Gold Coast City Council’s procurement improvement strategies have yielded exceptional financial results, saving the local government authority more than $18 million over the past two years.
Council’s efforts have not gone unnoticed, with Chief Procurement Officer, Peter Morichovitis, receiving two highly esteemed accolades for his contribution and achievements in procurement.
Mr Morichovitis was one of only two people to receive a Local Government Association of Queensland Local Buy award for outstanding achievement in the field of procurement, specifically for ‘delivering best practice within procurement’.
He was also awarded a Fellowship (FCIPS) from the Charted Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), the premier professional body for the procurement profession globally, as a hallmark of professional standing and contribution to the procurement profession.
In July 2010, Gold Coast City Council introduced a new Corporate Procurement Office, which is responsible for all procurement activities, including infrastructure, ICT, materials and services procurement, and for managing Council’s procurement strategy.
An internal review recognised that procurement was one of the few functional areas that could be equipped to take a whole-of-business perspective of expenditure and work within budget parameters, delivering additional benefits to Council at a lower cost.
With this in mind, the benefits realisation plan identified potential savings of about 1.5 percent of Council’s estimated procurement expenditure over the next three years, through the application of strategic procurement techniques.
The initial savings target was identified as $4.45 million for the 2010—11 financial year and this target was exceeded, as the branch realised $4.95 million in procurement savings.
Savings of $7.39 million were set for 2011—12, with $5.12 million underpinning Council’s budget. This target was also well and truly exceeded, with total savings of $13.07 million achieved.
Gold Coast City Council’s new procurement improvement strategy is continuing to exceed savings targets and, for 2012—13, $12.04 million savings have been targeted with $8 million underpinning the 2012—13 budget.
