Finance Process Document - Procurement Control

Transcription

1 PURPOSE This document identifies the process for the procurement of goods and services in the University of Limerick in accordance with the universities procurement policy. It applies to the management and control of all non-pay spend in the acquisition of goods and services and applies irrespective of any external source of funding in support of a purchase. The critical components of the procurement process are summarised in this table; Section 1: Process Section 2: Tendering Process Section 3: Supplier Management Process 3.1 Customer Service 3.2 role in Purchase Requisition Process RESPONSIBILITY The Director of Finance is responsible for the overall financial administration of the University which includes the Process. Within this department, falls under the direct remit of the Financial Controller, devolving to the Manager who is ultimately responsible for the review and management of the procurement process. Compliance to this policy is the responsibility of the purchaser and budget approver. DOCUMENTATION Policy - May 2001 (updated 2012) Y:\Procedures\New UL Policy Docs\UL policy - Updated Jan 2012.doc Purchasing Policy Ver \..\Purchasing\Policies & Procedures\Purchasing V1.1.doc UL Standard T&C s OGP website Circular 16/13 Revision of arrangements concerning the use of centrally run contracts by the OGP (Office Government ) _revision_of_arrangements_concerning_the_use_of_central_contracts_put_in_place_by_the_natio nal_procurement_service.pdf RECORDS All procurement records are maintained on the procurement shared server, hardcopies stored on- site in the Office and off-site at the contracted storage management company and comply with UL s records and retention policy. PD-PR-016 Finance Department Page 1 of 11 Version 2

2 PROCESS VERIFICATION Evaluation of procurement processes is conducted under a number of methods and includes the following: self-regulatory and self-assessment in line with UL policies, Irish Government and EU Directives. Additionally, procurement is audited regularly under the Finance Divisional Audit process. Equally, procurement is audited yearly by the Comptroller & Auditor General Office and external Funding Agencies audit the procurement process for capital equipment throughout the year as procurements are made and funded/partially funded by the applicable funding agencies. REVISION HISTORY Revision No. Date Approved by: Details of Change Process Owner /08/2007 New Process Map Philip Gurnett /10/2012 Amend Map to include new threshold figures /01/2015 Transfer to new template and review for QMS 2015 Rosemary Fogarty Majella O Gorman 1.0 UL Process PRC01-01 structure in the university is a combination of centralised and decentralised departmental procurement. Departments mostly rely on central contract agreements which are conducted and managed by the internal procurement department. Central contract agreements are conducted by UL procurement officers, consortium contracts under the EPS (Education Network) and national agreements (contracts and frameworks) conducted by the national procurement agency, the Office of Government (OGP). within the University is subject to legislative requirements of EU Directives and enforceable under Irish Law. Under these directives, every two years threshold values are established, over which each public institution is required to ensure that their requirements are open to European Competition and follow a clearly defined process as detailed in the EU directives. below these threshold values is conducted in line with Irish Government procurement guidelines ensuring that the procurement treaty principles of Non Discrimination, Equal Treatment, Transparency, Mutual Recognition and Proportionality are adhered to. Below the Irish Government threshold values, the individual institution i.e. UL is responsible for determining its best practice procurement process taking cognisance of treaty principles and government and EU rules and regulations. PD-PR-016 Finance Department Page 2 of 11 Version 2

3 With the advent of the Irish centralized procurement agency (OGP) and under circular 16/13, public institutions are required to adopt the centralised procurement contracts and frameworks unless there is a justified reason for not doing so. Responsibility Taking these external requirements into consideration it is the responsibility of the Head of to devise, manage and control a procurement process that supports UL s needs and adhere to legislative requirements. Procedure Monetary thresholds established by the Office, in line with Government Policy and EU Directives identify the procurement process method to be adopted. Monetary Threshold Value Process Requirement Under 5,000 No written quotations required 5,000-25,000 Minimum 3 written quotations required 25, ,999 UL Tender Procedure as per Government Guidelines > 207,000 UL Tender Procedure as per EU Directives The non-pay spend in the university is broken down by commodity area. The procurement department is directly responsible for tendering of all commodities that are common to university end-users and these commodity areas are either outsourced to the EPS or to the central agency (OGP) to be included in their national tender competition schedule or tendered directly by the procurement department in the university. Annually, a look-back review is undertaken by and a report is run from the Agresso financial system that identifies the annual spend by commodity and value. This report identifies the cumulative spend undertaken by the university for each commodity and by supplier also. This enables to correct the process whereby each department would conduct purchases in line with the table above but only based on their own cumulative spend and not the whole of the university. Divisions and Departments should evaluate their overall spend in each commodity area or by supplier at the beginning of each year and apply the appropriate tender process to it in line with UL procurement thresholds and so reduce the amount of non-compliance situations. If they have any queries they should consult with procurement personnel. These individual departmental requirements for goods and services over the 25K threshold are submitted to the procurement department for inclusion in the tender schedule as needs are identified and/or funding awarded. Additionally, a Contracts Register is maintained on the procurement shared drive that tracks all centrally run contracts and their expiry dates and upon analysis new tender areas are identified. These combine to create the overall UL tender roadmap from year to year. With the exception of single source items for which there is a Single Source Justification Form to be completed and requires review and approval by PD-PR-016 Finance Department Page 3 of 11 Version 2

