Best practices become standard operating procedures
Organizations that adopt these best practices and use our services, Print Management Center and AVS Technology® establish a world-class print procurement program that exhibits consistency and transparency, employs objective performance-based vendor management, demonstrates commitment to the process and reduces significantly the cost of procured print.

• Supplier pool - All prospective suppliers are uniformly and objectively evaluated. Only those meeting buyer-established criteria are accepted into the active supplier pool and the number of suppliers maintained assures adequate competition. Buyer establishes their own pre-qualified supplier pool.
• Equal opportunity – All of buyer’s qualified suppliers that match project requirements are invited to submit a bid. Suppliers are not arbitrarily added or removed on a job-by-job basis. Suppliers have the freedom to bid high, low, or not at all without negative consequence. Buyer creates environment that enables suppliers to offer true best price for given project - without considering buyer price expectations, without fear of setting high or low precedent, and without worry of being denied future opportunities.
• Budget development – An estimate methodology is used for projects that lack complete specification, final quantities, award dates and/or dates for receiving furnished materials. Suppliers understand that RFP’s are always associated with real opportunities and consistently make a best effort response.
• Request for pricing (RFP) – RFP’s are only released after finalizing the specifications, quantities, award dates and production timeline. Suppliers expect that projects experience few unplanned scope or schedule changes allowing them to plan and price on the basis of available capacity and resource.
• Timely award - Within 24 hours of the bid closing, all solicited print jobs are either cancelled or awarded to the qualified supplier that has submitted the lowest price. Suppliers understand that performance is required to receive opportunities, while price is the criteria to win work.
• Results disclosure - After award, buying organization allows system to notify the responding suppliers with a list of all suppliers who bid, the prices submitted and the winning bidder. This full transparency allows suppliers to see competition and market dynamics, promoting improved future competition.
• Accountability - Following award, buying organization completes all scheduled production tasks on time. Suppliers never experience costly production delays due to buyer issues. Confident in this, suppliers will not build unnecessary production delay hedge into future bids.
• Invoice processing – Buying organization only pays invoices when they are complete, correct, agreed upon and otherwise reconciled. Change orders and their associated administrative requirements are streamlined and transparent to buyer and seller alike.
• Supplier performance - Deficient supplier performance evidenced through poor delivery, non-responsiveness, lack of attention to detail, or failure to meet commitments is not tolerated under any circumstances. Vendor management is tough but fair and uniformly applied across the supplier pool.
• Demonstrated commitment - At least 90% of all print projects within the Scope of Work are awarded through the system. The system is viewed by suppliers as the only means to obtain work from the buying organization.