Sep 10th, 2008 |
Maybe it’s election fever on both sides of the border that has me thinking about promises of “cutting government inefficiency”. Invariably, when the leaders have been chosen, the procurement or purchasing functions are squeezed for their contributions.
But what does an effective and efficient procurement function look like? Well, for the last 13 years, the National Purchasing Institute has tried to codify it.
They run an annual awards program for “Achievement of Excellence in ProcurementÒ”. The following is from their website:
“In 1995, the National Purchasing Institute established a program designed to recognize organizational excellence in public procurement. The Achievement of Excellence in Procurement® (AEP) is awarded annually. This prestigious award is earned by those organizations that demonstrate excellence by obtaining a high score based on standardized criteria. The criteria are designed to measure innovation, professionalism, productivity, e-procurement, and leadership attributes of the procurement organization”
They provide 19 categories of assessment that span policies, technology, strategy, organizational considerations, vendor relationship management, training / certifications, etc. Each criterion is allotted a certain score and the total available score is 200. It is not a relative assessment; if you score 100 pts, you receive an award.
These criteria would be a great assessment for anyone wishing to figure out whether they’re meeting best-in-class procurement practices.
