Strategic Sourcing

  • Planned Procurement

    Planned Procurement (strategic sourcing) activities are led by our highly capable and experienced Category Leads who engage and collaborate with stakeholders to deliver optimised outcomes for the University.

    For new commitments valued at over $100,000, always reach out to Procurement, preferably at the time when the business need is first identified. Consideration must be given to the risk, value and complexity when determining the sourcing approach and delivering the best outcome for the University.

    Procurement must be engaged and are able to:

    • Provide probity, guidance and advice
    • Validate need/opportunity
    • Conduct Internal and external market analysis
    • Develop the procurement strategy
    • Lead sourcing, supplier evaluation and negotiation
    • Award and publish contracts for purchasing

    Procurement compliance and sign-off is required to accompany expenditure requests and agreement sign-off,  an approval memo must be completed.

  • Risk Management

    Where a Procurement activity is assessed as high risk, a risk mitigation plan will be developed in consultation with the Legal Office and the relevant stakeholders. All relevant risks should be considered, including:

  • Request for Exemption

    Requests for exemption must be approved prior to any commitment being made. Requests for exemption require an approval memo to be completed.

Planned Procurement Process

  • Develop Procurement Plan

    Procurement plans can assist you to effectively plan the implementation and delivery of your requirement. Giving adequate time and thought to planning your procurement will ultimately lead to better outcomes.

    A procurement plan provides the methodology and approach, process and project management structure for implementation.

    The procurement plan must:

    • build on the Business Case (not repeat the content);
    • provide a logical connection/link from the business case to the implementation and delivery; and
    • incorporate findings from any stakeholder engagement (or for community services, any co-design processes).

    The purpose of the procurement plan is to provide detailed planning for the approach to the market and evaluation of offers. This includes definition of the qualitative criteria that will be used on the

    Request document;

    • ensure that a value for money outcome is going to be achieved through the procurement strategy;
    • assign roles and responsibilities in the procurement team; and
    • set timelines for achieving procurement objectives and goals.

  • Evaluation Panels

    The evaluation panel will assess the bids received against the selection criteria. The evaluation panel must include an appropriate mix of skills and experience relevant to the nature of the purchase. The evaluation methodology and scoring must be agreed to by the evaluation panel before the Request’s closing date.

    The following provides an overview of the roles and responsibilities of evaluation panels, and identifies useful insights into the issues that panels need to consider.

    Objectives

    The key objectives of the evaluation panel are to:

    • Make a recommendation to the Accountable Authority (as to the supplier/s that best represents value for money;
    • Ensure the assessment of responses is undertaken fairly;
    • Ensure adherence to the Procurement Policy and procurement-connected policies; and
    • Ensure that the requirements specified in the Request are evaluated in a way that can be measured and documented.
    Recommendations

    The evaluation panel does not make the contract award decision. The Accountable Authority makes the final decision and awards the contract. If the Accountable Authority does not agree with the evaluation panel recommendation then:

    • The recommendation can be referred to the evaluation panel to review/reconsider; or
    • The Accountable Authority can overrule the recommendation and award the contract on the basis of what he/she believes represents better value for money.

    In either case, detailed supporting documentation justifying the final decision must be recorded.

    Procedures and Principles for Evaluation

    Member of an evaluation panel must ensure that their evaluation process meets appropriate probity ethical standards. It is important that panel members are aware of the principles of ethical conduct and accountability.

    Panel members are responsible for ensuring that the process is fair. Failing to follow a fair process may lead to a review, with a re-tender potentially being required – this would be costly in terms of time and resources.

    Requirements of Fairness

    The following principles must be adhered to in the evaluation process:

    Appropriate knowledge

    Before commencing on the evaluation process, the evaluation panel and any supplementary members should have an understanding of:

    • The contents of each response;
    • The selection criteria against which responses will be rated; and
    • The process by which each response will be rated.
    Confidentiality

    The contents of each response should not be disclosed to any party outside of the formal evaluation process.

