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Showing posts from March, 2014

Public Procurement - Conflicting News

Supply Management published an article articulating a view that the UK is slower at delivering public procurement than the EU average. http://www.supplymanagement.com/news/2014/public-sector-tender-delays-starve-economy-of-ps22-billion This is listed on the same page as a link to the following story of procurement in Scotland that has encountered difficulties with transparency. http://www.supplymanagement.com/news/2014/judge-lifts-block-on-ps325-million-scottish-public-sector-telecoms-contract-award It is really important that evaluation criteria and compliant guidelines are completed BEFORE the procurement activity begins. Why? because failure to have the guidelines, scoring criteria and evaluation nailed down will result in a rush to complete before returns are received and opened.

Supplier Beware

This is a surprising statement by the Auditor General of the NAO.  http://www.supplymanagement.com/news/2014/suppliers-dont-take-advantage-of-lower-commercial-skills-of-public-sector Is it an invitation to bamboozle public bodies and milk them for as much profit as possible or is it a thinly veiled warning that commercial skills are improving and that recourse through audit and the PAC will be used as counter-measures to greedy suppliers.  If it is the latter than perhaps the impact of government sanctions on Serco last year are a timely warning. http://www.supplymanagement.com/news/2014/profits-almost-halve-at-serco-following-difficult-year

A great British survival story

Not long ago Thornton's was leaving the high street at a rapid pace as a casualty of the economic down turn.  Today's news is very much welcomed by all those who admire a great brand and a great British success story.   ( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/10674212/Thorntons-makes-biggest-manufacturing-investment-for-25-years.html ) Having staved off disaster the company has announced greatly improved financial results as a consequence of changing its business model.  Thorntons have reduced their presence on the high street over the past years, and continue to do so, but focusing on supermarkets and seasonal themes has raised profits. Congratulations and best wishes for continued success.

Discounting for better payment terms

This article in Supply Management raises some interesting questions ( http://www.supplymanagement.com/news/2014/emphatic-support-among-buyers-for-early-payment-discounts ) and potentially flies in the face of good supplier relationship management. Encouraging discounting in order to shorten payment times raises some serious questions: Has an effective procurement process been undertaken thus far? Are my current terms unreasonable? What type of relationship am I trying to establish? Am I subliminally saying I am a bad payer? If suppliers are that desperate for business that they will negotiate away profit for cashflow are they the type of suppliers I want to be doing business with? There is always a need to get value for money and we should never lose sight of why and what we are buying.  Some activities are prime for competition by cost, others not so.  Is cost always the key driver? and what are we willing to sacrifice by making cost king?

Buying British - A common sense approach

This article in Supply Management ( http://www.supplymanagement.com/news/2014/government-reviews-public-sector-food-procurement ) highlights moves by the British government to source food from within the country. The amount spent on food exceeds £2Bn and clearly any such amount would be subject to competition threshold limits.  Interestingly however there are real positives that would play in to the hands of British suppliers - freshness of produce and the associated carbon miles would be significantly lower for British suppliers. The ability to source locally and the use of effective contract management would mean that the supply chain assurance can be undertaken much more easily and effectively.