University aims for savings through e-procurement scheme
Kablenet.com
Published: 27 Oct 2004 15:30 BST
A Scottish university is hoping electronic purchasing technology will help it reduce its spending costs.
Heriot-Watt university in Edinburgh has started using an electronic catalogue commerce system, to cut spending without taking on additional staff.
The university hopes to cut 1.5 percent of spending with its top 200 suppliers, and 5 percent of 'maverick' spending. The latter category, which accounts for about 10 percent of the non-pay budget, is that not covered by deals negotiated by groups of universities.
In September Heriot-Watt was the first university to start using UKprocure's eMarketplace. Procurement systems manager Eoin MacDonald said using an external system saves appointing staff to manage an internal catalogue, although such functionality can be handled by the university's Oracle software.
"If you use one or two suppliers, that would be manageable, but as they build up, the work becomes tremendous," he said. With the external system, suppliers enter their own product details, images and use a UN categorisation scheme, UNSPSC. 'From there, we have to look at the categories they have used, and tie them to our own categories,' he added. "That mapping alone is a massive task."
So far lab supplies, for the university's large life sciences and engineering schools, has been the largest category for the system, followed by stationery, general supplies -- such as electrical equipment -- and spending on utilities.
Most suppliers have responded positively to the electronic catalogue, with just a few saying they will join later, MacDonald said. "We're looking at about 30, and we have two or three who are saying they don't have the resources [to use the system]. They are looking at their own solutions, and they will come on board next year."
He said it is reasonable to ask for discounts in return for use of an automated system. "If you have XML orders flowing to the back office of the supplier and automated invoicing, you are saving the supplier a lot of work, and that should be rewarded with a saving for the buyer," he said.
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