Three-decade-old supply purchasing program saves the University millions of dollars each year.
Photo: Carol McKissick, left, and Sanjay Uchil of the BIORESCO program have worked together at UMB since 1994.
The University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) BIORESCO supply purchasing program has evolved over the past 30 years from serving a single department to the entire UMB research community, thanks to the efforts of two dedicated employees and their team.
Carol McKissick, MBA, MS, program administrator, and Sanjay Uchil, MS, manager of applications development, have worked together since 1994 to fulfill the mission of BIORESCO, which is “to conserve time, money, space, and effort for UMB and its researchers by maintaining a central supply core facility that thrives upon its ability to innovate and re-create itself in accordance with the requirements of the University and its staff.”
“I inherited the freezer program in 1993,” said McKissick, who joined UMB in 1990 to run a lab in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM). “Sanjay joined me in 1994, and since then we have grown the business model, service, and operations to serve the entire campus and its schools. BIORESCO has become an extremely essential resource in the life of every UMB researcher. Our hope is to be able to continue our mission and meet the changing needs of the University’s research community.”
BIORESCO, which is short for BIOmedical REsearch Supply COre, advertises itself as a “one-stop shop” for research-related supplies, enabling scientists to “do the science,” Uchil said, instead of procurement and accounting. Among the benefits it provides are:
- No shipping or handling charges (average savings, $30-$40)
- Discounts from list prices (2 percent to 40 percent)
- Access to 35-plus vendors, with more than 5,000 on-site items
- Access to over 3 million discounted products and reagents — in most cases, items from the vendors’ catalogs can be purchased whether or not they are listed in the BIORESCO catalog
- Business-to-business punchout integrations with over 15 large vendors, so users can access contract prices, availability, and other promotions directly on the vendor website
- Campuswide delivery twice a day
“We unpack, deliver, bill, and manage vendor payments,” Uchil said. “This is a rather sophisticated operation, which is streamlined because of our fine-tuned business model that has been in place for close to three decades. The operation is supported by the unique and invaluable BIORESCO application.
“In the early days, the BIORESCO operation was managed with spreadsheets, printed catalogs, faxes, and phone calls,” he added. “We have since transitioned to a full-fledged eCommerce application with business-to-business integration, which allows end users to connect directly to the vendor website and place orders. This transition has contributed significantly to the growth and success of the BIORESCO operation. UMB’s Center for Information Technology Services also has played an important role in hosting this critical application.”
Self-Supporting Program
BIORESCO is self-supporting, operates at no cost to UMB, and does not make a profit. The program is funded entirely through the discounts offered by participating vendors.
“The participating companies must discount at least 14 percent and charge no shipping fees, per their contract with UMB,” McKissick said. “They are welcome to discount more to be competitive with other companies. BIORESCO marks up the discounted prices, currently by 6 percent, to cover our costs, which is mostly salaries. We cannot and do not make a profit; we break even.
“The average percentage cost for procurements of this nature in the outside world is 25 to 30 percent,” she added. “On a semiannual basis, our rate is calculated to make sure we are covering costs and not exceeding that amount or making a profit. The companies’ discounts and free shipping is what pays for the program.”
McKissick and Uchil said the most-requested items include lab consumables, plasticware, chemicals, media, antibodies, cell culture supplies, kits, and customized products. They are particularly proud of the work BIORESCO did at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when UMB President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, asked for the service’s help in managing the procuring, receiving, and distribution of personal protective equipment.
“Given the essential nature of the service we provide, BIORESCO personnel stayed on deck every day through the various phases of the quarantine/lockdown,” McKissick said. “We continued to process and receive lab orders and schedule and manage deliveries to the labs. Also, during the pandemic, most of the buildings were under lockdown, so FedEx, UPS, and other delivery personnel had no access to the buildings. We became the default receiver for all the deliveries.”
BIORESCO also hosts two large annual vendor shows each year that bring together over 50 vendors and 1,200 members of the research community, and it collaborates with UMB Environmental Health and Safety to minimize the volume and variety of dangerous chemicals on campus.
The BIORESCO team: (front and center) Stephen Gerhard; (middle row, from left) Shanthi Tantry, Jennifer Aierstock, Ed Gerhard, Sean Horne; (back row, from left) Sanjay Uchil, Jeffrey Chatmon, Darren Williams, Carol McKissick.
Tight-Knit Team
A key to BIORESCO’S success is the teamwork established by its staff, McKissick said.
“Given the depth and breadth of the service we provide, we have a very cohesive team of nine people,” she said. “It is extremely gratifying that most of our team have been with us for a very long time, and they are committed to the BIORESCO mission of supporting the UMB research community.”
In addition to McKissick and Uchil, the team includes Jennifer Aierstock, accounting clerk; Jeffrey Chatmon, merchandiser; Ed Gerhard, program management specialist; Stephen Gerhard, merchandiser; Sean Horne; merchandiser; Shanthi Tantry, accounting analyst; and Darren Williams, merchandiser.
McKissick has a bachelor’s degree in biology, an MBA, and a master’s degree in applied psychology. She worked in research for 15 years and is a licensed clinical professional counselor with UMSOM’s Maryland Group Faculty Practice. Uchil has a master’s degree in physics, additional education and expertise in information technology (IT), and four years of research lab experience.
“Since we have both worked in labs, we have a unique understanding of the needs of the research community,” McKissick said. “And since we work closely with the department administrations, we have a good understanding of their requirements. We have used the breadth of our combined knowledge from these two areas to continuously improve the operation. Sanjay and I work very well together and hash out problems, many times involving the entire group because ‘more heads are often better than one, or even two.’ ”
Iris Lindberg, PhD, professor in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology at UMSOM, appreciates the team’s hard work.
“Carol McKissick and Sanjay Uchil have a unique constellation of skills: science, combined with IT, combined with sales/business,” Lindberg said. “Their team at BIORESCO delivers simply amazing campus support by giving all faculty the opportunity to purchase reagents and equipment at rock-bottom prices.
“They provide us with huge savings by negotiating bulk discounts with vendors. They also provide custom service to their clients in many cases. In fact, they got me a very good price on a minus-80-degree freezer when mine broke!”
Said Uchil: “Over the last five years, researchers have saved over $5 million annually just from the vendor published list prices. The additional savings realized from the free shipping and handling would take the total savings even higher. We have managed to do all this at no direct expense to the University. We are fully self-supported, adhering to the service center policy overseen by UMB Costing and Compliance. All of this has been possible because of the outstanding and caring group of BIORESCO personnel we have created over the years.
“BIORESCO has become a critical and essential service that the UMB research community has grown to rely on for their work,” he added. “Our team members all work toward one goal — removing the hassle of scientific purchasing.”