70-U6900-26-CP294_071626 Integrated Books SS.pdf.PDF

UNM Proposed Sole Source Form – Rev 04/07/2021

Proposed Sole Source Purchase Form Pursuant to New Mexico Procurement law, the UNM Purchasing Department will post your completed form on the UNM

Sunshine Portal and the State of New Mexico Procurement website for 30 days prior to purchase of the goods/services.

I. GENERAL INFORMATION. PLEASE PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING:

Date of Request 6/11/2026 Requisition Number (If Applicable) Request Submitted by: James Ayers Title Mgr, UNM Press EDP

Services Department UNM Press Email ayers@unm.edu Phone 277-3324

Proposed Vendor Integrated Books International (IBI) Amount $300,000.00 Vendor Address 22883 Quicksilver Drive

Dulles, VA 20166-2019

Term of Purchase

Buyer Team - See Commodity list at http://purchase.unm.edu/department-information/comm-code-listing.pdf 3850

Provide a basic description of goods/services to be provided:

The vendor will be printing large quantities of two UNM Press titles, The Weighty Word Book (ISBN 9780826345554) and Weighty Words, Too (ISBN 9780826345585), in weekly increments over a five-week period.

Why is this purchase needed?

UNM Press is a publishing business that prints and sells books in the marketplace. These books are needed in order to fill existing and future orders for these titles, the sale of which is integral to the press’s financial success.

II. BASIS FOR SOLE SOURCE PROCUREMENT. CHOOSE APPLICABLE BOX(ES) AND

PROVIDE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, AS REQUESTED:

☐ Proprietary item, technology or service only available from the proposed vendor. (Check box and describe proprietary component) mailto:ayers@unm.edu http://purchase.unm.edu/department-information/comm-code-listing.pdf

☐ Compatibility requirement with existing item, technology or service. (Check box and describe compatibility requirement)

☐ Renewal of support/maintenance/subscription of software, technology or other intellectual property. (Check box and describe)

☒ Other Basis for Sole Source: Please describe below:

UNM Press has an immediate and urgent need for large quantities of the two title mentioned above. Following a viral TikTok video, sales on Amazon for these two titles skyrocketed overnight, creating an immediate demand that far exceeded the stock UNM Press was holding on hand. In order to quickly secure additional stock, queries were made to a wide range of print vendors to determine who could offer the best schedule for printing and delivering books. IBI, the selected vendor, was able to meet the demand most efficiently and agreed to print 10,000 units of The Weighty Word Book and 5,000 units of Weighty Words, Too every week for five consecutive weeks. UNM Press is selling and shipping this inventory as soon as it arrives in our warehouse. Other print vendors offered to meet this demand in as much as seven to nine weeks, which was simply not tenable. If the press were to remain out of stock on these titles for any extended period of time, sales would have been canceled, and the momentum would have been lost. IBI’s ability to print and ship books on this vastly escalated timeline was an invaluable asset to the press, allowing the press to capture this high volume of sales and remain in stock as escalated sales continued to come in every day. Because UNM Press has been able to meet this sudden marketplace demand in such a timely way, the press has been able to fulfill orders and continue making sales on these titles, and this absolutely would not have been possible without IBI’s ability to work with the press to meet demand.

III. SUPPLEMENTAL DETAILS. PLEASE PROVIDE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AS

REQUESTED BELOW:

Describe in detail the unique capabilities of the proposed vendor’s goods/service and/or personnel performing the work and why this constitutes the only source. Focus on what is unique about the goods/service and why no other vendor could meet your needs.

While other vendors are capable of producing the books in question, no other vendor was able to meet the demand in such a timely way. As noted above, IBI began shipping large quantities of the title in just one week, where every other vendor offered to ship the same quantities every six to nine weeks. IBI was able to operate on such a short timeline because they use a digital printing process as opposed to an offset printing process. The workflow permits them to quickly print, bind, pack, and ship books. And while their normal turnaround time is two to three weeks, they worked with us to offer an expedited schedule, even binding on weekends when they do not ordinarily operate. In effect, IBI offered to partner with us to meet demand in a way that no other vendor could.

Moreover, UNM Press has worked closely with IBI on other projects for over fifteen years, so the press was able to approach this particular print relationship with confidence in the quality of work that would be produced. The press could not solicit the work from an unknown vendor who might fail to produce the books to the standard needed, and no other known vendor could deliver books on the schedule needed.

Describe the due diligence made to locate other possible sources including communications with other universities, communications with similar providers, web searches, yellow page searches, review of advertisements and trade publications, etc.

UNM Press did not enter into its print relationship with IBI for these titles on a whim. We sought quotes and print schedules from a total of five vendors. The pricing varied to a degree, but all vendors offered prices that were comparable and that the sale of books could bear. The schedules, however, differed widely. We communicated extensively with the vendors approached to negotiate the best possible schedules by foregoing proofs and other steps in the print approval process, but even after improving their schedules no other vendor could compare to IBI’s staggered, weekly approach to shipping very large quantities of stock. Thorough diligence was practiced in securing the absolute best print partner for this venture, and both schedule and cost were negotiated in making a final determination.

List the other vendors who were contacted. Please describe the specs/qualifications/criteria that the other vendors were unable to satisfy.

Friesens: Print vendor located in Canada with high-quality print standards. Cost ran on the higher end, and schedule offered was six weeks plus additional shipping time from Canada to the United States. This timeline was untenable.

Versa: Trusted print partner capable of quality print work at a reasonable price. Schedule was excessive at nine to ten weeks. This timeline was untenable.

Sheridan: Trusted print partner capable of quality print work at a competitive price. Schedule was excessive at nine weeks but was negotiated to a still-excessive six weeks. This timeline was untenable.

Walsworth: A print vendor UNM Press has not used before, and so is untrusted. This raises concerns about the quality of the final product. Price was reasonable, but schedule was estimated at seven to eight weeks. This timeline was untenable.