Did you know that your Council may be part of a multi-award winning initiative that is leading the way in procurement reform and simplification? In fact, it’s won a lot of awards, and leap frogged corporate and other levels of government as leaders in best practice and innovation. Find out why and how the latest release is now helping local economic development.
The Original Problem
In 2012 it was recognised by the National Procurement Network that procurement in Australia’s local government sector suffered from significant duplication in both its procurement processes and its management of contracts and suppliers. This was happening at a Council level, a regional level, and a whole-of-sector level. This widespread duplication and inefficiency was costly and time-consuming; it also meant that local government was missing out on potential cost savings through the significant economies of scale that exist across the sector.
Procurement Innovation
In 2012 the Local Government National Procurement Network (NPN) used VendorPanel™ to launch the groundbreaking Procurement Collaboration Initiative. This was a pioneering national system designed to help councils work together to engage and manage local suppliers and provide a secure, central, integrated platform for getting quotes and proposals. It dramatically reduced contract duplication and streamlined the quotation and selection process, slashing admin-time for councils and suppliers alike. Within two years it had increased usage of preferred supplier arrangements by 376% saving money by driving users towards using contracts that had been negotiated with suppliers based on higher volumes. According to analysis by NSW LGP, end users save approximately one hour per RFx, attributing this to VendorPanel’s simplicity and high level of automation. In 2015, the system is used by over 450 Local Governments and will manage in excess of $1 Billion in procurement. It is up to each Local Government organization to choose how they use the VendorPanel platform, whether it is to access whole-of-local-government Panels, manage and access their own local supplier arrangements or to access the new VendorPanel Marketplace for supporting local economic development.
Industry Recognition
It’s good to see Local Government recognized for its leadership and innovation. The NPN Local Government Procurement Collaboration Initiative has achieved the following accolades:
- Winner of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply Australasia award for Best Use of Innovation in Procurement
- A Merit Award for Best Process Improvement
- Recognized by the Australian Information Industry Association, earning a State Merit iAward for Government Technology (2014).
The Procurement Collaboration Initiative was undoubtedly a leap into the unknown; finding a brand new way to apply emerging technology. This case study is a remarkable example of how local government can – and should – stand at the forefront of Procurement excellence, paving the way for others to follow.
What’s Next? Building on Success…
Technology innovation and requirements for Smarter Procurement won’t stop, Local Government shouldn’t stop looking for ways to add more value to their local communities and economy. That’s why the VendorPanel platform keeps evolving with input from Local Government, NPN Members, Users and Suppliers. The latest initiative provides practical tools to support and report on local economic development. It’s called VendorPanel Marketplace. Local Governments can opt in to use this functionality to find and get quotes from their Local Suppliers and SMEs, while at the same time ensuring best practice in terms of transparency and governance in competitive quotation processes.
Supporting Your Local Suppliers
At the heart of this solution, VendorPanel Marketplace is giving small and medium businesses better access to opportunities in Government while also increasing governance and transparency in decentralised quotation processes. The key benefits of VendorPanel Marketplace include:
- an increase in local economic participation
- more access to council opportunities for local suppliers
- an increase in transparency, governance and control in RFQ’s
- simplified processes
The tools have been launched with the support of the National Procurement Network to complement available Preferred Supplier Panels and pre-qualified supplier lists managed by Councils, Regional Organisations, Local Government Associations and the NPN.
Thought Leadership in Local Government
The National Procurement Network (NPN) have spearheaded this initiative on behalf of Local Government. The NPN is made up of procurement divisions from the Local Government Association (LGA) in each State of Australia. The member organisations who actively participated in this initiative are: LGP (NSW), WALGA (WA), Local Buy (QLD), Municipal Association of Victoria, MAV (VIC), Local Government Association Procurement, LGAP (SA). In recent years, they have been joined by LGANT (NT) and LGAT (TAS). These NPN members provide procurement services and support to over 500 Local Governments and Councils across Australia. The VendorPanel technology is developed and supported by one of Australia’s fastest growing procurement technology companies – Magnetized Markets. For more information contact your Local Government Association, or go to www.VendorPanel.com
*Copy supplied by James Leathem, CEO, Magnetized Markets
