eProcurement
The governments Gershon Review “Releasing Resources for the
frontline: Independent Review of Public Sector Efficiency” and the
recent Local Government White Paper set Councils challenging
targets ( from 1 April 2008) of a 3%
saving over the next three years on its annual
expenditure.
To help achieve this, Allerdale Borough
Council in conjunction with other local authorities in Cumbria are
combining their purchasing of goods and services and
implementing an electronic e-Procurement system.
In terms of combined purchasing, a shared
purchasing service has been set up called EPiC (Effective
Procurement in Cumbria). For e-Procurement, which is about
the effective use of technology or electronic 'tools' to support
the purchasing process and trading with suppliers, EPiC have
enrolled the services of the EGS Group and the IDeA marketplace
system.
The IDeA marketplace offers an electronic
purchasing system. This service is free to suppliers (other
than web posted catalogue suppliers) and ensures inclusion of small
to medium size businesses, allowing contracted suppliers to display
their goods and services in an electronic format.
A 'Selling to the Council' pack is
available to download which
provides details of these changes and how Suppliers can register on
the IDeA Marketplace
A summary of the benefits;
- Suppliers receive an instant email or
fax, and log into the marketplace and retrieve their
order. Only stock items have been
requested
- Clear delivery instructions and contact
details will be evident on the order
- Queries relating to delivery, invoice detail
or payment enquiries will
be directed to the appropriate person
- Local and nationally agreed contracts with
approved suppliers will be visible to a larger audience
- Savings for the Council and suppliers
will be from paperless ordering to payment, up to date pricing and
availability, non-requirement of paper catalogues, faster
transition of orders and payments, greater controls over spending
through controlled suppliers
- Invoices will be sent directly to Finance and
dealt with without a requirement for additional authorisation
(helping to eliminate ‘black holes' and late payments to
Suppliers) - e-invoicing from suppliers will be introduced in the
next phase
- Improved management reporting and commitment
accounting
- The statutory ‘30 day Invoice to Payment’
performance indicator will be improved
Allerdale Borough Council will start to
implement the system early in 2008 and this site will be updated
with information as the project progresses. Further
information is available in the e-Procurement Strategy which can be
downloaded below.
Allerdale Borough Council
