Public service procurement has taken some intense flack in the past few years – and not without due reason – but I think it’s time to acknowledge some of the great stuff that actually is happening in the area at the moment. Because it’s there, it’s just that it’s hidden under an enormous pile of bad reputation, fraud cases, contracts being overturned, administration and god knows what.
This morning I ran into Mark Masterson – the head of IBX UK – who was in town on a public procurement mission. While chatting near the coffee machine (ristretto for me, white tea for him) he mentioned an article that he had written for Supply Chain Europe recently highlighting some of the breakthrough in public sector procurement as well as proving some pointers for those who want to get on the band wagon.
With Norway and Scotland leading the way in Europe Mark points out that Norwegian users have seen “a 20-40 percent reduction in the time it takes to handle orders, goods receipts and invoices”. The Norwegian government has also made it mandatory for all public bodies to use e-invoices by 2011. Apart from these process savings the Norwegian public sector has also achieved more far reaching effects:
“A prime example is the health sector in Norway, which is going to be running a pilot scheme, as part of the PEPPOL project, where it will buy blood plasma directly from Austria, to ensure that they always have the right stocks and an optimum cost. In this case, e-procurement is literally helping to save lives.”
In the UK, results are also picking up. Since 2005, ten collaborative IT hardware e-auctions, involving 144 public sector stakeholders have led to savings of £43,8 million.
So what does the laggards in the EU have to do in order to catch up. Mark points to five keys to success:
- There’s no time like the present – there’s no reason to wait until e-procurement becomes mandatory.
- Keep it simple – user friendliness is the key.
- Set clear goals – set realistic targets and timelines
- Central funding – Scotland’s procurement success is routed in its free availability to public bodies
- Ensure procurement and business managers work together – not only does e-procurement benefit the purchasing functions, it also helps keeping the organization financially stable
In any case, successful public procurement will be essential for the EU to regain some of its momentum especially in times when the rest of the world is betting on which country is going to be the next Greece.
