Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Six Steps to Procurement Optimization

  • By Tom Fitzgerald
  • 01/01/16

There’s an obvious connection between supply chain efficiency and financial sustainability. Here are six areas critical to helping colleges and universities optimize P2P operations:

1. Information/Insight/Intelligence
It all begins with data. Make sure you have a solid handle on analytics/data across the entire enterprise. Quality data is the foundation for any successful procurement organization.

2. Strategy/Policy
A defined policy must be established to ensure your procurement organization is strategic in its sourcing efforts. This policy must be adopted cross-functionally across the entire organization.

3. People/Culture
Are you staffed adequately and do you have the right people in the right positions? It’s important to review staff expertise levels and conduct a skill-level assessment to identify gaps or overlaps in these resources.

4. Process/Organization
Look closely at the operational design and organizational structure of the procurement function. All things must be aligned so that people, process and technology are optimized toward efficiency.

5. Technology Adoption
This includes p-card utilization, P2P automation and e-commerce initiatives. An effective e-procurement system can significantly improve process efficiencies by eliminating paperwork, expediting contract fulfillment and controlling compliance.

6. Monitoring and Controls
Institutions must identify ways to monitor and measure these efforts in order to determine ROI. This ROI should be benchmarked against business objectives to drive cost containment, revenue enhancement and performance metrics management.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

About the Author

Tom Fitzgerald is CEO of E&I Cooperative Services, the nation's premier purchasing cooperative serving the needs of education. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • UT-San Antonio Begins Residence Hall Renovations

    The University of Texas at San Antonio recently began a $6-million renovation project to one of its residence halls, according to a news release. Originally completed in 1986, Chisolm Hall measures in at 120,860 square feet and is the oldest and largest residence hall on campus.

  • Designing for Every Mind

    Learning environments have the power to shape not just what students know, but who they become. When a school is designed with genuine empathy—for the full range of ways students think, sense, and engage with the world—it becomes more than a building. It becomes a catalyst for growth, confidence, and belonging. That is the animating idea behind neurodiverse design, and it is one that is transforming how more architects and designers are thinking about school design.

  • Back-to-School Playground Safety: 7 Common Hazards to Look for After Summer Break

    As summer break comes to an end, school administrators have plenty to prepare before students return. While classrooms, hallways and common areas often receive attention during all the back-to-school preparations, the playground should not be overlooked. Months of weather exposure, storms, and regular wear can leave behind hazards that may not be immediately noticeable.

  • Purdue Fort Wayne Opens New Student Housing Complex

    Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW) in Fort Wayne, Ind., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new, 600-bed student housing complex on campus, according to a news release.