Article
Purpose-based procurement
As professionals involved in public procurement, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day “busy-ness” that dominates our work. It’s important, and arguably very healthy, to pause from time to time to look at the bigger picture. What is it that we are really striving to accomplish through these incredible efforts of ours? How can our efforts in purchasing and contracting drive our organizations forward to accomplish their true mission and purpose?
As professionals involved in public procurement, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day “busy-ness” that dominates our work. It’s important, and arguably very healthy, to pause from time to time to look at the bigger picture. What is it that we are really striving to accomplish through these incredible efforts of ours? How can our efforts in purchasing and contracting drive our organizations forward to accomplish their true mission and purpose? Every organization...
As a procurement
As a procurement professional, keeping the purpose of your organization in mind can help you achieve the excellence and focus mentioned in this article. In all organizations, particularly those in the public sector, savings in one area contribute to the overall effectiveness of an organization in achieving its purpose. For example, some organizations might wish to primarily focus on a procurement policy that saves money to repurpose those funds for projects elsewhere. Other organizations might be concerned with ease of administration for both internal and external customers and willing to sacrifice some cost savings to free up more time for personnel.
Focusing all purchasing decisions on a particular goal opens up greater possibilities for savings in both time and money. One example of an area where centralizing and streamlining procurement policy is particularly effective is in the field of equipment maintenance management. Oftentimes, organizations have equipment maintenance administered by dozens, if not hundreds, of different people within the organization. However, if an organization’s purchasing policy is centralized in pursuit of a common purpose, there are equipment maintenance options available that both return greater value when purchased on a larger scale and have the potential to increase operational efficiency. Equipment Maintenance Management Programs (EMMPs) typically offer double digit discounts off of individual maintenance contracts as a result of having a broad range of electronic equipment on the program. Additionally, they have the potential to lessen administrative burden as they allow one or two procurement or other administrative professionals to administer service contracts for a wide variety of departments and types of equipment rather than having individual users separately administer their own individual maintenance programs. Ultimately, focusing and streamlining procurement policy can enable organizations to free up time and money to spend in the pursuit of the organization’s overall purpose.