Finance Division Central Purchasing Office Annual Purchasing Questionnaire Results 2005

Transcription

1 Finance Division Central Purchasing Office Annual Purchasing Questionnaire Results Executive Summary This report details the findings from the Central Purchasing Office (CPO) Annual Purchasing Questionnaire which was issued in September The questionnaire has been used as a means to establish a clearer understanding of how procurement is structured and what the perception of this function is across University departments. The CPO is continually working to develop and improve its services, the questionnaire has given buyers the opportunity to express their views and help identify where any weaknesses lie with the performance of the CPO. The results show that in some areas the profile of procurement needs to be raised. In general contracts provided by the CPO are being utilised and advice is being sought by departments, overall this is proving to add value and save costs but further investigation is required to understand why some respondents choose not to use University preferred suppliers. The CPO will need to focus on how best to communicate the contracts they are marketing to buyers in University departments. In order to achieve the recommendations from the 2005 questionnaire it will be necessary to issue a questionnaire in 2006 to establish additional details which will assist with the promotion of CPO contracts and to understand where further improvements can be made. 2.0 Contents 1.0 Executive Summary Contents Introduction Findings Results of Survey Departmental Structure Procedures Responsibilities Suppliers The role of the Central Purchasing Office Conclusion Recommendations 8 Page 1 of 9

2 3.0 Introduction The role of the Central Purchasing Office (CPO) is to help departments to maximise value for money at a time when budgets and resources are becoming increasingly stretched. The CPO provides guidance and information to departmental management and staff on purchasing issues and best practice in addition to researching key supply markets, accessing the competitiveness of the various consortium agreements available to the University and set up University wide agreements as appropriate. Contractual support is offered to departmental buyers, particularly in relation to highvalue acquisitions, advice and guidance is offered on the equipment procurement conditions of grant awarding bodies and the CPO are also involved in disseminating information relating to procurement, suppliers and products. In order to assist with monitoring and improving service to departments across the University the CPO issue an annual questionnaire. The questionnaire issued in September 2005 was updated to include detailed questions relating to the structure of procurement within individual sections, in addition to questions relating to the responsibility that individuals hold for purchasing goods within departments. Questions were asked about University preferred suppliers as well as questions about how end users have found the information and advice provided by the CPO. The CPO recognise the importance of ensuring that any information issued goes to the correct contact in a department, the questionnaire assists with identifying these important contacts. The Questionnaires were sent out to departments on 19 th September 2005 with a return date of 14 th October The results from the respondents have been used by the CPO to help update contact lists and acknowledge how procurement is understood by end users; the questionnaire has helped identify areas where the CPO can offer further assistance. 4.0 Findings There were 376 questionnaires issued, 86 were returned, thus a 23% return rate was achieved a substantial increase from the 2004 questionnaire. In some cases the percentages of certain questions were calculated from a subset of returns. This has occurred with question 17 as an example, because only respondents answering yes to question 16 went on to answer question 17 therefore the results have been calculated from the number of respondents to this question. It should also be noted that in some cases respondents who answered yes to a question did not always go on to answer the related questions. This has increased bias into the results for this type of question. An example where this has taken place is question 14. Question 8 was calculated showing the percentage of commitment from the overall respondents against each listed commodity area, by selecting this calculation it clearly shows the commodity areas which are most highly used by the respondents. The questionnaire results show that a good mix of departments responded, in total there were duplicated responses from 7 departments. The results given by the Page 2 of 9

3 respondents from the same department were dissimilar because the buyers are often involved in the procurement of different commodities; all returns have been included in the analysis due to this apparent diversity. This factor has increased bias to question 3 when asked about the principal buyer; there could be overlap between respondents in the same department 5.0 Results of Survey Data from all returned questionnaires was used in the preparation of this report. 5.1 Section 1: Departmental Structure 1) How many buyers* are there in your department? 12% One 16% Two 13% Three 59% Four or more * Buyers are employees with responsibility of selection and/or ordering goods and services for their departments 2) Please could you provide an organisational structure chart of buyers within your department Many illustrations of departmental structure were demonstrated by the responses received. This question has highlighted the diversity of the University and has shown both simple and complex purchasing structures. There are similarities with small departments where the principal buyer is often the administrator; with larger departments the structure can be very different. It is not uncommon to find that there are a number of principal buyers in a big department because the responsibility is split between a number of posts. 3) Are you the principal buyer in your department? 58% Yes 42% No 4) If you are not the principal buyer, please could you confirm who has this responsibility? What percentage of this job is purchasing? This question was only answered by the 42% of respondents in question 3. The results have displayed that the principal buyer could fall to the following types of role: Head of Department, Accounts Clerk, Purchasing Clerk, Administrative/Chief Secretary, Stores Controller/Supervisor, Director, Facilities Manager and in many departments the principal buyer role does not apply because is divided across buyers who look after specific commodity areas. This question is Page 3 of 9