    Each response should be viewed as commercially confidential information. As such, the facilitator of the evaluation panel should collect all responses and completed evaluation handbooks after the final evaluation meeting.

    Commenting during the evaluation process

    The evaluation panel chairperson is the only person permitted to comment to outside parties about the evaluation process and outcome. The evaluation panel and any supplementary members should not discuss any element of the evaluation process with work colleagues or any other party.

    Declaration of Confidentiality and Interest

    Parties involved in the procurement in any capacity will be required to complete a Declaration of Confidentiality and Interest. Once completed, the form should be provided to the facilitator of the evaluation panel.

    Panel members may have already completed a Declaration of Interest and Confidentiality form if they were involved earlier in the procurement process. Panel members in this situation are to reaffirm, in writing, their declaration to ensure no conflicts (whether actual, potential or perceived) have arisen as a result of the submission of offers.

    Where a completed form or any reaffirmation declares an interest, the officer must take and document all reasonable and necessary steps to manage the conflict. This should be documented and put on file.

  • Approaching the Market

    Use Appropriate Procurement  Method
    1. Direct Sourcing: where only one supplier is asked to provide an offer.  This supplier is directly approached to do so;
    2. Limited Sourcing: where a number of identified suppliers are invited to submit an offer;
    3. Open Advertisement: where the invitation to submit an offer (Request) is made publicly
    Minimum Time Period

    Market approaches must provide sufficient time for suppliers to submit a response to a request. Restricted tenders should be for at least  25 days. Time periods may be reduced in urgent situations to not less than 10 days in circumstances where  Delegated Authority determines and records in writing that a situation has arisen whereby it is impracticable to comply with the required time period.

  • Tender Evaluations

    The evaluation panel will assess the bids received against the selection criteria. The evaluation panel must include an appropriate mix of skills and experience relevant to the nature of the purchase.

    The key objectives of the evaluation panel are to:

    • Make a recommendation to the Accountable Authority (as to the supplier/s that best represents value for money;
    • Ensure the assessment of responses is undertaken fairly;
    • Ensure adherence to the Procurement Policy and connected policies; and
    • Ensure that the requirements specified in the Request are evaluated in a way that can be measured and documented.

  • Negotiations

    Negotiations in the tendering phase are not always necessary but when they are undertaken, it is critical that officers:

    • are prepared including clearly identifying the responsibilities of each member of the negotiation team, having a position on each item to be negotiated;
    • act ethically to ensure the integrity of the procurement process is upheld;
    • ensure there is sufficient documentation on the outcomes agreed by both parties; and
    • maintain the confidentiality of all offers.

  • Prepare Evaluation Reports

    Procurement documentation should be commensurate with the value and risk of the procurement activity. A simple direct purchase procurement may only require a file note documenting the purchase, however, procurements with significant value, risk or complexity will require a much more detailed evaluation report outlining the evaluation of offers and how a value for money decision was made.

    Therefore, as appropriate to the nature of the Procurement, an evaluation report should address:

    • the procurement method;
    • the evaluation process;
    • the offers received;
    • any procurement policy implications;
    • the consideration of any associated risks;
    • details of negotiations undertaken, if applicable;
    • value for money considerations; and
    • a recommendation.

  • Recommendation and Contract Award

    Preparation of a Procurement Recommendation is to be submitted to the appropriate Delegate in accordance with the Standing Delegations of Authority, together with documents as necessary to support the recommendation. Contract reviews must be completed by both Legal and Finance and an approval memo must be completed.

  • Debrief Suppliers

    The main aim of a debrief is to provide the supplier with constructive feedback to help them understand why they were not successful on this occasion and to help improve their chances next time. Debriefs improve competition in the market, by allowing suppliers to seek feedback about their offers in order to improve their bids over time.

    It is important that the purpose of the debrief is clear to all parties; and that the supplier understands that the person providing the debrief can’t divulge information about another supplier’s tender. Avoiding comparative statements when giving debriefs is difficult, but essential.