4 the Officer, all requirements for goods and services must be conducted in line with the thresholds values. Excluded from procurement office control are building works contracts which are the responsibility of the Buildings & Estates Director in UL. All goods and services contracts purchased by UL subsidiary companies are not procurement s responsibility though the function offers advice and assistance when requested. 2.0 Tendering Process PRC01-02 The tendering process adopted is critical to the universities core procurement objective of obtaining best value for money. Responsibility The Head of is responsible for the management and control of the tendering process. Procedure For an EU tender competition the below action items need to considered and applied in accordance with university procurement best practice. Contract values in excess of 25K have to be advertised and a contract award notice published on the etender portal at in line with Irish Government Guidelines. EU tenders have a minimum applicable timeline as determined under the procurement directives and is depicted in the flowchart below. More complex EU tenders timelines can take up to a year depending on level of complexity. Timelines for contracts below EU Thresholds are of shorter duration than EU tenders and timelines determined at the sole discretion of the contracting authority. Step-by-Step Tendering Establish Need (purchaser and/or procurement) Contact Office (purchaser) PD-PR-016 Finance Department Page 4 of 11 Version 2

5 Determine appropriate procurement process (procurement officer) Identify possible sources of supply (purchaser & procurement officer) Development of tender project plan (procurement) Establishment of Tender User Group if commodity generic across all departments Preparation of Specification of Requirements (purchaser & procurement) Determination of Evaluation Criteria and Award Criteria (procurement & purchaser) Preparation of Tender Documents (procurement) Publish Tender on e-tenders portal and/or media publications (procurement) Evaluation of Submissions (purchaser & procurement) Clarifications from tenderers (procurement) Final Scoring (purchaser & procurement) Notification Letters and Standstill (procurement) Contract Award and contract award notification on e-tenders portal (procurement) Preparation and signing of contract/service level agreements (procurement & purchaser) Order placement and payment processing (purchaser, purchasing & accounts payable) 3.0 Supplier Management Process PRC01-03 Supplier and Contracts Management is a critical feature of the universities value for money objective and ensuring continuity of supply. Responsibility The Head of is responsible for identifying the supplier management process and individual departments are responsible for its implementation and feedback to. Supplier & Contract Management (purchaser & procurement) Procedure Suppliers of large contracts are managed under the Service Level Agreements established between the parties. KPI s are identified, tracked and reported on to the department owner and or procurement officer Quarterly/yearly supplier meetings are conducted for contract performance review For smaller value contracts Exception Management is the preferred method of supplier management Each individual complaint is managed by the end user with the supplier If unresolved the complaint is escalated to for resolution through completing the Supplier Complaint Form on the procurement website Phone calls and/or meetings are used to discuss supplier management issues PD-PR-016 Finance Department Page 5 of 11 Version 2

6 For complex issues legal advice maybe required 3.1 Customer Service PRC01-03a A vital service to the university decentralized buyers is procurement s role of mentor and advisor on all procurement related activity including supplier performance issues. The procurement department is the natural escalation point for procurement advice and assistance in resolving those performance issues that departmental owners are unable to reach resolution on through direct supplier engagement. Responsibility The procurement officer is responsible for providing accurate information and advice and negotiating successful outcomes with suppliers on supplier performance and contract performance issues. Procedure Originator contracts procurement via to procurement@ul.ie or telephone the buyer directly with query Buyer responds immediately or advises originator of the response time depending on complexity of query Supplier performance issues can be logged via the on line Suppliers Complaints Form on the procurement website Officer reviews each complaint and advises a plan of action accordingly Complex issues may require escalation to & Contracts Manager and Legal Advisors Office develop a FAQ s section on the website to address common supplier is the address for both suppliers and internal customers to contact procurement with a query or issue conduct a yearly analysis of suppliers complaints issues 3.2 Role in Purchase Requisition Process PRC0103b is an escalation point within the purchasing requisition process. Responsibility The procurement officer is responsible for the management and control of this area. PD-PR-016 Finance Department Page 6 of 11 Version 2

