Customer Highlight on Arizona Department of Veterans Services

Tammy Vogel, Arizona Department of Veterans Services

Tammy Vogel is the Purchasing Officer for the Arizona Department of Veterans Services, located in Phoenix, AZ. Tammy has been with the Department for four years, and she has spent a total of twenty-one years in a purchasing capacity. The Arizona Department of Veterans Services is a not-for-profit state agency, and it employs about 300 people. In addition to the main Department in Phoenix, there are also small satellite offices throughout the state. Tammy’s department, which consists of three employees, does all the buying for the main Department and the satellite locations. Department Divisions Tammy says, “The Department has many different divisions because it offers many kinds of services. For instance, we have a 200 bed skilled nursing facilityfor veterans and their spouses. We also have educational, benefits counseling, Adult Day Health care, Fiduciary services, Gift shop, etc. There is even a State veterans’ cemetery. We order everything from funeral supplies to office supplies. It keeps the purchasing department very busy.” The Arizona Department of Veterans Services has been a Bellwether customer since Tammy came on board four years ago. Tammy’s past experience with purchasing software systems had been a good one, so she wanted to implement a purchasing software system at the veterans’ facility. Tammy chose Bellwether after evaluating several purchasing software packages. She stated, “We initially found Bellwether searching the web. We tried the free trial and agreed that Bellwether Purchasing Software best met our needs. We bought the Purchasing, Receiving, Requisitions, Quotations, Inventory, and Bar Code modules.” Department Reporting Requirements The report and tracking features have been very useful to the Department. Tammy says that because they are a state agency, they are required to track and provide reports on all business transactions with small companies. “Bellwether has really helped in this area,” Tammy said. Warehousing “Another big area that Bellwether has helped us with is warehousing. Before we implemented Bellwether Purchasing Software, our warehouse was overrun with supplies. The purchasing of supplies was done when the product ran out, and then it was reordered in large quantities. It was not unusual to order a six-month supply of product. This overburdened our warehouse because we order so many things. With Bellwether Inventory Module, we can reorder at different reorder points, which means we can order according to usage. Life is a lot simpler with Bellwether Purchasing Software.  It’s a good product; we made the right choice.”