4 linked closely into question two so there was a certain amount of overlap advising that the organisational structure outlined who was the principal buyer. The responses confirming what percentage of the principal buyers role is purchasing raised answers varying from 1% to 100%. There was a pattern showing that principal buyers who were in administrative roles tend to spend a larger percentage of their time working on purchasing where as Heads of Departments, Managers and Directors spent less time on procurement. 5.2 Section 2:Procedures 5) How does your department maintain standards within the purchasing function? 69% By using University Purchasing Policy/Procedures 1% By using Departmental Purchasing Policy/Procedures 27% By using both University & Departmental Policy/Procedures 3% Does not use any Purchasing Policy/Procedures Departments were asked to provide copies of their departmental policy if they answered by saying that the department used departmental policy/procedures as the main purchasing standard, this was also requested if departments advised using a mix of University and departmental policy/procedures. There were 12 departmental policies returned with the questionnaire responses. 5.3 Section 3: Responsibilities 6) What percentage of your job role is based on purchasing? This question was answered by the majority of respondents, purchasing accounted for between 1% and 70% of any one respondent s role. The average percentage of time spent in procurement by the respondents was 14%. 7) In your department, is purchasing treated as: a) low level i.e. clerical, order processing & procedures based b) as a commercial function i.e. reporting to management, creating cost savings, negotiating & contract sourcing c) strategic i.e. integral to University aims, proactively seeking to achieve supply chain benefits 42% (a) only 22% (b) only 6% (c) only 14% (a) and (b) 4% (b) and (c) 2% (a) and (c) 10% (a), (b) and (c) Page 4 of 9

5 8) In which commodity area/s do you commit most of your funds? Respondents were invited to tick all boxes that apply; the results show the percentage of responding departments which commit funds in the following commodity areas. 33% Audio Visual 49% Books/Journals etc. 24% Catering 14% Medical Equipment 5% Veterinary Supplies 41% Furniture 35% Janitorial 72% IT 29% Laboratory & Research Equipment 31% Workshop/Maintenance 35% Print Services 36% Postal & Communications 19% Professional and bought in services 76% Stationery 45% Travel & Accommodation 24% Health & Safety and Security 8% Vehicles 19% Building Materials/Utilities 20% Fees/Awards/Hospitality/Misc 9) Would you or any member of your team be interested in sitting on one of the CPO commodity groups? 24% Yes 76% No 10) Please indicate which commodity group you would be interested in attending, if you have a team member who is interested could you enter their name in the space provided A number of respondents have confirmed that they are already a member of one of the following purchasing groups: Office Equipment and Stationery, Science, Purchase Module, IT, Building Materials and Travel. The questionnaire has generated some interest from a few respondents who have put their name or a colleagues name forward for one of the six groups. 5.4 Section 4: Suppliers 11) Do you know who the University preferred suppliers are and how to find them? Yes 98% No 2% Page 5 of 9

6 12) Do you use any of National or SUPC contracted suppliers? Yes 90% No 10% 13) Please could you state reasons why you might choose not to use University preferred suppliers? Some of the comments received in response to this question are listed below: the CPO website is in need of a search engine received poor service from a preferred supplier so have lost confidence I use my own suppliers because of a requirement for specialist products I have been able to get better deals elsewhere 14) The CPO sets up framework contracts, are there any areas of expenditure which you would like the CPO to assist your department with? Yes 8% No 92% The departments that have stated that they would like the CPO to assist them have suggested that help is required with the procurement of fridge/freezers, electrical and plumbing products and services, security, service contracts, procurement of furniture, stationery and general laboratory consumables. 15) How often do you question the value you are getting from your current suppliers against the potential a new supplier/s could offer? 31% When you have a problem 35% Every 6 months or less 21% Annually 2% Never 10% Other 5.5 Section 5: The Role of The Central Purchasing Office 16) Have you ever sought advice from the Central Purchasing Office 86% Yes 14% No 17) Please indicate how useful you found the advice provided This question was only answered by the 86% who had said yes to question % Excellent 51% Good 14% Average 4% Poor Page 6 of 9

