New rules for government purchase card holders Published June 1, 2011 By 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Edwards Government Purchase Card holders at each unit will need to comply with an Air Force Materiel Command directive to purchase office supplies at only certain locations. Beginning June 8, Edwards' AbilityOne store or the Air Force Advantage website are the only two places to purchase supplies such as paper, pens, binders, tape, envelopes, shredders, computer media, foot rests, etc. This will place Edwards in compliance with an AFMC memo on May 9 requiring all its bases to use this office supply purchase method. This comes after the Air Force conducted a study and determined a mandatory-use policy was warranted for the procurement of office supplies to save money by becoming an agency partner in the Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiatives Program for office supplies. Toner cartridges are the only exception. When buying toner cartridges, purchasers need to compare pricing through both FSSI and the Air Force Toner Blanket Purchase Agreements available at www.afway.af.mil. AFMC says the FSSI program strives to leverage collective federal spending to drive lower cost and improved benefits to all participating agencies. While the office supply program is the third program implemented by the FSSI team, it is the first program adopted by the Air Force. The Air Force spends $46 million on office supplies each year, which was identified as a strategic sourcing opportunity by the Office of Federal Procurement Policy and the Secretary of Defense. The AF Office Supply Commodity Council studied the options for sourcing, and based on their study the Air Force decided on this action. By Oct. 1 all continental United States AF bases will switch to this purchase method. The phone number for the Edwards AbilityOne store is 258-9422. The Air Force Advantage website is www.afadvantage.gov.