In a last minute deal ahead of the World Cup opening game on 11 June, the South African government has stockpiled a 30,000 ton spot market purchase from Russian oil firm Lukoil.
South Africa has also struck a deal with Eskom to guarantee uninterrupted supply of electricity to key World Cup installations.
The new stadia will not place any additional stress on the national power grid because generators are their primary power source, but Eskom is set to provide back up.
These measures come at the end of a long procurement initiative for the World Cup in South Africa. A transport upgrade costing R19 billion ($2.4 billion) has seen the construction of new roads and resurfacing of existing routes, along with the provision of 418 new trains and 970 buses, over and above the 1,100 buses and 800 midi-bus taxis already in operation.
State-of-the-art military information and communications technology has been procured to help manage security arrangements.
Once the World Cup is over the technology will be used in day-to-day crime fighting, authorities say. The system includes mobile command centres able to receive live video feed from manned and unmanned aircraft, as well as helicopters and fixed surveillance cameras.
The procurement effort has extended to the health service, with a major upgrade to the National Health Operations centre linking the nine provinces for real-time monitoring and co-ordination of the health plan roll out. Dispensing machines for basic medication purchases have been placed at the stadia and pharmacies will be open 24 hours.
Hundreds of trained volunteers and professional health personnel will also be on standby on the major routes. Measures have been put in place to monitor ports of entry for health-related problems and vaccines have been procured to deal with disease outbreaks, including flu vaccines.
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Procurement Reform
Procurement professionals need to be at the heart of public sector savings, while senior management should take procurement more seriously, according to a senior figure at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
Following the formation of the UK coalition government, the CBI called for re-engineering of public services to help reduce the £163 billion public sector deficit, including reform of procurement.
Speaking to SM, Susan Anderson, director of public service at the CBI, said procurement professionals should “be centre stage” during this transformation.
She claimed that senior managers, in earlier efforts to save on public procurement, had failed to take full responsibility for driving through business change necessary to capture the benefits of initiatives such as shared services and joint buying.
“It’s about culture: a senior manager does not get Brownie points for seeing through procurement, and that goes to the ministerial level. They get recognition for new initiatives. The responsibility [for change in procurement] has to lie with the senior management team. Procurement professionals sometimes say ‘we do not get a look in’, although they sometimes get the blame. We have got to take them seriously.”
Some shared service initiatives had failed because once they achieved critical mass, and had a full team in place, additional public bodies were put off joining because they realised they would not be able to transfer staff. “They get cold feet because they do not want to make staff redundant, but [avoiding redundancies] is a luxury we cannot afford,” Anderson said.
However, she said to be effective in reducing public spending, professional procurement skills should be retained where possible. “Although no areas of public spending should be sacrosanct, procurement people should be centre stage.”
The CBI also re-enforced the claim it made in October’s pre-budget submission that improving public sector purchasing and reducing duplication in the process could save the public purse £13.5 billion by 2015-16.
Spelling out its priorities for the government in the document Time for Action: Reforming Public Services and Balancing the Budget, the CBI said savings could be achieved by re-shaping public service provision, including using the private and third-sector to deliver efficiencies.
Following the formation of the UK coalition government, the CBI called for re-engineering of public services to help reduce the £163 billion public sector deficit, including reform of procurement.
Speaking to SM, Susan Anderson, director of public service at the CBI, said procurement professionals should “be centre stage” during this transformation.
She claimed that senior managers, in earlier efforts to save on public procurement, had failed to take full responsibility for driving through business change necessary to capture the benefits of initiatives such as shared services and joint buying.
“It’s about culture: a senior manager does not get Brownie points for seeing through procurement, and that goes to the ministerial level. They get recognition for new initiatives. The responsibility [for change in procurement] has to lie with the senior management team. Procurement professionals sometimes say ‘we do not get a look in’, although they sometimes get the blame. We have got to take them seriously.”
Some shared service initiatives had failed because once they achieved critical mass, and had a full team in place, additional public bodies were put off joining because they realised they would not be able to transfer staff. “They get cold feet because they do not want to make staff redundant, but [avoiding redundancies] is a luxury we cannot afford,” Anderson said.
However, she said to be effective in reducing public spending, professional procurement skills should be retained where possible. “Although no areas of public spending should be sacrosanct, procurement people should be centre stage.”
The CBI also re-enforced the claim it made in October’s pre-budget submission that improving public sector purchasing and reducing duplication in the process could save the public purse £13.5 billion by 2015-16.
Spelling out its priorities for the government in the document Time for Action: Reforming Public Services and Balancing the Budget, the CBI said savings could be achieved by re-shaping public service provision, including using the private and third-sector to deliver efficiencies.
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Nestle draws up responsible sourcing
Nestlé is introducing procurement guidelines to ensure its palm tree oil supply comes from sustainable sources.
The Swiss confectioner, which came under fire from environmental action group Greenpeace after a report claimed some of the oil it purchased was from unsustainable sources, has now teamed up with the Forest Trust to produce a set of responsible sourcing guidelines.
These guidelines, which were announced this week and will be enforced immediately, look at Nestlé’s procurement process and provide technical support to suppliers that do not meet the requirements. Guidelines include protecting high conservation value forest areas and peatlands, and ensuring farms and plantations used for sourcing palm oil comply with local laws and regulations.
In a statement Nestlé said: “By setting critical requirements for its procurement process and checking compliance with its supplier code, Nestlé wants to ensure that its products have no deforestation footprint.”
Nestlé recently dropped Indonesian firm Sinar Mas as a palm oil supplier after claims by Greenpeace that identified Sinar Mas as guilty of deforestation in its production of palm oil.