7 18) Has information provided by the CPO enabled your department to save costs and add value? 80% Yes 20% No 19) Would you like the CPO to send you more information on what we can do for you and how you can contact us? 37% Yes 63% No 6.0 Conclusion The questionnaire has identified patterns across University departments. The information provided by respondents has raised some points which will assist the CPO when providing guidance and information to departmental staff, for example the questionnaire has indicated that over 59% of respondents have more than 4 buyers per department, this will help the CPO understand where their attention needs to be focused within specific areas. The organisational structures provided help understand what employees have responsibility for procurement and thus confirms which types of role engage in this activity. The CPO can focus their attention on working with the different role types to ensure that best procurement practice is carried out across the University. There was a question asked to identify whether the respondent was the main (principal) buyer within their department, many responses indicated that the respondent had this responsibility, although it became clear that the buyers fall into a variety of roles ranging from the Head of Department through to the Purchasing/Administrative Clerk. The responses received will help the CPO to monitor and improve its service to University departments, by understanding how individual areas work by way of maintaining standards within the procurement function and establishing the way purchasing is treated from department to department. Establishing where funds are committed will identify where commodity purchases vary from department to department, this will help the CPO recognise where there may be a requirement for a contract which is currently uncovered; specifically if there is considerable usage within a commodity area. The questionnaire asks respondents whether they would be interested in attending a CPO commodity group, it is positive to get a level of commitment from departmental buyers to encourage a two way process where the department feeds back to Central Purchasing and vice versa, the commodity groups are a way of achieving this and ensuring that best practice is maintained throughout the University, the questionnaire has given the CPO some contacts who would be interested in attending the groups, there is a great benefit to getting more departments involved, especially as commodity group members become a main contact to report back to the Central Purchasing Office about the way specific commodities are run and whether there are any contractual issues which need to be raised. In the questionnaire buyers were questioned about their knowledge of preferred suppliers, positively 98% of respondents knew where to find preferred suppliers and Page 7 of 9

8 90% of buyers use national or SUPC contracted suppliers. This information helps the CPO understand how effective the national and SUPC contract are and whether contracts put in place by the Central Purchasing Office are being used. The CPO will use the comments made by respondents detailing the reasons they choose not to use University preferred suppliers to ensure that improvements are made to encourage higher uptake on contracts. Of the 86% of respondents who sought advice from the Central Purchasing Office, the majority rated the advice as good or excellent and 80% confirmed that the CPO has helped their department save costs and add value. This information helps the CPO measure their performance against the advice they are providing and is a useful evaluation tool. In order to continue to help departments maximise value for money, the questionnaire has highlighted that in some areas the profile of procurement needs to be raised, but it has also shown that the contracts provided by the CPO are being used and advice is being sought. The questionnaire has identified that the diversity of the University is reflected in some of the procurement decisions being made, it shows that a number of departments use a mix of University purchasing policy alongside their own departmental policy which may have an impact on the final decisions made within departments. 7.0 Recommendations It is recommended that the CPO focus on improving the weaker areas identified in the questionnaire. The following recommendations should be applied: 1. It was demonstrated that a number of departments are using their own departmental purchasing procedure, these procedures should be analysed against the University purchasing policy to confirm that the departmental policy is aligned against University policy. 2. The Central Purchasing Office needs to focus on the reasons why departments choose not to use the University preferred suppliers and develop a way to encourage greater usage i.e. the suggestion to put a search engine on the CPO website should be looked at. 3. National and SUPC suppliers are used by 90% of respondents; the CPO should establish what contracts are being used most frequently and how often these agreements are being utilised. 4. Many of the framework commodity requests which the 8% of respondents have asked the CPO to help them with are already in place, it is therefore advised that the CPO work with these departments showing buyers where specific contracts can be found. The CPO should also work to ensure contractual information is easier to find for all departments. 5. Over half of the respondents to the questionnaire question the value they are getting from a supplier either when they have a problem or once every 6 months. A suggestion would be for the CPO to put in place a feedback Page 8 of 9

9 mechanism to help departments report back to the CPO if problems occur with preferred suppliers. 6. Of the information provided to departments by the CPO, 80% confirmed that it enabled their department to save costs and add value; it is recommended that the CPO investigate which source of information and advice has lead to this result. Page 9 of 9