday 01/03/23 (with limited open hours on 01/03 to facilitate mandatory inventory, 10-11am and 2-3pm. Meanwhile, packages will be delivered as usual throughout the day).

 During the break (12/23/22-01/03/23):

• There will be no deliveries from UPS/FedEx/USPS. Any packages sent to the College during that time will be held by the delivery service until after the new year. This applies to any packages, not just those ordered via the stockroom.

Ordering/outgoing shipments before the break:

• If you want to pay standard shipping rates for lab supplies that are in stock by the vendor to arrive before the break, place your order by Wednesday, 12/07/22 by 1:00 pm. 
• If you want to make an end of calendar year purchase that requires a purchase order (usually these are requests for service or equipment purchases more than $5,000), place your order by Wednesday 12/07/22. We have no way to guarantee that a purchase order will be issued and that your order will be placed in calendar year 2022 after this date.
• Orders on dry ice or shipped via next day should be placed no later than Wednesday, 12/14/22. Remember, vendors may not be able to ship cold packed/dry ice deliveries to arrive on Tuesday 1/3/22. If they are closed Monday 1/2, items will not arrive earlier than Wednesday 1/4.
• Gas cylinders should be ordered by Wednesday 12/14/22, to be received before the break.
• We cannot guarantee that new requests for outgoing shipment (UPS/FedEx) received after Wednesday 12/14/22 will be shipped before the break.

If you purchase fully-regulated hazardous material or items containing fully-regulated hazardous material, PLEASE BE EXTRA CAREFUL ORDERING! Even if a vendor is able to ship the product to us, and will accept a return, we may not be able to ship it back because of shipping regulations.

We’ve all been hearing about it for months. The supply chain is messed up. Of course, now that the FTC is taking an interest…it will all be just fine soon, right?

Here are some of the supply chain situations impacting the Stockroom right now:

• A number of our vendors switched from creating their usual products (specialty tips, plastics, glassware) to focusing on products to help with C19.
• Some vendors did not make it through shutdowns and either closed or changed their business models.
• Products we would previously buy without restriction (gloves, tips, solvents) are being distributed by allocation and as a small college, we are far down on the list of priority for that allocation.
• Because of international shutdowns, US vendors could not get the product, packaging, or raw materials needed to fill the orders we placed.
• Prices skyrocketed for many of our usual items, especially consumables.
• Standard shipping no longer means 7-10 business days from the order date. Staffing shortages, supply shortages, and shutdowns at vendors mean that lead times to ship to us increase by any amount of days. 
• The delivery chain broke down:
  • The explosion in ordering online caused an already overcrowded shipping environment became swamped.
  • Both a lack of available trucks and drivers put strain put on existing drivers who have sought employment elsewhere
  • When the product doesn’t move by truck, it sits in the distribution warehouse. When the warehouses get full, no more products can be brought in, which means even if the items we need are available, there’s no way to get them off the cargo ships and into those warehouses and then onto trucks. 

We’ll keep doing our best to get you your supplies. Order early, and don’t forget to tell us when you really need it!