In a statement in March, Nestlé UK said it does not buy palm oil from the Sinar Mas Group for any of its products, including Kit Kat, but does purchase it from a company called Cargill and had sought assurances from them about their supply chain.
Nestlé aims to have 18 per cent of its palm oil purchases in 2010 coming from sustainable sources, working to reach 50 per cent by the end of 2011. The company has already committed to purchasing all of its palm oil from ethical sources by 2015.
Pat Venditti, head of Greenpeace’s forest campaign, said: “Nestlé’s move sends a clear message to Sinar Mas and to the rest of the palm oil and paper industries that rainforest destruction is not acceptable in the global marketplace. They need to clean up their act and move to implement a moratorium on rainforest destruction and full peatland protection.”
In a policy statement released by Sinar Mas earlier this year and at its AGM the company said it was committed to the principles of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and to a halt to clearing in forests and peatlands.
Monday, 10 May 2010
Supply chain and carbon management......
Leading businesses will increasingly refuse to purchase from suppliers who fail to manage their carbon emissions, according to a survey.
The annual Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Supply Chain Report, produced by management consultants AT Kearney, found that only 6 per cent of major organisations currently deselect suppliers for failing to manage carbon emissions. However, 56 per cent have committed to do so in the future.
The survey of CPD supply chain members, which include Dell, BAE Systems, Cadbury, Sony, IBM, Unilever and PepsiCo, found that 89 per cent had an established strategy to engage with suppliers on carbon-related issues.
Meanwhile, 90 per cent of these companies have an emissions or energy reduction plan in place.
But while a significant proportion of carbon emissions are typically found in the supply chain, only 20 per cent of these companies report figures for their own supply chain emissions.
Of the 710 suppliers who disclose carbon emissions to their customers through the CDP programme, 60 per cent have appointed a board member responsible for climate change. Fifty-six per cent have a carbon reduction plan in place and 38 per cent have committed to a clear target, according to the report.
The annual Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Supply Chain Report, produced by management consultants AT Kearney, found that only 6 per cent of major organisations currently deselect suppliers for failing to manage carbon emissions. However, 56 per cent have committed to do so in the future.
The survey of CPD supply chain members, which include Dell, BAE Systems, Cadbury, Sony, IBM, Unilever and PepsiCo, found that 89 per cent had an established strategy to engage with suppliers on carbon-related issues.
Meanwhile, 90 per cent of these companies have an emissions or energy reduction plan in place.
But while a significant proportion of carbon emissions are typically found in the supply chain, only 20 per cent of these companies report figures for their own supply chain emissions.
Of the 710 suppliers who disclose carbon emissions to their customers through the CDP programme, 60 per cent have appointed a board member responsible for climate change. Fifty-six per cent have a carbon reduction plan in place and 38 per cent have committed to a clear target, according to the report.
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
Disney & Procurement
Purchasing professionals who focus on the end product will be considered part of the creative process and therefore be more effective, a senior film industry executive told the Institute for Supply Management conference in California yesterday.
Steven Miller, senior vice-president of strategic sourcing and procurement at the Walt Disney Company, was making a presentation on strategic sourcing for the entertainment supply chain.
“Creative folks need to not view you as a different part of Disney or a different part of the team – you’re part of their team – singularly focused on their success and showing as much passion for their creativity as they show.
“Alice in Wonderland was a gift to us: a phenomenally big movie, the cast was great and the box office sales far exceeded what we expected and that will translate to DVD sales. That’s what it’s about – the creative content more than cost savings or sourcing initiatives.”
Miller gave an overview of Disney’s multiple supply chains. These support a set of five business areas including theme parks, movies, television and consumer products, with commodity categories spanning everything from costumes to call centres.
Strategic sourcing was introduced in 1999, a move Miller admits was “maybe 15 years behind some industries”. The sourcing department was expected to save $300 million (£195 million) a year within five years. By 2008 it achieved $1 billion (£650 million) cumulative annual savings.
Approximately 300 people work in purchasing and the company has about 70,000 “high-level active suppliers”, with the top 200 accounting for about 23 per cent of spend.
The future for Disney – and therefore the focus of the sourcing teams – is more investment in theme parks (it is hoping to build a Shanghai resort), fit-outs of its stores and film franchises. Meanwhile, purchasing is also working on increasing sustainable procurement and anti-piracy innovations
Monday, 19 April 2010
Wednesday, 7 April 2010
National Trust to Create Vacancies
The National Trust is recruiting 11 regional buyers as part of a broader move to put procurement at the forefront of its ‘going local’ strategy.
The charity protects and makes public more than 350 historic houses, gardens and ancient monuments in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The new purchasing posts reflect its goals for the next decade, which include getting closer to local communities and suppliers and putting properties and natural environments “back at the centre of community life to encourage a sense of belonging, local pride and identity”.
So far the Trust has shifted power from the centre to the properties, such as historic sites and stately homes, including control of budget. It will now advocate local procurement and recruitment policies to connect its properties more closely to local communities.
Regional procurement managers will be appointed to cover Yorkshire, the North East, North West, South West, South, and South East of England, East Anglia, the West and East Midlands. They also cover Northern Ireland and Wales.
Responsibilities will include developing effective relationships with stakeholders in the region, developing strong, sustainable working relationships with suppliers and putting in place sustainable contracts and, where appropriate, supporting local producers and supply chains.
The National Trust could not provide any more detail but the advertisement states: “We’re moving from direct buying and looking for real leaders to empower others to reach their potential.
“In short, by identifying efficiencies in line with our sustainability ethos and local agenda, you’ll be helping ensure we can put more into protecting our dramatic coastline, beautiful countryside and historic buildings and make sure they remain accessible to all.”
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