Procurement Process
Procurement Requirement Determination
The first step in the public procurement process is to identify requirements. All procurement requirements begin with the perception of a need. The need to cross a body of water could create a requirement to build a bridge, a ferry, or other transportation systems.
At this stage it is necessary to clearly define the need, and this may be done by way of a study to determine the best mode to cross the body of water (given the present situation and forecasted future need), then the type of bridge to be constructed, or a comparative cost/benefit analysis to determine the best solution between a bridge and other alternatives.
The study should include if the need can be satisfied in-house or contracted out, quantification of the initial budgetary estimate, and an idea of the procurement lead-time.
The conformation of the study team should be multidisciplinary in order to address the different questions to be answered to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the need so as to clearly define the actual requirement.
The role of procurement practitioners at this stage is primarily to estimate the procurement lead time given the most appropriate procurement method that would be suitable for such a requirement.
Of course, the perceived need is not always as complex as in the example above. There are also needs for goods and services, and those should also undergo an analysis to clearly define requirements.
At the end of the requirements definition stage, a clear determination of the terms of reference, technical specifications or statement of work (depending on the procurement category) should be possible, including an estimate of the budget, and, most importantly, the procurement lead-time.
This requirement definition analysis is essential not only for new procurement requirements, and project initiation and concept development, but also for requirements needed for maintaining existing operations sverige-ed.com.
Steps in the Public Procurement Process
In most writings on public procurement the procurement process is considered to include contract administration. On the other hand, contract administration and contract management are treated as synonymous. To add to the confusion, sometimes the term contracting is also thrown in, such that as practitioners we are left with an enormous confusion on these terms.
To dispel some of the confusion, the public procurement process, as will be explained here, ends with contract award, and anything after contract award is considered contract administration. In future writings, the reason for this clear division will be explained in detail. This does not in anyway lessen the importance of contract administration. As a matter of fact, the purpose of making a clear distinction is to give more emphasis to the importance of contract administration, and also to clarify areas of responsibility.
We find additional confusion in other writings, even procurement manuals, were the procurement process is said to include inventory control and management, storage and distribution, and even disposal—all functions which are more appropriately classified as part of logistics, and even supply chain management, but not necessarily procurement.
So, in line with the above, the steps in the public procurement process are those listed below and they will be addressed in more detail in future posts:
1. Requirement identification
2. Determining procurement method
3. Procurement planning and strategy development
4 https://cheska-lekarna.com. Procurement requisition processing
5. Solicitation documents preparation and publication
6. Pre-bid/proposal meeting and site visit
7. Bid/proposal submission and opening
8. Bid/proposal evaluation
9. Contract award recommendation
10. Contract negotiations
11. Contract Award (signing)
After completing the above steps, those relevant to contract administration will also be addressed in detail.