Table of Contents

Purchasing supplies

There are three common methods for making purchases:

BennyBuy offers a “punch through” to access selected company websites. Then you can purchase your shopping cart using a research index. I enjoy using the BennyBuy punch out to purchase stuff from McMaster Carr and DigiKey (good prices, good deliver time). Be warned, there are companies on BennyBuy that overcharge for basic supplies. For example, ThermoScientific may charge 3 times the normal price for a box of microscope slides.

BennyBuy allows you to make purchase orders from a set of registered suppliers, including KAYAKU ADVANCED MATERIALS (photolithography chemicals). Remember to write the email address of the company in the BennyBuy comments box when you submit the order.

Silicon wafers

A short article about choosing the specification of the wafer.

Companies we have ordered from

Second hand equipment websites

Local reps for companies

Making an order: Items under $5000

  1. Find what you want. If you are not sure what equals a good price, get 3 different quotes. Some companies have price lists on the web, other companies you will have to phone or email to get a quote.
  2. Ask the company if you can pay by purchase order (PO).

If the company is one of OSU's pre-approved vendors, you can use Benny Buy:

  1. Search “Benny Buy OSU” or go to fa.oregonstate.edu/eProcurement
  2. Log into Benny Buy with your ONID info
  3. Click on the vendor needed
  4. Type in the desired item numbers, or go through the vendor website to get the desired products and it will take you back to Benny Buy
  5. For shipping address, type in “Weniger” and search. Add your name as the first line, and “Weniger 301 Physics” as the second line
  6. For billing address, type in ASBC and choose the one with your name on it already.
  7. Type in correct index to bill
  8. For account number, type in “2” and search. Choose “20103 - Lab Supplies”
  9. For the assignee, search for “Minot”
  10. The order will be sent to Ethan for final approval, then an order confirmation will be sent to your OSU account

If the company is not one of OSU's pre-approved vendors, you can still use Benny Buy. This video from OSU's BennyBuy training videos (placing a non-catalog order) shows you how. Once you have the items added to your cart, you can follow the instructions above to complete your order.

If the company accepts a PO number as payment:

  1. Get a PO form (three pages, white, yellow and pink) from Verna's office. Pick up a copy of Verna's instructions and read them.
  2. Add the two digit prefix in front of the PO number. For example, between July 15 2010 and July 14 2011 the prefix is 11. The prefix tells us what fiscal year the PO order was made.
  3. Fill out Vendor, telephone # (Vendor's #), Fax No. (Vendor's Fax), Ordered By (that's you), phone (that's your #), email (That's your e-mail), and date.
  4. You must search for the Catalog No. for the device you are purchasing, give a brief description, quantity, and unit price.
  5. Go talk to Ethan for confirmation on order, Index No., and P.I. Approval. Ethan keeps the pink page from the PO.
  6. Call a sales representative and make your order. Tell them the PO # (upper right corner of PO form) and what you are purchasing.
  7. Take your white and yellow PO pages to 301 Weniger Hall and put it in the appropriate tray (ask Janice or a grad student).
  8. When the order arrives, check that nothing is damaged or defective.
  9. Find the packing slip and write on the packing slip “Minot group, date received: xx-xx-xx”. Immediately take the packing slip to 301 Weniger and put it in the appropriate tray.
  10. If it is a new chemical, the MSDS folder and lab inventory must be updated. Login and password info is on the group T: drive.

If the company only accepts credit card orders (1 out of 20?):

  1. Make a pdf copy of your shopping cart and email it to Janice(or visit her in 301 Weniger).
  2. Janice will use the department credit card.

Orders $5,000 - $25,000

More expensive items get special treatment. Verna (the department accountant) will do most of the paperwork. The standard rules about getting 3 quotes are listed on the website of the procurement office.

Orders above $25,000

Big ticket items get special treatment from the procurement office. There are auditing requirements that must be fulfilled to prove that the purchase was done responsibly.

Exceptions

Chem Stores

Chemicals & Dry goods. The easiest way to get a box of acetone bottles (spectroscopy grade), or small glass vial for mixing catalyst, or other miscellaneous chemical supplies is the chemistry store room. The store room is located behind the chemistry loading dock (directly across the parking lot from the Weniger Hall loading dock). Ask a lab mate for our group purchasing code. Remember: print out a receipt and give it to Verna.

Alumina

There is one brand of Alumina that everyone agrees is best: AEROXIDE® Alu C made by Degussa. Degussa sells this product to industrial customer in 10 kg (huge volume) quantities. They will not sell small quantities. Instead you need to get a free sample.

“For academic groups, we request an e-mail from the supervising faculty member stating the purpose of the study and how the results will be shared with Degussa Corporation.” - cynthia.llames@degussa.com

“We have bags of 10 kilos (22# approx) in stock. 22# @ $13.532 per lb. I can send a quart sample… will that work?” - carolynsperka@thecarycompany.com