7 Procedure When the originator fails to provide all the information in their requisition submission or breach procurement rules such as failing to obtain 3 quotes over 5K or tendering for values over 25K, purchasing will reject the requisition and forward it to procurement for review and approval. Equally, when originators submit a requisition using the Single Source Justification form purchasing will automatically forward it to procurement for approval. will: Review requisition for completeness Review 3 quotes for accuracy Contact originator to discuss Agree a course of action Originator will resubmit with the correct information or Originator will cancel requisition and procurement will issue tender For single source approval, procurement will review and contact originator will source goods/service on the market If alternate manufacturer s exist, procurement will reject requisition and originator must resubmit with the correct procurement procedure adopted If the goods/service is truly single source or there is a valid reason such as research collaborations driving the particular requirement then procurement will approve the single source justification and requisition will be approved and forwarded to purchasing PD-PR-016 Finance Department Page 7 of 11 Version 2

8 Process Owner : Majella O Gorman Version 2 Date : 16 th January 2015 PRC01-02 Tendering Process Source Documents (Inputs) Dept (Process) Documents Produced (Outputs) - Relevant Dept & identifies Need - determines area to be tendered based on cumulative spend - Project Plan with timeline - Set-up User Group 5/6 members in vendor selection where required Establish Tender Evaluation User Group - Originator drafts specifications of requirements with procurement support Guidelines < 5k- No written quotes required 5-25k Min. 3 written Quotations k - Irish Government Guidelines Supplier, Advertise Nationally. Don t have to wait 40 days > 207k => OJEU (Advertise Internationally) - Originator + set Evaluation Process - Agree Scoring Sheet and Weightingsin line with MEAT - draft tender documentation and agree with originator Final Version Tender Document Released - Advertise Nationally / Internationally via E- Tenders website / OJEU - Upload / Issue Tender Documents via E- Tenders Website Answer Queries via E-Tenders Website Page 2 PD-PR-016 Finance Department Page 8 of 11 Version 2

9 Process Owner : Majella O Gorman Version 2 Date : 16 th January 2015 PRC Tendering Process Source Documents(Inputs) Dept(Process) Outputs Page1 - Accept / Disqualify Tender Submission against Evaluation criteria - Apply Award Weightings and Scores - Check for Clarifications - Short List and Interviews (if applicable) Final scoresheet approved by user group Rejection letters with scoring and reasons why sent to unsuccessful vendors Successful Tenderer notified of intent to award contract after 14 day standstill period - Award Contract Post Contract Award on E-Tenders/OJEU Website Write Formal report Tender outcome Service Level Agreement/ Contract with Supplier signed Purchase Order issued to Supplier (As per Purchasing Process Ref PO01) PD-PR-016 Finance Department Page 9 of 11 Version 2

10 Process Owner : Majella O Gorman Version 2 Date : 16 th January 2015 PRC Supplier Management Inputs Dept Outputs - Award Contract - Supplier Management Collate Feedback from UL staff via website forms, s and telephone SLAs establish KPIs with suppliers - Quarterly/Yearly Reviews with Contract Suppliers on Department owners or If generic Small contracts exception management on issues with supplier - Performance Review with Supplier in relation to Complaints / Rating - Action Plan to improve performance for both parties PD-PR-016 Finance Department Page 10 of 11 Version 2

11 Process Owner : Majella O Gorman Version 2 Date : 16 th January 2015 PRC01-03a Customer Services Inputs Dept Outputs Office notified of Issue / Query with Supplier/ Contract Query logged and filed by Administrator Issues Resolved by Administrator Yes Originator Revert to Originator with resolution No Escalate to Head of for resolution Query Database updated with query types and information Build up Frequently Asked Questions knowledge base Customer services trend analysis conducted by PD-PR-016 Finance Department Page 11 of 11 Version 2